Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether an employer who has served notice on an employee can leave them on furlough for their notice period and continue to claim a grant under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, an employer can claim for a furloughed employee who is serving a statutory notice period; however, grants cannot be used to substitute for redundancy payments. HMRC will continue to monitor businesses after the scheme has closed.
Further guidance on employee rights and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme can be found on the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to shorten the response time for calls to the COVID-19 helpline for businesses and the self-employed.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
HMRC continue to prioritise COVID-19 schemes. Following Government guidelines, HMRC have reduced their telephony service times to ensure staff safety and to provide greater flexibility with available resource. HMRC have increased the level of availability on their webchat service and provided staff working from home with the technology to answer calls from home. HMRC continue to monitor all call volumes to ensure they have the available resource with the appropriate expertise to meet demand.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether an employer can claim a grant under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for those employees who were furloughed for three weeks prior to 30 June, who have since returned to work full-time, but where the employer wants them to work part-time from 1 July.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
From 1 July 2020, employers can bring back to work employees that have previously been furloughed, for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still being able to claim a CJRS grant for their usual hours not worked. This includes employees who have previously returned to work full-time but where the employer wants them to work part-time from 1 July. From this date, only employees that an employer has successfully claimed a previous grant for will be eligible for more grants under the scheme. This means employees must have previously been furloughed for at least three consecutive weeks taking place any time between 1 March and 30 June 2020.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to issue guidance on whether people previously furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and now back in work full-time can be moved onto flexible furlough.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
From 1 July, employers can bring back to work employees that have been furloughed for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still being able to claim CJRS grant for the hours not worked.
On 12 June, the Government issued public guidance that provided details of how employers can use flexible furloughing.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 20 May (HL4003), whether "until July" indicates that the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will be in place in its current form up to and including 30 June; and whether "after July" indicates that they will introduce more flexibility to the furlough scheme from 1 July.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will remain in its current form until 30 June, with flexible furloughing introduced from 1 July.
From 1 July, employers can bring back to work employees that have previously been furloughed for any amount of time and any shift pattern, while still being able to claim a CJRS grant for their normal hours not worked. From 1 July, employers will also be able to agree any working arrangements with previously furloughed employees.
The scheme will close to new entrants from 30 June, and from 1 July the scheme will only be available to employers that have previously used the scheme in respect of employees they have previously furloughed. From this point onwards, employers will only be able to furlough employees that they have furloughed for a full three-week period prior to 30 June. This means that the final date by which an employer can furlough an employee for the first time was 10 June, in order for the current three-week furlough period to be completed by 30 June.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 26 May (HL4404), what support they will offer those people who have not been furloughed but have taken a voluntary temporary reduction in pay; whether they expect those for have taken voluntary temporary pay reductions to have entered into written agreements with their employers; and if not, what evidence they will require before these people can access any support.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Workers whose earnings fall due to a reduction in their work hours may become eligible for support through the welfare system, including through Universal Credit (UC). Existing UC claimants will normally receive a higher award as a result of a fall in earnings. For employed claimants this will be updated automatically using information from the PAYE system.
The Government has announced a significant package of temporary welfare measures to support those on low incomes through the COVID-19 outbreak, including increasing the UC standard allowance by £20 per week.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that both HMRC and the Treasury agree the wording of ministerial directions before they are issued to (1) avoid confusion, and (2) obviate the need to subsequent corrections.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Treasury has recently issued a number of Directions under Section 76 of the Coronavirus Act 2020. These set out that HMRC are responsible for the payment and management of the amounts paid out under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). These are distinct from Ministerial Directions, which are formal instructions from Ministers to proceed with a spending proposal where the Permanent Secretary has written to their Secretary of State expressing their concerns.
In relation to the recent CJRS and SEISS Treasury Directions, as with all other aspects of tax policy, Treasury and HMRC officials work closely to deliver the priorities of Ministers.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, HMRC will tax the employee on their full salary and not the reduced one if an employer and employee have not entered into a written agreement reducing the employee’s salary before the first reduced payment is made.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The CJRS is available to support employees paid via PAYE across the UK. When an employee has been furloughed, HMRC will tax the furlough salary in accordance with PAYE.
However, in order to be eligible for the grant employers must confirm in writing to their employee that they have been furloughed. If this is done in a way that is consistent with employment law, that consent is valid for the purposes of claiming the CJRS. Collective agreement reached between an employer and a trade union is also acceptable for the purpose of such a claim. There needs to be a written record, but the employee does not have to provide a written response. A record of this communication must be kept for five years.
If the employee has not received written notice confirming they are furloughed, the employee is not considered to be furloughed.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme does not require an employee to sign up to a salary reduction in order for the employer to make a claim for the grant, whether HMRC expect employers and employees to have entered into written agreements either for those who have been furloughed on 80 per cent of their pay or those who are still working but have voluntarily taken a temporary reduction in pay; and, if not, what evidence HMRC will require.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
In order to be eligible for the grant, employers must confirm in writing to their employee that they have been furloughed. If this is done in a way that is consistent with employment law, that consent is valid for the purposes of claiming the CJRS. Collective agreement reached between an employer and a trade union is also acceptable for the purpose of such a claim. There needs to be a written record, but the employee does not have to provide a written response.
Those who have voluntarily taken a reduction in pay and are still working do not meet the eligibility requirements of the CJRS and therefore are not furloughed according to the terms of the scheme.
As the scheme is administered through existing PAYE, the employee does not need to take further action.
Detailed step by step guidance for employers is available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government for how long they plan to keep the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme grant at a rate that covers 80 per cent of wage costs and what plans they have, if any, to lower that rate.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government has extended the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme until October 2020. Extending the scheme in its current form until July will provide workers, businesses and the economy with clarity on this vital support. After July, the Government will introduce more flexibility to the furlough scheme in a measured way that protects people’s incomes and helps support furloughed employees as they return to work. From August through to the end of October, employers currently using the scheme will have more flexibility to bring their furloughed employees back to work part-time while still receiving support from the scheme. Employers using the scheme will start contributing some of the costs of their workers’ salaries, substituting in part the contribution that the Government is currently making. The Government will outline more details of how this will work by the end of May.