Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support an increase in freelance working.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government recognises the importance of supporting the self-employed, including freelancers, during the COVID-19 outbreak and has taken steps to deliver a very substantial economic support package, designed to provide individuals and businesses with the assistance and certainty they need over the course of the pandemic. This includes over £33bn of support provided to eligible self-employed individuals through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), as well as increased levels of Universal Credit, Extended Loss Carry Back rules, the Recovery Loan scheme, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.
As restrictions are eased, economic activity and demand will gradually pick up as a result, and the Government will continue to consider how it can support all parts of the labour market, recognising that businesses will need some time to recover and adapt.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to provide support to employers for retraining their workers following the end of the Government's covid-19 job support schemes.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The changes to the level of employer contributions under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme align with the Government’s plan for lifting restrictions over the coming months. As the economy reopens, it is right that the Government asks employers to contribute more in order to strike the right balance between supporting the economic recovery past the end of the roadmap, to allow businesses time to plan and adjust, and ensuring incentives are in place to get people back to work as demand returns.
The Government remains committed to ensuring it takes the right action at the right time to support individuals and businesses in every region and nation of the UK. The Plan for Jobs, reinforced by the 2020 Spending Review, launched immediate action to support individuals to get into work, including through the £2 billion Kickstart and £2.9 billion Restart schemes, and by doubling the number of DWP work coaches to 27,000. At Budget 2021, in order to provide further support to employment, the Government announced an additional £126 million for traineeships in England and set up a new £7 million fund to enable apprentices to work across different employers.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of potential effect on the level of employment of the scaling back of the Government's covid-19 job support schemes following the end of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The changes to the level of employer contributions under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme align with the Government’s plan for lifting restrictions over the coming months. As the economy reopens, it is right that the Government asks employers to contribute more in order to strike the right balance between supporting the economic recovery past the end of the roadmap, to allow businesses time to plan and adjust, and ensuring incentives are in place to get people back to work as demand returns.
The Government remains committed to ensuring it takes the right action at the right time to support individuals and businesses in every region and nation of the UK. The Plan for Jobs, reinforced by the 2020 Spending Review, launched immediate action to support individuals to get into work, including through the £2 billion Kickstart and £2.9 billion Restart schemes, and by doubling the number of DWP work coaches to 27,000. At Budget 2021, in order to provide further support to employment, the Government announced an additional £126 million for traineeships in England and set up a new £7 million fund to enable apprentices to work across different employers.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support will be available to employees when the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is scaled back.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The changes to the level of employer contributions under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme align with the Government’s plan for lifting restrictions over the coming months. As the economy reopens, it is right that the Government asks employers to contribute more in order to strike the right balance between supporting the economic recovery past the end of the roadmap, to allow businesses time to plan and adjust, and ensuring incentives are in place to get people back to work as demand returns.
The Government remains committed to ensuring it takes the right action at the right time to support individuals and businesses in every region and nation of the UK. The Plan for Jobs, reinforced by the 2020 Spending Review, launched immediate action to support individuals to get into work, including through the £2 billion Kickstart and £2.9 billion Restart schemes, and by doubling the number of DWP work coaches to 27,000. At Budget 2021, in order to provide further support to employment, the Government announced an additional £126 million for traineeships in England and set up a new £7 million fund to enable apprentices to work across different employers.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that the covid-19 recovery plan considers the needs of the female workforce.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
To protect people’s jobs and livelihoods across the UK since the emergence of Covid-19, the Government has already provided support on a scale unmatched in recent history. As of 28 February, 2.14 million jobs held by women were supported by the CJRS, and by 31 January 632,000 women had claimed for SEISS. Alongside this, the Government’s Plan for Jobs launched action to support individuals to get into work, including through the £2bn Kickstart scheme and £2.9bn Restart programme.
In addition to our Plan for Jobs, our plan to Build Back Better will support the female workforce and drive economic growth by investing in infrastructure, skills and innovation.
We also want to retain the positive culture shifts around flexible working that we have seen as a result of Covid-19 and support men and women to share care and work between them. We want to make it easier for people to work flexibly and in our manifesto we committed to further encouraging flexible working by consulting on making it the default unless employers have good reasons not to.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of (a) Mastercard and (b) Visa on the interchange fee levied on consumers buying from an EU-based company following the UK's departure from the EU.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors 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-giftsand-overseas-travel
The Government has legislated to ensure that interchange fees remain capped for UK domestic card transactions, where both the card issuer and acquirer are located in the UK, through the Interchange Fee (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 made under the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Any changes in cross-border interchange fees between the UK and EU, as between the UK and other third countries, are a result of commercial decisions by card schemes.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what basis are banks permitted to close customers’ bank accounts.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In most circumstances, the provision of a bank’s services is a commercial decision for the bank and the Government does not intervene in these decisions. The terms and conditions of the contract between the two parties govern the termination of that contract, and although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services it does not have investigative or prosecuting powers of its own and is not able to intervene in account closures.
