Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2021 to Question 163654 on Housing: Insulation, if his Department will make an estimate of the potential number of leaseholders who may (a) lose their home and (b) declare bankruptcy as a result of the costs of resolving fire safety issues relating to (i) cladding removal, (ii) balcony remediation, (iii) replacing combustible insulation, (iv) replacing missing fire breaks, (v) increased insurance premiums and (vi) waking watches.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
It is not possible to make such assessments. This is because the degree to which any fire safety issues require remedial action that impose costs on leaseholders, will depend on a professional fire risk assessment of individual buildings and the extent to which costs may be met by or recovered from developers, contractors or building warranties. In addition, we are unable to assess the potentially wide range of individual factors (such as job security, levels of mortgage commitment and personal circumstances) which could lead to people either losing their home or declaring bankruptcy due to additional costs.
However, we do recognise the financial pressures being placed on leaseholders through no fault of their own as a result of historic remediation costs. We have been clear that building owners and industry should make buildings safe without passing on costs to leaseholders – and where they have not stepped up, we have stepped in.
The Government is taking the following steps to ease these pressures:
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made on the effect of the severe downturn in the aviation industry due to the covid-19 outbreak on the wider economy.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Before Covid-19, aviation directly contributed at least £22 billion to GDP to the UK economy and supported around half a million jobs. This included the air transport and aerospace sectors, as well as the wider supply chain. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the aviation sector has been one of the worst affected sectors in the UK. Passenger numbers at UK airports fell by 99% at the height of the pandemic. Overall volumes of flight traffic in the UK is currently around 80% below equivalent 2019 levels. The air transport sector’s contribution to the UK economy dropped by 74% in 2020 compared to 2019 and tens of thousands of redundancy notifications have been made. In addition to the direct impact to the UK air transport sector, the wider supply-chain and economy has also been adversely impacted by the severe reduction in air passenger demand, jobs and air connectivity, with impacts on consumer spending and investment across the rest of the economy.
The Department recognises the severe impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on travel, and work continues to understand how best the industry can be supported at this time. The Government is working on a strategic framework for the recovery of the sector. It will explore the return to growth of the aviation sector, and will include consideration of workforce and skills, regional connectivity, noise, innovation and regulation, and consumer issues.
Aviation businesses have access to the unprecedented economic support package that the Chancellor has put in place to help businesses to manage the challenges they are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to this, the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS) opened for applications on 29 January to provide support for eligible commercial airports and ground handlers in England.
Through the Global Travel Taskforce, the Government will work closely with the industry to find ways to safely and gradually ease restrictions on international travel. We will set out more detail on this soon.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the economic effect of the downturn in the aviation industry as a result of the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Before Covid-19, aviation directly contributed at least £22 billion to GDP to the UK economy and supported around half a million jobs. This included the air transport and aerospace sectors, as well as the wider supply chain. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the aviation sector has been one of the worst affected sectors in the UK. Passenger numbers at UK airports fell by 99% at the height of the pandemic. Overall volumes of flight traffic in the UK is currently around 80% below equivalent 2019 levels. The air transport sector’s contribution to the UK economy dropped by 74% in 2020 compared to 2019 and tens of thousands of redundancy notifications have been made. In addition to the direct impact to the UK air transport sector, the wider supply-chain and economy has also been adversely impacted by the severe reduction in air passenger demand, jobs and air connectivity, with impacts on consumer spending and investment across the rest of the economy.
The Department recognises the severe impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on travel, and work continues to understand how best the industry can be supported at this time. The Government is working on a strategic framework for the recovery of the sector. It will explore the return to growth of the aviation sector, and will include consideration of workforce and skills, regional connectivity, noise, innovation and regulation, and consumer issues.
Aviation businesses have access to the unprecedented economic support package that the Chancellor has put in place to help businesses to manage the challenges they are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to this, the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS) opened for applications on 29 January to provide support for eligible commercial airports and ground handlers in England.
