Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of rising prices of gluten-free products on people with coeliac disease.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Since being appointed on 14 October, the Chancellor has regularly discussed with Cabinet colleagues the cost of living challenge.
The UK Government continues to monitor prices closely using the Consumer Prices Index and to work with industry to promote transparency for consumers.
Staple gluten free items remain available on NHS prescription to people with coeliac disease.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of permanently reducing the rate of VAT for (a) food and (b) beverages on (i) pubs and (ii) the wider hospitality industry in City of Durham constituency.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The VAT reduced rate for the hospitality sector was a temporary measure designed to support the cash flow and viability of sectors that have been severely affected by COVID-19. It was appropriate that as restrictions were lifted and demand for goods and services in these sectors increased, the temporary tax reliefs were first reduced and then removed in order to rebuild and strengthen the public finances.
According to OBR forecasts, VAT will have raised approximately £135 billion in 2021/22, helping to fund key spending priorities such as important public services, including the NHS and policing. In addition, this request should be viewed in the context of over £50 billion of requests for relief from VAT received since the EU referendum.
While there are no plans to reduce the rate of VAT on food, beverages, pubs or the wider hospitality industry, the Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether an individual can decline the £200 Energy Bills Rebate.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
All domestic electricity customers in Great Britain will receive a £200 reduction in their electricity costs from this October. This will be delivered via energy suppliers and will be clearly identifiable as a line item on electricity bills.
The reduction in costs will help people with the increase in energy bills by spreading the increased costs over a few years, so they are more manageable for households.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the finding of Scope and the Disabled Children’s Partnership’s report entitled The Gap Widens, published in October 2021, that there is a £2.1 billion funding gap in disabled children’s health and social care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education, ahead of the upcoming Spending Review, on tackling unmet need in disabled children’s health and care services.
Answered by Simon Clarke
HM Treasury Ministers and officials regularly meet with other government departments and a range of stakeholders, which includes discussions around support for children.
The government has to date provided the NHS with over £32 billion to support its response to and recovery from COVID-19, which includes the provision of healthcare services to disabled children. This is part of the overall £97 billion support for health services since the start of the pandemic.
The government has also given over £6 billion in un-ringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures, including children’s services. At last year’s Spending Review, the government provided councils with access to over £1 billion of spending for social care through £300 million of new social care grant and the ability to introduce a 3% adult social care precept. This funding was additional to the £1 billion social care grant announced in 2019 which was maintained in line with the government's manifesto.
HM Treasury will continue to work with other government departments, including the Department for Health and Social Care, Department for Education and Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, to ensure the Spending Review reflects the requirements of children’s health and care services in the longer term.
Asked by: Mary Kelly Foy (Labour - City of Durham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to extend the small business grant funding of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief to charities in receipt of charity rate relief.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has provided a comprehensive, coordinated and coherent package of measures to support all businesses through this period of disruption caused by COVID-19, including one-off grants for small businesses that pay little or no business rates because of small business rate relief or rural rate relief, to help meet their continuing business costs.
Charities operating in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will also benefit from the business rates holiday for these sectors, and grant funding for properties with a rateable value below £51,000.
On 8 April, the Chancellor announced a £750m support package for charities providing key services and supporting vulnerable people during the COVID-19 crisis. £360m will be allocated by central government to charities in England based on evidence of service need. This will include up to £200m support for hospices, with the rest going to organisations such as the St John Ambulance and the Citizens Advice Bureau, as well as charities supporting vulnerable children, victims of domestic abuse, or disabled people. £370m will support smaller, local charities working with vulnerable people.
Charities will also be able to benefit from the range of other measures to support all businesses, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.