Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the normal minimum pension age on the Pensions Dashboard which is built around the concept of a single retirement age.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Pensions dashboards are still at an early stage of development and testing. The information that will be presented to consumers via pensions dashboards, and how it is displayed, will continue to evolve. DWP plans to consult in due course on regulations which would set out the requirements for dashboards.
Pensions dashboards will increase overall awareness and understanding of pensions, where individuals will be able to see information about the value of their different pensions, all in one place.
The way in which pension value information is produced and displayed is also under development and will be subject to user testing and consultation.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of ending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme on the aviation industry.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) was designed as a temporary, economy-wide measure to support businesses while widespread restrictions were in place. The scheme closed at the end of September, striking the right balance between supporting the economy as it opens up, continuing to provide support and protect incomes, and ensuring incentives are in place to get people back to work as demand returns. This approach has worked; the OBR have estimated that without the short-term fiscal easing announced in the Budget, and in particular the CJRS extension, unemployment would have otherwise been around 300,000 higher in the fourth quarter of this year than the 2.2 million in the central forecast.
Furthermore England has relaxed the rules on international travel, which will support the recovery of the aviation industry. A new system for a safe and sustainable return to travel has been set out, which separates countries into a red list and rest of world. As of Monday 11 October, England’s red list was reduced to just 7 countries, with 47 countries coming off the red list. Passengers fully vaccinated with an authorised vaccine arriving in England from non-red countries or territories will only need to take a day two test and will not need to self-isolate or take a pre-departure or day eight test. From 24 October fully vaccinated passengers arriving in England from countries not on the red list can take a cheaper lateral flow test, instead of a PCR test, on or before Day 2 of their arrival into the UK. Anyone who tests positive will need to take a confirmatory PCR test which can be genomically sequenced to help identify new variants.
Eligible travellers vaccinated in over 100 countries and territories including Brazil, Ghana, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, South Africa and Turkey can avoid self-isolation, pre-departure testing and day eight testing requirements on arrival to the UK from non-red countries and territories, like UK vaccinated adults.
The Government recognises the particular challenges the aviation industry has faced as a result of Covid-19. The aviation and aerospace sectors are being supported with over £12 billion that has been made available through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) and grants for research and development.
The Government has shown throughout the pandemic that it is prepared to adapt support if the path of the virus changes. We continue to engage closely with sectors across the economy, including the aviation, travel and tourism industries, to understand their recovery horizons as the vaccine is rolled out and restrictions ease.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many children in receipt of child benefit and over 15 years 9 months have not received their National Insurance number as of 9 July 2021.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The requested information is not available.
In order for a child to be issued a National Insurance Number (NINo) automatically, the child must be part of a live Child Benefit claim when they are 15 years, 9 months old.
If a child has been part of a claim, but is not part of a claim when they are 15 years, 9 months old, HMRC can be contacted to request a NINo.
If a child has never been part of a Child Benefit claim (or a claim for a childcare service administered by HMRC) HMRC will have no record of them. An application can be made to DWP to obtain a NINo.
HMRC do not collate information on the number of young people who fall out of the automatic process and do not later obtain their NINo.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the current average waiting time in days is for a child of a qualifying age to receive their National Insurance number.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In order for a child to be issued a National Insurance Number (NINo) automatically, the child must be part of a live Child Benefit claim when they are 15 years, 9 months old. They will receive their NINo automatically just before their 16th birthday.
If a child has been part of a claim, but is not part of a claim when they are 15 years, 9 months old, HMRC can be contacted to request a NINo. This process takes approximately 15 working days.
If a child has never been part of a Child Benefit claim (or a claim for a childcare service administered by HMRC) HMRC will have no record of them. An application can be made to DWP to obtain a NINo.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has recently received from the West Midlands Combined Authority on the funding of three new train stations to serve the Camp Hill Line in Birmingham; and when the West Midlands Combined Authority is planned to receive the full funding to implement plans for the Camp Hill Line.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Government is committed to improving local connectivity and supporting economic growth in the West Midlands. Yesterday’s Budget confirmed £59m of funding towards five new rail stations in the region, of which three will serve the Camp Hill Line.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to conduct a review of funding for community pharmacies ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
On the 20th October, the Chancellor announced that this year’s Spending Review would focus on giving departments the certainty needed to tackle Covid-19, providing vital public services enhanced support to fight the virus, and investing in infrastructure to drive our economic recovery.
In 2019, a landmark 5-year settlement for the Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework (CPCF) was agreed. This deal commits to spend £2.592 billion every financial year until 23/24, and sets out how community pharmacy will support the delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will allocate additional resources to local authorities in the Comprehensive Spending Review to enable them to fund short respite breaks for children who need palliative care.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Chancellor has announced that the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) will be published this Autumn. Funding for local authorities for children’s care and other services will be set out as part of CSR. The Government recognises the importance of providing support for children and families undergoing palliative care and will continue to engage with Councils to understand their pressures and assess the need for further support.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families with children received the £20 per week uplift in working tax credit basic element payments, announced on 20 March 2020, in Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency in each month since its introduction.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The latest available information on the number of families with children receiving Working Tax Credit at the parliamentary constituency level is for April 2020. In April 2020, the number of families with children receiving Working Tax Credit in Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency was 1,700.
Information on following months is not readily available. The next update to this publication will provide statistics relating to December 2020 and will be available in January 2021.
Final annual information on families with children receiving Working Tax Credits is published once a year and updated each July
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the level of business rates paid by (a) public houses and (b) other businesses with similar turnover.
Answered by Jesse Norman
In March the Chancellor announced a business rates holiday for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, irrespective of rateable value. This means that pubs in England will pay no business rates this year. Combined with Small Business Rates Relief, over 1 million ratepayers will pay no business rates in 2020-21. This is more than half of all properties in England.
Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of whether newspapers with online subscription fees are passing the savings from the removal of VAT onto their consumers.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government looks to businesses to pass on the benefit to customers and has encouraged them to do so. However, this is ultimately a commercial decision for businesses to make.