Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a pay-as-you-drive scheme for vehicle taxation.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Treasury keeps all taxes, including vehicle taxation, under review. Decisions on taxation are a matter for the Chancellor and are considered as part of the Budget process. Any changes are announced at fiscal events.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that banks are accountable for overseeing the accounts of disabled and vulnerable people for irregularities and fraudulent activity.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is working with industry to close down the vulnerabilities that fraudsters exploit and ensure members of the public have the information they need to spot a scam and stand up to fraudsters. This is a shared endeavour between Government, law enforcement and the private sector. It is vital we ensure that disabled and vulnerable customers are included in this effort, but there are no additional requirements on a bank to check for irregularities or fraudulent activity if a customer is disabled or vulnerable.
UK banks’ and building societies’ treatment of their customers is governed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in its Principles for Businesses. This includes a general requirement for firms to provide a prompt, efficient and fair service to all of their customers.
The FCA’s Guidance for firms on the Fair Treatment of Vulnerable Customers also requires that firms should understand what harms their customers are likely to be vulnerable to and ensure that customers in vulnerable circumstances receive the same fair treatment and outcomes as other customers.
If a firm has doubts about a consumer’s ability to understand a product or service, suspects they do not have capacity to make decisions or that they are acting as a result of fraud or coercion, the firm should assess whether it should allow the consumer to proceed. It may be appropriate for firms to contact, or act on the instructions of, a family member, friend or other third party.
In addition, like all service providers, banks and building societies are bound under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, where necessary, in the way they deliver their services. This may include allowing for a carer or deputy to act for the disabled person.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will delay bounce back loan repayments by 12 months to help support businesses while they are in the initial phases of reopening.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government has already taken action to give businesses the flexibility and space they need to repay their loans. Under the Bounce Back loan scheme no repayments are due from the borrower for the first 12 months of the loan, and the Government covers the first 12 months of interest payments charged to the business by the lender.
In order to give businesses further support in making their repayments, the Government announced “Pay as You Grow” (PAYG) options. PAYG will give businesses the option to repay their Bounce Back loan over ten years. This will reduce their average monthly repayments on the loan by almost half. Businesses will also have the option to move temporarily to interest-only payments for periods of up to six months (an option which they can use up to three times). They can also pause their repayments entirely for up to six months – and given the continued challenges businesses are facing, the Government opted to enable borrowers to make use of this option from the first repayment, which means that businesses can choose to make no payments on their loans until 18 months after they originally took them out. If borrowers want to take advantage of this option, they should notify their lender when they are contacted about their repayments.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what tailored long-term support he will make available to (a) airlines and (b) the travel industry in response to increased covid-19 transmission and changing guidelines for international travel.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The aviation and aerospace sectors are being supported with over £11 billion made available through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility and grants for research and development.
In England, the wider travel and tourism sectors can benefit from the £5 billion package of grant support announced at Budget. This includes Restart Grants worth up to £6,000 if classified as non-essential retail or up to £18,000 if classified as a leisure or accommodation business. This package of support also includes the £425 million top-up to the Additional Restrictions Grant which has already provided Local Authorities (LAs) with £1.6 billion. This funding is at the LAs discretion and is intended to support businesses which are not eligible for Restart Grants, but which are nonetheless experiencing a severe impact on their business.
The Government continues to review all the economic support schemes, including grant support, as the public health response evolves.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessments of the potential merits of increasing the Lifetime ISA threshold for people living in London.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Lifetime ISA aims to provide the opportunity for first-time buyers to enter the market and offers a generous government bonus of 25% on up to £4,000 of savings each year to support that aim.
The Government believes that the 25% bonus must be focused on those that need it most in order to ensure sustainable public finances. The Government continues to consider a property price cap of £450,000 appropriate to support the majority of first-time buyers across the UK. Nonetheless, the Government keeps all aspects of savings policy under review.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to waive business rates for retail and leisure property until September 2021.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Budget announced a three-month extension to the business rates holiday for eligible businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors that was provided at Budget 2020. This means over 350,000 properties will pay no business rates for three months.
From 1 July 2021, 66% relief will be available subject to a cash cap that depends on whether businesses have been required to close or were able to open. This additional relief takes the total value of support in 2021-22 to £6 billion and means the vast majority of businesses will on average receive 75% relief across the year.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will announce a pay rise for NHS staff and other public sector workers in Budget 2021.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
In order to protect jobs and ensure fairness, we confirmed at the Spending Review (2020) that there will be a pause to headline pay rises for the majority of public sector workforces in 2021-22.
Given the unique impact of Covid-19 on our health service, Government will continue to provide for pay rises for over 1 million NHS workers. The NHS and Doctor and Dentists’ Pay Review Bodies will report as usual for 2021/22, and the Government will respond to their recommendations. The government will also prioritise the lowest paid, with public sector workers earning less than £24,000 in basic pay receiving a minimum £250 pro-rata increase. The Pay Review Bodies will advise on how this should be implemented for the relevant workforces.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will maintain the Social Investment Tax Relief; and if he will take steps to reform that relief so that enterprises in community energy and tackling climate change qualify for investment.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) was introduced in 2014 to incentivise risk finance investments in qualifying social enterprises and charities. In order to target SITR towards the highest-risk social enterprises, certain activities are excluded from the scheme, including community energy.
HMRC statistics show that up to 2018-19, about 110 enterprises have used the scheme to raise £11.2 million.
The Government keeps all taxes and reliefs under review in order to ensure they continue to meet policy objectives in a way that is fair and effective. The Government previously published a Call for Evidence in 2019 on SITR’s use to date. A response to the consultation will be published in due course and a decision on SITR’s future will be announced at the Budget.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend the reduced 5 per cent VAT rate on admission charges to attractions beyond 31 March 2021.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The temporary reduced rate of VAT was introduced on 15 July to support the cash flow and viability of over 150,000 businesses and protect 2.4 million jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors, and will run until 31 March 2021.
This policy will cost over £2 billion. The Government keeps all taxes under review, and any future decisions on tax policy will be made at Budget.
The Government has announced a significant support package to help businesses from a whole range of sectors through the winter months, which includes an extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, an extension of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant, and an extension of the application window for the Government-backed loan schemes.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Streatham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to progress a directors’ income support scheme package for directors of limited companies.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government always welcomes constructive proposals from stakeholders to improve the design of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), including the suggestion for a Directors Income Support Scheme (DISS) from the Federation of Small Businesses, ForgottenLtd, Re Legal Consulting Ltd, and ACCA UK. This proposal aims to provide a new system for company directors, based on reported profits. The Government has considered this proposal in detail.
The DISS, as currently framed, is intrinsically reliant on self-certification. As the Government cannot readily verify this information, an effect of this reliance on self-certification is to open the scheme up to an unacceptable level of fraud by organised criminal groups and others who would seek to exploit the scheme. The Government cannot expose the tax system to these risks but continues to engage with the FSB regarding these concerns.