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Written Question
Non-domestic Rates: Tax Allowances
Monday 6th September 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance he plans to make to billing authorities on which businesses are eligible for support from the £1.5 billion business rate relief fund as announced on 25 March 2021.

Answered by Jesse Norman

Funding for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that have not otherwise been eligible for existing reliefs will be available once the legislation relating to material change in circumstance provisions has passed and Local Authorities (LAs) have established their own local relief schemes. The Government will support LAs to do this as quickly as possible, including through new burdens funding.

Formal guidance will follow in due course, setting out the specific considerations that Local Authorities (LAs) should have regard for when providing relief. Relief will be for LAs to award on a discretionary basis.


Written Question
Non-domestic Rates: Tax Allowances
Monday 6th September 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the £1.5 billion business rate relief fund, announced on the 25th March 2021, will be distributed to businesses.

Answered by Jesse Norman

Funding for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic that have not otherwise been eligible for existing reliefs will be available once the legislation relating to material change in circumstance provisions has passed and Local Authorities (LAs) have established their own local relief schemes. The Government will support LAs to do this as quickly as possible, including through new burdens funding.

Formal guidance will follow in due course, setting out the specific considerations that Local Authorities (LAs) should have regard for when providing relief. Relief will be for LAs to award on a discretionary basis.


Written Question
Non-domestic Rates: Appeals
Monday 6th September 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential value of unresolved business rate appeals that have been made on the grounds of material changes of circumstance due to the covid-19 outbreak for 2020-21.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Government announced on 25 March that it intended to legislate so that market-wide economic changes to property values should be considered at general rates revaluations, and therefore would rule out COVID-19 related material change of circumstance (MCC) claims that could lead to appeals.

At that point, around 170,000 business rates assessments had claims made for MCCs (in England). Some businesses made multiple claims on the same property and this figure excludes those. No claims have progressed to formal appeal as yet (the claims are at the initial Check or Challenge stage of the process).

No cases have yet been settled by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) and the value of any rating assessment reductions would depend on the facts of each individual property, and the value of any business rates bill reduction on any reliefs to which the ratepayer may be entitled.


Written Question
Non-domestic Rates: Appeals
Monday 6th September 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of business which applied made business rate appeals under material changes of circumstances due to the covid-19 outbreak in 2020-21.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Government announced on 25 March that it intended to legislate so that market-wide economic changes to property values should be considered at general rates revaluations, and therefore would rule out COVID-19 related material change of circumstance (MCC) claims that could lead to appeals.

At that point, around 170,000 business rates assessments had claims made for MCCs (in England). Some businesses made multiple claims on the same property and this figure excludes those. No claims have progressed to formal appeal as yet (the claims are at the initial Check or Challenge stage of the process).

No cases have yet been settled by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) and the value of any rating assessment reductions would depend on the facts of each individual property, and the value of any business rates bill reduction on any reliefs to which the ratepayer may be entitled.


Written Question
Financial Services: EU Action
Wednesday 9th June 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the EU’s sustainable finance action plan; and what steps he plans to take to ensure that the financial services sector in the UK is competitive in sustainable finance.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The UK supported the development of the EU Sustainable Finance Action Plan whilst a member state and has committed to match its ambition in the UK. The Green Finance Strategy, published in 2019, set out a comprehensive approach to greening the financial system, mobilising finance for clean and resilient growth, and capturing the resulting opportunities for UK firms.

We have so far delivered on and exceeded the ambition set out in that Strategy: We havee set up the Green Finance Institute; become the first major country to mandate TCFD disclosures; committed to implement a green taxonomy; and signalled our intention to issue a Green Gilt at a total of £15bn and will also offer an innovative retail savings product alongside it.

We’ve augmented the Government’s Economic Objectives and the remit of the principal financial regulators to support environmental sustainability and the transition to net zero, and established the UK Infrastructure Bank with a mandate to tackle climate change.

On the international stage, taking advantage of our role as President, we recently secured commitment of the G7 to support moving towards mandatory climate-related financial disclosures, to bring others up to our level of commitment. As we work towards COP26 we have established the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, to foster ambition and action for Net Zero in the finance sector and are supporting the convergence and development of international standards in sustainable finance through working with the IFRS and the International Platform on Sustainable Finance.


Written Question
Investment
Wednesday 9th June 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of report by the Asset Management Taskforce’s entitled Investing with Purpose: placing stewardship at the heart of sustainable growth, published in November 2020.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The UK is a world leader in stewardship standards and the report produced by the Economic Secretary’s Asset Management Taskforce, Investing with Purpose, builds on that existing leadership.

The report endorses the Financial Reporting Council’s internationally respected UK Stewardship Code as best in class, and recommends to UK government, regulators and industry how to further embed and improve stewardship standards and the consideration of environmental, social and governance factors.

The UK Government has already taken actions which speak to recommendations made in the report. In November 2020, the Chancellor announced the UK’s intention to make disclosures aligned with the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) fully mandatory in the UK across the economy by 2025, with a significant portion of mandatory requirements in place by 2023. The UK has also taken on board the recommendation to support international efforts to enhance and harmonise sustainability reporting standards, playing an instrumental role in securing important G7 commitments to move towards making climate disclosures mandatory across G7 economies.

