Treasury ministers were answering questions in the Commons.
Subjects covered included...
To read any of these in greater detail, click on the links above or
see below.
Taxation of Online Sales
(North Norfolk) (Con)
2. What steps he is taking to review the taxation of online sales
to support the high street. [901715]
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury ()
A change to the taxation of online sales would require careful
consideration, as my hon. Friend is aware. Many high street
retailers are moving more of their business online, and we want
to help them to manage that transition, without increasing the
costs for them or their customers. The business rates review that
we have announced will work closely with stakeholders to consider
this issue in more detail. Meanwhile, as my hon. Friend will be
aware, the Government have taken significant steps to support our
high streets, including huge cuts to business rates and the £3.6
billion towns fund.
Clearly, we are living through unprecedented times, and I want to
say thank you to all the Treasury team for the incredible work
they are doing—working throughout the night—to help businesses up
and down the country. Many sectors will be hugely impacted by
coronavirus, not least my home of North Norfolk. We are now
seeing shops being shut on the high street—quite rightly so—and I
just want the Minister to consider that they will be hit
enormously. When we come out of this pandemic, a 2% or 3%
VAT-style tax rise to help high streets would be very well
considered and welcome. Let us just remember that our last great
leader was Margaret Thatcher, who said that we are a nation of
shopkeepers—let us help them.
Mr Speaker
Order. I think the hon. Gentleman ought not to take advantage. We
are just starting. I think he has got the message.
I speak for all my colleagues in saying how grateful I am to my
hon. Friend for his kind regards and wishes. Of course, all taxes
are taken into account and monitored by the Treasury, and will be
subject to consideration at future fiscal events. We are living
through very unusual times. I hope my hon. Friend understands
that the high street, which was under pressure years before the
current outbreak, is something we have supported over a period of
time, most recently with a comprehensive package of support. He
will be aware of the specific measures we have taken to support
eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties.
(Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Minister and the Department for all they are doing
for businesses at this time; it is much appreciated. Will the
Minister further outline whether he has managed to close the
loophole that enables massive companies such as Amazon to operate
out of the UK yet pay little tax here? If not, what has been done
to ensure that no one is exempt from paying appropriate tax in
the UK if they trade in the UK?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for that question. He will be aware
that, in the Budget, we left in place our digital services tax,
which is specifically designed to look at online marketplaces and
other areas online that have user-generated content that needs to
be appropriately taxed. We continue to pursue that tax.
Local Transport Infrastructure
(Southport) (Con)
3. What fiscal steps he is taking to improve local transport
infrastructure. [901718]
(Burnley)
(Con)
4. What fiscal steps he is taking to improve local transport
infrastructure. [901720]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer ()
The Government are committed to improving the vital transport
links that people rely on every day. That is why in the Budget we
announced a £500 million a year fund for potholes, confirmed £1
billion for shovel-ready local transport schemes through the
transforming cities fund, and set out the Government’s intention
to agree long-term intra-city transport settlements worth more
than £4 billion.
I thank my right hon. Friend for all that he is doing. Businesses
in my resort constituency have been delivered a significant blow
due to covid-19. In good times, funding for the Burscough rail
link would be a boost; in bad times, it could be business
critical. Will he work with the Department for Transport and do
everything he can to ensure that we get the funding for that
vital link for our town?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the impact on hotel and
hospitality businesses in particular. I hope he welcomes the
significant cash grant support and business rates holidays for
those businesses. With regard to his rail line, he is absolutely
right about the importance of such links, which is why we set up
a £500 million Beeching cuts reversal fund. I know the Department
for Transport would be happy to hear from him.
Rail links will be essential to revitalising the economy once we
exit this very difficult period. In Burnley, we have a fantastic
rail link that connects us into Manchester, but unfortunately, at
the minute, the station is not disability friendly. I know
several stations across the country have been given funding to
get them disability friendly, and I wonder whether a similar
scheme will be announced in the future so that Burnley can
finally get a bridge over its platforms.
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for the work he does championing
improved accessibility for his disabled constituents, which is
why in the Budget we announced £50 million to remodel 12
stations. I spoke to the Secretary of State for Transport this
morning about Burnley Manchester Road station, and he is happy to
take a call from my hon. Friend.
(Oxford East)
(Lab/Co-op)
Transport infrastructure and, indeed, all infrastructure relies
on the construction industry, and in particular its workforce. We
have had reports of workers working in close proximity in
construction—indeed, I have seen that myself, including at
transport-related facilities this morning—in some cases with no
hygienic support and no evidence of enhanced cleaning. The
industry has been described as a breeding ground for infection.
What action is being taken to protect workers in that industry?
The hon. Member is absolutely right: we must ensure the safety of
our workers in their industries. The guidance from the Government
last night was clear that people should go to work if they cannot
work from home. In common with other countries such as Italy or
France, construction has remained open, but of course it is right
that that is done safely. I know that my right hon. Friend the
Housing Secretary is in touch with the sector and I believe that
he has had conversations about guidance in this regard.
(Paisley and Renfrewshire
North) (SNP)
My local bus company is one of many, I am sure, across the
country that has had to introduce short-time working, but it is
unsure about the implementation of the Chancellor’s very welcome
wage subsidy. Will the Treasury top up the wages of those working
two or three-day weeks, or does it have to lay off, say, 70% of
the workforce and rely on the remainder to cover the rest of the
routes, putting themselves at risk for a similar amount of money?
Can the Chancellor clear that up for us, please?
