Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 October 2020 to Questions 98695 on Job Support Scheme: Parish Councils, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including Parish and Town Council employees within the scope of the Job Support Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
As the Chancellor said when announcing the scheme on 24 September, the Government will publish full guidance on the Job Support Scheme in due course; this will include detail on who is eligible for the scheme.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will amend the Government's guidance relating to the Job Support Scheme to confirm whether parish and town councils are eligible to use that scheme for their employees.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Further detail about eligibility will be included in the guidance for the Job Support Scheme, which HMRC will publish in due course.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many small breweries (a) have and (b) have not been permitted to recalculate their production volumes for the purposes of small brewers relief in 2020-21.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
UK law does not allow for in-year adjustments to be made to the current year’s production for the purposes of Small Brewers Relief (SBR) after beer has been finished.
Brewers who have had to discard spoilt beer in 2020 due to COVID-19 have been able to reclaim the excise duty payable from HMRC in line with the requirements set out in HMRC Excise Public Notice 226. Where small brewers’ production has been lower than expected due to reduced demand, this will be taken into account when calculating their SBR eligibility for 2021.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing breweries to recalculate their production volumes in 2020 for the purposes of small brewers relief.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
UK law does not allow for in-year adjustments to be made to the current year’s production for the purposes of Small Brewers Relief (SBR) after beer has been finished.
Brewers who have had to discard spoilt beer in 2020 due to COVID-19 have been able to reclaim the excise duty payable from HMRC in line with the requirements set out in HMRC Excise Public Notice 226. Where small brewers’ production has been lower than expected due to reduced demand, this will be taken into account when calculating their SBR eligibility for 2021.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to allow small breweries to disregard beer spoilt during the covid-19 outbreak for calculating production volumes in 2020 for the purposes of small brewers' relief.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
UK law does not allow for in-year adjustments to be made to the current year’s production for the purposes of Small Brewers Relief (SBR) after beer has been finished.
Brewers who have had to discard spoilt beer in 2020 due to COVID-19 have been able to reclaim the excise duty payable from HMRC in line with the requirements set out in HMRC Excise Public Notice 226. Where small brewers’ production has been lower than expected due to reduced demand, this will be taken into account when calculating their SBR eligibility for 2021.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 September 2020 to Question 90116, how many small breweries will be affected by the proposals to covert small brewers relief to a cash basis.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The proposal to convert Small Brewers Relief (SBR) to a cash basis would affect small breweries entitled to SBR, but would only have an impact if there are future changes to the value of the relief.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will allocate funding to local authorities to enable them to create their own discretionary business support schemes based on local information.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The business grant funds, including the Local Authority Discretionary Grant Fund, were primarily intended to support small businesses which faced high fixed property-related costs during the strict lockdown period, when consumer footfall was dramatically reduced. Just under 900,000 business premises have received over £11 billion in grants from the three business grant funds. As most businesses in most areas are now able to reopen, it is right that we wind up the grant schemes, all of which closed to new applicants on 28 August. The Government continues to review the economic situation and consider what support businesses need. However, there are currently no plans to provide further funding to Local Authorities to enable them to create their own new discretionary business support schemes.
We do recognise that businesses which are forced to totally close for a substantial period in local lockdowns are likely to require additional support, which is why on 9 September the Government announced a new Local Restrictions Support Grant Fund, to enable Local Authorities to provide business properties which are required to shut due to nationally-imposed local lockdowns with grants of up to £1,500 for each three week closure period.
Businesses across the country should also be able to benefit from the additional support measures which the Government announced on 24 September as part of the Winter Economy Plan. These new measures include:
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2020 to Question 86639, whether he plans to publish a proposed taper (a) before or (b) with that consultation to enable small breweries to understand the potential effect of those proposals on their businesses.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The taper for the Small Brewers Relief (SBR) scheme is a matter for the consultation that will take place this Autumn. Brewers are free to put forward their own proposals, and several have already done so.
There is very little evidence to suggest any impact on market access as a result of SBR.
The value of SBR when first converted to a cash basis will be the same as now. Decisions about increases will be kept under review and will be a matter for future announcements. The Government will consult on how to ensure SBR retains a fair value as part of the further consultation this Autumn.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department made of market access when carrying out the review of Small Brewers’ Relief.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The taper for the Small Brewers Relief (SBR) scheme is a matter for the consultation that will take place this Autumn. Brewers are free to put forward their own proposals, and several have already done so.
There is very little evidence to suggest any impact on market access as a result of SBR.
The value of SBR when first converted to a cash basis will be the same as now. Decisions about increases will be kept under review and will be a matter for future announcements. The Government will consult on how to ensure SBR retains a fair value as part of the further consultation this Autumn.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what level of duty relief is planned under proposals to convert Small Brewers’ Relief to a cash basis.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The taper for the Small Brewers Relief (SBR) scheme is a matter for the consultation that will take place this Autumn. Brewers are free to put forward their own proposals, and several have already done so.
There is very little evidence to suggest any impact on market access as a result of SBR.
The value of SBR when first converted to a cash basis will be the same as now. Decisions about increases will be kept under review and will be a matter for future announcements. The Government will consult on how to ensure SBR retains a fair value as part of the further consultation this Autumn.