Asked by: Felicity Buchan (Conservative - Kensington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support his Department provides to owners of shared office spaces which remain liable for business rates and are ineligible for other forms of Government support.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
The Business Rates Relief has been directed towards the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors as these are properties that are wholly or mainly being used by visiting members of the public. However, shared office spaces owners who are ineligible for the Local Authority (LA) grant schemes may be eligible for the Discretionary Grant Scheme in England. This has made up to £617m of additional funding available to LAs to enable them to make payments of up to £25,000 to businesses. LAs have received guidance regarding which kinds of businesses should be considered a priority, which includes those in shared offices. LAs may also choose to pay grants to businesses according to local economic need, so long as businesses meet the following criteria:
Small businesses operating out of shared offices also continue to have access to a range of support measures including, but not limited to:
The Business Support website provides further information about how businesses can access the support that has been made available, who is eligible and how to apply -https://www.gov.uk/business-coronavirus-support-finder.
Asked by: Felicity Buchan (Conservative - Kensington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support is available for people with fixed term employment contracts that ended prior to 19 March 2020; and how that support differs for people on (a) full time, (b) agency, (c) flexible and (d) zero-hour contracts.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Employees on any type of employment contract, including full-time, part-time, agency, flexible and zero-hour contracts are eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme providing they were on their employer’s PAYE payroll on or before 19 March 2020, and that HMRC received an RTI submission notifying payment in respect of that employee on or before 19 March 2020. Fixed term employees can also be claimed for, and if their contract has not already expired it can be extended or renewed.
If employees were made redundant or stopped working for their employer on or after 28 February 2020, they can be re-employed by their previous employer and put on furlough as long as they were on the employer’s PAYE payroll on 28 February 2020. Employees that started and ended the same contract between 28 February 2020 and 19 March 2020 will not qualify for this scheme. This is not specific to employees on fixed-term contracts, the same would apply to employees on all other contracts.
Guidance for employers can be found at: www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-for-wage-costs-through-the-coronavirus-job-retention-scheme#employees-you-can-claim-for
Those who are not eligible to receive this grant may be able to access other support Government is providing. This includes a package of temporary welfare measures, including increases in the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element; providing local councils an additional £500 million to support the most vulnerable people in society; and providing up to three-month mortgage payment holidays for those struggling with their mortgage payments.
Asked by: Felicity Buchan (Conservative - Kensington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on the business of (a) private dentists, (b) private physiotherapists, (c) other private healthcare providers; and whether he has plans to provide business rates relief to those sectors as provided to the hospitality sector.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government has provided enhanced support to the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in England through business rates relief, given the direct and acute impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on those sectors. Business rates in Northern Ireland are devolved.
A range of further measures to support all businesses, including those not eligible for the business rates holiday, such as medical service providers, has also been made available. For example, the Government has launched the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help firms continue to keep people in employment, and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme offering loans of up to £5 million for SMEs through the British Business Bank. The Government is also deferring VAT payments for this quarter.