We said that we would aim to have the scheme up and running by
the April payroll. This is a brand new system that has to be
designed from scratch. Claims could be backdated from 1 March,
which will provide significant support to businesses and jobs,
and in common with all other schemes like this across the world,
the scheme applies to furloughed workers in proportion to the
hours they have worked—but to workers who are put on furlough
rather than being retained in employment.
Covid-19: Support for Businesses
(The Wrekin) (Con)
5. What fiscal steps he is taking to help businesses affected by
the Covid-19 outbreak. [901721]
(North Cornwall) (Con)
8. What fiscal steps he is taking to support small business
owners. [901727]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer ()
The Government remain committed to doing what they can to support
businesses, our people and public services. In the last week, I
have announced unprecedented measures to support business,
including over £300 billion of Government-backed loans, £20
billion of tax cuts and grants, a VAT deferral worth 1.5% of GDP
and a landmark job retention scheme guaranteeing 80% of the wages
of furloughed workers. We believe that these measures represent
the most comprehensive and generous suite of interventions of any
major developed country in the world.
On behalf of my constituents, I welcome those announcements. The
Chancellor, though, will know that 15% of the UK workforce is
self-employed, equating to about 5 million people up and down the
country. According to the Federation of Small Businesses, there
are 5,600 in The Wrekin. When will the Government come forward
with plans for the self-employed and freelancers, given the
immediacy of their need?
I thank my hon. Friend for the question. I will be making further
announcements about progress on these measures. It is something
that we have been looking at in intense detail over the past week
in the Treasury. What I can say to him is that we are in dialogue
with all the key stakeholder groups, including calls that I am
having today with several of those bodies. There are genuine
practical and principled reasons why it is incredibly complicated
to design a scheme that is analogous to the one that we have for
employed workers, but he can rest assured that we absolutely
understand the situation that many self-employed people face at
the moment as a result of what is happening and we are determined
to find a way to support them. We need to be confident that that
can be done in a way that is deliverable and fair to the vast
majority of the British workforce.
On behalf of my residents in North Cornwall, I thank the Treasury
for the support that it has put in place for employees and
employers over the last few days, with this unprecedented series
of events. Like my hon. Friend the Member for The Wrekin
(), I want to ask about self-employment. I have a
huge number of self-employed people in North Cornwall. I know
that the Treasury is under a huge amount of pressure at this
time, but I urge expediency on that so that we can get a package
of measures in place for them, too.
As I said, we are looking at this in immense detail and at pace.
As has been acknowledged by many stakeholders in the industry,
there are genuine questions about practicality, fairness and
delivery of any such support scheme, which is why it requires
careful thought.
(Hayes and Harlington)
(Lab)
We have an urgent question on the self-employed after this, but
to add to the comments that have been made so far, there is a
sense of urgency about this now. There is no Member of this House
who has not been contacted by a constituent who is in quite a
distressed state about that. One of the most effective ways of
supporting businesses is to make sure that the whole workforce is
supported. There is another group—2 million workers are on
zero-hours and there are part-time workers. They are still not
eligible for statutory sick pay and they appear to be excluded as
well from the job retention scheme, which is focused on the
definition of “employees” while, in law, these are referred to
and defined as “workers”. I have written to the Chancellor about
this, so will he make a statement urgently that sets out how
these workers will be protected in the same way as other workers
were in the announcement on Friday?
It is not the case that those who are on zero hours are not
eligible for the existing scheme. Depending on their status, they
would absolutely be eligible for the job retention scheme. It
could be based on an average of previous earnings over a period
in order to get smoothing, but there is no reason why they should
not be eligible. In fact, any worker who was on a PAYE scheme is
eligible for the job retention scheme.
That is really helpful. I have welcomed the statements from the
Chancellor to date, and I welcome that as well. I am grateful for
the work that he is doing. There was confusion, and many of us
had representations on that. I would like him to clarify one
other point: he might have done so earlier and I missed it. Some
people are being asked to work reduced hours in the interests of
the company rather than being furloughed overall, and it appears
that those people may also be excluded from the scheme. There is
a lack of clarity on that: again, could the Chancellor confirm
whether those workers will be included in the scheme? If not, can
he bring forward a fairly urgent reform to the scheme to enable
that to happen?
One other category we have had questions on is those people who
have work available but cannot do it because of the shutdown of
their childcare arrangements and as a result have childcare
responsibilities. Are they are eligible for the furlough support
scheme as well?
In common with schemes all around the world, the schemes are for
furloughed workers. The check is that the company decides to put
an employee into a furlough scheme rather than retain them as
employed. That is exactly the same as every other scheme. It is
not possible to design a scheme that deals with flexible hours,
with the result that the state would essentially be subsidising
the wages of almost the entire workforce. It is something that we
looked at in detail and, given the time we have available, we
went with a scheme that could be delivered and is in common with
almost every scheme around the world that does exactly the same
thing.
(Gordon) (SNP)
It is vital that we work across party lines at this time, and the
SNP very much welcomes the Chancellor’s economic package for
firms and workers announced last Friday. Given that millions of
small businesses, freelancers and the self-employed are
understandably concerned about their incomes, we welcome the fact
that the Chancellor is considering a response to that and
understand that it is important to get it right, but when does he
expect to be able to come back to the House and announce the
details?
As I said, we are looking at these things. I will not commit to a
specific day until we know we can work through the details. One
of the issues is that of course there are people whose incomes
have been enormously impacted by what is going on currently, but
there are also millions of people who are self-employed whose
incomes may not have been impacted and, indeed, might be
increasing. The ability of the Government to distinguish between
those people, based on tax returns that are over a year and a
half out of date, poses some very significant challenges in terms
of fairness and affordability.
