Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing support to newly self-employed individuals who have been ineligible for covid-19 support to date.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has looked carefully at ways to support groups such as the newly self-employed, and acknowledges that it has not been possible to support everyone as they might want. The practical issues that prevented the Government from being able to include the newly self-employed in 2019-20 in the original Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), namely that HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will not have access to their self-assessment returns in order to verify their eligibility, still remain.
The Government continues to work closely with stakeholders to explore how it can support different groups. The Government has engaged with various proposals but has not yet found a way to overcome the fundamental issue of safeguarding against fraud and abuse.
However, newly self-employed individuals who are ineligible for SEISS may still be eligible for other elements of the support available. The Universal Credit standard allowance has been temporarily increased for 2020/21 and the Minimum Income Floor relaxed for the duration of the crisis, so that where self-employed claimants' earnings have fallen significantly, their Universal Credit award will have increased to reflect their lower earnings. In addition to this, they may also have access to other elements of the support package, including Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support, mortgage holidays, self-isolation support payments and other business support grants.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing free access to (a) tampons and (b) sanitary pads in England.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is committed to tackling period poverty, and DHSC ministers are working with officials to develop a women’s health strategy.
Vital sexual and reproductive healthcare services have been maintained during the pandemic, including via online services, and NHS England announced in March 2019 that it will offer period products to every hospital patient who needs them. Last year we introduced the period product scheme to provide free period products for all learners who need them. This scheme will continue into 2021.
At Budget 2020 the Government announced that from January 2021, there will be no VAT charged on women’s sanitary products. And in the meantime, the £15m Tampon Tax Fund allocates the funds generated from the VAT on sanitary products to front line projects that directly improve the lives of disadvantaged women and girls.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of implementing a universal basic income.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
There are fundamental problems with the realities of a Universal Basic Income. Providing sufficient support through a UBI would require both a significant reduction in other public spending and an increase in taxation. A flat rate UBI would also not account for the additional needs and costs faced by some and could markedly increase inequality.
We are focussed on helping people get into work, making up to £30 billion available through our Plan for Jobs and have supported those on the lowest incomes through the pandemic by investing an additional £7.4 billion in the welfare system this year.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he plans to take to help protect high streets from online competition during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government understands that this is a very challenging time for the UK’s retail sector, and recognises that high street retailers have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
The safe re-opening of our high street retailers is the most effective way we can support businesses. England has now moved back into a regional, tiered approach, and essential and non-essential retail, including indoor and outdoor markets and car boot sales are open in all three tiers. The Government has also extended opening hours in the run up to Christmas and during January - helping to make socially distanced shopping easier and safer.
The Government has also established the Reopening High Streets Safely Fund. The £50 million fund is for councils across England to support their local high streets get safely back to business. This fund builds on longer-term funds already in place to support their revival and boost their economic fortunes including the Future High Streets and Towns Funds.
This is in addition to the wide-ranging support the Government has already delivered: protecting high street jobs through the CJRS which has been extended until March; and protecting businesses with cash grants, Government backed finance through loan schemes, ‘Pay as You Grow’ long-term repayments options, a VAT deferral for up to 12 months, a 12-month business rates holiday; and a moratorium on evictions to protect commercial tenants.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when Government grants to support local areas will made to those local authorities that went into Tier 3 prior to the November 2020 covid-19 lockdown.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Backdated payments for those areas which entered Tier 3 prior to 5th November will be made in the week commencing 14th December. A total of £6.5m will be paid to relevant Local Authorities. This funding will enable those Local Authorities to make payments of up to £1,500 per two weeks that businesses were closed under the previous Tier 3 restrictions.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that progress in closing the gender pay gap is not adversely affected by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
While evidence of the economic impact of the pandemic is still emerging, we know between April 2019 and April 2020, women’s median weekly pay increased by 2.5%, whereas men’s median weekly pay fell by 0.7%. The UK's gender pay gap has fallen to a record low of 15.5% from 17.4%, while the gender employment rate gap is at its lowest level on record at 6.6 percentage points.
The Government is committed to levelling up and making the UK a country where equality of opportunity exists for everyone. Coronavirus is the biggest challenge the UK has faced in decades and the government has taken unprecedented steps to protect and support jobs.
The Government has protected 4.5 million jobs held by women through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The government also introduced one of the most generous self-employed coronavirus support schemes in the world. Around 760,000 claims have been received from self-employed women for the first Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant and figures so far show 660,000 claims have been received by women for the second grant.
