Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to allow charity employees who would otherwise have been made redundant to continue working.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Any employer using a PAYE scheme can access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
To mitigate the risk of fraudulent claims and to protect individuals, the Government made it clear that individuals cannot work or volunteer for their organisation. If workers were allowed to volunteer for their employer, the employer could ask them to work in an effectively full time way while only paying 80% of the wages
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working with other Government departments and the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to identify areas where volunteers can contribute to the COVID-19 response.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on extending the Small Business Grant and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant to organisations receiving charity rates relief.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Charities which occupy properties used for retail, hospitality or leisure purposes, such as charity shops, may be eligible for a grant from the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund. The RHLGF provides businesses with a £25,000 cash grant per property, for each property used for retail, hospitality or leisure purposes with a rateable value between £15,000 and £51,000; and a £10,000 cash grant per property, for each property used for these purposes with a rateable value of £15,000 or below which is not in receipt of Small Business Rates Relief or Rural Rates Relief. Businesses and organisations may receive a maximum of €800,000 from the RHLGF under State Aid rules.
The Government is aware that some small businesses and organisations have found themselves excluded from the existing business grants schemes because of the way they interact with the business rates system. That is why the Government has allocated up to an additional £617 million to Local Authorities to enable them to give discretionary grants to businesses in this situation. The Government’s intention is for Local Authorities to prioritise the following types of organisations when making discretionary grants:
Local Authorities may choose to focus payments on those priority groups which are most relevant to their local areas. Local Authorities may also choose to pay grants to businesses outside of these priority groups, according to local economic need, so long as the business was trading on 11th March, and has not received any other cash grant funded by central Government.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on providing dedicated grant support to charities during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government has announced a £750 million support package for charities. £360m of this will be allocated as grants directly to charities providing essential services and supporting vulnerable people. £310m will support smaller, local charities, including through grants distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund. £60m will be allocated to the Devolved Administrations through the Barnett formula. The Government pledged to match whatever the public donated to the BBC Big Night In fundraiser on 23 April, with a minimum of £20m going to the National Emergencies Trust.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the £160 million announced for charities due to the financial effect of the covid-19 outbreak will be received by charities.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government has announced a £750m support package for charities. £360m of this will be allocated directly to charities providing essential services and supporting vulnerable people, including up to £200m for hospices across the next quarter. St John Ambulance has been allocated £6.8m, which has already supported an increased operational response. Charities can now apply on gov.uk for £10m to support victims of domestic abuse and £6m to support members of the armed forces and veterans. A further £310m will support smaller, local charities, including through grants distributed by the National Lottery Community Fund. £60m will be allocated to the Devolved Administrations through the Barnett formula. The Government pledged to match whatever the public donated to the BBC Big Night In fundraiser on 23 April, with a minimum of £20m going to the National Emergencies Trust.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to expand furlough payments to cover a proportion of (a) performance-related pay and (b) sales commission up to a cap.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The objective of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is to enable employers to continue to keep people in employment. To achieve this, the grants compensate employers for the payments that they are contractually obliged to make, in order to avoid the need for redundancies. Covering discretionary payments would go beyond the objectives of the scheme. Full guidance on how to calculate 80% of wages can be found at: www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-80-of-your-employees-wages-to-claim-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme
For some employees, the pay in scope for the grant will be less than the overall sum they usually receive. The Government is also supporting those on low incomes who need to rely on the welfare system through a significant package of temporary welfare measures. This includes a £20 per week increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1 billion increase in support for renters through increases to the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants. These changes will benefit all new and existing claimants. Anyone can check their eligibility and apply for Universal Credit by visiting www.gov.uk/universal-credit.
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 an assessment of the potential merits of extending Orchestra Tax Relief to cover claims for costs incurred on cancelled concerts due to the covid-19 outbreak up to the point at which the concert would have taken place.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The orchestra tax relief legislation allows for the ‘abandonment’ of a concert due to circumstances outside of the company’s control. Cancellations of concerts because of COVID-19 would fall within ‘abandonment’. Claims may be made for qualifying expenditure incurred up to the abandonment of a concert or concert series and where an orchestra company has a legal obligation, such as a contractual one, to make the payments for a cancelled concert. HM Treasury keeps all tax reliefs under review.
The Government has also announced an unprecedented package of support for businesses and individuals affected by COVID-19. This includes the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and Self-Employed Income Support Scheme delivered by HMRC. Further information about HMRC’s dedicated COVID-19 support can be found by visiting the GOV.UK website.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to enable salaried company directors to undertake essential work to maintain their businesses while furloughed; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In March, the Government announced the unprecedented Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help firms keep millions of people in employment. Where furloughed directors need to carry out particular duties to fulfil the statutory obligations they owe to their company, they may do so provided they do no more than would reasonably be judged necessary for that purpose, and they should not do work of a kind they would carry out in normal circumstances to generate commercial revenue or provide services to or on behalf of their company. Full guidance for employers and employees can be found at www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme and www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-could-be-covered-by-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure equitable access for people with past or present mental health problems for travel to travel insurance after the EU transition period.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
From 1 January 2021, it will be particularly important to get travel insurance with the right cover if you have a pre-existing medical condition. This is because the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) will only be valid up to 31 December 2020.
On 5 February, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published new rules and guidance to improve access to travel insurance for all consumers with medical conditions, including those with mental health conditions.
Included within the FCA’s rules is a requirement for firms to signpost consumers to specialist providers if they are declined cover, offered cover with an exclusion, or charged a significantly higher premium based on their medical condition.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to move budgetary responsibility for social care from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to the Department of Health and Social Care.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
When the Department of Health was renamed the Department of Health and Social Care, it also took on responsibility for the forthcoming Green Paper on Care and Support for Older People. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government supports local government to deliver public services to local people, and ensure local authorities have sufficient resources to provide necessary services to their communities. There are currently no plans to change responsibility for the funding of adult social care.
Asked by: Barbara Keeley (Labour - Worsley and Eccles South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which social care providers have been identified by HM Revenue and Customs as non-compliant with national minimum wage legislation; how much is owed in arrears by each such provider; to how many staff such arrears are owed; and what value of fines have been levied on care providers to date.
Answered by Jane Ellison
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) do not comment on individual cases. Anyone who feels they have been underpaid National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage should contact the Acas helpline on 0300 123 1100. HMRC review all complaints that are referred to them.