I thank the Chancellor for that answer, and our offer to work
with him to protect incomes remains open. As part of his
deliberations on this and in order to simplify the process of
getting the money to where it needs to go, will he consider using
the tax and welfare system to roll out a universal basic income
in these times?
We are not in favour of a universal basic income, although we
have strengthened the safety net for the most vulnerable in our
society, with more than £7 billion invested into improving our
welfare system for this year, including improvements to universal
credit, employment support allowance and, indeed, the local
housing allowance. Those payments are all available more quickly,
more easily and more generously than they were before, and I know
that will make an enormous difference to many vulnerable people.
(St Ives) (Con)
I am grateful for the opportunity to raise an issue that seems
unique to my constituency. The Isles of Scilly sit 28 miles off
Land’s End, and all people and supplies travel via large and
small private companies. Those businesses rely on the tourist
trade in the summer, but that has completely collapsed, and every
single one of those businesses is liable to collapse if the
Government cannot move quickly. Can the Chancellor look at this
issue urgently, because 2,500 people are relying on urgent action
from the Treasury to make sure that their transport
infrastructure system is sustained and retained?
I am happy to talk to my hon. Friend further about his particular
constituency issue, which I know poses particular challenges. We
have committed to providing local authorities—and indeed all
Departments—with any funding required to support public services,
including local transport infrastructure in their communities.
(Ilford North) (Lab)
On behalf of my constituents who will benefit from the measures
that the Chancellor announced last week, may I sincerely thank
him for the action that he has taken and for the responsibility
that he is carrying? We are all rooting for him to succeed in the
task ahead. The challenge, as others have described, is that for
those who do not benefit, in particular the 5 million
self-employed, the anxiety has increased, because they have seen
a ship sailing carrying others but not them. I think they will be
reassured that the Chancellor has given a clear commitment to do
something, but many are facing a cash-flow crisis right now, so
can he say a bit more to reassure them about how quickly he can
implement the measures that he is considering?
1 am very grateful to the hon. Member for his warm words; I
appreciate them. We are looking at pace at what support can be
provided. The fact is that the universe of 5 million that we are
dealing with contains such a wide variety of different people
that we are unable to target support. That is the challenge in
designing something that gets to the people who we want to help,
while at the same time being affordable and not having to benefit
absolutely everybody. That is proving to be problematic, but we
are hard at work on it.
In terms of delivery, it is almost certainly going to be the case
that we would have to build another brand-new system to deliver
any support. I am sure that hon. Members on both sides of the
House would agree that, in terms of prioritising system design,
the scheme that we have set up for 90% of the workforce who are
employed should be delivered first and quickly, and that is what
we have committed to do, ideally by the end of April. We are
looking at how we can do these things in sequence or in parallel,
but I take the hon. Member’s point: people are anxious. That is
why we deferred the self-assessment tax return that is due
shortly to provide some cash-flow benefit. We have also deferred
VAT to a significant degree, which will help with cash-flow
benefit, and many self-employed people will benefit from the
business interruption loans, which are also interest-free.
Emergency Cash Grant Scheme
(Kettering) (Con)
6. What estimate he has made of the number of businesses in (a)
Kettering constituency, (b) Northamptonshire and (c) England that
will benefit from the emergency cash grant scheme announced on 17
March 2020. [901723]
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury ()
We are providing cash grants of £10,000 to over 700,000 small and
medium-sized businesses across England and grants of up to
£25,000 per property for qualifying retail, hospitality and
leisure businesses. We estimate that these combined measures will
benefit up to 1 million businesses in England. Local authorities
will deliver these grants over the coming weeks and consequently
will have information about the number of firms that have
benefited at a local level in due course.
Mr Hollobone
I declare my interest as a member of Kettering Borough Council.
May I thank the Chancellor and the Treasury for coming forward at
top speed with this business support package? May I also thank
all the hard-working staff at Kettering Borough Council who will
be delivering these grants to local businesses? Will the Minister
send out the message to Kettering and the country that when the
economy comes roaring back, once this pandemic is over, local
authorities will have played a key role in ensuring that that
happens?
I thank my hon. Friend for that wise comment. We very much share
his views. Local authorities are crucial to delivery of a whole
range of the support that we are now giving, and we will be very
much acknowledging their role. We will also be supporting them,
as he will know, through the business rates process and the
hardship fund.
Rent a Room Scheme
(Northampton South) (Con)
7. What assessment he has made of the socioeconomic effect of
raising the Rent a Room Scheme threshold to £7,500. [901725]
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury ()
As my hon. Friend will know, Rent a Room relief has been a
feature of the income tax system since 1992. In 2016, the
Government raised the threshold to £7,500. That was designed to
deliver the Government’s objective of supporting individuals’
living standards and freeing up space in the housing market. It
also reduces and simplifies the tax administrative burden for
those affected and has taken some taxpayers out of
self-assessment entirely.
Given that some 37% of homes in the country are under-occupied,
my right hon. Friend will realise that encouraging more owners to
take in lodgers could provide affordable housing to thousands
more people. Will he please look to review whether there should
be a higher level, perhaps £9,500, for live-in landlords with two
or more lodgers, and would he be willing to have a virtual
meeting with the Lodger Landlords Association at an appropriate
time?
I am always delighted to meet my hon. Friend. In 2016, as I have
mentioned, the Government raised the threshold. In 2018, the
Government consulted on the scheme and there was consensus among
the respondents that the relief provides an effective incentive
for people to make spare rooms available for rent. Of course, I
take his point and he has put it squarely on the record. As with
all tax policy, we will look at this and other measures and keep
them under review.
