Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to extend eligibility for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant to food and drink wholesalers that supply to care homes, hospitals and schools.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government recognises that this is a very challenging time for businesses in a wide variety of sectors. Small businesses occupying properties for retail, hospitality or leisure purposes are likely to be particularly affected by COVID-19 due to their reliance on customer footfall, and the fact that they are less likely than larger businesses to have sufficient cash reserves to meet their high fixed property-related costs. The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund (RHLGF) is intended to help small businesses in this situation.
Local Authorities (LAs) can choose to make discretionary grants to businesses in supply chains, like the wholesale food and drink sector, if they feel there is a particular local economic need. The Government has allocated up to an additional £617 million to LAs to enable them to give discretionary grants. While food and drink wholesalers are not one of the priority groups which Government has asked LAs to focus on, LAs may choose to make payments to businesses outside of these priority groups if they feel there is a local economic need to do so, so long as the business was trading on 11th March, and has not received any other cash grant funded by central Government (with the exception of grants from the SEISS).
Small businesses which are not eligible for business grants should still be able to benefit from other elements of the Government’s unprecedented package of support. 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.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend the application of business rates relief to food and drink wholesalers.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has provided enhanced support through business rates relief 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 on eligible properties. As set out in the guidance, support is targeted at premises that are wholly or mainly being used as shops, restaurants, cafes, drinking establishments, cinemas and live music venues; for assembly and leisure; or as hotels, guest and boarding premises, and self-catering accommodation. It is for local authorities to determine eligibility for reliefs, having regard to guidance issued by the Government.
A range of further measures to support all businesses, including those not eligible for the business rates holiday, such as wholesalers, has also been made available.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the public finances of reducing the rate of corporation tax from 19 per cent to 17 per cent.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
The estimated Exchequer impact of future corporation tax rate reductions are certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility. The most recent estimates can be found in Table 2.2 of Spring Budget 2017 and Table 2.2 of Budget 2018.
The government is committed to delivering a competitive tax regime. Low corporation tax rates support the economy by increasing the profits retained by companies – enabling them to reinvest in their business, create jobs, and increase wages.
Despite the rate cuts since 2010, onshore corporation tax revenues have increased by over 50 per cent – from £36.2 billion in 2010-11 to £55.7 billion in 2017-18.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to protect consumers from high risk pay-day loans.
Answered by John Glen
On 1 April 2014, regulation of the consumer credit market, including payday lenders, was transferred to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The government has given the FCA strong powers to protect consumers and to take action against firms and individuals that do not meet its standards. In 2017, the FCA issued total fines of £229 million.
The government legislated to require the FCA to introduce a cap on the cost of payday loans, which came into force on 2 January 2015. The FCA published a feedback statement in July 2017, showing that the price cap has been effective, leading to savings of approximately £150 million for 760,000 individuals using payday loans each year.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing legislative proposals to remove ATM charges.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises that widespread free access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses in the UK. Government has been engaging and will continue to engage with the regulators and industry, including LINK, to ensure that it is maintained.
To ensure the provision of ATMs in rural, isolated or vulnerable areas, LINK announced it will enhance its financial inclusion plan to include in the programme all ATMs that are a kilometer or further from the next other free-to-use ATM. Around 80% of the ATM network is free-to-use and 97% of all ATM transactions are conducted on free-to-use ATMs.
The Government has made no formal assessment of the effects of banning ATM charges, but is closely monitoring developments within the UK’s ATM network, as is the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR). The Government established the PSR in 2015 with a statutory objective to ensure that the UK’s payment systems work in the interests of their users.
The PSR have set out three requirements of LINK: that LINK must maintain the current geographical spread of ATMs; that any changes made to ATM interchange fees must be incremental to allow LINK to monitor the impact and take action if the impact is not as expected; and for a greater focus on LINK’s financial inclusion programme, to continue to fill gaps in the network.
The PSR has committed to using its powers to act should LINK behave in a way that conflicts with its statutory objectives and recently announced it would direct LINK to fully develop its policies for meeting its commitments.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Governor of the Bank of England on the effect of Government use of the retail price index on the Bank of England base rate.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Governor of the Bank of England and the Chancellor discuss economic and financial developments on a regular basis.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the change to corporation tax on the public purse.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
Since 2010, the headline corporation tax rate has been cut from 28 to 19 percent. Cutting corporation tax allows companies to invest in expanding their business, boost wages, create jobs and lower prices for consumers.
Despite the cuts, onshore corporation tax receipts have increased by around 50%, from £36.2bn in 2010-11 to £53.6bn in 2016-17.
Asked by: Kate Hollern (Labour - Blackburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how his Department plans to fund the additional £20bn for the NHS announced on 18 June 2018 through (a) tax increases and (b) other means.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
On 18 June, the Prime Minister set out that the NHS in England will receive an increase in funding over the next five years that equates to over £20 billion additional real terms funding a year by 2023-24.
It’s because of our balanced approach to public spending that we’re able to do this. In order to ensure we don’t pass on extra debt to the next generation, it will be funded from a combination of sources, including funding we will no longer be sending to the EU. The Chancellor will set out further detail at Budget.