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 economic effect of older workers taking early retirement as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
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.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department takes to consider the mental health of (a) business owners and (b) employees when providing financial support during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Throughout this crisis, the government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting businesses and public services across the UK. To do this, the government has put in place an economic package of support which will provide businesses and individuals with certainty over the coming months, even as measures to prevent further spread of the virus change. The government has spent over £280 billion this year to provide this support.
To support business owners, the government has implemented a package of support, including the Local Restrictions Support Grant, providing closed businesses with a grant of up to £3,000 per month. Local authorities have also recently received an additional £500 million, to a total of £1.6 billion, of discretionary funding to allow them to support their local businesses.
To support employees, The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been extended until the end of April. This provides a substantial grant for employers to cover 80% of the wages of their employees.
At the Spending Review 2020, the Chancellor announced an additional £500 million to address waiting times for mental health services, give more people the mental health support they need, and invest in the NHS workforce. This builds on the comprehensive expansion of mental health services as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, which commits at least a further £2.3 billion a year by 23/24.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department’s long-term strategy is on protecting jobs in the (a) hospitality, (b) leisure and (c) retail sector.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic the Government has worked closely with the hospitality, leisure, and retail sector to understand the impact the pandemic has had, and how to protect jobs in these sectors.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which has been extended until April 2021, was introduced to help employers whose operations have been severely affected by COVID-19 retain their employees and protect the UK economy. All businesses across the UK can access the scheme, with employees receiving 80% of their usual salary for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.
The wholesale and retail sector are responsible for the greatest total value of claims up to the end of October at £8 billion, supporting over 1.8 million jobs. In addition, by the end of October, the accommodation and food services sector had claimed £6.9 billion supporting over 1.6 million jobs, and the arts entertainment and recreation sector £2 billion supporting over 450,000 jobs. The Government continue to take a flexible approach and extended the CJRS to support jobs and provide businesses with certainty over the coming months.
In line with the extension to the CJRS, the Government also recently announced an extension to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) until April 2021, to support self-employed individuals, across the UK, whose businesses have been adversely impacted by Covid-19, which is particularly important for the leisure sector.
The job support schemes come in addition to the wide-ranging package of business support available that will indirectly support jobs in these sectors, including protecting businesses with cash grants, Government backed finance through loan schemes, ‘Pay as You Grow’ long-term repayments options, a VAT deferral for up to 12 months, a 12-month business rates holiday; and a moratorium on evictions to protect commercial tenants.
The Government keeps all available business support under review and is continuing to collect evidence on the impact of the pandemic on these industries.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the (a) UK’s ageing population and (b) recent reduction in annual birth rate.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
It is the responsibility of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to publish analysis of the sustainability of the public finances. The OBR published its latest projections in its July 2020 Fiscal Sustainability Report. This incorporated its assessment of the effect of changing demographics on the public finances. The OBR expects demographic change and other cost pressures in health spending to put upward pressure on public spending while leaving revenues broadly unchanged.
The government is committed to fiscal sustainability and ensuring the long-term health of the public finances, and HM Treasury continues to review the UK’s fiscal framework to ensure it remains appropriate for both the macroeconomic context and the longer-term pressures related to demographic change. The government will set out further details on its plans to put the public finances back on a sustainable footing when the economic uncertainty surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic recedes. The OBR’s FSR provides important analysis and scenarios which will be used to inform this review, alongside a consideration of the regularly updated population projections provided by the ONS.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is putting contingency plans in place in the event that the covid-19 lockdown continues until (a) summer and (b) autumn 2021.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Throughout this crisis, the government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting business and public services across the UK. To do this, the government has put in place an economic package of support which will provide businesses and individuals with certainty over the coming months, even as measures to prevent further spread of the virus change. The government has spent over £280 billion this year to provide this support.
As measures to control the virus change, it is right that government support should also evolve. Because of this, we continue to take a flexible approach and keep all impacts and policies under review.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential long-term economic effect of mental health issues as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Secretary of State for the Department of Health and Social Care has primary responsibility for considering this issue.
However, at the Spending Review 2020, the Chancellor announced that the NHS will receive around an additional £500 million next year to address waiting times for mental health services, give more people the mental health support they need, and invest in the NHS workforce. This builds on the comprehensive expansion of mental health services as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, which commits at least a further £2.3 billion a year by 2023/24.
In addition, DHSC published ‘Staying mentally well this winter’ in November 2020, backed by an additional £50 million, which sets out the mental health and support available to people throughout the winter period and beyond.
A cross-Government group of ministers, led by the Minister for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health and the Paymaster General, has been established to consider and respond to the longer-term impacts of the pandemic on mental health and wellbeing and will set out its plans in due course.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of the population must be vaccinated for covid-19 before economic support can be lifted.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Throughout this crisis, the government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting business and public services across the UK. To do this, the government has put in place an economic package of support which will provide businesses and individuals with certainty over the coming months, even as measures to prevent further spread of the virus change. The government has spent over £280 billion this year to provide this support.
As measures to control the virus change, it is right that government support should also evolve. Because of this, we continue to take a flexible approach and keep all impacts and policies under review.
Vaccines are a foundation of our way out of this pandemic. As of 29 January, over 7.4 million people across the United Kingdom have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme on the rate of jobs being replaced by automation.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The objective of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is to enable employers to keep people in employment. So far, the CJRS has helped 1.2 million employers to pay the wages of 9.9 million jobs across all sectors of the economy.
Analysis published by HMRC shows that 90 per cent of employees that left the CJRS between April and July were still on their original payroll in August, suggesting they remained working for their original employer. The OBR have also estimated that unemployment would have been higher in the second quarter of 2021 in the absence of the CJRS and other measures.
The Government continues to monitor CJRS take-up, with HMRC's latest official statistics producing analysis of claims split by characteristics including employer size, sector of the economy, geography, age and gender.
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 businesses are (a) lawfully claiming and (b) distributing funds received under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme forms part of a wider national effort to protect people’s jobs. Fraudulent claims put at risk the provision of public services and the protection of livelihoods. This could include employers claiming on an employee’s behalf and not then paying them what they are entitled to, asking employees to do work while on furlough, or making a backdated claim that includes times when workers were working.
As part of HMRC’s commitment to transparency and to deter fraudulent claims, they will publish information about employers who claim for periods starting on or after 1 December 2020. This information can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/employers-who-have-claimed-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme.
Employees can play a vital role by reporting fraudulent claims to HMRC, via their online fraud reporting tool: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/customs-excise-and-vat-fraud-reporting.
Compliance investigations are now under way, and HMRC are checking claims made through this scheme. Payments may be withheld or need to be repaid in full to HMRC if the claim is based on dishonest or inaccurate information or found to be fraudulent.
HMRC have made clear that they will not hesitate to act on reports of abuse, and the first arrest made in relation to CJRS fraud was on 8 July 2020.
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 employees supported through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme are paid the national minimum wage.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Individuals are only entitled to the National Living Wage (NLW)/National Minimum Wage (NMW) for the hours they are working or treated as working under the NLW/NMW rules.
Therefore, under flexible furloughing, furloughed workers will be paid NMW for any hours the individual spends working. For hours not worked, i.e. time furloughed, workers will be paid the lower of 80 per cent of their salary, or £2,500. This amount – for hours not worked – is the amount the employer can claim for through the CJRS.
If they wish, employers can top up these payments voluntarily.
If workers are required to complete training courses during the hours they are furloughed, then they must be paid at least the appropriate 2020/21 NLW/NMW for the time spent training, even if this is more than the 80 per cent of their monthly earnings that will be subsidised. Any training should be carried out in line with the latest public health guidance.