(Cumbernauld, Kilsyth
and Kirkintilloch East) (SNP)
15. I think we are all united in saying that nobody should lose
their home as a result of financial hardship brought about by the
coronavirus pandemic. Again, we absolutely welcome the steps that
the Chancellor and the Treasury have taken so far, but is it
possible to find more fiscal support to safeguard tenants in the
private rented sector so that we can guarantee that these people
are also able to keep their homes in the months ahead? [901736]
As the hon. Gentleman will be aware, we have specifically ruled
out the possibility of eviction for three months, and we will
continue to look at that situation as well.
School Funding
(Wolverhampton South West) (Con)
9. What recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State
for Education on school funding. [901729]
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury ()
I regularly discuss school funding with the Secretary of State
for Education. At the spending round, the Government committed to
a £7.1 billion cash increase in the funding for schools in
England by 2022-23.
I understand that there are immediate pressing issues for the
Department, but after this will my right hon. Friend arrange to
meet me and the Education Secretary to discuss the funding of a
secondary school in Wolverhampton?
I would be very happy to give that commitment to my hon. Friend.
He will be aware of the significant allocation to capital funding
that was set out by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor in the
Budget, and obviously part of the discussion at the comprehensive
spending round will be the allocation of that budget.
(City of Chester)
(Lab)
When the Minister is meeting the Secretary of State for
Education, will he also talk about funding for the early years
and nurseries sector? The 30 hours of free childcare is not
working, and many of these nurseries were facing unviability
before the current crisis.
The hon. Gentleman raises an important point, because across the
House people recognise the importance of early years and early
intervention, but he will be aware of the wider package of
funding showing the Government’s commitment to education, not
just in primary schools and secondary schools but through the
measures on further education set out by my right hon. Friend the
Chancellor in the Budget.
NHS Funding
(Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)
10. What steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of funding for
the NHS. [901730]
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury ()
We have been clear that the NHS will get whatever it needs to
respond to the coronavirus. The Chancellor announced at Budget a
£5 billion response fund and we have already allocated a
significant proportion of that to a range of measures.
What frontline staff do in the NHS every single day is remarkable
at the best of times, and what we are asking them to do now and
in the weeks ahead will be incredibly challenging in terms of
both the physical and emotional pressures and the personal risks
to NHS staff, so would my right hon. Friend reaffirm that as well
as providing the extra money announced in the Budget, the
Government will do all they can to ensure that frontline NHS
staff get all the equipment they need, including protective
clothing, to get the country through this crisis?
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. The Chancellor has made
it clear that we will do whatever it takes to protect our NHS
frontline, not just through PPE, as he correctly identifies, but
by looking at additional capacity, such as in the independent
hospitals sector, and at the support available, including the
£1.3 billion allocated to speed up the discharge of patients, the
£1.6 billion allocated to local authorities for adult social care
and, of course, funding such as the £30 million for diagnostics
research and £10 million for diagnostic testing that has also
been allocated in recent days.
(Oxford East)
(Lab/Co-op)
As a House, we require more specific detail about exactly what
funding and arrangements are being provided across Government in
relation to testing and PPE availability. We are all hearing from
staff that they do not have the resources they need. The Minister
talked about that funding, but to what extent is it being spent
in the field, and what discussions has his Department had with
the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and
the Department of Health and Social Care about pulling in
additional manufacturers not just for ventilators but for PPE and
testing?
The hon. Lady will know from the statements made by my right hon.
Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care that
significant efforts have been made on this, working with domestic
manufacturers and procuring additional resource and stock
internationally. On funding, we have been very clear with the
Department of Health and Social Care that it will have whatever
funding it needs, and that has been the case to date.
Covid-19: VAT Reduction
(Midlothian) (SNP)
11. Whether he plans to reduce VAT for businesses affected by the
covid-19 outbreak. [901731]
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury ()
Last Friday, the Government announced that they were deferring
VAT payments for the next quarter, so that UK VAT-registered
businesses will not need to pay any VAT, alongside their normal
VAT returns, until the end of June. That deferral is worth more
than £30 billion, or 1.5% of GDP. Her Majesty’s Revenue and
Customs already offers help to businesses struggling to meet
their VAT payments, with arrangements such as Time to Pay. In the
light of the covid-19 outbreak, the Chancellor has outlined a
range of measures to help businesses through the crisis,
including grants, loans and relief from business rates worth more
than £330 billion. The Treasury will continue to review this and
make further announcements as events unfold.
Scottish National party Members welcome the actions that have
been announced so far by the Chancellor to support the economy
during this outbreak. Given the particular strain felt by sectors
such as hospitality, will the Minister consider reducing the VAT
rate they are charged, in addition to the deferrals already
announced?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. He will be aware
that those businesses will fall under the VAT announcements that
have already been made for the next quarter and that they are
also already the beneficiaries of grants of £10,000 for the
smallest businesses and of £25,000 for larger ones in the
hospitality, leisure and retail sectors.
Marine Renewables: Fiscal Support
(Orkney and Shetland) (LD)
12. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on fiscal
support for the development of marine renewables. [901732]
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury ()
The Government take seriously their climate change
responsibilities, including the target of net zero greenhouse gas
emissions by 2050. That means enabling a diverse range of
low-carbon technologies, and we see the use of marine renewables
in the future energy mix, though developers must demonstrate how
those can compete with the low prices achieved by wind and solar
technologies.
