Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of his Department's policies during the covid-19 outbreak on people who were ineligible to claim Government financial support in that period.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Throughout the pandemic, the Government sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods while also supporting businesses and public services across the UK. To do this, the Government has provided up to £400 billion of direct support for the economy.
The Government is evaluating the delivery and impact of these schemes to ensure we learn lessons for the future. For example, the Government has already published a plan to evaluate the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). The Government is also carrying out an evaluation of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) which will be published in due course.
The Government will continue to learn these lessons through formal evaluations and reports by independent bodies, such the National Audit Office, and through the work of the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry.
Asked by: Lord Jones of Cheltenham (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they made an assessment in 2020 of whether limiting their support of UK airlines through access to furlough funding would have an impact on the airlines’ staff numbers and post-pandemic capacity.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The economic impact of the pandemic was widespread across large parts of the economy. It was right that the Government made support available for all businesses that needed it for the whole of the UK. To clarify, any entity with a UK payroll, including airlines, was able to apply for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS).
When designing and implementing the scheme, the Government carefully considered its impacts on individual sectors and on the economy as a whole, and adapted its approach in response to the changing health and economic context.
In addition to CJRS, the Government provided unprecedented support to the aviation and aerospace sectors throughout Covid-19, with over £12 billion made available through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, and grants for research and development.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding from the public purse Peel Holding has received for operating Doncaster Sheffield Airport in each year since 1999.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Subsidies provided by Government over certain amounts are published online. In 2021 the Department for Transport provided £1,758,720 to Doncaster Sheffield Airport in grant payments as part of the Airport and Ground Operations Support Scheme. During the pandemic the government has also provided around £8bn in support through package of measures during the pandemic to support the air transport sector. This includes support through loan guarantees, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. Doncaster Sheffield Airport may have drawn from that wider support.
During the UK’s membership of the European Union and the EU Exit Implementation Period, any subsidies exceeding an amount of approximately €500k made available to organisations were published on https://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/public/consultation/search.do?locale=en.
Following the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU, any subsidies exceeding an amount of approximately £368k are now published on https://www.gov.uk/guidance/view-subsidies-awarded-by-uk-government.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has taken steps to support the workforce at Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
I recognise that Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s (DSA) review into the future of the airport will be concerning for passengers and people who work at the airport. The Department was notified on the 13 July along with other local stakeholders about the announcement. My officials are in contact with the airport to understand its plans and I am due to meet Peel Group later this week. It would be inappropriate to comment whilst the review is ongoing. However, we hope that the review will be able to ensure a future for aviation at DSA.
Since the start of the pandemic, we estimate that the air transport sector (airlines, airport and related services) has benefitted from around £8bn of government support. This includes support through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and the Airport and Ground Operations Scheme (AGOSS) from which DSA was awarded £1,758,720 in grant payments.
Ministers and officials engage extensively with the Aviation industry on a regular basis. As the Aviation Minister, I visited Doncaster Sheffield Airport on 3 June meeting with the Chairman of Peel Airports and the leadership team of the airport. Officials from the Department continue to meet with representatives from DSA as part of routine engagement on a range of matters.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) financial and (b) other support his Department has provided to Doncaster Sheffield Airport and/or Peel Group in the last two years.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
I recognise that Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s (DSA) review into the future of the airport will be concerning for passengers and people who work at the airport. The Department was notified on the 13 July along with other local stakeholders about the announcement. My officials are in contact with the airport to understand its plans and I am due to meet Peel Group later this week. It would be inappropriate to comment whilst the review is ongoing. However, we hope that the review will be able to ensure a future for aviation at DSA.
Since the start of the pandemic, we estimate that the air transport sector (airlines, airport and related services) has benefitted from around £8bn of government support. This includes support through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and the Airport and Ground Operations Scheme (AGOSS) from which DSA was awarded £1,758,720 in grant payments.
Ministers and officials engage extensively with the Aviation industry on a regular basis. As the Aviation Minister, I visited Doncaster Sheffield Airport on 3 June meeting with the Chairman of Peel Airports and the leadership team of the airport. Officials from the Department continue to meet with representatives from DSA as part of routine engagement on a range of matters.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department was first notified provided by Doncaster Sheffield Airport and/or Peel Group about the potential closure of Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
I recognise that Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s (DSA) review into the future of the airport will be concerning for passengers and people who work at the airport. The Department was notified on the 13 July along with other local stakeholders about the announcement. My officials are in contact with the airport to understand its plans and I am due to meet Peel Group later this week. It would be inappropriate to comment whilst the review is ongoing. However, we hope that the review will be able to ensure a future for aviation at DSA.
Since the start of the pandemic, we estimate that the air transport sector (airlines, airport and related services) has benefitted from around £8bn of government support. This includes support through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and the Airport and Ground Operations Scheme (AGOSS) from which DSA was awarded £1,758,720 in grant payments.
