Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what additional funding is being made available to tackle wealth inequality in coastal communities throughout the UK.
Answered by Steve Barclay
This Government will level up every region and nation of the UK, spreading opportunity and ensuring everyone benefits from growth. Coastal communities will benefit from the major investment announced at the Budget, including a share of £5bn to support the rollout of gigabit broadband and the next £5.2bn for flood and coastal defence. This builds on the £3.6bn Towns Fund where 36 coastal communities, including Hartlepool, are eligible for Town Deals as well as support through the Coastal Communities Fund.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support large industrial businesses affected by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by John Glen
A range of measures to support all businesses has been made available. These include the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme, allowing businesses to benefit from loans of up to £5m, with the first 12 months interest free, and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help keep people in employment. This scheme means businesses can put workers on temporary leave and the government will pay them cash grants of 80% of their wages up to a cap of £2,500, providing they keep the worker employed. They will receive the grant from HMRC, and all UK organisations can self-certify that it has furloughed employees. The scheme will cover the cost of wages backdated to 1 March.
Further details of the significant package of financial support for businesses and employees are available at: www.businesssupport.gov.uk
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a universal basic income during the covid-19 crisis.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is doing whatever it can to ensure that individuals, families and businesses are supported during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Government is focusing on measures that can be implemented as quickly as possible. The Government also believes that using existing frameworks for those who need additional support is the quickest and most effective way to do so during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Government announced at Budget and in recent days, a wide-ranging package of measures to support individuals, families and employees affected by Covid-19. These include:
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support self-employed people during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is deferring tax payments, through the Income Tax Self-Assessment (ITSA) and VAT system to help support businesses and the self-employed with cash flows. VAT payments due between now and mid-June will be deferred. No business will have to make a VAT payment to HMRC in that period. Income tax payments due in July 2020 under the Self-Assessment system will be deferred to January 2021, benefitting up to 5.7m self-employed businesses.
The Government has also announced it is delaying the reforms to the off-payroll working rules (IR35) from April 2020 to April 2021 and the reforms will be legislated for in the 2020 Finance Bill. This deferral has been announced in response to the spread of Covid-19, to help businesses and individuals deal with the economic impacts of the pandemic.
The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme is available to self-employed individuals with an eligible business entity. By providing an 80% government guarantee on finance facilities up to £5 million, this scheme will help more businesses access the finance they need. The Government will not charge businesses for this guarantee, and will also cover the first 12 months of interest payments for businesses. For more information on the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme go to: www.British-business-bank.co.uk/CBILS.
The Minimum Income Floor will be temporarily relaxed for all self-employed UC claimants for 1 year from 6 April. This means a drop in earnings due to the economic impacts of Covid-19 will not affect the amount of UC a claimant receives. This goes further than the Budget announcement to temporarily relax the MIF only for claimants who are directly affected by Covid-19, which has already come into effect. For those directly affected or self-isolating, there will be no attendance requirements, and Universal Credit can be claimed online or via phone.
Self-employed people unable to work because they are directly affected by Covid-19 or self-isolating will be eligible for Contributory Employment and Support Allowance. This is now payable from the first day of sickness, rather than the eighth. Eligible claimants under 25 will be entitled to £57.90 per week, and over 25s £73.10 per week.