Mr Carmichael
In order to compete with those technologies, these renewables
have to get from the research and development stage to commercial
deployment. The industry knows that and has come up with a
mechanism known as the innovation power purchase agreement. Is
there any reason why the Government are not engaging with that? I
have to tell the Minister that these developers are not going to
hang around in this country forever. If they cannot make that
step here, they will go elsewhere and do it.
I am very aware of the 1,700 people who work in this area in the
right hon. Gentleman’s constituency and across Wales and
Scotland. I am also aware that he wrote to the previous Exchequer
Secretary, who moved post before he could get a reply. At the
moment, renewables are five times more expensive than wind and
solar, but the Government will engage in a dialogue with the
industry as we look to resolve this and move forward
constructively.
Mr Speaker
I call . He is not here.
Low-paid Workers: Wages Increase
(Peterborough) (Con)
14. What steps he is taking to increase wages for low-paid
workers. [901734]
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury ()
Low-paid workers will continue to benefit from above-average pay
rises, with the national living wage set to reach two thirds of
median earnings and to be extended to workers aged 21 and over by
2024, providing economic conditions allow. That is projected to
benefit nearly 4 million low-paid workers.
I thank the Minister for that response and for everything he is
doing to protect jobs in Peterborough and across the country. I
was proud to stand on our manifesto in December and, in
particular, on our commitment to protect the low paid. The
Government have taken vital steps in the short term to protect
jobs. Will he confirm that this Budget is also providing a £200
tax cut for the typical family in Peterborough?
Absolutely. I can confirm to my hon. Friend that a typical
employee will be about £104 better off next year through the cut
in national insurance and the freeze in fuel and alcohol duties,
and the abolition of other taxes, such as the tampon tax, will
also be of benefit to many of his constituents, for whom he has
been fighting hard since he came to this place.
(Cardiff West) (Lab)
Many low-paid workers are self-employed. When I raised this
matter with the Leader of the House yesterday, he said:
“The Government are inevitably conscious that when we close
places by order and that has an effect on people’s livelihoods,
there is a societal responsibility.”—[Official Report, 23 March
2020; Vol. 674, c. 27.]
Many of these low-paid self-employed people work in the music
industry. I know that we have an urgent question coming up, but I
say to the Minister that they will be looking for more
reassurance than we have heard so far this morning that the
Government are going to introduce a scheme and do it soon.
My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has set out clearly not only
the range of measures that we have taken but our determination to
come up with an enduring solution that addresses the range of
challenges. The whole Treasury team is fully aware of how
distressing and challenging people are finding it out there and
we are working as fast as we can to come up with a solution that
works for everyone.
(Glasgow East) (SNP)
If the current coronavirus and financial crisis has taught us one
thing, it is that we need to look again at zero-hours contracts
and the difficulty that they put many of our constituents in. I
very much welcome the measures that have been brought forward on
support for businesses and employees, and I very much hope that
we will hear about support for the self-employed in the response
to the urgent question this afternoon, but there is a lot of
concern among zero-hours workers. Will the Minister outline what
support the Government are going to bring forward for zero-hours
workers in Glasgow East?
If they are on pay-as-you-earn, they are eligible for the
job-retention scheme, but the hon. Gentleman makes a fair point
about the range of concerns that exist, and we continue to look
carefully at what we can do to enhance the measures that have
already been announced. He will be aware of the enhancements to
the welfare package—my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has
announced that an additional £6.5 billion has been put in so
far—and we will continue to look at what more can be done.
(Sefton Central) (Lab)
I encourage the Minister not to make the perfect the enemy of
good in the design of the scheme. Many self-employed workers are
worrying about their inability to put food on the table this
week. They are finding the universal credit system completely
overwhelmed, so I encourage Ministers to announce the scheme and
make sure that the cash gets through. It has to be soon;
otherwise, people are going to be in real hardship.
The hon. Gentleman makes a reasonable point. That issue is why we
have tried to move forward on interventions that could be done
quickly and have done them as quickly as we can. In respect of
universal credit, we have increased the UC standard allowance
from £317.82 to £409.89 per month for single claimants. We have
increased the local housing allowance, we have relaxed the
earnings rules for self-employed UC claimants, and we will
continue to look at every measure that we can to make an impact
in the lives of those people who are suffering as the hon.
Gentleman describes.
(Glasgow North) (SNP)
The Minister talks about looking at every measure that we can,
but the Chancellor just appeared to rule out a universal minimum
basic income. Is that not quite disappointing? The way to answer
these questions—the way to avoid thousands of people being laid
off, ending up on universal credit and potentially getting
trapped in the benefits system—is to provide a minimum income
guarantee for everyone. That would also help to provide a fiscal
stimulus in the economy once we start to get through this crisis.
My right hon. Friend the Chancellor set out clearly the reasons
why we have some concerns about, and indeed would not want to
have, that universal guarantee. We want to make sure that the
interventions we make are targeted at those who are most in need
at this time, and not giving money unnecessarily to people who
are wealthy.
Topical Questions
(Beaconsfield)
(Con)
T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental
responsibilities. [901737]
The Chancellor of the Exchequer ()
We are facing an unprecedented challenge as a country, as a
Government and as a society. The spread of the coronavirus has
precipitated the extraordinary but necessary actions taken by
this Government over the past week to protect people’s health and
livelihoods and the economy we all rely on. There will be
challenging times ahead, and despite the significant economic
interventions that we have put in place, we will not be able to
protect every single job or save every single business, but I am
confident that the measures we have put in place will provide
support to millions of people and businesses and ensure that we
do get through this, get through it together, and emerge on the
other side both stronger and more united.