Ministers and officials engage extensively with the Aviation industry on a regular basis. As the Aviation Minister, I visited Doncaster Sheffield Airport on 3 June meeting with the Chairman of Peel Airports and the leadership team of the airport. Officials from the Department continue to meet with representatives from DSA as part of routine engagement on a range of matters.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has received any information on the future of Doncaster Sheffield Airport from (a) that airport or (b) the Peel Group.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
I recognise that Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s (DSA) review into the future of the airport will be concerning for passengers and people who work at the airport. The Department was notified on the 13 July along with other local stakeholders about the announcement. My officials are in contact with the airport to understand its plans and I am due to meet Peel Group later this week. It would be inappropriate to comment whilst the review is ongoing. However, we hope that the review will be able to ensure a future for aviation at DSA.
Since the start of the pandemic, we estimate that the air transport sector (airlines, airport and related services) has benefitted from around £8bn of government support. This includes support through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and the Airport and Ground Operations Scheme (AGOSS) from which DSA was awarded £1,758,720 in grant payments.
Ministers and officials engage extensively with the Aviation industry on a regular basis. As the Aviation Minister, I visited Doncaster Sheffield Airport on 3 June meeting with the Chairman of Peel Airports and the leadership team of the airport. Officials from the Department continue to meet with representatives from DSA as part of routine engagement on a range of matters.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has (a) met with and (b) received representations from (i) Doncaster Sheffield Airport and (ii) Peel Group in the last six months.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
I recognise that Doncaster Sheffield Airport’s (DSA) review into the future of the airport will be concerning for passengers and people who work at the airport. The Department was notified on the 13 July along with other local stakeholders about the announcement. My officials are in contact with the airport to understand its plans and I am due to meet Peel Group later this week. It would be inappropriate to comment whilst the review is ongoing. However, we hope that the review will be able to ensure a future for aviation at DSA.
Since the start of the pandemic, we estimate that the air transport sector (airlines, airport and related services) has benefitted from around £8bn of government support. This includes support through loan guarantees, support for exporters, the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and the Airport and Ground Operations Scheme (AGOSS) from which DSA was awarded £1,758,720 in grant payments.
Ministers and officials engage extensively with the Aviation industry on a regular basis. As the Aviation Minister, I visited Doncaster Sheffield Airport on 3 June meeting with the Chairman of Peel Airports and the leadership team of the airport. Officials from the Department continue to meet with representatives from DSA as part of routine engagement on a range of matters.
Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value of fraudulent loans and grants recovered by the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce is since its inception.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
At Spring Budget 2021 the Government announced a £100 million investment into the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce. The taskforce was established to extend HMRC’s work to tackle fraud and error in the COVID support schemes that they administered (Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and Eat Out to Help Out). The taskforce does not deliver compliance across schemes administered outside HMRC.
Anyone who keeps grant money despite knowing they were not entitled to it, faces having to repay up to double the amount they received, plus interest and potentially criminal prosecution.
HMRC identifies claims for compliance checks where the amount of the claim is out of step with other information. The risk that the claim is incorrect may be due to either an honest mistake or fraud, therefore, the value of recovered grants does not distinguish between error and fraud.
As of July 2022, the taskforce was made up of 1,155 full-time equivalent staff (FTE). The FTE will vary across the year. The resource commitment is proportionate to the number of high-risk claims made and the risks posed by error and fraud in the HMRC administered schemes.
The taskforce commenced activity from April 2021 and will build on the £536 million already recovered in 2020-21. Taskforce performance for 2021-22 is covered in HMRC’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2021-22, which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-to-2022. This is in addition to the amounts that HMRC prevented from being paid out on incorrect claims.
Asked by: Pat McFadden (Labour - Wolverhampton South East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce employed as of 12 July 2022.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
At Spring Budget 2021 the Government announced a £100 million investment into the Taxpayer Protection Taskforce. The taskforce was established to extend HMRC’s work to tackle fraud and error in the COVID support schemes that they administered (Self Employment Income Support Scheme, Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and Eat Out to Help Out). The taskforce does not deliver compliance across schemes administered outside HMRC.
Anyone who keeps grant money despite knowing they were not entitled to it, faces having to repay up to double the amount they received, plus interest and potentially criminal prosecution.
HMRC identifies claims for compliance checks where the amount of the claim is out of step with other information. The risk that the claim is incorrect may be due to either an honest mistake or fraud, therefore, the value of recovered grants does not distinguish between error and fraud.
As of July 2022, the taskforce was made up of 1,155 full-time equivalent staff (FTE). The FTE will vary across the year. The resource commitment is proportionate to the number of high-risk claims made and the risks posed by error and fraud in the HMRC administered schemes.
The taskforce commenced activity from April 2021 and will build on the £536 million already recovered in 2020-21. Taskforce performance for 2021-22 is covered in HMRC’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2021-22, which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2021-to-2022. This is in addition to the amounts that HMRC prevented from being paid out on incorrect claims.