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Written Question
Business: Coronavirus
Thursday 16th December 2021

Asked by: Jane Stevenson (Conservative - Wolverhampton North East)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to provide financial support for businesses affected by covid-19 restrictions announced by Government on 8 December 2021.

Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Plan B has been designed to help control the virus’s spread while avoiding unduly damaging economic and social restrictions. Throughout the pandemic, the Government has demonstrated that it can respond proportionately to the changing path of the virus, and will continue to do so. The Government has a strong track record of responding quickly, flexibly and comprehensively in supporting jobs, businesses, individuals and families if needed.

As part of our £400bn package of support, businesses will continue to receive considerable support into the spring of next year. Small and medium-sized businesses can access Government-guaranteed finance through the extended Recovery Loans scheme until next June. Businesses will be protected from eviction if they are behind on rent on their premises, thanks to the moratorium in place until March 2022. Where applicable, businesses can also continue to apply for the Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) scheme through their local authority, which is open until March 2022.

For the sectors who were hardest hit by previous restrictions and may need additional support, there is further support in place. Business rates relief for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England is available until March 2022, and hospitality and tourism businesses will continue to benefit from a VAT reduction – paying only 12.5% until March 2022. The arts and culture sector can still access support from the £2 billion Culture Recovery Fund and Sports Recovery Package, and the Film and TV Production Restart Scheme, which is in place until 30 April 2022. While the £800m Live Events Reinsurance Scheme is giving events across the country the confidence needed for organisers to plan for the future.


Written Question
Stamp Duty Land Tax: Coronavirus
Monday 18th January 2021

Asked by: Jane Stevenson (Conservative - Wolverhampton North East)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the July 2020 stamp duty holiday on the housing market; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The SDLT holiday was designed to create an immediate boost in housing transactions. In April 2020, during the peak of the first lockdown, transactions fell by more than 50% on the month before.

The number of property transactions has increased each month since then and, according to the latest data from HMRC, in November 2020 there were 13% more transactions than in November 2019.

Officials are monitoring the housing market closely.


Written Question
Community Development Finance Institutions
Tuesday 10th November 2020

Asked by: Jane Stevenson (Conservative - Wolverhampton North East)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to allow community development finance institutions to access funding from the Bank of England.

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

The Bank of England provides funding to a range of financial institutions through the Sterling Monetary Framework (SMF) to support its monetary policy and financial stability objectives.

Access to the SMF and its lending facilities is a matter for the Bank of England, which publishes clear eligibility criteria on its website. A broad range of counterparties have access to SMF lending facilities which provide funding against eligible collateral across various maturities.


Written Question
Government Securities: Coronavirus
Wednesday 4th November 2020

Asked by: Jane Stevenson (Conservative - Wolverhampton North East)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to use debt securities to finance the Government's response to the covid-19 outbreak.

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

The package of measures that this government has delivered over the past months, in order to provide the critical support needed by individuals, families and businesses facing disruption due to COVID-19, has led to a significant increase in the Government’s financing requirement in the near term. As recently noted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the UK authorities’ aggressive policy response has been one of the best examples of coordinated action globally and has helped mitigate the damage, holding down unemployment and insolvencies.

As previously announced by the Chancellor, this additional financing will be fully funded via additional borrowing through the Government’s normal debt management operations. This includes through the increased sale of Government bonds (gilts) via the Debt Management Office (DMO). The majority of the Government's debt is held in gilts.

On 16 July 2020, HM Treasury most recently revised the Debt Management Office’s (DMO) financing remit for 2020-21, announcing that planned gilt sales will now total a minimum of £385bn in the period April to November (inclusive). The DMO is on target to raise this amount.


Written Question
Sanitary Protection: VAT
Monday 2nd November 2020

Asked by: Jane Stevenson (Conservative - Wolverhampton North East)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to include period pants as women's sanitary products for VAT purposes.

Answered by Jesse Norman

At the Budget on 11 March 2020, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that a zero rate of VAT will apply to Women’s Sanitary Products from 1 January 2021, at the end of the Transition Period. This will apply to those products which are currently subject to the reduced rate of 5 per cent, for example, tampons and pads, and to reusable menstrual products, such as keepers.

The relief specifically excludes articles of clothing, such as “period pants”. Such exclusions are designed to ensure that the relief is properly targeted, since difficulties in policing the scope of the relief create the potential for litigation, erosion of the tax base and a reduction in revenue. Under existing rules “period pants” may already qualify for the zero rate, when designed for children under the age of 14 if they meet certain maximum sizing limits.


