Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason his Department has not allocated financial support to food and drink wholesalers; whether food and drink wholesalers are classified as part of the same supply chain as the supermarkets which they supply; and if he will make it his policy to extend (a) business rates relief and (b) the Hospitality, Retail and Leisure Grant, to the food and drink wholesale sector.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has provided enhanced support through business rates relief and business grants to businesses occupying properties used for retail, hospitality and leisure given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has published guidance for Local Authorities (LAs) in England on eligible properties for the business rates relief. It is for LAs to determine eligibility for reliefs, having regard to guidance issued by the Government.
LAs can choose to make discretionary grants to businesses in wider supply chains, like the wholesale food and drink sector, if the LA considers there is a particular local economic need.
Businesses that are not eligible for business rates relief or business grants can still benefit from the wider business and employment support package the Government has made available.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent progress his Department has made on resolving the dispute between HMRC and the Roadchef Employee Benefits Trust; whether that case can be used as a precedent for other claims; and if he will make it his policy to include a relevant clause in legislative proposals brought forward by his Department to remove the obstacle to payments being made from the Trust to its beneficiaries.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The administration of the tax system is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs, who have indicated that they are in dialogue with the taxpayer. It would not be appropriate for Treasury ministers to become involved in the administration of the tax system in specific cases.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will ensure that the earnings limit set for the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme is consistent with Government financial support for employees who earn more than £50,000 per annum; and if he will make it his policy to introduce a capped grant of up to £2,500 per month to for self-employed people during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The different designs of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) reflect their different objectives. The CJRS is designed to prevent employers making staff redundant, whereas the SEISS is designed to support the incomes of those self-employed individuals whose businesses are adversely affected by COVID-19.
Individuals can at present claim a taxable grant under the SEISS worth 80 per cent of their average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits, and capped at £7,500 in total.
The extension of the SEISS announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 29 May 2020 means that eligible individuals whose businesses are adversely affected by COVID-19 will be able to claim a second and final grant when the scheme reopens for applications in August. This will be a taxable grant worth 70 per cent of their average monthly trading profits, paid out in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits, and capped at £6,570 in total.
The SEISS, including the £50,000 threshold for average trading profits, is targeted at those who most need it, and who are most reliant on their self-employment income. The self-employed are very diverse and have a wide mix of turnover and profits, with monthly and annual variations even in normal times, and in some cases with substantial alternative forms of income too: for example, those who had more than £50,000 from trading profits in 2017-18 had an average total income of more than £200,000. Some 95 per cent of those with more than half their income from self-employment in 2018-19 could be eligible for this scheme.
Those with average trading profits above £50,000 may still be eligible for other elements of the unprecedented financial support package made available by the Government. These measures include Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, increased levels of Universal Credit, mortgage holidays, and other business support grants.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 May to Question 43822 on endowment mortgage policies, if he will take steps to work closely with the financial sector to ensure that the providers of such policies offer an option to people dependent upon them to discharge mortgages, to extend the policies' maturation dates until after the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The current size of the endowment linked mortgage market is small, with no new endowment linked mortgage products and few coming to maturity.
Banks and buildings societies stand ready to support all of their customers affected by Covid-19, including those with an endowment mortgage shortfall.
Firms will consider customer circumstances with endowment mortgages on a case-by-case basis and UK Finance have instructed lenders to treat all customers sympathetically at this time. Customers are also protected under the FCA’s overarching Treating Customers Fairly principle.
Given this, we believe that existing lender forbearance and regulatory guidance is sufficient in supporting customers with endowment mortgages through Covid-19.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide additional support to SMEs such as dental and other medical practices by (a) requiring insurers to honour covid-19 claims under business interruption policies which covered notifiable diseases, even if covid-19 was not explicitly listed; and (b) allowing the directors of limited companies a monthly grant comparable to those given to employees and the self-employed.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government recognises the important role all medical business play to protect and improve the health of the population and is taking many steps to support them during the COVID-19 outbreak:
Medical practices may also benefit from the range of economic support measures the Government has announced. The Business Support website provides further information about how businesses can access the support that has been made available, who is eligible, when the schemes open and how to apply - https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support.
Most commercial insurance policies are unlikely to offer cover for unspecified notifiable diseases, such as COVID-19. However, those businesses which have an insurance policy that covers both pandemics and government ordered closure, should be able to make a claim – subject to the terms and conditions of their policy. Insurance policies differ significantly, so businesses are encouraged to check the terms and conditions of their specific policy and contact their providers.
Income from dividends is a return on investment in the company, rather than wages. HMRC are not able to distinguish between dividends derived from an individual’s own company and dividends from other sources, so do not have a clear mechanism through which to support dividend income from an individual’s own company, without also supporting dividend income from other investments. Company directors who pay themselves a salary through a PAYE scheme may be eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with representatives of the financial sector on endowment mortgage policies due to mature during the covid-19 outbreak with no prospect of discharging the mortgages to which they are linked; and if he will make it his policy to require companies providing such policies to extend their maturity dates until the after the outbreak.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government has been working closely with the financial sector to ensure appropriate forbearance is being shown across the mortgage market, including a 3-month mortgage holiday to enable affected borrowers to defer their mortgage payments and a 3-month moratorium on possession action to provide customers with reassurance that they will not have their homes repossessed at this difficult time.