The start-up loan programme has been hugely successful in getting
thousands of new businesses off the ground, particularly in my
constituency of Beaconsfield. Does my right hon. Friend agree
that the announcement that the programme will be extended is
hugely welcome news for entrepreneurs right across the country?
My hon. Friend is a champion for entrepreneurship in her
constituency, and rightly so. The start-up loan programme is an
excellent programme, providing grants of £25,000 for budding
entrepreneurs. It has been operational for some years now and has
provided almost 70,000 loans, putting to work more than half a
billion pounds. It is absolutely right that, as we think about
our future coming through the coronavirus, it will be the
entrepreneurs of tomorrow who will help to create new jobs and
drive the prosperity that we will all want to see.
(Hayes and Harlington)
(Lab)
May I again welcome much of what the Chancellor is doing, and say
that we wish to work with him as positively as we possibly can in
this very difficult period? I just wish to return to the issue of
zero-hours workers. The Chancellor said very clearly that this
applies to all those who are on PAYE, and I welcome that, but the
point that we have been making is that many of these zero-hours
contract workers—in fact, most of them—are not on PAYE. They are
called limb (b) workers, so the scheme does not apply to them. I
understand that he is doing his best and I understand the
complications, but he has also said that for zero-hours workers,
employers may compensate on the basis of average hours worked.
The unions in this field representing those workers have urged
that this should be mandatory and applied to all zero-hours and
variable-hours workers based on average earnings over the
previous weeks. That is exactly how those workers’ holiday pay is
calculated at the moment, and it is an accurate reflection of
what they earn. We need some urgent action for this sizeable
group of workers. There are at least nearly a million zero-hours
workers, perhaps a million more.
As we are putting in place the detailed guidance for the scheme,
we are actively considering the question of how best to average
the earnings of people in this situation. I very much take on
board the suggestion that the right hon. Gentleman has made, and
I know that my team are engaging with those unions as we speak to
try to get the details right.
(Basildon and Billericay)
(Con)
T3. I commend the Chancellor and his team for the robust policy
response that we have seen to this crisis so far, but may I ask
them to continue to focus laser-like on the issue of cash flow,
which is particularly important to smaller businesses,
particularly important to the workforce, and particularly
important to the vulnerable groups in society? That issue of cash
flow is probably the most important when it comes to determining
employment, which is important to everyone in this Chamber and to
the country at large. [901740]
My hon. Friend is absolutely right about the importance of cash
flow, which is why we have targeted our interventions
specifically at smaller businesses by providing extra cash flow
support. We have done so through the £10,000 grant to every
business in receipt of small business rate or rural rate relief
and, indeed, through the deferral of VAT, which starts from today
for the quarter. As my right hon. Friend the Financial Secretary
to the Treasury said earlier, that represents more than £35
billion, or 1.5% of GDP-worth of tax deferral, providing
immediate cash-flow support. We have done the same thing for
self-assessment payments that are due in the coming months and
have also, as of yesterday, launched a business interruption loan
scheme, which my hon. Friend has done fantastic work developing.
It will provide 12-month interest-free loans to small businesses,
again, to help provide them with the liquidity that they need to
get through this.
(Brentford and Isleworth)
(Lab)
T2. I acknowledge that the Government are dealing with an
incredible number of challenges at this time and pay tribute on
behalf of all MPs to the work that has been done by Ministers, by
those on the Front Benches and by the people behind the scenes
who are supporting them in this work. The financial challenges of
families with children have not yet been specifically addressed,
so will the Treasury listen to the Child Poverty Action Group and
work with the Department for Work and Pensions on a fairly simple
solution that will put money directly into the pockets of
families with children, which is temporarily to increase child
benefit? [901739]
The Financial Secretary to the Treasury ()
I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for the suggestion, and we
will certainly look closely at the Child Poverty Action Group’s
recommendation.
(Clwyd South) (Con)
T4. On behalf of my constituents in Clwyd South, may I commend
the Treasury team for its hard and speedy work over the past
couple of weeks? Will my right hon. Friend confirm that this
Government will stand behind businesses, small and large, in
Clwyd South and elsewhere in Wales and the UK as the crisis
progresses? [901742]
I thank my hon. Friend for his comments and pay tribute to the
work that he is doing to represent his constituents and make sure
that his local businesses get the support that they need. I hope
that his businesses welcome the various interventions that we
have provided in terms of cash flow support, tax relief
deferrals, and subsidised loans to help them get through this
difficult period. If he has further ideas that he thinks we
should consider, I would be very happy to talk to him further.
(North Durham) (Lab)
Supply teachers play a vital role in our schools. Many thousands,
including my constituent Ellie Atkinson, have found themselves
out of work, so may I urge the Treasury to look at a way of
supporting these vital workers, either with direct financial
support or by ensuring that they can actually work in the schools
that are being kept open?
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury ()
The right hon. Gentleman will know that school budgets have been
allocated, so the schools already have that money to spend; that
will not change. The announcement that the Chancellor has made
about the PAYE system is about supporting people through that
mechanism. If the right hon. Gentleman has other proposals, I am
happy to engage with him to discuss them further.
(West Bromwich East)
(Con)
T5. I welcome my right hon. Friend’s world-leading package of
support to businesses. There are many charities and community
care providers in West Bromwich East, including Sandwell
Community Caring Trust, which are all working extremely hard to
protect the vulnerable. I thank them, and all the teachers and
frontline staff in my constituency. Will he confirm that all
charities that pay through PAYE will be eligible for the scheme
and relief package? [901744]
I thank my hon. Friend for her support, and join her in paying
tribute to Sandwell Community Caring Trust, which we will be
relying on through this difficult period. I can confirm that
charities are eligible for the job retention support programme.