HM Treasury sometimes receives representations from consumers with questions or concerns about their banking. However, any dispute arising between a bank and its customers is usually best resolved by the parties involved. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require the banks to properly investigate all complaints and, through ongoing supervision, it continues to monitor the banks’ complaint handling processes. If customers are unable to resolve the issue with their bank, they will be eligible for further review by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS provides a free, independent dispute resolution service for bank customers.
Customers who are experiencing financial difficulty following a bank account closure may wish to contact the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), an arms-length body of the Department for Work and Pensions. MaPS was established to support consumers with comprehensive, consistent, guidance for every stage of their financial lives. It offers free and impartial information on money matters, available to all online, face-to-face or via telephone. This includes an impartial Debt Advice Locator Tool for those needing debt advice immediately.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial support is available to people who have had their bank account closed but are unavailable to access funds from that account.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In most circumstances, the provision of a bank’s services is a commercial decision for the bank and the Government does not intervene in these decisions. The terms and conditions of the contract between the two parties govern the termination of that contract, and although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services it does not have investigative or prosecuting powers of its own and is not able to intervene in account closures.
HM Treasury sometimes receives representations from consumers with questions or concerns about their banking. However, any dispute arising between a bank and its customers is usually best resolved by the parties involved. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require the banks to properly investigate all complaints and, through ongoing supervision, it continues to monitor the banks’ complaint handling processes. If customers are unable to resolve the issue with their bank, they will be eligible for further review by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS provides a free, independent dispute resolution service for bank customers.
Customers who are experiencing financial difficulty following a bank account closure may wish to contact the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), an arms-length body of the Department for Work and Pensions. MaPS was established to support consumers with comprehensive, consistent, guidance for every stage of their financial lives. It offers free and impartial information on money matters, available to all online, face-to-face or via telephone. This includes an impartial Debt Advice Locator Tool for those needing debt advice immediately.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received of cases of NatWest closing customer accounts without explanation.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In most circumstances, the provision of a bank’s services is a commercial decision for the bank and the Government does not intervene in these decisions. The terms and conditions of the contract between the two parties govern the termination of that contract, and although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services it does not have investigative or prosecuting powers of its own and is not able to intervene in account closures.
HM Treasury sometimes receives representations from consumers with questions or concerns about their banking. However, any dispute arising between a bank and its customers is usually best resolved by the parties involved. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require the banks to properly investigate all complaints and, through ongoing supervision, it continues to monitor the banks’ complaint handling processes. If customers are unable to resolve the issue with their bank, they will be eligible for further review by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS provides a free, independent dispute resolution service for bank customers.
Customers who are experiencing financial difficulty following a bank account closure may wish to contact the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), an arms-length body of the Department for Work and Pensions. MaPS was established to support consumers with comprehensive, consistent, guidance for every stage of their financial lives. It offers free and impartial information on money matters, available to all online, face-to-face or via telephone. This includes an impartial Debt Advice Locator Tool for those needing debt advice immediately.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the economy in the event that the covid-19 outbreak causes a long-term decline in the annual birth-rate.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Treasury monitors closely the impact of Covid-19 on the economy on an ongoing basis, although it does not prepare forecasts, which is the responsibility of the independent OBR. The OBR bases its forecasts on many factors and data, including labour market and population data, which will account for the impact of birth and retirement rates, among other factors.
The Treasury remains committed to ensuring we take the right action at the right time to support individuals and businesses in every region and nation of the United Kingdom. We have already announced considerable and unprecedented support for businesses and individuals through the pandemic.
The Government recognises the importance of supporting older workers to remain active in the labour market and is committed to supporting older workers to find and retain employment. The Government has recently refreshed it Fuller Working Lives strategy to include 50 PLUS: Choices, recognising the different situations and challenges currently faced by the over 50s. We are continuing to work closely with employers, while ensuring early and targeted employment and skills support is available to help over 50s stay in or return back to work. The Plan for Jobs package provides new funding to ensure more people, including those aged 50 and over, get tailored Jobcentre Plus support to help them find work and to build the skills they need to get into work.
We continue to take a flexible approach and keep all impacts and policies under review.