Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's publication entitled HMT ministers’ overseas travel, published on 21 March 2024, how much of the £15,991 spent on his visit to the USA from 20 to 22 October 2023 was spent on air travel.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government publishes details of Ministerial travel on GOV.UK. As has been the case under successive administrations, the Government does not publish granular detail on Ministers' travel either at home or abroad.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many visits were made by (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) each Minister in his Department to a (i) Government Hub and (ii) ministerial office outside of London in (A) 2022 and (B) 2023.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The information requested is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will meet with the Federation of Wholesale Distributors to discuss the extension of Business Rates Relief to food service wholesalers.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has been in contact with the Federation of Wholesale Distributors and understands the impact that COVID-19 has had on businesses in the sector.
This year the Government has provided an unprecedented business rates holiday for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties due to the direct adverse effects of COVID-19, worth about £10 billion, and has frozen the business rates multiplier for all businesses for 2021-22.
The Government has provided various schemes to support firms, including wholesalers, including Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans, Bounce Back Loans, grants and VAT deferrals.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the eligibility of wholesalers for Local Authority Discretionary Funds.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Treasury has engaged closely with other Departments, including the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy and the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government throughout the design and implementation of grant support for businesses.
Local authorities in England have received £1.6 billion of discretionary funding through the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) to support their local economies and help businesses impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. This funding is for additional business support, to complement the Local Restrictions Support Grant for closed businesses.
We encourage local authorities to use their ARG allocations to set up a discretionary grant scheme using this funding for those businesses who are affected by closures, but which are not legally closed themselves, such as wholesalers. However, local authorities run the application schemes for the ARG, and will have significant discretion when it comes to deciding which businesses receive payments. Businesses should contact their local authorities for more information.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue has been raised from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy in 2020-21 to date; and which programmes and organisations have received funding as a result of that revenue.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC’s October publication of receipts for the year to date shows that the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) has provisionally raised £223m in revenue in 2020-21. Further information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk
There is no formal link between SDIL revenues and individual programmes. However, the Government will continue to invest in supporting public health and tackling obesity, including the Department for Education’s primary sports premium.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much and what proportion of the 2020-21 education budget that resulted from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy will be passed on to departmental budgets for investment in children's health initiatives as part of the 2021-22 Spending Round.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
In 2016 the government announced investment in a number of children’s health initiatives alongside the introduction of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, including doubling the primary sports premium to £320m a year from September 2017, and introducing the National Schools Breakfast Programme from March 2018.
Spending Review 2020 has now concluded and confirmed the Department for Education’s overall budget for 2021-22. The DfE will confirm funding from within that settlement allocated to these schools programmes in 21-22 in due course.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families with children received the £20 per week uplift in Working Tax Credit basic element payments in the North East in each month since that uplift was introduced.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The latest available information on the number of families with children receiving Working Tax Credit at the English regional level is for April 2020. In April 2020, the number of families with children receiving Working Tax Credit in the North East was 40,200.
Information on following months is not readily available. The next update to this publication will provide statistics relating to December 2020 and will be available in January 2021.
Finalised annual information on families with children receiving Working Tax Credits is published once a year and updated each July.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families with children received the £20 per week uplift in Working Tax Credit basic element payments in Washington and Sunderland West constituency in each month since that uplift was introduced.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The latest available information on the number of families with children receiving Working Tax Credit at the English regional level is for April 2020. In April 2020, the number of families with children receiving Working Tax Credit in Washington and Sunderland West was 1,700.
Information on following months is not readily available. The next update to this publication will provide statistics relating to December 2020 and will be available in January 2021.
Finalised annual information on families with children receiving Working Tax Credits is published once a year and updated each July.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what financial support he is providing to Peer2Peer lending platforms.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government monitors the peer-to-peer (P2P) lending sector on an ongoing basis and engages regularly with P2P platforms and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are responsible for the regulation of the sector.
The Government believes that P2P providers deliver innovative forms of finance for both consumers and business, and can provide healthy competition in the financial services market and, as such, is keen to see the sector continue to grow and evolve.
P2P platforms are eligible to access finance under the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), where they can access loans up to £50 million under the latter, depending on the size of the platform. Under CLBILS, borrowers can apply for finance facilities, including overdrafts, of up to £25 million for businesses with a turnover between £45 million and £250 million, and up to £50 million to businesses with a turnover of over £250 million.
Those P2P platforms that facilitate loans to businesses can also apply to become accredited lenders under these schemes. More information on eligibility criteria and registering to become an accredited lender, can be found on the British Business Bank’s website here: https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/ourpartners/coronavirus-business-interruption-loan-scheme-cbils-2/become-a-cbils-accredited-lender/
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to review the purposes for which funds raised under the dormant assets scheme can be committed.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As you may be aware, the Government recently launched a consultation on expanding the dormant assets scheme beyond bank and building society accounts to include a wider range of financial assets. That consultation set out the way that money from dormant assets is distributed, in line with the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008.
The Act specifies that funds in England must be used for causes related to youth, financial capability and inclusion, or social investment. The scheme’s focus on creating impact in these three areas was agreed through a public consultation at its inception. It enables the scheme to create a lasting legacy, driving systemic change to address entrenched social issues and protects this impact from being diluted.
The scheme is based on voluntary industry participation and enjoys widespread support from the banks and building societies who continue to contribute to it. The Government currently has no plans to change how the distribution of dormant assets funding functions. This includes the causes to which the funds are directed.