Further to that, we have allocated extra funding to the Ministry
of Housing, Communities and Local Government to provide money to
local charitable or caring organisations, especially to help
those we are attempting to shield—the most vulnerable—in order to
protect them against the effects of the coronavirus.
(Warley) (Lab)
Yesterday in the Chamber, I and my right hon. Friend the Member
for Birmingham, Hodge Hill () raised the question of
escalating prices in local shops and concerns about profiteering.
We understand that the Competition and Markets Authority may be
looking into this issue, but may I ask the Minister to urge it
very rapidly to look at where this is taking place? Is it local
shops, wholesalers or cash and carry, or suppliers? Is it even to
do with the international market in terms of perishable goods?
This is a matter of real concern. Once the Government have found
out where the problem is, will they bring forward measures to
crack down on this profiteering?
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury ()
The right hon. Gentleman makes a very reasonable point, and sets
out a range of issues. The Government will be looking into this,
and I will liaise with my colleagues in the Department for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to ensure that they are
focusing on all the dimensions of the problem that he has
outlined.
(New Forest West) (Con)
T6. The Chancellor has been more creative and accommodating than
his equivalents in any other jurisdiction. Setting aside the
question of fairness, how practical is it to use historical tax
data to try to impute a wage equivalent for the self-employed?
[901746]
I thank my right hon. Friend for his comments. It is certainly
possible to use those historical returns. They are a year and a
half out of date, so they will be necessarily imperfect. They
also do not provide an easy way to distinguish between those who
are deserving of support and whose incomes are being affected by
what is happening, and those who are much wealthier and whose
incomes are potentially increasing currently, but they do provide
a basis and a universe to look at.
(Sefton Central) (Lab)
When I mentioned earlier that the universal credit system was
overwhelmed, the Minister may not quite have taken on board the
point I was raising. A self-employed worker sent me a screenshot
of their attempts to use the system yesterday; 33,383 people were
ahead of them in the queue to use the claims section of the
website. Unless this is resolved, people who need money right
now—limited though that money is under universal credit—simply
will not be able to get hold of it through the system.
The hon. Gentleman raises an important point about the pressure
on the Department for Work and Pensions at this time. That is a
key reason why the design of the schemes that we have been
looking at and that have been put forward by the Chancellor do
not add complexity and pressure on the DWP. We have been actively
working on identifying where we can free up and reprioritise
resource in DWP to assist with this issue. I have been discussing
the matter with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, and
working closely with her on it.
(Crawley) (Con)
Obviously, airports and airlines are particularly adversely
affected by the covid-19 situation.
My hon. Friend is right, especially given his constituency, to
highlight the importance of airlines and airports. They have been
particularly impacted by what is happening. I am in active
dialogue with the Secretary of State for Transport and expect to
write soon on that matter.
(Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
(Ind)
In Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath and other constituencies, public
service workers, not bankers or nuclear weapons, will get us
through this crisis. We must therefore change our focus. Will the
Chancellor consider whether the nurses, doctors and other public
service workers, who will be doing double shifts and working
extra hours to get us through, can get tax relief on those extra
hours so that they are properly rewarded and recognised for their
tremendous efforts?
We pay tribute to our public sector workers, particularly those
who are on the frontline of the NHS as we speak. We have said
that we will make any and all funding available to the NHS to
provide and support that workforce. That is exactly what we are
doing, as my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary outlined
earlier. In the Budget, we specifically changed the taper relief,
which was causing hours challenges for senior doctors and GPs.
That was a significant fiscal intervention—we are providing more
than £2 billion of tax relief to ensure that there is no
disincentive for those senior clinicians to provide the extra
work at this time.
(Bournemouth East) (Con)
The economic interventions that the Chancellor spoke about are
greatly welcome in Bournemouth East. Will he join me in paying
tribute to the armed forces for what they are doing and what they
will do? We should all recognise that that is in addition to
their day job of keeping the nation safe. What will happen in the
spending review? Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is
important that there is additional capacity for our armed forces
so that they can deal with the threats that continue to exist,
but also have the ability to step forward to help the nation in
times of crisis?
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the
importance of our armed services, and I join him in paying
tribute to them for what they are doing, not just to keep us safe
every day, but right now when we are calling on them to help us
meet this public health emergency. As we speak, they are doing
extraordinary work to help our healthcare system to respond to
what is coming. We recognise that, and it will be recognised when
we think about funding for the armed services not just today, but
in the future.
(Ilford North) (Lab)
One newspaper is already reporting that the Chancellor will
implement an income protection scheme for the self-employed and
make an announcement in the next 24 hours. I must say I got a
slightly longer timescale from the Chancellor’s earlier reply,
when he talked about the end of April. To come back to the point
about reassurance, will he give some real reassurance now to
those anxious self-employed people across the country that an
announcement will be made very shortly?
We hope to have something to say very shortly. Implementation
will take longer for the reasons I outlined, when a good point
was made about capacity, whether at HMRC or DWP, to deliver
brand-new schemes. However, in terms of saying what we plan to
do, hopefully we can do that relatively shortly. Implementation
will take longer because of the clear delivery challenges that
the scheme would pose.
(Redcar) (Con)
I thank my right hon. Friend and the Treasury team for all their
work to help people through this crisis. Will my right hon.
