Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what figures his Department holds on the amount spent by local authorities in England on helping to set up new business co-operatives.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recognises the value of co-operatives. It is clear they offer a different way of running a business, supporting the needs of their members and their local communities.
HMT does not hold any data regarding the amount spent by local authorities in England on helping to set up new business co-operatives. Local authorities in England have significant freedoms to choose what investments to make and how to finance them.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 86 in the technical annex of the Government's September 2021 publication, Building Back Better: Our plan for Health and Social Care, whether the Government's plan to compensate departments and other public sector employers in England at the Spending Review for the increased cost of the health and social care levy includes providing that support to local authorities in England.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government intends to compensate departments and other public sector employers in England at the Spending Review for the increased cost of the Health and Social Care Levy, and provide Barnett consequentials on this funding to the devolved administrations. Further details on the approach to this compensation will be set out at the conclusion of the Spending Review on 27 October 2021.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the levels of local authority support for credit unions.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recognises the vital role of credit unions in the financial wellbeing of their communities, providing an ethical home for their members’ savings and affordable loans to those who may otherwise have to resort to high-cost lenders.
Local authorities have significant freedoms to choose what investments they make and how to finance them. The Government funded £617m for the Local Authority Discretionary Grants Fund, as well as further funding for the Small Business Grant Fund. Both funds closed in August 2020. The Government has also provided £2 billion of discretionary grant funding for local authorities in England through the Additional Restrictions Grant, to support businesses in the local area, which credit unions may have benefited from. Local authorities determine how much funding to provide to businesses and exactly which businesses to target.
Separately, the Government has provided significant support for credit unions. In total, £96 million of dormant asset funding has been released to Fair4All Finance, the independent body set up by Government to distribute dormant assets funding to support financial inclusion. Fair4All Finance has so far provided over £15m in financial support to the community finance sector, including credit unions, as part of their COVID-19 response. This includes £12m of equity investments in community finance providers and £3.6m in COVID-19 grants, including funding from their £5m COVID resilience fund. It also includes an expanded Affordable Credit Scale-up Programme, which aims to improve the access and availability of affordable credit, and which I expect to be of benefit to credit unions.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2021 to Question 162625, whether any new jobs will be created by the location of HM Treasury's Northern Campus in Darlington.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Darlington economic campus is an important part of the government’s wider Places for Growth programme, which aims to move 22,000 Civil Servants out of London by 2030. HM Treasury will be filling roles in the Darlington economic campus through both voluntary relocation and direct recruitment. The new office will include a range of roles and levels of seniority. The mixture of voluntary relocation and direct recruitment, and the exact nature of the roles, will be determined in due course.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he had sight of the lists of areas for priority funding from the (a) Levelling Up Fund and (b) UK Community Renewal Fund prior to the publication of those lists.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
On the Levelling Up Fund, Ministers approved metrics at the design stage based on alignment with the policy goals of the Fund. Ministers did not see a list of specific places before agreeing the list of metrics. At no point did Ministers make changes to the index, weightings or metrics recommended by officials.
On the Community Renewal Fund, the design of the fund, including the allocation process was led by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his video using HM Treasury branding and promoted on social media channels on 2 March 2021 is consistent with the (a) civil service code and (b) Government Communications Propriety Guidance.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
All digital content posted on HM Treasury’s social media channels in the lead up to Budget 2021 was produced by the Department’s in-house communications team as part of its Budget communications strategy in full accordance with the civil service code and Government Communications Propriety Guidance.
The HM Treasury-branded videos published on March 1 and March 2 provide an overview of the COVID-related support the government has introduced to protect lives and livelihoods since the start of the pandemic, as well as featuring real people impacted by the measures.
The videos are objective, explanatory and relevant to government responsibilities, coming at no additional cost to the taxpayer.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse was of his video using HM Treasury branding and promoted on his social media channels on 2 March 2021.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
All digital content posted on HMT’s social media channels in the lead up to Budget was produced by the department’s in house communications team at no additional cost.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many new full-time equivalent jobs will be created by the location of (a) HM Treasury's Northern Campus in Darlington and (b) the new national infrastructure bank in Leeds.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
At least 750 roles from across HM Treasury, the Department for International Trade, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Office for National Statistics will be based at the Darlington economic campus. The UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) is a new institution and will be headquartered in Leeds. The UKIB will be launched in interim form later in the Spring with the recruitment of the bank’s Chair currently underway.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether funding from the proposed 0.2 per cent reduction in the Official Development Assistance budget will be used to fund Town Deals.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
As the Chancellor said at the 2020 Spending Review, sticking to the target to spend 0.7% of GNI as Official Development Assistance (ODA) is not an appropriate prioritisation of resources at a time of emergency.
The reduction in planned ODA expenditure was included in the overall spending plans that the government set out at the 2020 Spending Review, which prioritised funding to support the government’s response to Covid-19, invest in the UK’s recovery for all nations and regions and deliver on promises to the British people. This includes the provision of £621 million in 2021-22 towards the continuation of investment from the Towns Fund to regenerate high streets, town centres and communities.
Asked by: Steve Reed (Labour (Co-op) - Croydon North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many meetings Ministers in his Department have had with commercial property companies since 1 March 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Treasury ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel.