Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether an agency worker that was not a live assignment but was on the payroll of an agency on 19 March 2020 qualifies for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
An agency worker that was not on a live assignment but was on the payroll may qualify for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, provided other eligibility criteria are met; in particular, that the employee was included on an RTI submission on or before 19 March 2020 which relates to a payment of earnings in the 2019/20 tax year. It is for the agency to decide whether to offer to furlough a worker.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications have been made to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme in each region of the UK.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Applications for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) opened on Monday 20th April.
This is a new scheme and HMRC are currently working through the analysis they will be able to provide based on the data available. HMRC will make the timescales for publication and the types of data available in due course.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department holds data on the number of applications by region made to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme after the eligibility date was extended to 19 March 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Applications for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) opened on Monday 20th April.
This is a new scheme and HMRC are currently working through the analysis they will be able to provide based on the data available. HMRC will make the timescales for publication and the types of data available in due course.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps his Department has taken to provide support to mortgage prisoners.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with many organisations in the public and private sectors on a variety of issues. The Treasury is discussing the issue of mortgage prisoners with consumer groups, mortgage lenders, the Financial Conduct Authority and UK Finance.
A mortgage prisoner is defined by the FCA as an existing customer that may be experiencing harm because they are unable to switch to a better deal. The Government is aware that these borrowers have been in a difficult and stressful situation. That is why we have worked closely with the FCA to implement their rule change to remove the regulatory barrier that has prevented some customers from switching.
Lenders are currently making the necessary adjustments and system changes to enable them to use the modified affordability assessment for borrowers looking to re-mortgage. We expect lenders to start offering these borrowers products using the new rules in Q2 2020.
I have written to Stephen Jones, Chief Executive Officer of UK Finance, to outline my expectation that as many of its members as possible should move quickly to offer new deals to borrowers that are eligible to switch under the new FCA rules.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with representatives from the (a) Financial Conduct Authority and (b) UK Finance on mortgage prisoners.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with many organisations in the public and private sectors on a variety of issues. The Treasury is discussing the issue of mortgage prisoners with consumer groups, mortgage lenders, the Financial Conduct Authority and UK Finance.
A mortgage prisoner is defined by the FCA as an existing customer that may be experiencing harm because they are unable to switch to a better deal. The Government is aware that these borrowers have been in a difficult and stressful situation. That is why we have worked closely with the FCA to implement their rule change to remove the regulatory barrier that has prevented some customers from switching.
Lenders are currently making the necessary adjustments and system changes to enable them to use the modified affordability assessment for borrowers looking to re-mortgage. We expect lenders to start offering these borrowers products using the new rules in Q2 2020.
I have written to Stephen Jones, Chief Executive Officer of UK Finance, to outline my expectation that as many of its members as possible should move quickly to offer new deals to borrowers that are eligible to switch under the new FCA rules.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Help to Buy ISAs were opened in (a) Barnsley East constituency, (b) Yorkshire and Humber and (c) England.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
We do not collect regional data for Help to Buy ISA account openings, therefore cannot confirm the amount of accounts opened specifically in those areas. However, as of June 2019, 1.6 million Help to Buy ISAs have been opened. 339,747 bonuses have been claimed throughout the UK, including (a) 645 in Barnsley East, (b) 34,192 in Yorkshire and Humber, and (c) 259,506 in England.
Further regional data about bonuses claimed under the Help to Buy ISA scheme, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/official-statistics-on-the-help-to-buy-isa-scheme
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's 10 April 2019 press release entitled Six-figure taxpayer-funded public sector exit payments to end, (a) how many exit payments of more than £100,000 were made by each public sector employer and (b) what the value was of each payment by each employer in 2016-17.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Data on the number of exit payments made by public sector employers is publicly available in their accounts and reports. The table attached consolidates data which has been published in accounts for the reporting year 2016-17. It contains the number of exit payments made by public sector employers amounting to over £100,000. We do not hold data on the individual value of each exit payment, however the sum of exit payments over £100,000 has been provided.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Six-figure taxpayer-funded public sector exit payments to end published on 10 April 2019, (a) how many exit payments were made by each public sector employer and (b) what the value of those exit payments was by employer in the latest period for which for which data figures are available.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Data on the number of exit payments made by public sector employers is available publicly in their annual accounts and reports. The table attached consolidates this information and contains the number of exit payments made by public sector employers and the total amount of these exit payments.
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money has been raised through the apprenticeship levy in each month since its introduction.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Monthly receipts data for the Apprenticeship Levy is published by HM Revenue & Customs in their Tax & NIC Receipts publication which can be found online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk
A condensed version of the relevant table has been copied below:
HM Revenue and Customs receipts
| Year | Apprenticeship Levy |
| May-17 | 162 |
| Jun-17 | 198 |
| Jul-17 | 211 |
| Aug-17 | 210 |
| Sep-17 | 206 |
| Oct-17 | 207 |
| Nov17 | 208 |
| Dec-17 | 176 |
| Jan-18 | 252 |
| Feb-18 | 218 |
| Mar-18 | 223 |
| Apr-18 | 278 |
| May-18 | 228 |
| Jun-18 | 212 |
| Jul-18 | 220 |
| Aug-18 | 228 |
| Sep-18 | 213 |
| Oct-18 | 218 |
| Nov-18 | 219 |
| Dec-18 | 213 |
| Jan-19 | 233 |
| Feb-19 | 227 |
Amounts : £ million
Asked by: Stephanie Peacock (Labour - Barnsley East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.60 of the Budget 2018 Red Book, whether the funding for state-funded schools to cover pension costs will be allocated from the £4.7bn extra DEL in the reserve for 2019-20.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Additional funds will be allocated to the Department for Education to meet the proportion of the expected £4.7 billion in additional pension costs that falls to them. The Department for Education are proposing to provide state-funded schools with funding to cover their additional pensions costs for the rest of this Spending Review period.