Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost of including business improvement district levies in the business rates relief support during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
Business rates are distinct from the Business Improvement District (BID) levy and are managed separately. The BID legislation requires businesses to pay the BID levy and any decision to waive or reduce the levy is to be made by the BID Board of Directors. Therefore, business rates relief will not be applied to any percentage payment towards a BID.
However, the Government is making available up to £6.1 million of support to BIDs to cover the equivalent of three months of core operational costs. This funding will protect BID bodies from insolvency and ensure that they weather the current crisis. Local authorities and BIDs will now be able to be flexible with the enforcement of the levy for businesses that are unable to pay, but business remain liable for the levy and those that can still pay should still pay.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the covid-19 outbreak and the Bank of England’s reduction in interest rates, what plans he has to reduce the interest rates applied to Plan 2 Income Contingent Repayment student loans.
Answered by Steve Barclay
The system for setting interest rates on student loans is set out in The Education (Student Loans) (Repayment) Regulations 2009, as amended.
Student loans have much more favourable terms than commercial loans and the Government regularly monitors the interest rates set on student loans against the interest rates prevailing on the market. The most appropriate comparators for undergraduate student loans are the effective interest rates available on unsecured personal loans, as published by the Bank of England (data series CFMBJ77 and CFMBJ94).
We continue to monitor Covid-19 impacts on students and work to understand the issues they face.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he received on providing £2 million of seed funding for the Great South West initiative.
Answered by Steve Barclay
We received a wide range of representations at Spring Budget, including from the Great South West. The Chancellor set out our plan at Budget to level up every region and nation of the UK. For the South West, this ranges from major investment in infrastructure, including the A303 Stonehenge, an intra-city transport settlement for West of England from a £4.2bn envelope and the rollout of gigabit broadband, to a cut to National Insurance for over 2.5 million people in the South West.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will change the status of the Mayflower 400 commemorative coin from collectors-only to general circulation.
Answered by John Glen
The Royal Mint has a long-established tradition of producing coins in order to mark historic moments. The 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s voyage is an important moment in our shared history with the United States and will rightly be celebrated with the production of a commemorative coin. The number and denomination of coins issued into circulation is dependent on demand from UK banks and Post Offices.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the pay settlement for staff of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel are part of the civil service. Therefore, responsibility for setting their pay and terms and conditions lies with the Cabinet Office and Ministry of Defence.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funding he is making available to enforce the Marine Protection Area around Ascension Island announced in the Spring Statement.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Funding to establish a new Marine Protected Area (MPA) around Ascension Island will be made available under the Blue Belt programme, and will be consistent with funding for other MPAs. Funding for ongoing costs associated with the Ascension Island MPA will be delivered at the forthcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 67 of the Budget 2018 Red Book, what funding he has allocated for resilience work in Dawlish.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The government committed to £15 million of funding in November 2016. The essential improvement works are to begin in November of this year to strengthen the cliffs and protect the sea wall at Dawlish. Further plans for major improvements of the seawall at Dawlish will be published in the summer 2019.
Overall, we are investing more than £400m in the rail network in the South West and will continue to work with Network Rail and the Peninsula Rail Task Force to explore the potential for longer-term improvements from summer 2019 onwards.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to include hydrogen refuelling stations in the scope of the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund in the future.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The purpose of the Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund is to catalyse private sector investment into the electric vehicle chargepoint network. There are separate interventions to support the uptake of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and roll out more cutting edge infrastructure. This includes funding which will see additional hydrogen refuelling stations being built as well as upgrades to existing refuelling infrastructure. In addition, government funding has supported the opening of the UK’s first integrated forecourt hydrogen refuelling station at the Shell Beaconsfield site, making it the first location in the country selling hydrogen fuel as well as petrol and diesel.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will reduce the rate of VAT charged on work to reclad tower blocks resulting from the Grenfell Tower fire.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
On 16 May the government announced that it will fully fund the removal and replacement of potentially dangerous ACM cladding on residential social housing buildings, which are over 18 metres tall and owned by social landlords. This commitment is estimated to cost £400 million.
In the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the government also established a comprehensive building safety programme and made it clear that aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding on buildings over 18 meters which was not compliant with building regulations guidance should be remediated by the building owners. The government has provided £1m in financial support to help local authorities identify high-rise private residential buildings with unsafe cladding. This work will ensure that hazards in high rise residential buildings are addressed and the government continues to work closely with local authorities, building owners and leaseholder groups to establish what more can be done.
Asked by: Luke Pollard (Labour (Co-op) - Plymouth Sutton and Devonport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of VAT which will be accrued to the public purse from the £400m allocated by the Government to renew cladding on tower blocks that have failed fire safety tests.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
On 16 May the government announced that it will fully fund the removal and replacement of potentially dangerous ACM cladding on residential social housing buildings, which are over 18 metres tall and owned by social landlords. This commitment is estimated to cost £400 million.
In the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the government also established a comprehensive building safety programme and made it clear that aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding on buildings over 18 meters which was not compliant with building regulations guidance should be remediated by the building owners. The government has provided £1m in financial support to help local authorities identify high-rise private residential buildings with unsafe cladding. This work will ensure that hazards in high rise residential buildings are addressed and the government continues to work closely with local authorities, building owners and leaseholder groups to establish what more can be done.