Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of lowering the requirement for freelancers to receive at least 50 per cent of their income from self-employed work to qualify for financial support from the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The SEISS provides generous support to the self-employed, including freelancers who meet the eligibility criteria. Freelancers who are ineligible for the SEISS are likely to be those who receive less than half of their income from self-employment. The design of the SEISS, including the eligibility, requires that an individual’s trading profits must be at least equal to their non-trading income. This is intended to target support at those who need it the most, and who are most reliant on their self-employment income.
People ineligible for the SEISS on the basis of these criteria may be eligible for other elements of the substantial package of support available.
The CJRS has been available to all employers with a PAYE system and all employees on PAYE regardless of their employment contract. As such, freelancers and those on short term contracts could be eligible for the CJRS if they are on PAYE and meet the eligibility criteria.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether inbound tourist currency exchange shops serving inbound tourists are distinct from bureau de change shops serving local immigrants transferring currency out of the country, in respect of eligibility for covid-19 Business Rates Relief.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has published guidance on eligibility for the business rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure properties.
It is for Local Authorities to implement any reliefs and make decisions on eligibility in line with that guidance.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) extending the application date for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and bounce back loans for 12 months and (b) delaying the repayment start date for people who have already received this support for an additional 12 months.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The end date for new applications under Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) and Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) has already been extended several times, ensuring businesses have more time to make loan applications, supporting them through the pandemic. The Government is continuing to work to introduce a new, successor loan guarantee scheme, set to begin in early April, following the closure of the existing schemes to new applicants on 31 March 2021.
In order to give the smallest businesses further support and flexibility in making their repayments for BBLS, the Chancellor has announced “Pay as You Grow” (PAYG) options. PAYG will give businesses the option to repay their BBLS facility over ten years. This will reduce businesses’ average monthly repayments on the loan by almost half. Businesses will also have the option to move temporarily to interest-only payments for periods of up to six months (an option which they can use up to three times), or to pause their repayments entirely for up to six months. Given the continued challenges businesses are facing, the Government has opted to make the full repayment holiday available to borrowers from the first repayment meaning a borrower would be able to make no repayments for 18 months from taking out their loan. If borrowers want to take advantage of this option, they should notify their lender when they are contacted about their repayments.
Furthermore, the Government has amended the CBILS rules to allow lenders to extend loan terms from six to a maximum of ten years at lenders’ discretion and where they judge that this will help borrowers repay their loan, helping them to reduce their monthly repayments.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme for businesses affected by social distancing or travel restrictions until the end of Q3 2021, particularly in the live events and conference sectors.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has provided a comprehensive economic response that is one of the most generous globally, including very substantial steps to protect jobs. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has helped to pay the wages of people in 9.9 million jobs across the country, providing £46.4bn worth of support as of 13 December. The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) has received claims from 2.7 million self-employed workers, amounting to £13.7bn as of 13 December.
The Government will set out the next phase of the plan to tackle the virus and support jobs at Budget 2021.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing direct access to funding for the Bounce Back Loan to (a) non-bank organisations and (b) electronic money institutions whose clients may be unable to access the Bounce Back Loan through other lenders.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
There are 29 accredited lenders under the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) including challenger banks and non-bank lenders (NBLs) who have played a vital role in providing 1.4 million businesses with financial support worth over £42 billion throughout the Covid crisis.
The Government position remains that it does not provide capital to financial institutions, who must source their own funding. Last year, the Treasury issued a Call for Evidence in order to explore a possible private-sector led funding model that would support accredited NBLs to access finance to participate in the BBLS. Based on the feedback we received, including the significant commercial challenges highlighted by both non-bank lenders and the banks, the Government decided not to pursue this funding solution any further. Notwithstanding that decision, we have made changes to allow the transfer and assignment of the Government guarantee for all government-guaranteed loan schemes loans, which is something that NBLs have requested, to support their ability to access funding from commercial partners.
Asked by: Nickie Aiken (Conservative - Cities of London and Westminster)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with (a) campaigns for a government-backed insurance scheme for the UK live events industry and (b) the Let LIVE Thrive campaign.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is working closely with the insurers, the trade bodes and regulators to understand what more the sector can do to support firms in response to the pandemic. We also continue to gather and monitor information on how different sectors are being affected by the current crisis and the availability of cover.
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport is engaging with the live events sector to understand the issues they are currently facing. The Treasury will continue to engage with officials there to understand the latest position and assess proposals.
Event providers are eligible for assistance through the wider Government support package if they are in financial difficulty. We continue to keep the package under close review.