Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of how much better off claimants of universal credit will be as a result of the reduction in the taper rate and increase in the work allowance announced in the Autumn Budget 2021.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The government announced at Budget that it is now taking further action to make work pay for low income working households on Universal Credit by allowing them to keep more of what they earn. The changes to Universal Credit will mean that nearly 2 million households will keep, on average, around an extra £1,000 on an annual basis by 1 December. This is effectively a tax cut of around £2.2 billion next year for some of the lowest paid in society.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support families through winter 2021-22.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The Government is committed to supporting families this winter, helping them to meet the cost of living, and ensuring that work continues to pay.
Over the winter, the £500 million Household Support Fund will help vulnerable households with the cost of essentials such as food, clothing and utilities. £421 million of the fund will be distributed through local authorities in England, who are best placed to ensure it reaches those who need it most. This fund builds on the Warm Home Discount, which provides a £140 rebate to help 2.2 million low income households with their energy bills, and the government energy price cap, which has protected around 15 million households on default tariffs, saving them up to £100 a year since 2019.
To further support low income families, we have provided £670m for local authorities to support households struggling with their council tax bills, £140m for Discretionary Housing Payments, and over £200m a year to continue the Holiday Activities and Food Programme. We have also maintained the increase in cash terms to the Local Housing Allowance rates for UC and Housing Benefit claimants in 2021-22.
Alongside these measures we are maintaining our focus on helping people back into work. Work is the best route out of poverty. As a child growing up in a home where all the adults work is around five times less likely to be in poverty than a child growing up in a home where nobody works (before housing costs). As part of the comprehensive Plan for Jobs, the Government announced the Kickstart scheme which has so far created nearly 95,000 jobs for young people at risk of becoming long-term unemployed, and the three year Restart scheme, which provides intensive and tailored support to long-term unemployed Universal Credit claimants across England and Wales.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate his Department has made of the financial effect of Income Tax reductions on the average person in work since 2010.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The Personal Allowance has increased by nearly 50 per cent in real terms in the last decade, ensuring some of the lowest earners do not pay income tax. Compared to 2010-11, a typical basic rate taxpayer will pay over £800 less income tax in 2021-22 in real terms. The Personal Allowance is the highest basic personal tax allowance of all countries in the G20, and it remains one of the most generous internationally.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to reduce VAT on energy bills for families in the UK.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
In recognition of the fact that families should not have to bear all the VAT costs they incur to meet their energy needs, the Government already maintains a reduced rate of 5 per cent VAT on the supply of domestic energy, at a cost of £5 billion per year to the public finances.
Going further would impose additional pressure on the public finances and that cost would have to be balanced by increased taxes elsewhere, or by reductions in Government spending.
The Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is is taking to support people who have been unable to access the Government's covid-19 financial support schemes to date.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Throughout this crisis, the Government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting businesses and public services across the UK, putting in place an economic package of support worth over £280 billion this year. These support measures are carefully designed to complement each other to ensure jobs and livelihoods are protected. Support is targeted to make sure public funds are used responsibly, helping those who need it most as quickly as possible, while minimising fraud risk. The Government has engaged closely with proposals put forward by stakeholder groups, and will continue to do so.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the increased national insurance threshold on the cost of living for residents of (a) Harlow constituency and (b) the UK.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In April 2020 the Government increased the Primary Threshold (PT) and the Lower Profits Limit (LPL), the point at which employees and the self-employed start paying the main rate of National Insurance contributions, by over £850 to £9,500. While HM Treasury does not publish tax information at constituency level, at the national level this was a tax cut for 31 million working people, saving the typical employee about £104 and a typical self-employed person about £78 in 2020/21. From April 2021, the PT/LPL will increase to £9,568.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to reduce the cost of living for people experiencing economic hardship.
Answered by Steve Barclay
The Government has announced wide-ranging support for people at risk of experiencing economic hardship, including: income support schemes, mortgage holidays, extra support for renters, additional support through the welfare system worth £7.4 billion in 2020-21, a £500 million local authority hardship fund to help people with their council tax bills, a £170 million Covid Winter Grant Scheme to support families with the cost of food and bills, help with utility bills, and £500 payments to support low income individuals to self-isolate under NHS Test and Trace.
As the Government has done throughout this crisis, we will continue to consider how best to support people as the public health and economic contexts develop.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal support he has made available to help small businesses in Harlow in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Throughout this crisis, the Government has sought to support businesses, jobs and public services up and down the UK. That is why it has spent over £280 billion to make a package of support available for businesses which has included billions in wage support, loans, tax deferrals, Business Rate reliefs and sector-specific grants.
Following the implementation of the latest national lockdown in January, the Government announced additional funding for businesses worth £4.6 billion across the UK. This includes a £500m payment to local authorities, to top up their allocation from the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), which has already provided local authorities with £1.1 billion.
This funding will ensure that local authorities can provide discretionary grants to businesses which are not eligible for the Local Restrictions Support Grants, but which are nonetheless experiencing a severe impact on their business due to the national lockdown. These businesses may also be eligible for further aspects of our generous support package outlined above.
We remain 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.
Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to extend the mortgage holiday.
Answered by John Glen
We have extended the period that borrowers can apply for a mortgage holiday to support all homeowners in financial distress. Mortgage borrowers who have not yet taken a payment holiday are able to take a payment holiday for up to six months. Borrowers who have taken an initial payment holiday can top this up to six months. The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) guidance released on 17 November sets out that mortgage holidays (up to a maximum of 6 months) will remain an option for borrowers until 31 March 2021. However, the FCA guidance also notes that all payment holidays will need to end by 31 July 2021.
For borrowers that have already taken a full six months payment holiday, the FCA’s guidance sets out that firms should continue to provide support through tailored forbearance options for those borrowers that are facing ongoing financial difficulties. This could include granting new mortgage payment holidays.