The clear recommendations in the report apply across the investment chain and will continue to further enhance the UK’s stewardship regime, ensuring that asset managers are focused on delivering long-term, sustainable benefits for investors, the economy, the environment and society.


Written Question
Self-employed: Government Assistance
Monday 17th May 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to provide support for self-employed individuals who were not aware that late filing of 2019-20 tax returns would obstruct their access to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

Answered by Jesse Norman

At the Budget on 3 March, the Government announced the details of two further rounds of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). Alongside this, the Government announced that HMRC will now use 2019-20 tax returns to determine the eligibility and award for the SEISS, provided these returns were submitted by 2 March.

This means that hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom became self-employed in 2019-20, may now be able to claim the fourth and fifth grants.

The Government has already given self-employed people more than a month after the statutory deadline to submit their returns. HMRC waived late filing penalties until 28 February. Self-employed individuals who did not file by 31 January will, where possible, have received a notification from HMRC that their return was late.

Allowing returns submitted after the terms and criteria of the SEISS grants were announced on 3 March would have created a significant incentive for fraud. The Government has a duty to protect the tax system from the small minority who would seek to exploit it. The 2 March cut-off point balances access for the vast majority of eligible self-employed individuals, with the Government’s duty to protect the taxpayer against fraud.

The SEISS continues to be just one element of a substantial package of support to the self-employed. The Government has also provided a wide range of loan schemes, business grants, business rates relief, tax cuts, mortgage holidays, increased welfare support, and the Kickstart and Restart schemes.


Written Question
Events Industry: Coronavirus
Thursday 11th March 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Budget 2021 statement on 3 March 2021, whether the support packages for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses extend to the events and exhibitions sector.

Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade

The Government understands this is a difficult time for the events and exhibitions sector who have been acutely impacted by the pandemic.

From April business rate paying businesses in these sectors may be eligible for restart grants of up to £18,000 per business premises. Guidance for Local Authorities (LA) on the eligibility for these grants will be published shortly. In addition, the Government has announced LAs in England will receive a top-up worth a total of £425 million to their allocation from the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG), which has already provided 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 events and exhibitions sector will also benefit from the extension of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), the Self Employments Income Support Scheme (SEISS), the UK-wide Recovery Loan Scheme, and may also benefit from the £300m extension to the Culture Recovery Fund announced at Budget. This is in addition to the £1.57 billion provided in July 2020.


Written Question
Children: Day Care
Monday 8th March 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the amount of unspent (a) childcare vouchers and (b) money in tax-free childcare accounts.

Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

We do not publish data on the amount of unspent childcare vouchers or money in Tax-Free Childcare accounts. Data on the number of unspent childcare vouchers would rest with each individual provider. However, I recognise that the number of parents with unspent childcare vouchers has increased as a result of the pandemic.

The Government is continuing to work with the childcare sector in order to understand how to best support them to ensure that safe, appropriate and affordable childcare is available for those returning to work now, and for all families who need it in the longer term.

Parents with Childcare Vouchers they do not need can seek to get a refund from their employer. However, whether the refund is possible depends on the contract between the voucher provider, employee and employer. Any amounts refunded would also be subject to the appropriate tax and NICs deductions.

Childcare Vouchers are now closed to new entrants. They have been replaced with Tax-Free Childcare (TFC). TFC is fairer as it makes access to childcare support available to more working families, including the self-employed and those working for employers who don’t offer vouchers. Lone parent households also receive the same support as those with more than one parent, unlike Childcare Vouchers where support is allocated per working parent. In addition, parents can withdraw the money they have paid in at any time, with the top-up going back to the Government.


Written Question
Redundancy: Females
Monday 11th January 2021

Asked by: Ed Davey (Liberal Democrat - Kingston and Surbiton)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what safeguards are in place to protect women from a higher job loss rate than men as a result of economic damage from the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade

To help protect people’s jobs, the Government announced the unprecedented Coronavirus Job Retention, or “furlough”, Scheme (CJRS) to help firms keep millions of people in employment. In total, up to 31 October, almost 4.5 million female jobs had been supported through the scheme. The CJRS has been extended until the end of April.

Alongside this, the government has announced additional support for working parents. Any working parent usually eligible for Tax Free Childcare or 30 hours free childcare in receipt of support through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme or Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme will temporarily remain eligible if they fall below the minimum income requirement due to COVID-19. This supports parents with childcare commitments who are temporarily working less as result of Covid-19.

In its Plan for Jobs, the Government has announced unprecedented support to help unemployed people in Great Britain find a job. We are providing £1.2bn this year to significantly expand and enhance work search support, including doubling the number of work coaches, additional investment into the Flexible Support Fund to provide direct support at a local level, and using externally contracted provision to expand support even further.

This Spending Review builds on this by providing £3.6 billion additional funding in 2021-22 for DWP to deliver employment support to those who need it most – from helping the recently unemployed to swiftly find new work, to offering greater support for people who will find that journey harder.

These measures will help provide job opportunities to women.