Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of covid-19 social distancing restrictions on the level of orchestra tax relief claimed since April 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC publish official statistics for the creative industries tax reliefs annually. Statistics for the amount of Orchestra Tax Relief (OTR) claimed in the 2020-21 tax year will be published in summer 2021. In 2019-20, the Government provided £18 million of support to 565 productions through OTR.
The Government keeps all tax reliefs under review, and regularly receives proposals for changes to tax reliefs. When considering proposed changes, HM Treasury must ensure they provide support to businesses across the economy in a fair way and that taxpayer money is targeted effectively.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of NHS staff who (a) are subject to and (b) have settled their debt in relation to the Loan Charge.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC do not hold the requested estimates and do not routinely collect data on profession.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Loan Charge on levels of bankruptcy.
Answered by Jesse Norman
No estimate of the number of individual bankruptcies has been made.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to publicly funded workers who are not critical workers but cannot work from home where the worker has (a) childcare responsibilities and (b) health conditions.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Coronavirus Job Retention scheme (CJRS) has been available to the employers of anyone who has been unable to work, including from home, due to caring responsibilities arising from COVID-19, such as caring for children who are at home as a result of school and childcare facilities closing, or caring for a vulnerable individual in their household.
If someone is clinically extremely vulnerable, they are encouraged to talk to their employer as soon as possible to discuss and agree options. The CJRS is available to all employers and employees providing they meet the eligibility criteria, and this includes the clinically extremely vulnerable.
The Government does not expect the CJRS to be widely used by public sector organisations, as most public sector employees have continued to provide essential public services or contribute to the response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Where employers receive public funding for staff costs, and that funding is continuing, the Government expects employers to use that money to continue to pay staff in the usual fashion; and correspondingly not to furlough them through the CJRS. This also applies to non-public sector employers who receive public funding for staff costs.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support is available to owners of small businesses which are legally permitted to remain open during the January 2021 covid-19 lockdown but are closed due to staff health concerns.
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. 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.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) 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. The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will also run until the end of April.
Local authorities will receive an additional £500 million, to a total of £1.6 billion, of discretionary funding through the Additional Restrictions Grant to allow them to support their local businesses, including businesses that are adversely impacted but not forced to close by COVID-19 restrictions.
Businesses 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: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to expand the coronavirus job retention scheme to allow (a) schools and (b) other publicly funded organisations to access that scheme for staff who are clinically extremely vulnerable and who cannot attend work during the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown and are unable to work from home.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Those working for fully funded public sector organisations, including those that are clinically extremely vulnerable, should be paid as normal out of existing budgets.
Arrangements should be made to facilitate working from home wherever possible, and reprioritisation and redeployment should be considered to minimise issues with service delivery.
Where a clinically extremely vulnerable individual works for a public sector organisation that is not fully funded by public grants, and working from home is not possible, furloughing may be appropriate. This remains at the employer’s discretion and Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme claims should remain proportionate to the impact on revenue disruption.
Schools have continued to receive their core funding in full throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Guidance on financial support for education, early years and children’s social care can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care/coronavirus-covid-19-financial-support-for-education-early-years-and-childrens-social-care#sector-specific-guidance
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to support employed people from (a) 1 August 2020, (b) 1 September 2020 and (c) 1 October 2020 who (i) are over the age of 60 years and (ii) were formerly on the Government's Shielded Patient List to maintain their employment relationship with their employer until it is safe to return to work as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Jesse Norman
From 1 August the Government has relaxed national advice to those shielding, bringing it in line with the advice to those who are clinically vulnerable. The advice is still to stay at home as much as possible. However, if they are unable to work from home they will be able to return, provided their workplace is COVID-safe.
It is important that this group continue to take careful precautions, and employers should do all they can to enable them to work from home where this is possible, including moving them to another role if required. Where this is not possible, the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) should be provided with the safest onsite roles that enable them to maintain social distancing from others.
If employers cannot provide a safe working environment, the CEV will continue to have access to the unprecedented package of financial support. This is not limited to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, but also includes the introduction of the Self Employed Income Support Scheme and an increase in the generosity of welfare payments worth a further £9.3bn according to Office for Budget Responsibility estimates. Individuals over the State Pension age may be eligible for the State Pension.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to support employers from (a) 1 August 2020, (b) 1 September 2020 and (c) 1 October 2020 who have employees who (i) are over the age of 60 years and (ii) were formerly on the Government's Shielded Patient List to maintain their employment relationship with their employees until it is safe for those employees to return to work as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Jesse Norman
From 1 August the Government has relaxed national advice to those shielding, bringing it in line with the advice to those who are clinically vulnerable. The advice is still to stay at home as much as possible. However, if they are unable to work from home they will be able to return, provided their workplace is COVID-safe.
It is important that this group continue to take careful precautions, and employers should do all they can to enable them to work from home where this is possible, including moving them to another role if required. Where this is not possible, the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) should be provided with the safest onsite roles that enable them to maintain social distancing from others.
If employers cannot provide a safe working environment, the CEV will continue to have access to the unprecedented package of financial support. This is not limited to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, but also includes the introduction of the Self Employed Income Support Scheme and an increase in the generosity of welfare payments worth a further £9.3bn according to Office for Budget Responsibility estimates. Individuals over the State Pension age may be eligible for the State Pension.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to ensure that people who (a) are over the age of 60 years and (b) were formerly on the Government's Shielded Patient List maintain their incomes and do not find themselves in avoidable personal debt or living in poverty as a result of it not being safe for them to return to work from 1 August 2020 as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.
Answered by Jesse Norman
From 1 August the Government has relaxed national advice to those shielding, bringing it in line with the advice to those who are clinically vulnerable. The advice is still to stay at home as much as possible. However, if they are unable to work from home they will be able to return, provided their workplace is COVID-safe.
It is important that this group continue to take careful precautions, and employers should do all they can to enable them to work from home where this is possible, including moving them to another role if required. Where this is not possible, the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) should be provided with the safest onsite roles that enable them to maintain social distancing from others.
If employers cannot provide a safe working environment, the CEV will continue to have access to the unprecedented package of financial support. This is not limited to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, but also includes the introduction of the Self Employed Income Support Scheme and an increase in the generosity of welfare payments worth a further £9.3bn according to Office for Budget Responsibility estimates. Individuals over the State Pension age may be eligible for the State Pension.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance the Government has published on whether pregnant women can remain on furlough once their workplace has reopened; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Pregnant women have always been eligible for furlough and the return to the workplace does not affect this. To enable the introduction of flexible furloughing and support those already on furlough back to work, the scheme will close to new entrants on 30 June. The last three-week furloughs before that deadline will begin on 10 June.