Some sector-specific support has helped to support women’s employment by helping some of the hardest hit sectors in which women are overrepresented. For example, the government extended the temporary reduced rate of VAT (5%) to goods and services supplied by the tourism and hospitality sectors from 12 January to 31 March 2021. These are sectors that disproportionately employ women.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential long-term effects of the covid-19 outbreak on women’s (a) pay and (b) employment.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government continues to monitor the impact of Covid-19 on women and men in the labour market; however, the economic evidence of the impact of the pandemic is still emerging and inconclusive.
The Government has provided unprecedented support to protect and support jobs. For claims received up to 31st July 2020, 4.5 million jobs held by women had been supported by the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme since its introduction. The latest data shows that at the end of August, 1.6 million jobs with a female employee were still being supported by the furlough scheme across the UK. In the Plan for Jobs, the Government announced a wide-ranging package of measures to support jobs which will help women across the country, including almost £900m to double the number of work coaches to 27,000 this year and the £2bn Kickstart Scheme, which will create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people (16-24) at risk of long-term unemployment across Great Britain.
Since the Covid-19 outbreak, we know women have seen a smaller fall in employment than men, both in relative and absolute terms. Compared to the quarter ending February 2020, there were 200,000 fewer women employed in the quarter ending September 2020, whereas there were 370,000 fewer men employed. This implies a fall of 1.3% in female employment and 2.1% fall in male employment. The gender employment rate gap is at its lowest level on record at 6.6 percentage points.
Between April 2019 and April 2020, women’s median weekly pay increased by 2.5%, while men’s median weekly pay fell by 0.7%. The gender pay gap is also at its lowest level since records began, falling to a record low of 15.5%, from 17.4% last year.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to tackle (a) gender, (b) race and (c) socioeconomic inequality as part of his Winter Economic Plan.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government considers the equality impacts of individual policies on those with protected characteristics carefully and consistently, in line with both its legal obligations and its strong commitment to equality; and there are internal procedural requirements and support in place for ensuring that such considerations inform decisions taken by Ministers.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure the covid-19 outbreak does not increase (a) job security, (b) job opportunity and (c) pay inequalities among men and women.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
To help protect people’s job security, the Government announced the unprecedented Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to help firms keep millions of people in employment. Up to 30th June 4.5 million female employees have been supported through the Government’s furlough scheme. With the announcement of the Winter Economy Plan, the Government is adapting its response to the changing context, as we said we would. The Job Support Scheme will provide more targeted support, aimed at viable businesses who are facing lower demand due to Covid-19 to help keep their employees in work.
Alongside this, the government has announced additional support for working parents. Any working parent usually eligible for Tax Free Childcare or 30 hours free childcare will temporarily remain eligible if they fall below the minimum income requirement due to COVID-19. This supports individuals with childcare commitments who are temporarily working less as result of Covid-19. An IFS report (https://www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/publications/bns/BN223.pdf) found that gender differences in rates of part-time and fulltime paid work account for approximately half of the widening of the gender wage gap over the 20 years after the first child in a family is born, highlighting the importance of childcare for reducing pay inequalities between men and women.
Since 1 June, early years settings have already been able to welcome back children of all ages. The Government is continuing to work to understand how it can ensure that sufficient safe, appropriate and affordable childcare is available. Providers who run community activities, holiday clubs, breakfast and after-school clubs, tuition and other out-of-school provision for children can now operate with protective measures in place
In its Plan for Jobs, the Government has announced unprecedented support to help unemployed people in Great Britain find a job. We are providing £1.2bn to significantly expand and enhance work search support, including doubling the number of work coaches, additional investment into the Flexible Support Fund to provide direct support at a local level, and using externally contracted provision to expand support even further.
Recognising that young people are particularly at risk, the government has also launched a new £2bn Kickstart Scheme, creating hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people across Great Britain, as well as a guaranteed foundation of support to all 18-24 year olds on Universal Credit in the Intensive Worksearch group, through its new youth offer.
These measures will help provide job opportunities to women.
Asked by: Mark Hendrick (Labour (Co-op) - Preston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will extend eligibility criteria to new starters who missed the date for enrolment in the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme due to (a) the date of starting a new job and (b) their employer’s choice of timing in submitting paperwork to HMRC.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has prioritised helping the greatest number of people as quickly as possible. For this reason, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has had to be set up to operate at significant scale and with limited manual intervention.
Extending the cut-off date beyond 19 March would significantly increase the risk of abuse and fraud, as claims could not be confidently verified against the risk of fraud using the data after 20 March, when the scheme became public.