Friend outline when employers can access the scheme for job
retention scheme and furloughed workers?
Detailed guidance is available. Further guidance will be provided
and our aim is to build the new scheme so that it is operational
by the end of April. That is a challenge. We are already working
night and day to construct something from scratch, but claims
will be allowed to be backdated to 1 March so that businesses
have the security of knowing that the cash-flow rebate will be
coming. As I have said, the aim is to have the scheme up and
running so that the April payroll can be reimbursed through it.
(City of Chester)
(Lab)
One of the problems with this crisis is that we do not know how
long it is going to last. I have businesses in my
constituency—events companies, conference companies and sporting
companies—that have long lead-in times to organise their events,
but they cannot cancel them yet and thereby claim insurance
because there is no Government guidance. Do the Government have
any plans to give guidance, particularly to the insurance
companies and events companies, that will perhaps say, “No events
for the next six months”?
We are working closely with the insurance industry, and obviously
events companies are underpinned by contractual obligations. We
established that if they have cover relevant to non-specified
diseases, the announcements by the Prime Minister and the
Chancellor have triggered those policies to be paid out, but I am
happy to look at any specific cases that individual Members want
to bring to me, which I can take up with industry
representatives.
(Preseli Pembrokeshire) (Con)
In the wake of the last economic crisis, when we needed the banks
to stand on the side of small businesses, too often they did not,
and many of us have seen too many examples of small businesses
being bullied into bankruptcy. What can my right hon. Friend the
Chancellor say about the posture he wants to see from the banks
at this time?
The Chancellor and I have had dialogue with individual heads of
high street banks. I have been speaking to the head of UK Finance
this morning and will be convening a meeting of bank
representatives later today. We anticipate that the banks should
be taking the most sympathetic forbearance measures possible, and
we have set out very clearly, as my right hon. Friend the
Chancellor did, that the loan scheme is interest-free for the
first 12 months, with no fees or repayment penalties. I expect
the banks to step up to the mark, as I know they will. We have to
remember that many of the people actually delivering this service
in high street branches or in call centres are not very well paid
and are working flat-out to deliver a key service to our nation
at this time.
(Glasgow East) (SNP)
The message from the Prime Minister last night for our
constituents to stay at home could not have been clearer, but
many of our constituents who are staying at home will have
increased energy bills as a result. The hon. Member for
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross () is co-ordinating a
cross-party letter to the Government asking for a reduction in
VAT on energy bills. Are they willing to look favourably upon
that to support our constituents, who will have higher energy
bills as a result of staying at home?
We are certainly very happy to look at whatever letter the hon.
Gentleman or his colleagues on a cross-party basis may wish to
present.
(Wolverhampton South West) (Con)
I want to follow on from my right hon. and gallant Friend the
Member for Bournemouth East (Mr Ellwood) and talk about our great
armed forces. I expressed my delight at the budget of £10 million
identified for veterans’ mental health. Will the Chancellor
confirm that that will remain a priority, as the problem does not
go away?
I am happy to give that assurance. I know my hon. Friend is a
champion—rightly so—of our armed forces and speaks with great
experience and authority on that. He will be aware of a number of
measures that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has announced.
That is one of them, and we stand by it.
(Cardiff West) (Lab)
A couple of times in the context of the self-employed, the
Chancellor has mentioned wealthy people whose incomes are
increasing. That is not who we are talking about. We are talking
about people who have lost their entire income overnight. Will he
please provide some more reassurance that it is his intention to
provide help to those people? Does he intend to say how he will
do that very soon and say to the banks in the meantime that they
should be extending credit on a free basis, on the basis of what
he has promised, so that people can get on with their lives?
The hon. Gentleman illustrates exactly the issue with such a
scheme. Looking at historical tax return data from a year and a
half ago gives absolutely no guide as to whether someone today
who is self-employed is prosperous, and indeed that their income
may be increasing versus someone, who is not. Of course I am
sympathetic to those whose situation is being adversely affected
by what is going on. The issue is one of finding a way to target
help at them, rather than having something that provides blanket
cash subsidies to 5 million people, many of whom will not need
it, which will end up costing all our constituents on modest
incomes a considerable amount. It is about finding a way to
target support for those who most need it, and that is what is
requiring time and thought.
(The Wrekin) (Con)
Will the Chancellor join me in thanking Shropshire Council and
the hard-working people at Telford and Wrekin Council? Cash flow
is becoming a real issue for many local councils, with many
having to borrow. Could he encourage his officials in the
Treasury to be a bit more flexible as to where finance can come
from and the use of reserves?
I am happy to look at specific suggestions. I pay tribute not
only to my hon. Friend’s council but to all councils for the
sterling work they are doing in delivering our grant schemes to
many of their small local businesses. We are in dialogue already
with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government,
to ensure that councils’ cash-flow needs are adequately met.
There are things we are doing actively in terms of the timing of
the various grant payments we make, to ease some of the near-term
cash-flow pressures.
(Strangford) (DUP)
Can the Chancellor clarify whether the emergency cash grant
scheme is intended to help per shop for businesses with more than
one premise in different towns, or is it just for the business as
a whole?
The detailed eligibility criteria are online and will be provided
by local authorities. The grants of £10,000 are done on a per
premise basis for businesses that are in receipt of small
business rate relief and rural rate relief. There are larger
grants for those in the retail, leisure and hospitality sector of
up to £25,000. The Business Secretary has written already to
local authorities, which are, as we speak, writing to businesses
that are eligible for those grants to seek their bank details and
start making cash payments as soon as is practically possible.
