Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to announce a further review of the Loan Charge in response to the eighth referral of a case to the Independent Office for Police Conduct where a taxpayer has taken their life and used a disguised remuneration scheme.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
An independent review of the Loan Charge has already taken place. The 2019 Review, conducted by Lord Morse, concluded that it was right for the Loan Charge to remain in force and right for the Government to collect the tax due, but made a number of recommendations to reduce the impact of the policy.
The Government accepted all but one of the 20 recommendations, and those changes are estimated to have benefitted over 30,000 individuals, removing 11,000 from the Loan Charge entirely.
The charge on disguised remuneration loans is targeted at contrived tax avoidance schemes which seek to avoid income tax and National Insurance contributions by paying users their income in the form of loans, usually via an offshore trust. This kind of tax avoidance deprives the Exchequer of funds to deliver vital public services.
Any loss of life is a tragedy, and the Government’s thoughts are with the families of those affected. The Government will continue to work with HMRC to consider what additional support could be provided to taxpayers who need extra help.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made for the distribution of wealth in real terms per (a) household and (b) person among the UK population for years (i) 2019, (ii) 2020 and (iii) 2021 by quintile or decile.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The most recent comprehensive data on the distribution of wealth is available for the period 2016-18, collected by the Office for National Statistics and published in its biennial ‘Wealth in Great Britain’ publication. Owing to the time lag in more recent data becoming available, the Treasury has not conducted analysis of the distribution of wealth by quintile or decile in the years 2019, 2020 and 2021.
The government is committed to supporting household living standards during this difficult time for the country, and has announced an unprecedented package of support – including a boost to Universal Credit, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) – helping to protect incomes, jobs, and support those most in need. Treasury analysis has shown that these interventions have supported the poorest working households most (as a proportion of income).
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether employers including employment agencies are permitted to backdate payments to 4 January 2021 as part of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
For claims from 1 November 2020, an employer can claim before, during or after they process their payroll as long as their claim is submitted by the relevant deadline.
Claims can be backdated where employees have already been furloughed from that date. A claim cannot start any earlier than the date the employee was furloughed. Employers must have confirmed in writing to their employee that they had been furloughed.
Claims for furlough days in January 2021 must be submitted by 15 February 2021.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what Government support is available for people classed as self-employed solely for the 2019-20 tax year who have experienced a loss of income and are ineligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
I refer the honourable Member to the answer given on 18 December 2020 to UIN 127482.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many HMRC tax offices there were in Yorkshire and the Humber region in (a) 2010 and (b) 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In January 2010, HMRC had 34 staffed offices and stand-alone enquiry centres in Yorkshire and the Humber region.
On 19 October 2020, an updated list of HMRC office closures, current staffed offices and regional centre opening dates, on a region by region basis, was committed to the House of Commons Library. This list has been deposited as paper reference DEP 2020-0609: http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2020-0609/HMRC_Office_closures_and_regional_centre_opening_dates.pdf.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the average level of household debt in households in (a) Hemsworth Parliamentary constituency and (b) Yorkshire and the Humber region in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government has delivered unprecedented support for living standards during this challenging time, protecting livelihoods with the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, temporary welfare measures, and other policy measures.
But the Government recognises that some people may be struggling with their finances at this difficult time. To help people in problem debt get their finances back on track, an extra £37.8 million support package is being made available to debt advice providers this financial year, bringing this year's budget for free debt advice in England to over £100 million.
Data on levels of over-indebtedness in Hemsworth and in Yorkshire and the Humber was last published in 2018 by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), who continue to fund the local delivery of free debt advice. MaPS will be publishing updated figures in 2021.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to make provision for employees who began their employment between 30 October 2020 and 4 January 2021 to receive assistance from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme furlough scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was extended on 31 October, ahead of the national lockdown on 1 November. The 30 October cut-off date allows as many people as possible to be included by going right up to the day before the announcement, balancing the risk of fraud that existed as soon as the scheme became public.
The Government understands that the new restrictions are challenging for some businesses, and the Chancellor has announced further support measures. These are carefully designed to complement the existing ones so as to ensure jobs and livelihoods are protected. This support includes a new one-off grant of up to £9,000 to support businesses in England which are legally required to close. This comes in addition to the existing monthly grants for closed businesses of up to £3,000 per month. Local authorities will also receive an additional £500m, to a total of £1.6bn, of discretionary funding to allow them to support their local businesses.
The CJRS is not the only support available for employees. The Government has boosted the generosity of the welfare system by £7.4bn in 2020-21 including through a temporary £20 a week increase in Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element. This means that for a single Universal Credit claimant (25 or over), the standard allowance has increased from £317.82 to £409.89 per month. The £20 per week uplift is one part of a package of temporary welfare measures, which also includes the suspension of the Universal Credit Minimum Income Floor to support self-employed people on low incomes.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many branches of (a) banks and (b) building societies there were in the Yorkshire and the Humber region in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2020.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Treasury does not make assessments of the bank and building society branch network. In 2018, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) undertook an analysis of branch closures as part of their Strategic Review of Retail Banking Business Models. This analysis can be found in Annex 1 of the final report.
The decision to close a branch is a commercial issue for the management team of the bank or building society. However, Government believes it is important the impact on communities must be understood, considered and mitigated where possible. That is why the Government continues to be very supportive of the Access to Banking Standard and the commitment it places on banks to minimise the impact of branch closures, including by ensuring that customers are aware of the alternative ways they can continue to access banking services. These include the Post Office, which allows 95% of business and 99% of personal banking customers to carry out their everyday banking at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.
In September 2020, the FCA published guidance setting out their expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of a planned closure on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs, and other relevant branch services and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This will ensure the implementation of closure decisions is done in a way that treats customers fairly.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend the business rates holiday for retail and hospitality businesses beyond March 2021.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The unprecedented full business rates holiday for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties for the financial year is worth £10 billion to business in 2020-21. The Government will continue to look at how to adjust its support in a way that ensures people can get back to work, protecting both the UK economy and the livelihoods of people across the country. In order to ensure that any decisions best meet the evolving challenges presented by COVID-19, the Government will outline plans for future reliefs in the New Year.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse is of introducing one-off payments of £1,000 to all wet pubs that are unable to open due to covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government is providing additional funding to all local authorities in Tiers 2 and 3 to enable them to make one-off grants of £1,000 to all wet-led pubs in their areas. We will calculate the funding which local authorities receive for this scheme using a combination of Valuation Office Agency data and industry information. The cost to the public purse will be dependent on the take-up of the grants.
This additional support comes on top of existing support that is already available to wet-led pubs through the Local Restrictions Support Grant schemes under which these pubs will receive up to £3,000 per month for each month they are closed. The Government is continuing to collect evidence on the impact of the pandemic on the hospitality industry and work with businesses and representative groups to ensure that support provided is right for this industry and the economy as a whole.