Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with local leaders in the West Midlands on the Integrated Rail Plan.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The government is committed to providing better rail connectivity between London, the Midlands and the North. The Treasury works closely with the Department for Transport to understand local leaders’ views on the Integrated Rail Plan, which will soon set out how best to scope, sequence and integrate Northern Powerhouse Rail, HS2 Phase 2b and other major Network Rail programmes.
The West Midlands will benefit significantly from Phase One of High Speed 2, which will cut journey times between Birmingham and London to less than 50 minutes. Budget 2021 also included £50m to develop proposals for transport improvements around the HS2 Interchange station to help support local regeneration.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to undertake a review into the eligibility thresholds for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government announced at Budget that the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will continue with a fourth and final fifth grant. The fourth and fifth grants are an estimated £13.5bn of additional support, taking total support for the self-employed to over £33 billion since the start of the pandemic. This provides certainty to business as the economy reopens and means the SEISS will continue to be one of the most generous schemes for the self-employed in the world.
Further information about the fourth grant is available in recently published guidance, at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme. Further detail on how the fifth grant will operate will be confirmed in future guidance, which will be published in due course.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of bringing forward the fourth grant payment for Self-Employment Income Support Scheme from the current scheduled date.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government announced at Budget 2021 that the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) will continue until September, with a fourth and a final fifth grant.
The Government also announced a major improvement in access to the self-employed scheme. As the deadline for 2019-20 tax returns has now passed, HMRC will use these tax returns for the fourth and fifth grants, provided they were submitted by 2 March. This means that 600,000 people, many of whom became self-employed in 2019-20, may now be able to claim the fourth and fifth grants, bringing the total number of people who could be eligible to 3.7 million.
Using these returns requires time to deliver due to the increased population and new data. In order to allow HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) time to process 2019-20 tax returns it has not been possible to invite applications or open the claims service earlier.
HMRC will open the online claims service for the fourth SEISS grant from late April 2021 and expect to notify potentially eligible people of their personal claim date from mid-April.
Guidance on how to claim the fourth grant is now available online: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme.
The SEISS is just one part of a wider package of support for the self-employed, which includes automatic, self-serve time-to-pay arrangements, loans, welfare support, and other business support grants.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of forgoing VAT on remediation of cladding to buildings.
Answered by Jesse Norman
No estimate is currently available.
On 9 May 2019, the Government announced that it would fully fund, including for any VAT charge, the removal and replacement of certain types of unsafe cladding on private sector residential buildings 18 metres or higher.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the effect of (a) cladding and (b) fire safety defects on the Exchequer’s taxation revenue.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government has provided £1.6bn for the remediation of unsafe cladding from the highest risk buildings. Building owners are responsible for keeping their buildings and residents safe and should meet remediation costs without passing them on to leaseholders, where possible.
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of ministerial discussions are not normally disclosed. The Government monitors closely the revenue from property taxation, and HMRC publish quarterly updates on SDLT receipts.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of VAT charges on the efficacy Building Safety Fund to repair buildings with (a) unsafe cladding and (b) fire safety defects.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In most cases, the standard rate of VAT will be applied to the removal and replacement of cladding. However, the cost of replacing cladding can be zero rated if it is tied to the initial construction of the building and is shown to be defective.
On 9 May 2019, the Government announced that it would fully fund the removal and replacement of certain types of unsafe cladding on private sector residential buildings 18 metres or over, including any VAT charge.
The supply of fire safety equipment, under qualifying circumstances, is already eligible for VAT relief when provided alongside the construction and renovation of residential or charitable buildings.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to help leaseholders (a) obtain mortgages or (b) re-mortgage their properties in situations where they are unable to obtain External Wall System (1) forms.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The EWS1 form was introduced by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) to assist in valuation of high-rise residential buildings for mortgage purposes. Government does not support a blanket approach in EWS1 requests for lower risk properties and is encouraging mortgage lenders to accept other equivalent evidence from building owners for valuation purposes.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support he plans to make available to people who are (a) shielding and (b) living in multigenerational households in the event that they are unable to safely return to work once the shielding programme is paused, notwithstanding statutory sick pay.
Answered by Jesse Norman
On 22 June, the Prime Minister announced that the Government will relax the current public health guidance for those identified as Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) to shield at home. This means from 1 August they will be able to return to work if they are unable to work from home, provided their workplace is COVID-safe.
It is important that this group continue to take careful precautions, and employers should do all they can to enable them to work from home where this is possible, including moving them to another role if required. Where this is not possible, the CEV should be provided with the safest on-site roles that enable them to maintain social distancing from others.
If employers cannot provide a safe working environment, the CEV will continue to have access to an unprecedented package of financial support. This is not limited to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, but also includes the introduction of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, and an increase in the generosity of welfare payments worth a further £8bn.
Current guidance for those who live with the shielded, including those in multi-generational households, is that they do not need to shield themselves but must carefully follow guidance on social distancing.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing interim rules for the building insurance market to prevent leaseholders having to pay unaffordable premiums until remedial works funded by the Building Safety Fund are completed.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is in continual dialogue with the insurance sector to understand and influence its response to this situation, and is encouraging insurers to do all they can to support customers experiencing these issues.
We are exploring all options to ensure that leaseholders are able to insure the buildings in which they live until remedial works can be completed.
Asked by: Shabana Mahmood (Labour - Birmingham, Ladywood)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps the Government is taking to help ensure the long-term financial sustainability of museums and art galleries in Birmingham as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government has announced unprecedented support for business and workers to protect them against the current economic emergency including almost £300 billion of guarantees – equivalent to 15% of UK GDP. Museums, galleries and other entities in the arts and heritage sector, can benefit from a range of support measures including:
· A 12-month business rates holiday for all eligible retail, leisure and hospitality businesses in England
· The retail, hospitality and leisure grant fund (RHLGF)
· Small business grant funding (SBGF) of £10,000 for all business in receipt of small business rate relief or rural rate relief
· The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)
· The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)
· The Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBL) for small and micro enterprises
· VAT deferral for up to 12 months
· The Time To Pay scheme, through which businesses in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, can receive support with their tax affairs
· Protection for commercial leaseholders against automatic forfeiture for non-payment until June 30, 2020
The Business Support website provides further information about how businesses can access the support that has been made available, who is eligible, when the schemes open and how to apply - https://www.businesssupport.gov.uk/coronavirus-business-support.
Separately, the Arts Council England has made £160 million of emergency funding available, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund £50million, with grants of between £3000 and £50,000 available through the latter.