Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
What recent steps he has taken to support the development of community energy projects.
Answered by Graham Stuart
Ofgem supports community energy projects and welcomes applications from the sector to the Industry Voluntary Redress Scheme. The Government is also helping local authorities and community energy groups to work together to develop projects within UK Growth Funding schemes.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
What progress has she made towards a free trade agreement with the US.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
I am in close contact with Katherine Tai, the US Trade Representative. I am pleased the US has lifted tariffs on Whisky and I am working to lift Airbus Boeing dispute. We are continuing to make progress in Free Trade Agreement (FTA) discussions as well as working together on our broader trade agenda.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
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 potential merits of allowing registered NHS volunteer responders to assist with NHS Test and Trace.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The NHS Volunteer Responders programme, is available to help support people in England who need it. NHS Volunteer Responders carry out simple, one-off non-medical tasks to support people who need help, for instance in accessing essentials.
NHS Volunteer Responders provide a different but complementary service to the NHS Test and Trace service. They are part of the end-to-end service that helps identify, contain and control COVID-19, preventing the spread of the virus, protecting local communities and saving lives.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the proposed Remedial Order to extend the legislation governing widowed parent's allowance and bereavement support payments will be applied retrospectively to non married partners and their children.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We intend to take forward a Remedial Order to extend eligibility for BSP to cohabitees with children. The detail of the changes will be set out in the Remedial Order. We intend to lay the Order before the House in due course.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to apply the proposed remedial order to extend the legislation governing widowed parent's allowance and bereavement support payments retrospectively to non-married partners and their children.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We intend to take forward a Remedial Order to extend eligibility for BSP to cohabitees with children. The detail of the changes will be set out in the Remedial Order. We intend to lay the Order before the House in due course.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Plan for Jobs, published in July 2020, if he will extend (a) eligibility for the £1,000 bonus to employers who re-employ new starters who were not retained during the covid-19 outbreak and (b) an additional £1,000 bonus to those new starters directly.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Further information on the Bonus has been published at the end of July, including the eligibility criteria. Full guidance will be published by the end of September. Regarding labour retention and new starters, the relevant criteria is that the employee must have been continuously employed until 31 January 2021 and still be employed by the same employer as of 31 January 2021; and, not be serving a contractual or statutory notice period, that started before 1 February 2021, for the employer making a claim.
The Government’s comprehensive response to the COVID-19 outbreak ensures that there is a wide range of support available for those who may have not been retained by their employers. These include a £1,000 a year increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and Working Tax Credit basic element, and a nearly £1 billion increase in support for renters through increases to the Local Housing Allowance rates for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend the (a) phase-out start date from August to October 2020 and (b) scheme end date from October to December 2020 of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for the conferencing and exhibitions sector in acknowledgement of the semi-easing of covid-19 lockdown restrictions being permitted for that sector from October 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
After eight months of the CJRS, the scheme will close in October.
The CJRS is a temporary scheme and the Government must ensure that people can get back to work when it is safe to do so and get the UK economy up and running again.
It would be very challenging to target the CJRS to specific sectors in a fair and deliverable way, and it is not clear that this is the most effective or sensible way to provide longer term support for those sectors most affected by coronavirus.
It would also be difficult to target the CJRS at specific sectors without creating distortion, particularly as some firms work across multiple sectors. Other business support measures can provide support to specific firms.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the terms of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to enable employees to take part in employer sanctioned research and development work while furloughed.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The purpose of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is to support people who would otherwise have been made redundant. To prevent fraudulent claims, the Government made it clear that individuals cannot work or volunteer for their organisation.
When on furlough, an employee can undertake training or volunteer subject to public health guidance, so long as they are not making money for their employer or any organisation linked or associated with their association, or providing services to their employer or any organisation linked or associated with their association.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department made of the effect of the additional earnings disregards for Housing Benefits on tax credits before introducing the increase in the disability element of working tax credits that came into effect in April 2020.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Section 41 of The Tax Credit Act 2002 requires Treasury ministers to undertake an annual review of the rates of Tax Credits and to consider whether they have retained their value.
The disabled worker element and severe disability element of Working Tax Credit were uprated by CPI for 2020/21 to £3,3220 and £1,390 respectively.
During the review of Tax Credit rates for 2020/21 no specific assessment was made of the effect of the Housing Benefit disregards when setting the disability element rates of Working Tax Credit.
Asked by: Jeremy Wright (Conservative - Kenilworth and Southam)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support the Children’s Air Ambulance charity during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
On 8 April, the Chancellor announced a package of £750 million funding support for the charities sector. As part of this, £370 million in funding is to be provided through the National Lottery Community Fund (NLCF). This funding will support front line charities providing vital services and helping vulnerable people affected by COVID-19.
The criteria for this funding have not yet been released but the Children’s Air Ambulance charity may be eligible to apply for the NLCF funding once this bidding process launches in the coming weeks.