Asked by: Felicity Buchan (Conservative - Kensington)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making regular statements to the House on progress on (a) the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol and (b) further discussions with the EU on that matter.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The Government recognises the importance of keeping Parliament updated on the Northern Ireland Protocol and on further discussions with the EU. We have done so consistently. We will continue to work constructively and transparently with Parliament on issues relating to the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee, including by continuing to lay Written Ministerial Statements before and after each Joint Committee meeting.
Asked by: Felicity Buchan (Conservative - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allocating funding to specialist retirement housing to tackle the housing shortage; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The growth of this sector is important for meeting the needs of the ageing population and supporting our housing supply objectives. We are investing over £12 billion in affordable housing over 5 years, the largest investment in affordable housing in a decade. This includes the new £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme, where 10 per cent of delivery over the course of the programme will be used to increase the supply of much needed specialist or supported housing, including retirement housing.
We are continuing to work closely with the sector to look at how we can further support its growth.
Asked by: Felicity Buchan (Conservative - Kensington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the success of the Cancer Recovery Plan for services in London; and what further steps he plans to take to mitigate the disparity in cancer related health outcomes for different communities in London beyond March 2021.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Cancer Services Recovery Plan, published in December 2020, aims to restore urgent referrals at least to pre-pandemic levels, to reduce the number of people waiting over 62 days from urgent referral and ensure sufficient capacity to meet demand.
The latest data from December shows that in London:
- 30,236 people were referred on the urgent two week wait pathway in December 2020, 4% more than in December 2019;
- 2,690 people started a first treatment for cancer in December, 7% more than in December 2019, and 96.9% of those people did so within 31 days; and
- Of those, 1,502 people started treatment via the urgent pathway, 12% more than in December 2019.
Through the NHS Long Term Plan, the NHS Cancer Programme is committed to improve access to treatments for all cancer patients and reduce health inequalities. Cancer Alliances are working with local sustainability and transformation partnerships and integrated care systems to reduce variation on patient outcomes and experience.
Asked by: Felicity Buchan (Conservative - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether it is his policy that English Language Schools that have been forced to close under the covid-19 restrictions announced in January 2021 are eligible for grant funding coordinated by local authorities.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
We have made an additional £500 million available via the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) announced by the Chancellor on 5 January. This builds on the £1.1 billion already allocated following the second lockdown in November 2020.
This further grant funding is designed to support businesses that are severely impacted by the new Covid-19 restrictions. Local authorities have discretion to use this funding to support businesses in the way they see fit, and to determine which businesses are.
Local authorities must be assured that businesses applying for grants: a) have been mandated to close as a result of national restrictions, b) are solvent, c) are is eligible to pay business rates, and d) that the business in question is able to meet any other criteria laid out in the guidance. Where businesses do not meet this criteria, local authorities have the ability to provide discretionary grant funding via the Additional Restrictions Grant.
Asked by: Felicity Buchan (Conservative - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish data on the transmission rate of covid-19 in places of worship; and what discussions he had with faith leaders before the proposed closure of places of worship for communal prayer in November 2020.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The Government has listened carefully to the views of the scientific community, in particular the information from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and its sub-groups when taking decisions on the best way to tackle the pandemic. SAGE advice continues to inform the decisions made by the Government, and data and scientific advice informing the fight against COVID-19 are published on gov.uk and specific relevant findings are shared in presentations accompanying significant policy announcements.
The Places of Taskforce met on 2 November. In addition, roundtables have been held with our major faith groups to discuss the revised guidance.
Discussions with our faith groups at these meetings, as they have been throughout the pandemic, have proved to be extremely helpful in sharing information with our faith groups, as well as hearing of their concerns, and we will continue to draw on the expertise of Taskforce members.
Asked by: Felicity Buchan (Conservative - Kensington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the tiered system of covid-19 alert levels on the work of (a) Alcoholics Anonymous, (b) Narcotics Anonymous and (c) other support groups in areas of different levels of risk.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government’s COVID-19 guidance makes it clear that support groups for mutual aid, including people recovering from addictions, are able to meet in groups up to 15 people. The guidance can be viewed at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do
Public Health England published guidance outlining COVID-19 advice for commissioners and service providers involved in assisting people who are dependent on drugs or alcohol or both. It can be viewed at the following link:
The guidance includes advice about meetings of mutual aid and other support groups.
Asked by: Felicity Buchan (Conservative - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the effect of the end of the transition period on the difference between the level of state pension received by British nationals living in the EU compared to that received by people living outside the EU.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK State Pension is payable worldwide and is up-rated where there is a legal requirement to do so, for example, where UK State Pension recipients are living in countries where there is a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating of the UK State Pension. Under the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, UK State Pension recipients living in the EEA and Switzerland by 31 December 2020 will have their state pensions up-rated for as long as they continue to live there and remain in scope of the Withdrawal Agreement. This will happen even if they claim their pension on or after 1 January 2021, provided they meet the UK State Pension qualifying conditions. For those not within scope of the Withdrawal Agreement, the rules governing up-rating are subject to the negotiations on the Future Relationship with the EU. The UK Government is seeking a reciprocal agreement with the EU which includes state pension up-rating.
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 - President of the Board of Trade
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 Department for International Trade:
What recent assessment she has made of the effect on the global economy of maintaining (a) free trade and (b) open supply chains during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
Free trade will be the cornerstone of our economic recovery in this global crisis. With over 1.22bn pieces of PPE delivered to the front line already, including 11 million items on Sunday 10 March alone, we will continue this good work with international counterparts to keep global supply chains open. The Department will work to facilitate resilience building through our free trade agreements in order to secure a thriving international trading future for businesses in the United Kingdom.
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
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.