Endowments are a form of investment, therefore, any extension to maturity dates would be a bespoke commercial decision and down to individual providers. We advise any customer whose endowment is to mature, to seek advice from both their lender and insurer on how to proceed.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will instruct HMRC to suspend the (a) pursuit and (b) enforcement of loan charge revenues until after the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jesse Norman
There is currently no HMRC debt collection activity being pursued in relation to taxpayers in respect of the loan charge.
Where a taxpayer has included the loan charge on their 2018/19 tax return, HMRC will respond to any contact from them, including agreeing payment plans if requested, but will not initiate any contact or take any enforcement action ahead of the revised filing and payment deadline of 30 September 2020.
There does remain a risk that, with large scale delivery at pace, some taxpayers may be contacted in error. In that case, they should contact HMRC, who will confirm that they do not need to pay until the 30 September 2020 payment deadline.
HMRC have been clear on their commitment to support all taxpayers who need help to manage their disguised remuneration (DR) liabilities, including those affected by COVID-19.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 29 April 2020 to Question 39450 on financial support to small-to-medium transport companies engaged in importing and distributing PPE and other essential supplies, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on (a) cancelling and (b) deferring until at least the end of the covid-19 outbreak Business Rates for those companies; what assessment he has made of implications for his policies of the reluctance of some companies to continue trading with the prospect of facing substantial accumulated loan debt by the end of the crisis; and what steps the Government is taking to encourage otherwise viable companies not to cease trading for fear of that outcome.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The current business rates holiday policy aims to provide support to all eligible businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector at this challenging time. These businesses are likely to face particularly high fixed costs, such as fixed rents and other building-related costs and are wholly or mainly being used by visiting members of the public. However, businesses outside of these sectors, such as small-to-medium transport companies, may benefit from a range of other support measures including:
The Business Support website provides further information about how businesses can access the support that has been made available, who is eligible, when the schemes open and how to apply - https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support.
Additional debt will not be the right answer for all businesses, and it is important that businesses consider carefully before applying for a loan. The Government will provide CBILS lenders with a guarantee of 80% on each loan (subject to a per-lender cap on claims) to give lenders further confidence in continuing to provide finance to viable SMEs. The government will not charge businesses for this guarantee. On the BBL scheme, the Government will provide lenders with a 100% guarantee on each loan, to give lenders the confidence they need to support the smallest businesses in the country. For both schemes the Government will cover the first 12 months of interest payments and fees charged by the lenders. This is called the Business Interruption Payment.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) grants and (b) other support, apart from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, he plans to make available to medium-size businesses which are (a) run from home, (b) not being paid for their services during the covid-19 outbreak and (c) required to pay their suppliers in advance; and what guidance he plans to issue to banks that are awarding loans under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme on flexibility in administering that scheme for businesses that are under financial pressure as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Local Authority grants schemes have been designed to ensure that payments are made quickly and efficiently to small businesses facing particularly high fixed-property costs. Businesses which are not eligible for the grants may benefit from other measures in the Government’s unprecedented package of support for business, including:
On 3 April the Government extended CBILS so that all viable small businesses affected by COVID-19, and not just those viable businesses unable to secure regular commercial financing, will now be eligible if the lender believes they will need finance to see them through these unprecedented times. This exceptional support is designed to enable all long-term viable businesses experiencing difficulties as a result of the coronavirus outbreak to access finance.
The Government has also removed the forward-looking viability test, that required an assessment of whether the business can trade out of the crisis, and the per lender portfolio cap, to give lenders the full 80% guarantee across all CBILS lending. Finally, no lender can take a personal guarantee for a loan of less than £250,000. For loans over the value of £250,000, a personal guarantee can only be taken for 20% of the outstanding balance. However, a lender is not allowed to take a personal guarantee against a borrower's principle residence under the scheme.
Asked by: Julian Lewis (Conservative - New Forest East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial support he is providing to small-to-medium transport companies that are substantially engaged in the importing and distribution of personal protective equipment and other essential medical supplies; and if he will make it his policy to offer such companies (a) business rate relief and (b) support grants similar to those available to retail, hospitality and tourism businesses.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recently announced a trilateral agreement, with the French and Irish governments, committing to keeping freight routes open throughout the crisis. In addition, the Government has announced additional support to protect key maritime freight routes. This includes up to £17m to support routes between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and up to £10.5m for links to the Ilse of Wight and the Scilly Isles, to ensure the continued operation of essential services. The Department for Transport is continuing to engage with the haulage industry to understand the impact of Covid-19 on the sector.
The business rates relief and grant schemes for eligible retail, leisure and hospitality businesses have been designed to support the smallest businesses, and smaller businesses in some of the sectors which have been hit hardest by the measures taken to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Small and medium-sized businesses which are not eligible for these schemes may be able to benefit from other measures in the Government’s unprecedented package of support, including:
The Business Support website provides further information about how businesses can access the support that has been made available, who is eligible, when the schemes open and how to apply - https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support.