Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allocating additional funding to local authorities for the provision of park sporting facilities as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government has provided a comprehensive package of support for councils to help with their response to Covid-19. Over £3.7bn in additional grant funding has been announced for councils in England, which can be used flexibly across all their services, and Sport England have announced a support package of £210 million to help community clubs through this crisis. The Government will continue to work closely with local authorities to monitor the pressures that they are facing.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to return the use of cash to normal safety levels.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises that widespread access to cash is extremely important to the daily lives of millions of people across the UK. The Government is engaging with the financial regulators, including through the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group, to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on the UK’s cash infrastructure and remains committed to protecting access to cash for those who need it, while supporting digital payments.
At the March 2020 Budget, the Chancellor announced that Government will bring forward legislation to protect access to cash and ensure that the UK’s cash infrastructure is sustainable in the long-term. The Government is engaging with regulators and industry while designing legislation, ensuring that the approach reflects the needs of cash users across the economy.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of businesses that will be excluded from the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund due to the exclusion of the event catering industry from the Government's definition of the hospitality industry.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Government does not hold this information.
The Government recognises that this is a very challenging time for businesses in a wide variety of sectors. Small businesses occupying properties for retail, hospitality or leisure purposes are likely to be particularly affected by COVID-19 due to their reliance on customer footfall, and the fact that they are less likely than larger businesses to have sufficient cash reserves to meet their high fixed property-related costs. The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund is intended to help small businesses in this situation.
Local Authorities can choose to make discretionary grants to businesses in other sectors if they feel there is a particular local economic need. However, the priority of all the grants schemes continues to be to help the smallest businesses, and small businesses which are facing significant property-related costs and operate in sectors which have been particularly hard hit by the steep decline in customer footfall.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what amount of heated tobacco product covered by the Tobacco for Heating excise category introduced on 1 July 2019 may be brought into the UK by passengers (a) from the EU and (b) from outside the EU as at (i) 11 July 2019 and (ii) after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Passengers travelling from the EU may bring an unlimited amount of tobacco for heating into the UK without paying duty, provided it is for their own personal use.
Most passengers travelling from outside the EU may bring tobacco for heating products into the UK up to the value of £390. Passengers travelling by private plane or boat are only entitled to an allowance of £270.
The Government’s future approach is subject to the outcome of negotiations with the EU. However, the Government’s aim is to keep processes as close as possible to their current operation.