Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings he has had with representatives (a) of the alcohol industry and (b) from public health organisations to discuss alcohol duty in the last six months.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Treasury Ministers and officials regularly meet with representatives of the alcohol industry, and public health stakeholders, to discuss alcohol duty and related issues, including the health impacts of alcohol as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial support is available for single parents who cannot work from home and whose children are instructed to self-isolate without having a positive covid-19 test.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has committed to an unprecedented package of support for individuals through this difficult time. This includes the introduction of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Job Support Scheme, and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, as well as injecting an additional £9 billion into the welfare system according to Office for Budget Responsibility estimates.
If an employee earns average weekly earnings of at least £120 per week, they will be eligible for SSP if they are self-isolating under Government guidance and cannot work from home. This includes parents living in the same households as children self-isolating with symptoms of COVID-19. The Government has changed the rules so that SSP is now payable from day 1, not day 4, for COVID-19 cases.
Parents of children who are self-isolating under Government guidance may be eligible for “new style” contributory Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) if they are ineligible for SSP and unable to work from home. The Government has made it easier for people to claim by removing the seven-day waiting period which means people can get support from day one.
The welfare system is best placed to provide support for those not eligible for SSP. This group will benefit from changes to the welfare system to support the most vulnerable. These changes include a £20 per week increase to the UC standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1 billion increase in support for renters through increases to the Local Housing Allowance rates for UC and Housing Benefit claimants.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families with children have received the £20 per week uplift in working tax credit basic element payments in Blaydon in each month since it was introduced.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The latest available information on the number of families with children receiving Working Tax Credit at the parliamentary constituency level is for April 2020. In April 2020, the number of families with children receiving Working Tax Credit in Blaydon was 1,000.
Information on following months is not readily available. The next update to this publication will provide statistics relating to December 2020 and will be available in January 2021.
Final annual information on families with children receiving Working Tax Credits is published once a year and updated each July.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to reduce the burden of business rates on (a) retailers and (b) businesses in Blaydon constituency.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government concluded the last fundamental review of business rates in 2016. Respondents to the review agreed that property based taxes are easy to collect, difficult to avoid, relatively stable compared to other taxes, and that they have a clear link with local authority spending.
The Government has taken repeated action to reduce the burden of business rates for all ratepayers including retailers. Our Plan for the High Street announced at Budget 2018 provides £1 billion of upfront support through a new retail discount, cutting retailers’ business rates bills by a third for two years from 1 April 2019 subject to eligibility.
Reforms and reliefs announced since Budget 2016 are reducing business rates by more than £13 billion over the next five years. This includes switching from RPI to CPI indexation, increasing the threshold for the standard multiplier to £51,000, and doubling the threshold for Small Business Rate Relief, meaning 675,000 of the smallest businesses pay no business rates at all.
Asked by: Liz Twist (Labour - Blaydon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to undertake a review of business rates and their effect on the sustainability of the retail sector.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government concluded the last fundamental review of business rates in 2016. Respondents to the review agreed that property based taxes are easy to collect, difficult to avoid, relatively stable compared to other taxes, and that they have a clear link with local authority spending.
The Government has taken repeated action to reduce the burden of business rates for all ratepayers including retailers. Our Plan for the High Street announced at Budget 2018 provides £1 billion of upfront support through a new retail discount, cutting retailers’ business rates bills by a third for two years from 1 April 2019 subject to eligibility.
Reforms and reliefs announced since Budget 2016 are reducing business rates by more than £13 billion over the next five years. This includes switching from RPI to CPI indexation, increasing the threshold for the standard multiplier to £51,000, and doubling the threshold for Small Business Rate Relief, meaning 675,000 of the smallest businesses pay no business rates at all.