Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the sum of £1,000 was decided on as a measure of one-off financial support for wet pubs that are unable to open due to covid-19 restrictions.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Given wet-led pubs in tiers 2 and 3 will be subject to significant measures under the new regional tiered system, and will miss out on business during the busy Christmas period, it is right for the Government to increase its support to these businesses.
The Government has announced an additional £1,000 Christmas grant for ‘wet-led pubs’ in tiers 2 and 3. The payment will be a one-off for December, and eligible wet-led pubs across these tiers are invited to apply through their local authority who will be responsible for distributing the grants.
This grant is just one part of the unprecedented package of support that is available for businesses. The Government has acted to deliver support to the hospitality sectors by extending the CJRS until March and provided cash grants of up to £3,000 per month to help businesses that are closed with their costs.
In addition, the Government has provided £1.1 billion of Discretionary Grant funding for local authorities to target support to the businesses that are most important to their local economy. Businesses are also still able to access wider support, including:
o Affordable, Government backed finance through loan schemes – extended until the end of January 2021 and ‘Pay as You Grow’ options for businesses which have taken out loans, to make repayments over the long-term;
o A VAT deferral for up to 12 months;
o A 12-month business rates holiday;
o A moratorium on evictions to protect commercial tenants;
o Targeted support through the temporarily reduced rate of VAT (5%)
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.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the revenue that will accrue to the public purse from reducing overseas aid expenditure from 0.7 per cent to 0.5 per cent of gross national income in each year up to 2025.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Spending Review 2020 allocated £10bn for Official Development Assistance to spend in the financial year 21/22.
On 25 November the Office for Budget Responsibility published its Economic and Fiscal Outlook. This forecasts Gross National Income (GNI) for the 2021 calendar year to be £2138.6bn. 0.7% of this GNI estimate is £14.97bn and 0.5% of this GNI estimate is £10.69bn.
Financial year allocations for subsequent years will be decided at future Spending Reviews. The Government intends to return to the 0.7% target when the fiscal situation allows.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many HMRC tax offices there are in England.
Answered by Jesse Norman
At 31 October 2020 HMRC had 59 staffed offices in England. On 19 October 2020 an updated list of HMRC office closures and regional centre opening dates was committed to the House of Commons Library. This list is now deposited as paper reference DEP 2020-0609: https://depositedpapers.parliament.uk/depositedpaper/2282554/details.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the monthly cost of providing self-employed people seeking financial support with 70 per cent of their annual profits.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The second SEISS grant was given at 70 per cent of three months of profits. Claims for this up to 30 September 2020 amounted to £5.7 billion in total, which is £1.9 billion per month.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will increase the level of financial support available to self-employed people to 70 per cent of their annual profits.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government recognises the impact that the changing path of the virus has had on self-employed individuals and has taken action to increase the level of assistance available through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) Grant Extension.
The overall level of the third SEISS grant has been increased to 80 per cent of average trading profits, meaning that the maximum grant available has now increased to £7,500. This provides equivalent support to the self-employed as is provided to employees through the Government contribution in the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
The Government will also be paying out this grant more quickly by bringing forward the SEISS 3 claims window from 14 December to 30 November.
This will provide an estimated £7.3bn of support to the self-employed through November to January alone, with a further grant to follow covering February to April. This places the SEISS among the most generous schemes for the self-employed in the world.
The SEISS continues to be just one element of a comprehensive package of financial support for the self-employed. The Government has temporarily increased the Universal Credit standard allowance for 2020-21 and relaxed the Minimum Income Floor for the duration of the pandemic meaning that where self-employed claimants' earnings have significantly fallen, their Universal Credit award will have increased to reflect their lower earnings. In addition to this, the self-employed may also have access to other elements of the package, including tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, and other business support grants.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason self-employed individuals eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme will receive 20 per cent of their average monthly trading profits as financial support.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme Grant Extension helps self-employed individuals who are actively trading but are experiencing reduced demand due to COVID-19, and is not a direct income replacement. It is a top-up, not intended to replace all lost profits. The SEISS Grant Extension covers three months' worth of average trading profits at 20%, meaning self-employed individuals affected for shorter periods will still be entitled to the full three months' worth of the grant. This strikes the right balance between ensuring support is granted to those who need it, while protecting value for the taxpayer.
Those who require further support may still be eligible for other elements of the unprecedented financial support available. The Government has temporarily increased the Universal Credit standard allowance for 2020-21 and relaxed the Minimum Income Floor for the duration of the crisis so that where self-employed claimants' earnings have significantly reduced, their Universal Credit award will have increased. In addition to this, the self-employed have access to other elements of the financial support package, including Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, and other business support grants.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to allocate funding when the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme ends to sports clubs to support them in retaining non-playing staff whose services are temporarily surplus to requirements until those clubs can operate on the basis of fans in stadiums.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
When the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) ends, employers will have access to the Job Support Scheme regardless of whether they previously used CJRS. The JSS, announced in September, is designed to protect jobs in businesses who are facing pressures over the winter months due to Covid-19. The JSS Open which was announced in September, provides a Government grant which covers a portion of all hours not worked by an employee on reduced hours.
The JSS Closed, an expansion to the JSS announced on the 9th October, provides a Government grant for 2/3 of the wages of all employees in businesses forced to close by local lockdowns. In this way, employees remain linked to businesses and employers can quickly scale up activity to any increase in demand.
We have also introduced the Job Retention Bonus. This provides a £1,000 grant for each previously furloughed employee retained in meaningful employment by January 31st.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many employees were on furlough under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme as at 1st September 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) published statistics about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme on 18 September 2020 which include figures for jobs furloughed for the UK and by country and region as at 31 July. These are the latest figures available, and can be found on GOV.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-september-2020
Information on the number of employees furloughed (rather than employments furloughed) is not available; a person may have multiple employments.
The next release of these statistics will provide data on employments furloughed for the UK and each country and region as at 31 August. This is due to be published on 22 October. More information on this release can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-october-2020
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
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) continues to be one of the most generous self-employed COVID-19 support schemes in the world. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to include those who began trading after the 2018-19 tax year in the SEISS. This was a very difficult decision and it was taken for practical reasons. The most reliable and up-to-date record of self-employed income is from 2018-19 tax returns. Individuals can submit Income Tax?Self-Assessment?returns for 2019-20 trading activity, but there would be significant risks for the public purse if the Government relied on these returns for the SEISS.
Those not eligible for the SEISS may still have access to other elements of the financial support package made available by the Government. This package includes Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support,?mortgage holidays, and other business support grants. The Government has also temporarily increased the Universal Credit standard allowance for 2020-21 by £20 per week and relaxed the Minimum Income Floor, so that where self-employed claimants' earnings have significantly fallen, their Universal Credit award will have increased to reflect their lower earnings.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in each region of the UK were in receipt of the Coronavirus Retention Scheme as at 1 September 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) published statistics about the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme on 18 September 2020 which include figures for jobs furloughed for the UK and by country and region as at 31 July. These are the latest figures available, and can be found on GOV.UK:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-september-2020
Information on the number of employees furloughed (rather than employments furloughed) is not available; a person may have multiple employments.
The next release of these statistics will provide data on employments furloughed for the UK and each country and region as at 31 August. This is due to be published on 22 October. More information on this release can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-october-2020