Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the rate of Alcohol Duty on spirits on the growth of small distilleries.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government keeps alcohol duties under review and the impact of spirits duty is considered carefully at each fiscal event, including its effects on small producers. The Government is also reviewing small producer reliefs more generally through its alcohol duty review. Further information on the progress of the review will be provided in due course
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to extend the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme to (a) people who previously did not qualify and (b) people who have become self-employed within the last two years.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Throughout the crisis, the Government’s priority has been to protect lives and livelihoods. The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) was designed to target support at those who most need it, while protecting the Exchequer against error, fraud, and abuse.
The Government has sought to improve and extend the scheme where possible, for example by amending eligibility conditions to enable self-employed parents who did not submit a tax return for 2018-19, or whose trading profits in 2018-19 were less than their other income because they were pregnant or taking time out of their trade to care for their new-born child, to claim for a grant.
The Government does recognise that some of the rules, criteria and conditions that were vital to ensuring that the SEISS worked for the vast majority, meant that some people did not qualify. However, as the National Audit Office report acknowledged, the Government was right to introduce the SEISS, which has been successful in helping to support millions of self-employed individuals and is just one element of a wider £280 billion package of support.
Those ineligible for the SEISS may still be eligible for other elements of the support available, including increased levels of Universal Credit, Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the economic effect on the hospitality sector of the reduced rate of VAT for customers and businesses in that sector.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The temporary reduced rate of VAT (five per cent) was introduced to support the cash flow and viability of over 150,000 businesses and protect 2.4 million jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors. This relief comes at an estimated cost to Government of over £2 billion and is therefore expected to have benefited the sector by reducing its VAT liabilities by this amount.
The Government keeps all taxes under review, and any future decisions on tax policy will be made at Budget.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to provide financial support to parents of school children unable to work as a result of a young child being required to self-isolate, but who have not themselves been asked to self-isolate.
Answered by Steve Barclay
The Government has committed to an unprecedented package to support individuals through this difficult time. This includes the introduction of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, as well as the injection of an additional £9.3bn 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 Statutory Sick Pay (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. We have made it easier for people to claim by removing the seven-day waiting period which means people can get support from day one.
In terms of wider support, the Chancellor has recently announced that the CJRS will be extended until the end of March 2021. We have strived to ensure that the CJRS can be accessed by as many people as possible. All employers with a UK bank account and a PAYE payroll scheme that was registered on or before 30th October can claim, whilst employees are required to have been employed and on an employer’s PAYE payroll on 30th October 2020. Any employee who meets this eligibility criteria can be furloughed by their employer.
Parents on lower incomes can also benefit from the Government’s wider changes to the welfare system to support the most vulnerable. According to the latest OBR estimates, we have injected over £9.3bn of support into the wider welfare system. These changes include: a £20 per week increase to the UC standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1bn increase in support for renters through increases to the Local Housing Allowance rates for UC and Housing Benefit claimants.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a dedicated long-term supply chain investment fund to support UK supply chain companies.
Answered by John Glen
Ensuring that healthy businesses, especially SMEs, have enough working capital will be vital to our economic recovery. That is why the government has introduced a range of interventions to support firms directly. Including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan (CBILS) and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), both of which target SMEs specifically. As of 21 June, over 920,000 facilities with a value of around £26bn and over 50,000 facilities worth £10.5bn have been approved under BBLS and CBILS respectively.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the business rates holiday for the retail, leisure and hospitality sectors to the manufacturing sector.
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 manufacturers, has also been made available.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
What fiscal steps he is taking to improve broadband connections in rural communities.
Answered by Rishi Sunak
We want to deliver gigabit-capable broadband across the country as soon as possible.
We have already committed over £1 billion to support the rollout of next-generation digital infrastructure, and, at Conference, the Chancellor announced an ambition to invest £5bn to support gigabit broadband rollout in the hardest to reach areas.
We will set out further details of our approach in our National Infrastructure Strategy later this year.