Through the Global Travel Taskforce, the Government will work closely with the industry to find ways to safely and gradually ease restrictions on international travel. We will set out more detail on this soon.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Office for National Statistics release, Coronavirus and the impact on output in the UK economy: December 2020, published on 12 February 2021, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits to economic recovery of an aviation recovery package.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Before Covid-19, aviation directly contributed at least £22 billion GDP to the UK economy and supported around half a million jobs. This included the air transport and aerospace sectors, as well as the wider supply chain. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the aviation sector has been one of the worst affected sectors in the UK. Passenger numbers at UK airports fell by 99% at the height of the pandemic. Overall volumes of flight traffic in the UK is currently around 80% below equivalent 2019 levels. The air transport sector’s contribution to the UK economy dropped by 75% in 2020 compared to 2019.
The Department recognises the severe impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on travel, and work continues to understand how best the industry can be supported at this time. The Government is working on a strategic framework for the recovery of the sector. It will explore the return to growth of the aviation sector, and will include consideration of workforce and skills, regional connectivity, noise, innovation and regulation, and consumer issues.
In addition, through the Global Travel Taskforce, the Government will work closely with the industry to find ways to safely and gradually ease restrictions on international travel. We will set out more detail on this soon.
Asked by: Gavin Newlands (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the severe downturn in the aviation industry due to the covid-19 outbreak on the wider economy.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Before Covid-19, aviation directly contributed at least £22 billion to GDP to the UK economy and supported around half a million jobs. This included the air transport and aerospace sectors, as well as the wider supply chain. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the aviation sector has been one of the worst affected sectors in the UK. Passenger numbers at UK airports fell by 99% at the height of the pandemic. Overall volumes of flight traffic in the UK is currently around 80% below equivalent 2019 levels. The air transport sector’s contribution to the UK economy dropped by 74% in 2020 compared to 2019 and tens of thousands of redundancy notifications have been made. In addition to the direct impact to the UK air transport sector, the wider supply-chain and economy has also been adversely impacted by the severe reduction in air passenger demand, jobs and air connectivity, with impacts on consumer spending and investment across the rest of the economy.
The Department recognises the severe impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on travel, and work continues to understand how best the industry can be supported at this time. The Government is working on a strategic framework for the recovery of the sector. It will explore the return to growth of the aviation sector, and will include consideration of workforce and skills, regional connectivity, noise, innovation and regulation, and consumer issues.
Aviation businesses have access to the unprecedented economic support package that the Chancellor has put in place to help businesses to manage the challenges they are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to this, the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS) opened for applications on 29 January to provide support for eligible commercial airports and ground handlers in England.
In addition, through the Global Travel Taskforce, the Government will work closely with the industry to find ways to safely and gradually ease restrictions on international travel. We will set out more detail on this soon.
Asked by: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect on the wider economy of the downturn in the aviation industry as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Before Covid-19, aviation directly contributed at least £22 billion to GDP to the UK economy and supported around half a million jobs. This included the air transport and aerospace sectors, as well as the wider supply chain. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the aviation sector has been one of the worst affected sectors in the UK. Passenger numbers at UK airports fell by 99% at the height of the pandemic. Overall volumes of flight traffic in the UK is currently around 80% below equivalent 2019 levels. The air transport sector’s contribution to the UK economy dropped by 74% in 2020 compared to 2019 and tens of thousands of redundancy notifications have been made. In addition to the direct impact to the UK air transport sector, the wider supply-chain and economy has also been adversely impacted by the severe reduction in air passenger demand, jobs and air connectivity, with impacts on consumer spending and investment across the rest of the economy.
The Department recognises the severe impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on travel, and work continues to understand how best the industry can be supported at this time. The Government is working on a strategic framework for the recovery of the sector. It will explore the return to growth of the aviation sector, and will include consideration of workforce and skills, regional connectivity, noise, innovation and regulation, and consumer issues.
Aviation businesses have access to the unprecedented economic support package that the Chancellor has put in place to help businesses to manage the challenges they are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition to this, the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme (AGOSS) opened for applications on 29 January to provide support for eligible commercial airports and ground handlers in England.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to recent ONS figures showing that air transport companies have contracted by up to 89 per cent in GDP terms since February 2020, what assessment he has made of the potential economic effect of an aviation recovery package.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Before Covid-19, aviation directly contributed at least £22 billion GDP to the UK economy and supported around half a million jobs. This included the air transport and aerospace sectors, as well as the wider supply chain. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the aviation sector has been one of the worst affected sectors in the UK. Passenger numbers at UK airports fell by 99% at the height of the pandemic. Overall volumes of flight traffic in the UK is currently around 80% below equivalent 2019 levels. The air transport sector’s contribution to the UK economy dropped by 75% in 2020 compared to 2019.
