Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Prime Minister, what discussions he had on the death of George Floyd during his phone call with the President of the United States on 29 May 2020.
Answered by Boris Johnson
Details of my telephone call with President Trump can be found on the gov.uk website.
As I have said, I was appalled and sickened to see what happened to George Floyd. Racism and racist violence has no place in our society. This country has made huge strides. But there is so much more to do – in eradicating prejudice, and creating opportunity, and the government I lead is committed to that effort.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to review the £50,000 cap on earnings in respect of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), including the £50,000 threshold, is designed to target those most in need, and who are most reliant on their self-employment income. Some 95 per cent of people who receive the majority of their income from self-employment could benefit from this scheme.
The self-employed are a very diverse population. They have a wide mix of turnover and profits, with monthly and annual variations even in normal times. Some may see their profits unaffected by the current situation, while others have substantial alternative forms of income: for example, those who had more than £50,000 from self-employment profits in 2017-18 had an average total income of more than £200,000. The self-employed can also offset losses against profits in other years and other forms of income.
Those with average profits above £50,000 may still benefit from other support. Individuals may have access to a range of grants and loans depending on their circumstances, and the SEISS supplements the significant support already announced for UK businesses, including the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the deferral of tax payments. More information about the full range of business support measures is available at www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support/.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of implementing business rate relief for airports.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has provided enhanced support to the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors through business rates relief given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors.
A range of further measures to support all businesses, including airports, has also been made available. For example, the Government has launched the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help firms keep people in employment, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5 million for SMEs through the British Business Bank backed by an 80% Government guarantee, and is deferring VAT payments for this quarter.
The Government will consider any further financial assistance necessary to help businesses get through this period.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2020 to Question 28573 on Red Diesel, what discussions he has had with representatives of the Local Government Association on the potential effect of changes to the tax treatment of red diesel on local government.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
To help the Government tackle climate change and improve the UK’s air quality, the Chancellor announced at Budget 2020 that the Government will remove the entitlement to use red diesel from April 2022, except in agriculture, fish farming, rail and non-commercial heating (including domestic heating). This change is designed to incentivise users of polluting fuels in both the public and private sector to improve the energy efficiency of their vehicles and machinery or look for greener alternatives.
The Government recognises that these changes to the tax treatment of red diesel may affect some public sector bodies, such as local government, and will therefore engage with them closely later this year as part of its consultation on these changes. While the Government expects them to reduce diesel consumption, the Treasury will discuss pressures that arise with affected departments as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review scheduled for later this year.
As set out in the policy costings document published alongside Budget 2020, the red diesel costing accounts for an increase in the overall resource spending envelope of £150 million per annum departmental spending to account for the fact that part of the costs of the policy will fall upon the public sector.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2020 to Question 28573 in Red Diesel, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the potential effect of changes to the tax treatment of red diesel on local government.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
To help the Government tackle climate change and improve the UK’s air quality, the Chancellor announced at Budget 2020 that the Government will remove the entitlement to use red diesel from April 2022, except in agriculture, fish farming, rail and non-commercial heating (including domestic heating). This change is designed to incentivise users of polluting fuels in both the public and private sector to improve the energy efficiency of their vehicles and machinery or look for greener alternatives.
The Government recognises that these changes to the tax treatment of red diesel may affect some public sector bodies, such as local government, and will therefore engage with them closely later this year as part of its consultation on these changes. While the Government expects them to reduce diesel consumption, the Treasury will discuss pressures that arise with affected departments as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review scheduled for later this year.
As set out in the policy costings document published alongside Budget 2020, the red diesel costing accounts for an increase in the overall resource spending envelope of £150 million per annum departmental spending to account for the fact that part of the costs of the policy will fall upon the public sector.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.247 on page 63 of the Budget 2020 Red Book and pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2020 to Question 28573 on Red Diesel; what discussions has he had with representatives of the Local Government Association on the potential effect on local government of the removal of the entitlement to use red diesel from April 2022.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
To help the Government tackle climate change and improve the UK’s air quality, the Chancellor announced at Budget 2020 that the Government will remove the entitlement to use red diesel from April 2022, except in agriculture, fish farming, rail and non-commercial heating (including domestic heating). This change is designed to incentivise users of polluting fuels in both the public and private sector to improve the energy efficiency of their vehicles and machinery or look for greener alternatives.
The Government recognises that these changes to the tax treatment of red diesel may affect some public sector bodies, such as local government, and will therefore engage with them closely later this year as part of its consultation on these changes. While the Government expects them to reduce diesel consumption, the Treasury will discuss pressures that arise with affected departments as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review scheduled for later this year.
As set out in the policy costings document published alongside Budget 2020, the red diesel costing accounts for an increase in the overall resource spending envelope of £150 million per annum departmental spending to account for the fact that part of the costs of the policy will fall upon the public sector.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.247 on page 63 of the Budget 2020 Red Book, what assessment his Department has made of potential effect of the removal of the entitlement to use red diesel from April 2022 on local government.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
At Budget 2020, the Chancellor announced that the Government will remove the entitlement to use red diesel from April 2022, except in agriculture, fish farming, rail and non-commercial heating (including domestic heating).
These changes to the tax treatment of red diesel may affect some public sector bodies, such as local government. While the Government expects them to reduce diesel consumption, it will discuss pressures that arise with affected departments as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review scheduled for later this year.
As set out in the policy costings document published alongside Budget 2020, the red diesel costing accounts for an increase in the overall resource spending envelope of £150 million per annum departmental spending to account for the fact that part of the costs of the policy will fall upon the public sector.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the timeframe is for his Department's review of business rates; and whether the findings of that review will be implemented before April 2021.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is committed to conducting a fundamental review of business rates and further information will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he had with representatives of the Local Government Association before the announcement of 9 October 2019 of a 1 per cent increase in the interest rate on new loans from the Public Works Loan Board.
Answered by John Glen
The Government engages sector representatives in policy development where possible. It was not possible to do that in this case because the change was market sensitive. The Local Government Association was notified of the decision after markets closed on 8 October 2019.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Independent - Gorton and Denton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he had with representatives of local government before the announcement of 9 October 2019 of a 1 per cent increase in the interest rate on new loans from the Public Works Loan Board.
Answered by John Glen
The Government engages sector representatives in policy development where possible. It was not possible to do that in this case because the change was market sensitive. The Local Government Association was notified of the decision after markets closed on 8 October 2019.