Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2020 to Question 69443 on Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, if he will publish the names of those companies which submitted those claims totalling in excess of £1,000,000 through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC are unable to provide information on organisations which have used the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).
Owing to HMRC’s duty of confidentiality, they cannot publish identifying information that relates to one of their functions.
The CJRS is one of HMRC’s functions and publishing a list of organisations would provide identifying information.
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 number of people whose statutory sick pay was affected by the HMRC Statutory Sick Pay Calculator incorrectly calculating SSP as payable from the fourth day and not the first day of sickness in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Chancellor announced at Budget on 11 March 2020 that employees would be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from day 1 in respect of COVID-19 related absences. The Chancellor also confirmed that the Government would refund the costs of up to two-weeks’ SSP for COVID-19 related absences to employers.
These changes had effect from 13 March 2020 and the new system for the SSP rebate launched on 26 May 2020. The Government has ensured that all the guidance available on GOV.UK is correct. The SSP calculator included a caveat to employers while it was being updated to reflect the latest position on SSP entitlement.
The Government is not aware of any employers having been adversely affected as a result of the updates to the guidance or the calculator and the new rebate service has a customer satisfaction score of above 90%.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that employers accessing the Coronavirus Statutory Sick Pay Rebate Scheme are able to recoup money that they have paid out in sick pay from the first day of an employee’s sickness absence.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Chancellor announced at Budget on 11 March 2020 that employees would be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from day 1 in respect of COVID-19 related absences. The Chancellor also confirmed that the Government would refund the costs of up to two-weeks’ SSP for COVID-19 related absences to employers.
These changes had effect from 13 March 2020 and the new system for the SSP rebate launched on 26 May 2020. The Government has ensured that all the guidance available on GOV.UK is correct. The SSP calculator included a caveat to employers while it was being updated to reflect the latest position on SSP entitlement.
The Government is not aware of any employers having been adversely affected as a result of the updates to the guidance or the calculator and the new rebate service has a customer satisfaction score of above 90%.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many companies (a) applied for and (b) received cash grants in excess of £1,000,000 through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme as at 29 April 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is administered through the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system. Up to and including 29 April 2020, 322 PAYE schemes had each submitted claims totalling in excess of £1,000,000.
HM Revenue and Customs hold information on when payments were made under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme but not when the payments were received by PAYE schemes.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which companies (a) applied for and (b) received cash grants in excess of £1,000,000 through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme as at 29 April 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is administered through the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) system. Up to and including 29 April 2020, 322 PAYE schemes had each submitted claims totalling in excess of £1,000,000.
HM Revenue and Customs hold information on when payments were made under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme but not when the payments were received by PAYE schemes.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that organisations using the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme do not use funding from that scheme as part of an employee’s notice period.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The CJRS is designed to protect jobs and keep people in employment. In cases where terminations of employment or redundancies are unavoidable, employers must abide by the rules. This includes giving a notice period and consulting staff before a final decision is reached.
Employers may continue to claim under the scheme for a furloughed employee who is serving a statutory notice period subject to eligibility based on contract of employment.
However, in the present difficult times, the Government would not expect an employer to take advantage of the CJRS, which has brought benefit to employers and employees alike, in order to make someone redundant on less favourable terms than they would otherwise have received.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend the business rate discount scheme to companies in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector until the end of financial year 2020-21.
Answered by Jesse Norman
On 17 March, the Chancellor announced a business rates holiday for eligible businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector, irrespective of rateable value. All eligible businesses will pay no business rates for the 2020-21 financial year.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 are benefiting from the Coronavirus Retention Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HM Revenue and Customs published statistics on the total number of employments furloughed by region of the UK on 11 June 2020. A further release is due on 15 July 2020.
The information published covers the number of employments furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme since the start of the scheme. Within this figure one person could be furloughed from more than one job. The latest statistics and further information are available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/coronavirus-job-retention-scheme-statistics-june-2020
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reasons people classed as self-employed for the 2019-20 tax year only are ineligible for the Self-employment Income Support Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In order to ensure that the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is deliverable, only those who submitted a tax return for 2018-19 are eligible to apply.
This was a difficult decision and it was taken for practical reasons.
Although the self-employed can file returns for the 2019-20 tax year, if HMRC were to rely on these returns for the SEISS there would be an opportunity for fraudulent activity through returns where no trading activity has taken place, where trading profits have been inflated to increase the size of the grant, or where trading profits have been reduced to below the £50,000 threshold in order to become eligible.
Unfortunately, HMRC would not be able to distinguish genuine self-employed individuals who started trading in 2019-20 from fake applications by fraudulent operators and organised criminal gangs seeking to exploit the SEISS.
The newly self-employed may still be eligible for other elements of the unprecedented financial support provided by the Government. This package includes Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support,?increased levels of Universal Credit, 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, if he will introduce a sector specific job protection package for the aerospace industry in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government recognises the challenging times facing the aerospace sector as a result of COVID-19. Firms experiencing difficulties as a result of COVID-19 can draw upon the unprecedented package of measures announced by the Chancellor, including schemes to raise capital, flexibilities with tax bills, and financial support for employees.
As of midnight 28 June 2020, the CJRS has helped 1.1 million employers across the UK furlough 9.3 million jobs, protecting people’s livelihoods.
The furlough scheme will remain open until October.
It would be challenging to target the CJRS to specific sectors in a fair and deliverable way, and it may not be the case that this is the most effective or sensible way to provide longer term support for those sectors most affected by coronavirus.
It would also be difficult to target the CJRS at specific sectors without creating distortion, particularly as some firms work across multiple sectors. There are other schemes (including CBILS) that can provide support to specific firms.
The government will continue to engage with businesses and representative groups with the aim of ensuring that support provided is right for these sectors and for the economy as a whole.