Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to support people who are paid a substantial part of their income via commission and have lost that income as a result of the covid-19 outbreak where that income is not covered as part of the calculation for payments under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The objective of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is to enable employers to keep people in employment. To achieve this, the grants compensate employers for the payments that they are contractually obliged to make, in order to avoid the need for redundancies. Covering discretionary payments, for example commission, would go beyond the objectives of the scheme.
The Government recognises that for some employees, the pay in scope for this emergency grant package will be less than the overall sum they usually receive. The Government is supporting people on low incomes who need to rely on the welfare system through a significant package of temporary measures. This includes a £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1 billion increase in support for renters through increases to the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants. These changes will benefit new and existing claimants. Anyone can check their eligibility and apply for Universal Credit by visiting https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have received support through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme in (a) Cardiff and (b) Vale of Glamorgan in each week since that scheme commenced; and how much has been paid out to those claimants during that period.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Applications for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) opened on Monday 20th April. By close 11 May 2020, 935,000 employers had submitted claims to HMRC representing 7.5m furloughed employments and £10.1bn. 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: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to provide support in the form of loans to the steel sector during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
Since the outbreak, the government has announced a comprehensive package of support for businesses and workers to protect them against the current economic emergency. The Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme will provide a government guarantee of 80% to enable banks to make loans up to £25m to viable firms with a turnover of between £45m and £250m per annum, and loans of up to £50m to viable firms with a turnover over £250m.
This support complements the unprecedented help available for businesses including the CCFF, tax deferrals, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and covering the cost of statutory sick pay. These measures have also resulted in more than £6.8 billion of funding being allocated to the devolved administrations to deal with Covid 19.
Prior to Covid 19, the government had already begun to take wide-ranging action to support the UK steel industry, including compensation for energy costs, supporting innovation and clean steel production – through the £315m Industrial Energy Transformation Fund and £250m Clean Steel Fund, and working with the industry to introduce steel procurement guidance.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to (a) fully or (b) partially extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for the (i) theatre, (ii) sporting and (iii) leisure sectors in the event that those sectors are required to remain closed for a longer period than others as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Chancellor has made clear that he will extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme if necessary. The Government will keep the length of the scheme under review, engaging with businesses and representatives. There are a variety of factors that will need to be considered, including public health guidance and the longer-term economic recovery.
The Government’s decision on when and how to close down the CJRS will be based on all available evidence. The Government will ensure the approach is coherent with any necessary non-pharmaceutical interventions, while also considering the status of the economy, the affordability of the scheme, and the need to provide certainty to employers and employees.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the consequential funding is for Wales as a result of the announcement of 8 April 2020 of £750 million for charities, voluntary sector organisations and the social enterprise sector; and on what date that funding was confirmed to the Welsh Government.
Answered by Steve Barclay
The UK government is applying the Barnett formula in the normal way to the additional funding for charities announced by the Chancellor.
The devolved administrations are receiving £60 million as a result of funding provided to the National Lottery Communities Fund from the charities pot. This means £30m for the Scottish Government, £18m for the Welsh Government and £10m for the Northern Ireland Executive, as confirmed on the day of the announcement.
Further Barnett allocations will be provided in relation to the £360m direct grant pot. The UK government has agreed to provide Hospices UK with up to £200m from this pot to support hospices in England. The devolved administrations will therefore receive up to £38m in Barnett consequentials on this element of the pot. This means up to £19m for the Scottish Government, £12m for the Welsh Government and £7m for the Northern Ireland Executive. Further consequentials are dependent on the final proposals funded from this pot so will be communicated shortly.
The UK government has so far announced almost £7 billion in Covid-19 Barnett consequentials to the devolved administrations to support people, business and public services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.