Economic Update

Wendy Chamberlain Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2020 Commons Chamber

[Rishi Sunak]

I can tell my hon. Friend that he is absolutely right, and the Communities and Local Government Secretary has already been engaging on this particular issue, working together with the Health Secretary with regard to social care, to make sure that, in our local communities, we can identify and protect the elderly and most vulnerable, and make sure that they get the support that they need.

[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)]

A constituent of mine in the Howe of Fife, who is self-employed, has contacted me today because she is worried about her future employment and how she will pay her mortgage and support her family. Although I welcome the Chancellor’s moves in relation to mortgages, the fact is that mortgage products often have payment holidays as part of them. Given that these are the first steps, may I ask the Chancellor, first, is this going to be for people who are directly impacted by coronavirus, or is it potentially for people who are self-isolating as they are at risk of getting an infection; and secondly, is he considering other measures to support my constituent, such as statutory sick pay for the self-employed or, indeed, council tax relief?

[Rishi Sunak]

I say to the hon. Lady that I think the measures today on mortgage forbearance are significant and welcome, and banks will show flexibility in providing that. In regard to council tax support, we did provide £500 million of hardship funding to local authorities specifically to use and deploy through their local council tax or support systems that already exist to provide extra support to people with their council tax bills.