Covid-19: Gig Economy
Debate between Baroness Goudie and Baroness Penn
Baroness Penn (Con)
My Lords, 95% of those who get half or more of their income from self-employment would qualify for the self-employed scheme. As I have said to noble Lords, for those who do not qualify, it is not the only route of support that the Government are providing. We completely recognise the contribution of those in the arts to our country. That is why we have a specific fund dedicated to supporting cultural recovery.
Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]
My Lords, as part of the seven steps towards fair and decent work with realistic scope for development and fulfilment outlined in the Taylor report, what will the Government do to ensure that this community has an opportunity for training and retraining, particularly in the tech industry?
Baroness Penn (Con)
My Lords, a huge amount of support is going into the Government’s plan for jobs, which has a focus on improving the amount of training and retraining available where people wish to take it up. That support is there. The entire plan is worth around £30 billion and will be in place to help those unable to find work in the current circumstances.
G20: Debt Cancellation
Debate between Baroness Goudie and Baroness Penn
Baroness Penn
Debt relief can be an important route for some countries; however, in terms of UK support, under the heavily indebted poor countries initiative, the UK has written off most of its exposure to low-income developing countries and has since adopted a grant-based financing model. We need to look at all routes of support to these countries during the Covid epidemic.
Baroness Goudie (Lab) [V]
My Lords, for the world as a whole and especially for the G20 countries, the priority at the present time must be for poorer countries to have the resources to combat the pandemic and to do so effectively. To that end, it is essential for these countries to be relieved of debt; a mere postponement of repayment is not enough. Lives must be saved and the spread of the disease must be prevented. Poorer countries must be able to withstand the economic consequences of the pandemic. The United Kingdom must lead the way.
Baroness Penn
My Lords, I feel I have said quite a bit on debt relief and that we may be supportive in future for certain countries, if that is the right route. In terms of the UK’s contribution to support, very little of our support to countries is in the form of debt and we therefore need to look at other routes as well. That is why the UK is spending over £700 million of its ODA funding towards the Covid response, in addition to normal programming, and is the largest contributor in the G20 to global efforts on a vaccine for Covid.