Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
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, announced on 20 March 2020, in Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency in each month since its introduction.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The latest available information on the number of families with children receiving Working Tax Credit at the parliamentary constituency level is for April 2020. In April 2020, the number of families with children receiving Working Tax Credit in Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency 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.
Final annual information on families with children receiving Working Tax Credits is published once a year and updated each July
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the level of business rates paid by (a) public houses and (b) other businesses with similar turnover.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In March the Chancellor announced a business rates holiday for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, irrespective of rateable value. This means that pubs in England will pay no business rates this year. Combined with Small Business Rates Relief, over 1 million ratepayers will pay no business rates in 2020-21. This is more than half of all properties in England.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of whether newspapers with online subscription fees are passing the savings from the removal of VAT onto their consumers.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government looks to businesses to pass on the benefit to customers and has encouraged them to do so. However, this is ultimately a commercial decision for businesses to make.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance he can provide to people who require support but who are ineligible for the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme as a result of their public sector pension.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government does not provide targeted COVID-19 assistance for people ineligible for the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme as a result of their public sector pension.
The Government has announced unprecedented support for public services, business and workers to protect against the current economic emergency. It has prioritised measures that can be implemented quickly and effectively, and that benefit as many individuals as possible. The Government is committed to ensuring that older people are able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve, and the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people. Since 2010, the State Pension has been uprated by the highest of average earnings growth, price inflation or 2.5%; an approach known as the Triple Lock. Since 2010, the value of the State Pension has increased by £1,903.20 a year. The Government provides other support for older people, such as Winter Fuel Payments, free eye tests and NHS prescriptions, and free bus passes.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that people without access to the internet in their home are not excluded from accessing and completing their tax return online.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Without internet access at home, a taxpayer could use an agent, telephoning through figures for the agent to input online. Alternatively, anyone can call HMRC and request a blank return and complete it manually.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to (a) tackle high care costs faced by people affected by dementia and (b) increase investment in dementia care.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
At the 2019 Spending Review, the Government provided an additional £1bn funding for social care in 2020-21. In addition the Government has committed to urgently seek a cross-party consensus to bring forward proposals and legislation for long-term reform of adult social care.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 7 October 2019 to Question 293443, on Public Sector: Redundancy Pay, what recourse is available to public servants who have not had the waiver system applied to their exit payment and wish to challenge that decision.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The published draft HM Treasury Directions set out circumstances where the power to relax restrictions must be exercised (“mandatory cases”) and may be exercised (“discretionary cases”). In discretionary cases, the relevant delegated authority must submit a business case to the sponsoring department for approval of the Principal Accounting Officer and the relevant Minister before submitting the business case to HM Treasury for approval. In mandatory cases, there is no requirement to send a business case to HM Treasury for approval.
The government is currently considering responses to the consultation and the consultation response will provide more detail in due course.