Written Question
Hospitality Industry: Coronavirus
Thursday 22nd October 2020

Asked by: Jane Stevenson (Conservative - Wolverhampton North East)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the loss of revenue to the public purse from the UK hospitality sector as a result of covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has not made an estimate of revenue lost from the UK hospitality sector as a result of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

This sector is a vital source of employment across the country, and in addition to the government’s unprecedented Covid-support package, we have prioritised support for hospitality businesses over the last 6 months by introducing several targeted measures to support the sector. This includes:

  • A 12-month business rates holiday for all eligible retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in England
  • The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund
  • The Eat Out to Help Out Scheme, which subsidised 100 million meals through August
  • A temporary reduction in the VAT rate from 20% to 5% on most tourism and hospitality-related activities – extended until the end of March.

However, the Government recognises that the sector has been acutely disrupted by recent restrictions introduced by the Tier system. Through the Chancellor’s Winter Economic Plan, government will protect jobs and struggling businesses across the most impacted areas of the UK.

The Job Support Scheme will guarantee that most workers working a minimum of 20% of hours receive at least 73% of their usual wages, while workers whose employers have been closed by health restrictions will be guaranteed two thirds of their wages.

And hospitality, leisure and accommodation businesses in Tier 2 and Tier 3 areas will be eligible to receive a grant of up to £2,100 and £3,000, respectively, according to the value of their premises. Sufficient funding will be allocated to Local Authorities to distribute.


Written Question
Hospitality Industry: Coronavirus
Monday 19th October 2020

Asked by: Jane Stevenson (Conservative - Wolverhampton North East)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will grant a business rates exemption to hospitality venues during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Government has provided 100 per cent business rates relief for 12 months from 1 April 2020 to eligible businesses occupying properties in England used for retail, hospitality and leisure.


Written Question
Self-employed: Coronavirus
Tuesday 13th October 2020

Asked by: Jane Stevenson (Conservative - Wolverhampton North East)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support he is providing to self-employed people who did not meet the eligibility requirements for the Self Employed Income Support Scheme in March 2020.

Answered by Jesse Norman

Those not eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) may still be eligible for other elements of the unprecedented financial support available. The Government has temporarily increased the Universal Credit standard allowance for 2020-21 by £20 per week and relaxed the Minimum Income Floor meaning that where self-employed claimants' earnings have significantly reduced, their Universal Credit award will have increased to reflect their lower earnings. They may also have access to Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, and other business support grants, with a new extended deadline of 30 November.

In addition to this, up to half a million businesses which deferred their VAT bills will also be given more breathing space through the New Payment Scheme. This gives them the option to spread their payments over the financial year 2021-2022. In addition, all 11 million UK self-assessment taxpayers will be able to benefit from the recently enhanced Time to Pay ‘self-service’ facility to form a 12-month, interest-free payment arrangement for up to £30,000 of self-assessment debt.


Written Question
Press: Coronavirus
Thursday 4th June 2020

Asked by: Jane Stevenson (Conservative - Wolverhampton North East)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to provide support to (a) local newspapers and (b) community magazines during the covid-19 outbreak.

Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade

The Government recognises the important role that media organisations, including newspapers, play at a national and local level in ensuring the provision of trusted, high quality information.

On 30 April the Government announced that the Cabinet Office would spend up to £35m from April to June to place Covid-19 public health messages in local and national newspapers. This advertising partnership with UK media titles leverages the familiar voices of over 600 national, regional and local titles across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Cabinet Office is consistently tracking and reviewing spending on the campaign to ensure efficiency and that the appropriate communications strategy is implemented.

In response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Government has also brought forward the introduction of the zero rate of VAT on e-publications to 1 May 2020, seven months ahead of schedule. This measure will help to reduce the cost of access to online publications.


Written Question
Community Development Finance Institutions: Coronavirus
Tuesday 2nd June 2020

Asked by: Jane Stevenson (Conservative - Wolverhampton North East)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to increase the support that community development financial institutions can offer to SMEs during the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.

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

The Government recognises the vital role that non-banks – including Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) – play in the provision of credit to SMEs. It is grateful for the way the sector has responded to the current crisis and remains committed to promoting competition and widening the funding options available to UK businesses.

The Government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) provides financial support to SMEs across the UK that are losing revenue, and seeing their cashflow disrupted, as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Of the 80 lenders currently accredited by the British Business Bank to offer these loans, 15 are CDFIs. The Government welcomes CDFIs’ participation in CBILS, as well as their continued work to support SMEs beyond this loan scheme.

On broader support for CDFIs, Fair4All Finance, the independent body set up to distribute dormant assets funding to support financial inclusion, has set up a £5 million resilience fund to support credit unions and CDFIs in England. Fair4All Finance have also launched their Affordable Credit Scale-up Programme, designed to provide tailored support?to?sustainably scale?affordable credit.

On 20 May, the Government announced that £65 million of funding through the dormant assets scheme will be released immediately to Fair4All Finance, to increase access to fair, affordable and appropriate financial products and services for those struggling financially, particularly in light of the coronavirus outbreak. This includes an expanded Affordable Credit Scale-up Programme, which aims to improve the access and availability of affordable credit. Additional funding will be made available to the devolved administrations under normal processes through the dormant assets scheme, to be distributed as they see fit.