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
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 Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if her Department will take steps to help limit the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on international exports from (a) chemical and (b) material plants on Teesside.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We are in unprecedented circumstances. Government is working as a whole to ensure that issues facing business are identified, appropriate action is taken, and the latest government support is signposted.
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
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.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many trees are planned to be planted in Hartlepool constituency in 2020.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
To drive an unprecedented step-change in planting rates and help reach our net zero target we will invest in tree planting with a new Nature for Climate Fund (NCF). A significant proportion of the NCF will help support our commitment to plant 30,000 hectares of trees per year across the UK by 2025.
The Government’s support for woodland creation is predominantly through grant schemes and incentives, these include the recently launched Woodland Carbon Guarantee, in addition to the existing Countryside Stewardship, Woodland Carbon Fund, Woodland Creation Planning Grant and the Urban Tree Challenge Fund. These grants are available to local authorities, land managers and community led organisations wherever they are in the country. We do not have individual targets by constituency. We are working to increase the uptake of grant schemes and strongly encourage eligible organisations to do so.
The Government is consulting on ways to further incentivise land managers and owners to plant more trees. Later this year we will consult on a Tree Strategy for England, designed to set the Government’s future vision for the sector.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to increase recruitment to Cleveland Police.
Answered by Kit Malthouse
In October 2019 Home Office confirmed officer allocations for every force in England and Wales in the first year of the uplift. The Home Office is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council to support all forces deliver these allocations.
Cleveland will receive 72 officers in year one of the uplift. Cleveland Police will receive up to £143.3m in funding in 2020/21 an increase of up to £10.1m on 2019/20.
The recruitment of officers is an operational decision for Chief Constables working with their locally elected Police and Crime Commissioner.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the business rates contribution of Hunterston B Nuclear Power Station has been to its relevant local authority as (a) a raw figure and (b) as a proportion of local authority income in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Department does not hold information on the business rates collected by local authorities from individual ratepayers or in respect of particular properties.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the business rates contribution of Torness Nuclear Power Station has been to its relevant local authority as (a) a raw figure and (b) as a proportion of local authority income in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Department does not hold information on the business rates collected by local authorities from individual ratepayers or in respect of particular properties.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the business rates contribution of Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station has been to its relevant local authority as (a) a raw figure and (b) as a proportion of local authority income in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Department does not hold information on the business rates collected by local authorities from individual ratepayers or in respect of particular properties.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the business rates contribution of Heysham 1 Nuclear Power Station has been to its relevant local authority as (a) a raw figure and (b) as a proportion of local authority income in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Department does not hold information on the business rates collected by local authorities from individual ratepayers or in respect of particular properties.
Asked by: Mike Hill (Labour - Hartlepool)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the business rates contribution of Heysham 2 Nuclear Power Station has been to its relevant local authority as (a) a raw figure and (b) as a percentage of local authority income in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Department does not hold information on the business rates collected by local authorities from individual ratepayers or in respect of particular properties.