The Department recognises the severe impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on travel, and work continues to understand how best the industry can be supported at this time. The Government is working on a strategic framework for the recovery of the sector. It will explore the return to growth of the aviation sector, and will include consideration of workforce and skills, regional connectivity, noise, innovation and regulation, and consumer issues.
In addition, through the Global Travel Taskforce, the Government will work closely with the industry to find ways to safely and gradually ease restrictions on international travel. We will set out more detail on this soon.
Asked by: Stephen Timms (Labour - East Ham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of written complaints to her Department’s Debt Management team were answered within 15 working days in (a) August (b) September (c) October and (d) November 2020.
Answered by Will Quince
The proportion of written complaints answered by Debt Management within 15 working days for the months requested are set out in the table below:
| August | September | October | November |
Proportion of complaints answered by Debt Management within 15 working days | 93% | 88% | 88% | 49% |
It is important to note the caseload of people on UC has increased since March from around 3 million to 5.8 million. Deductions were paused at the height of the pandemic and staff from the Debt Management team were redeployed to process claims. Staff have now returned to their roles, and deductions restarted in a phased way from July 2020.
Therefore the number of complaints received by Debt Management increased during this period. This was due to the increased caseload leading to some customers experiencing difficulties when trying to contact Debt Management by telephone.
Debt Management have put steps in place to address this issue. Firstly, a limit to the number of notifications issued has been set to ensure any resulting contact is manageable. Improvements have been made to the messages customers hear when they call; this will ensure they are made aware of any high call volumes and are also directed to the right place, to help reduce the time spent waiting. This includes directing customers to GOV.UK if they want to make a payment by bank transfer. Debt Management are also recruiting more telephony agents. 90 additional agents have now joined Debt Management and are being trained, and a further 100 will join early in the New Year.
Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the Northern Ireland Executive about the provision of support to the aviation industry in Northern Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government has been working closely with the NI Executive to maintain UK connectivity between Great Britain and Northern Ireland throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thanks to a generous £5.7m financial support package agreed by the Government and the Executive, the air bridge between GB and NI was maintained at the height of disruptions this year, ensuring that critical routes to London from both City of Derry and Belfast City airports remained open to support the movement of key workers within the United Kingdom.
The aviation industry has also been able to draw on the unprecedented package of economic measures the Government has put in place during this time, including a Bank of England scheme for firms to raise capital and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme that facilitates access to finance for businesses affected by the outbreak.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has also been available to support wages during this time. On 5 November, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that workers across the United Kingdom would benefit from increased support with a five-month extension of the CJRS until the end of March 2021, with employees receiving 80% of their current salary for hours not worked.
The Government continues to work closely with the Executive to ensure critical routes remain open.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that children with SEND have an up-to-date Education, Health and Care Plan before returning to school during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Vicky Ford
The temporary changes that were made to two aspects of the law on education, health and care (EHC) needs assessments and plan processes, at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak, have now ceased. Any case started, or in progress, since the temporary changes to timescales for EHC plans expired on 25 September, is now subject to the usual statutory timescales, and all therapies and support that would usually be in place for children with EHC plans should now have been restored.
The Chief Nurse of Public Health England has written to all Directors of Nursing advising that professionals supporting children and families, such as health visitors, school nurses, designated safeguarding officers and nurses supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), should not be redeployed to other services. This ensures ongoing support from health bodies towards making sure that all EHC plan assessments and reviews are up to date.
Alongside this, the department has held frequent conversations with local authority SEND and health leaders since March, to explore the challenges they face and to provide support in undertaking their statutory duties for EHC plans. When local authorities have had a need for a Written Statement of Action, identified through their local area inspection, we have continued to work with them throughout the COVID-19 outbreak on improvement through our team of specialist advisors. Each year we also deliver a training programme to local authorities and health and social care staff, on their statutory duties for EHC plans and reviews, and we have continued to do this on a virtual basis.
In addition, we have started a programme of visits by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission working with local areas to understand the experiences of children and young people with SEND and their families during the COVID-19 outbreak, and to support local areas to prioritise and meet their needs.