Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department plans to respond to correspondence of (a) 7 July 2023 and (b) 8 August 2023 from the hon. Member for Bolton South East, case reference YQ28262.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) received this correspondence on 20 July and 11 August 2023. They apologise for the delay in replying which has been due to a system error with their digital mail service.
HMRC telephoned the Honourable Member’s office on 08 September 2023 to discuss the correspondence and to provide an update on their investigations.
They aim to reply as quickly as possible and by 18 September 2023.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the (a) potential merits and (b) impact of a 15p reduction in fuel duty.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
At Spring Statement 2022 in response to fuel prices reaching record levels, the government announced a temporary 12-month cut to duty on petrol and diesel of 5p per litre.
This is the largest cash-terms cut across all fuel duty rates at once, ever, and is only the second time in 20 years that main rates of petrol and diesel have been cut. This cut represents savings for households and businesses worth around £2.4 billion in 2022-23.
All taxes, including fuel duty, remain under review.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his planned timetable is for bringing forward legislative proposals to protect access to cash, announced in March 2020.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recognises that cash remains an important part of daily life for millions of people across the UK, and remains committed to legislating to protect access to cash.
From 1 July to 23 September last year, the Government held the Access to Cash Consultation on further proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash. The Government’s proposals intend to support the continued use of cash in people’s daily lives and help to enable local businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they can access deposit facilities.
The Government received responses to the consultation from a broad range of respondents, including individuals, businesses, and charities. The Government has carefully considered responses to the consultation and will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the proportion of the £150 rebate to people in category A to D council tax bands that will be lost by the average household as a result of April 2022's council tax increases; and whether he has made an assessment of alternative approaches to delivering that support.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The council tax rebate will be administered by local authorities as a £150 payment to families to help ease cost of living pressures. All households that are eligible for the rebate will receive the payment in full, including households in bands A-D who do not pay council tax due to receipt of Local Council Tax Support. The use of the council tax system enables support to be provided quickly to a large number of households.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will put on hold the 11th session of the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue in the context of the conclusions of the Uyghur Tribunal that the Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims are subject to human rights abuses and Crimes Against Humanity.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The UK has led international efforts to hold China to account for its human rights violations in Xinjiang at the UN. We have imposed sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, on senior Chinese officials and taken steps to help ensure that no UK organisations are complicit in these violations through their supply chains.
However, we can also pursue an economic relationship with China in a safe, mutually beneficial way without compromising our values. UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogues (EFDs) provide a key mechanism for doing this. We have always been clear that our economic relationship does not come at the expense of human rights, and where we have concerns, we will continue to speak out and act.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a Jubilee Fund to provide grants to pay off and cancel unavoidable debt accrued by the poorest households during the covid-19 lockdown period.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government has put in place an unprecedented package of support to help people during the COVID-19 pandemic, protecting livelihoods with the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and temporary welfare measures.
The Government has also worked with mortgage lenders, credit providers and the Financial Conduct Authority to help people manage their finances with payment holidays, and has taken unprecedented action to support renters, ensuring that no-one has been forced from their home during lockdown.
However, the Government recognises that the full impact of COVID19 on people’s personal finances is still unfolding and that some are struggling at this challenging time. To help people in problem debt get their finances back on track, the Government has agreed to maintain record levels of debt advice funding for the Money and Pension Service in 2021-22, bringing the budget for free debt advice in England to £94.6 million. This is more than a 70% increase since 2019-20 and reflects the Government’s commitment to ensure that appropriate support is available for people in problem debt; enabling an additional 1 million people in England to get free-to-client debt advice.
In addition to this, the Breathing Space scheme has now been launched in England and Wales. The scheme will offer people in problem debt a pause of up to 60 days on most enforcement action, interest, fees and charges, and will encourage them to seek professional debt advice.
The Government regularly engages with a wide range of stakeholders to assess the merits of new policy proposals and ideas. A key consideration for the Government is that it is keen to ensure it is fair to people who pay their bills on time, whilst taking a supportive but proportionate approach to those who are not able to. The Government believes that a Jubilee fund to provide grants to write-off debts accrued as a result of COVID-19 would not be a proportionate solution that delivers this fairness.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide urgent financial support to taxi drivers at risk of having their vehicle repossessed.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The government has provided an unprecedented package of support for individuals through the pandemic. The majority of taxi drivers are self-employed and so may have been able to benefit from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), which was extended at Budget, through a fourth and fifth grant, until September.
Taxi drivers are amongst the 1.5 million businesses that have accessed the Bounce Back Loan scheme over the past 11 months, which has provided facilities totalling £46.5billion. Taxi drivers experiencing hardship can also apply to the Recovery Loan Scheme, launched earlier this month, which maintains a generous 80% guarantee to ensure lenders continue to have the confidence to lend.
Beyond these schemes, taxi drivers may be able to access other elements of support, including continuation of the uplift in Universal Credit, rental support, mortgage holidays, enhanced Time to Pay for taxes, VAT cuts and deferrals, and other business support grants. At the budget, an extra £425 million business grant funding was announced, on top of the £1.6 billion already allocated, for local authorities to use at their discretion to support local businesses not eligible for Restart Grants, but nonetheless experiencing severe impacts on their business. The taxi and private hire sector may be able to benefit from these recently extended schemes.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will announce a long term funding settlement for fire and rescue services in Budget 2021.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The 2020 Spending Review increased funding for fire services across local authorities in line with inflation, building on the 2019 Spending Round where standalone Fire and Rescue Services (FRAs) received an increase in their core spending power of 3.2 per cent in cash terms. We will consider long-term funding for fire and rescue services at the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what level of financial support he has allocated to Bolton in response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Throughout this crisis, the government has sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting businesses and public services across the UK, including in Bolton. To do this, the government has put in place an economic package of support which will provide businesses and individuals with certainty over the coming months, even as measures to prevent further spread of the virus change. The government has spent over £280 billion this year to provide this support.
Businesses in Bolton which are forced to close can claim grants of up to £3,000 per month, based on their rateable value, through the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Closed). They can also claim a one-off grant of up to £9,000, in addition to the monthly grant. Businesses in Bolton which are not able to receive these grants for closed businesses may be able to benefit from the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG). We recently increased the funding available under this scheme to £1.6 billion across England. It is up to each local authority to determine eligibility for this scheme based on their assessment of local economic need; however, we encourage local authorities to support businesses which have been impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, but which are ineligible for the other grant schemes.
In addition to funding for these grant schemes, local authorities in Bolton which were subject to enhanced restrictions on socialising (such as a ban on indoor household mixing) between 1 August and 5 November, and between 2 December and 5 January, will have received funding from the Local Restrictions Support Grant (Open) scheme to enable them to make backdated grants to hospitality, leisure, and accommodation businesses worth 70% of the monthly grants for closed businesses.
Businesses are also able to access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), which was introduced to help employers whose operations have been affected by COVID-19 retain their employees and protect the UK economy. All businesses across the UK can access the scheme, which will run until the end of April 2021, with employees receiving 80% of their usual salary for hours not worked, up to £2,500 per month. As at 31 December, provisional statistics show that there were about 15,300 employments furloughed in Bolton North East, Bolton South East, and Bolton West, representing a roughly 12% takeup rate among eligible employments.
Businesses across the UK have also received billions in loans, tax deferrals, Business Rates relief, and general and sector-specific grants. Individuals and families have benefited from increased welfare payments, enhanced Statutory Sick Pay, a stay on repossession proceedings and mortgage holidays.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to help protect homeowners who have exhausted the six-month mortgage payment holiday from having their homes repossessed.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
For borrowers that have already taken a full six months payment holiday and who continue to face ongoing financial difficulties, the FCA’s guidance sets out that firms should continue to provide support through tailored forbearance options. This could include granting new mortgage payment holidays. As part of this guidance any forbearance granted beyond six months of payment holidays will be reflected on the consumer’s credit file in the usual manner. As borrowers still requiring assistance after that point could be in serious financial distress the FCA believe it is right that lenders are able to understand their financial position in order to lend responsibly.
We understand this remains an uncertain time, and to reassure homeowners the period that lenders cannot repossess homes for has been extended. The FCA’s guidance released on 17 November sets out that lenders cannot issue a warrant for repossession until after 31 January 2021.