Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Answer of 29 November 2017 to Question 115096 on Revenue and Customs: Disability, how many HMRC staff have been granted Health Related Special Leave (formerly Disability Adjustment Leave) because they are awaiting reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 to be made at the HMRC Regional Centre in 3 Glass Wharf, Bristol, since September 2019.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC aim to deliver excellent workplaces for all of their staff. This means allowing people to access and work in their buildings confidently, independently and with dignity regardless of their age, disability, race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.
3 Glass Wharf, Bristol meets building regulations required by law. Building Standard 8300 (BS8300) brings together a further range of inclusive design guidance, with the previous 2009 edition being revised in 2018. The 2009 version sought provision well beyond those required by building regulations, with the 2018 edition going still further. Planning permission was granted and construction commenced before the 2018 revision.
Standards are considered voluntary guidance, without the force of law, and are not retrospective. However, HMRC have decided to go further than what is required by law and have additional reasonable work planned at 3 Glass Wharf, beyond the 2009 version, in relation to the 2018 edition of BS8300.
HMRC have a number of policies and processes in place that are designed to ensure the needs of colleagues requiring adjustments are met. Health Related Special Leave is one element. As a person’s health and medical conditions are sensitive, HMRC’s HR systems do not record the reason for granting special leave. The reason for an individual’s Special Leave is only recorded by their manager and is not collated as part of a data set.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether self-employed people who have No Recourse To Public Funds as an immigration condition are able to apply for the Self-employed Income Support Scheme.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The revised guidance published alongside the legal direction is clear that grants under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) are not counted as ‘access to public funds’ and that taxpayers on all categories of visa can claim the SEISS grant. This treatment of SEISS grant payments aligns with that of payments from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the insurance industry on compensating (a) hospitality, (b) events and (c) entertainment businesses for lost business resulting from the outbreak of covid 19.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is in continual dialogue with the insurance sector about its contribution to handling this unprecedented situation.
In addition, the Chancellor has made clear that, for those businesses which have an appropriate policy that covers pandemics, government’s medical advice of 16th March is sufficient to allow businesses to make a claim against their insurance, provided the other terms and conditions in their policy are met.
The FCA’s rules require insurers to handle claims fairly and promptly; provide reasonable guidance to help a policyholder make a claim, and appropriate information on its progress; not reject a claim unreasonably; and settle claims promptly once settlement terms are agreed.
However, most businesses have not purchased insurance that covers pandemic related losses. As such, any affected businesses should note the government’s full package of support.
The Chancellor has announced two packages to support the people and businesses of the UK. A three-point plan providing £12 billion of support for public services, individuals and businesses whose finances are affected by the outbreak, and a package to provide further support for businesses and individuals totalling £350bn.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's news story entitled, Off-payroll review launched, published on 7 January 2020, what the timeframe is for the publication of the findings of that review.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government launched a review of reform to the off-payroll working rules on 7 January 2020 to determine if there were further steps that could be taken to ensure the smooth and successful implementation of the reform, which will come into force in April 2020.
The review of the off-payroll working reform has now concluded and the outcome of the review was published on 27 February 2020.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) sole traders and (b) people working in the gig economy are not adversely affected by changes to IR35 legislation.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The IR35 rules were introduced in 2000. They only apply to individuals who are working like employees under the current employment status tests, and do not apply to the self-employed or sole traders.
The Government will introduce a legal requirement for clients to implement a status disagreement process to allow individuals to challenge their status determination directly and in real time. This right is an additional statutory layer of protection for off-payroll workers.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that people on low incomes have local access to a free-to-use ATM.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is committed to supporting digital payments whilst safeguarding access to cash for those who need it. To support this, the Government has launched the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy (JACS) Group – which brings together the Payment Systems Regulator, Financial Conduct Authority and Bank of England – to ensure a comprehensive oversight of the UK’s overall cash infrastructure.
The Government expects industry to play a crucial role in protecting access to cash. As part of its Financial Inclusion Programme, LINK, the scheme that runs the UK’s largest ATM network, has introduced premiums of up to £2.75 per transaction that support ATMs in the most deprived areas of the UK and runs an initiative for local areas to request an ATM.
The Government-established Payment Systems Regulator regulates LINK, and is holding LINK to account over their commitments to maintain the broad geographic spread ATMs that are free at the point of use.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Financial Services Ombudsman has adequate resources to (a) conduct thorough investigations and (b) deliver timely decisions on cases.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is required to take such steps as are necessary to ensure that the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is capable of exercising its functions, including approving the FOS’s annual budget. Furthermore, the FOS is subject to statutory audit by the National Audit Office and must publish reports of determinations.
The FOS and the FCA are operationally independent of Government.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings his Department has had with Bristol City Council to discuss preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.
Answered by Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, and Minister for the Union
The Government has had extensive engagement with all local authorities, including Bristol City Council, as they continue to prepare for leaving the European Union on 31st October, with or without a deal. We continue to ensure that councils have the necessary information to prepare effectively, and continue to provide opportunities for specific local issues to be raised and addressed.
During December-March 2018/19, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government hosted eleven thematic engagement events for all councils in partnership with ten other government departments that were attended by 650 local government officers representing more than 270 councils. The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government also chairs a monthly meeting of local authority leaders with Ministers from across Government attending as required. Since August, a monthly interactive conference with local authority chief executives and Brexit Lead Officers has been hosted by the Secretary of State answering questions submitted directly to him from the sector. The Government’s recent expectation that all local authorities designate a Brexit Lead Officer has further enhanced two-way communication between the different tiers of government as the country prepares to exit the European Union.
Across 2018/19 and 2019/20, MHCLG has allocated £79m to help local areas to prepare for Brexit. Of this funding, Bristol City Council has directly received £314,952 of capacity funding to help it to prepare and prevent disruption to the services that its residents rely upon.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the regulations that allow the transfer of a private pension scheme to a Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme within the European Economic Area will be exempt from tax after the UK has left the EU.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The regulations that allow a tax-free transfer of a private pension scheme to a QROP within the EEA are domestic law which currently comply with EU fundamental freedoms. Whether or not these transfers will be exempt from the overseas transfer charge once the UK leaves the EU is dependent upon the terms of future exit agreement between the UK Government and the EU.
Asked by: Thangam Debbonaire (Labour - Bristol West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic effect on booksellers of his recent proposal on Ordinance Survey MasterMap data.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
At Autumn Budget 2017, the government committed to work with Ordnance Survey (OS) and the new Geospatial Commission to establish by May 2018 how to open up freely OS’s MasterMap data to UK-based small businesses in particular. This work is underway and we will provide further updates in due course.