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Question
Experts agree that additional restrictions are linked to failure in delivering a test, trace and isolate system. Support for local areas has come too late, such as with Leicester’s case where it came one month after the lockdown was imposed. The response is inconsistent; £3 million for Leicester, £7 million for Liverpool city region but undefined funding for the north-east of England and nothing for Greater Manchester or the west midlands. What criteria determine allocation? Will they be published?
Minister reply
The resurgence of the virus is not unique to the UK; other countries are also seeing a trend as we come out of summer. Support includes £1,500 grants for businesses closed due to local lockdowns and measures such as loans, tax deferrals and pay-as-you-grow schemes universally offered. The Chancellor will keep listening and acting where possible.
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Question
Local restrictions are impairing many businesses in the hospitality sector and stopping them dead in their tracks, leading to loss of jobs. Would my right hon. Friend come forward with specific support packages for these businesses?
Minister reply
My right hon. Friend has heard this point loud and clear, hence measures like VAT cut and summer package have been introduced. Specific funds such as £30 million for the British Film Institute to aid independent cinema sector.
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Question
Local lockdown is a reality, and livelihoods have been disrupted by sector-specific restrictions. What specific support will the Minister bring forward for hospitality, events, tourism, funfairs, culture, and arts sectors? The SNP seeks targeted measures such as extending the furlough scheme beyond August.
Minister reply
The hon. Lady acknowledges £1.57 billion allocated to the arts sector by the Chancellor, which is part of a targeted support package. It's unclear how long schemes like the furlough and self-employed income support will be extended. The Government has guaranteed Barnett consequentials to provide Scottish Government with funding certainty.
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Question
While recognising the Herculean effort by Treasury in bringing forward schemes, there is concern about sectors unable to operate due to restrictions. May I ask for consideration on ways to get regional airports, events industry, and aviation sector moving again with proper social distancing?
Minister reply
My right hon Friend's point reflects the Chancellor’s commitment to learning from interventions as we live with the virus for longer, including non-pharmaceutical measures like airport testing and trade shows.
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Question
Many businesses have seen a drop in footfall but are not required to close under local restrictions. What support will be available for them if they face local restrictions?
Minister reply
The Chancellor's winter plan includes measures like the furlough bonus, job support scheme, and extension of self-employed income support to address cash flow issues caused by health measures.
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Question
Will Government’s levelling up agenda be forgotten in the coming months despite targeted support for areas with high coronavirus rates?
Minister reply
The Government will not forget levelling up as it is a key priority. The Treasury works actively to accelerate infrastructure investment, better targeting schemes by place.
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Question
Despite the £1.57 billion arts rescue package, freelancers and self-employed in London's cultural sector have seen no support since March due to venue closures. Will Government sort this out now?
Minister reply
The hon. Lady raises a real concern; we are aware of it. The Chancellor extended the self-employed income support scheme further as part of the winter plan, though issues remain for those beyond initial package dates.
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Question
With local lockdowns and the threat of national restrictions, what steps are being taken to support local authorities in Hyndburn and Haslingden? What further support is under consideration?
Minister reply
My hon Friend recognises significant work by local authorities. The Chancellor announced £3.7 billion grant support for councils, additional social care funding, enhanced track and trace measures.
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Question
With local lockdowns and national restrictions threats, experts say an extension to the furlough scheme into June 2021 could protect over a million jobs. Will Government now accept this is vital?
Minister reply
While proud of UK support for Scotland (over half a million jobs supported by furlough), indefinite extension would hold out unrealistic job expectations and be costly. Supporting viable jobs with training packages is preferred.
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Question
While some in the Labour party see this as a good crisis to exploit, our response has helped least well-off most proportionately.
Minister reply
Most people have come together during these concerns. Working with local authorities and stakeholders strengthens Government’s pandemic response.
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Question
The further restrictions announced on 1 October will have a huge impact on the Liverpool city region’s retail, hospitality and leisure sector—a sector that accounts for 20% of the city region’s economy. The end of the furlough scheme and the 20% below self-employed income support scheme will impact thousands of jobs and hundreds of businesses. The £7 million to be shared with other areas is not enough. The city region has therefore called for a support package totalling £710 million, in order to ensure that we have an economy to revive. Will the Chancellor make a statement on what financial support will be made available to the Liverpool city region?
Minister reply
The hon. Lady says that there should be a package for the Liverpool city region of £700 million of additional funding. That would equate to over £23 billion if applied evenly on a per head basis across England. It is important that we are proportionate. Of course, the £7 million is not in isolation; it sits alongside the many other things that have been announced, including £130 million of un-ring-fenced funding to the Liverpool city region in March; but I am happy to continue to work with colleagues across the House in considering our wider response.
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Question
May I return to the sectors that are effectively closed by the lockdown rules? Will my right hon. Friend ensure that when the Chancellor is looking at what support he can give, he thinks about companies in the supply chains to those sectors, which have lost all their orders but so far have not had the benefit of some of the help, such as the business rate reliefs?
Minister reply
One of the difficulties when people talk about extending the furlough is that those supplying particular sectors do not simply supply one sector; they usually supply across sectors. In the wider discussion about extending the furlough, not only is there the question of how long, because we do not know how long it will be until a vaccine arrives, but it is often unclear from those seeking an extension which sectors it would apply to and how it would apply to the supply chains of those sectors. The reality is that people do not simply supply one sector; supply chains reach across many sectors.
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Question
The Minister knows that the Rhondda has not just had to contend with coronavirus this year; we have had the worst flooding of any area in the whole of the UK—nearly a quarter of it was in one constituency—and we have had a major landslide from a coal tip. In February, the Prime Minister promised this House that the money would be “passported” from Westminster to Rhondda Cynon Taf to pay for the repair work. In June, the Prime Minister told me that the work had to be done and that he would be looking at making sure it happened. The Minister wrote to me in July to say that we should be applying to the reserve fund. I cannot underline more strongly how serious this is for the local community. We are one of the poorest communities in the whole of Europe. The local authority will be bankrupted if we do not get the money. There are families who are fearful that they are going to be flooded all over again, and many more who are even more worried that there will be another Aberfan. Please, please, please, just say the money is going to come.
Minister reply
The hon. Gentleman has raised this before and I discussed it with the Secretary of State for Wales. As a result of the hon. Gentleman’s question, I will ask for an urgent update to clarify with the Secretary of State what the latest is on that. Because of the emotion that I think everyone feels around the national tragedy of Aberfan, we recognise the specific issue in that regard, and I know that the Prime Minister is very sighted on it. To be fair, I think the issue has more aspects to it than simply the individual site that is of most concern; there is a wider discussion with the Welsh Government around flood protection and where that funding is, but I am very happy to follow up. Given that the hon. Gentleman has raised the issue before, let me follow it up, and I will write to him following today’s exchange.
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Question
The Welsh Government have imposed movement restrictions in four north Wales counties, an area where tourism and hospitality are the mainstay of the economy. That has had an immediate adverse effect on local businesses, some of which have closed, maybe never to open again. Can my right hon. Friend say whether the Welsh Government have been in touch with the Treasury to outline what financial measures they intend to put in place to compensate the businesses that have been so badly affected by this action?
Minister reply
I am not aware of any specific representations in respect of the individual case that my right hon. Friend refers to. The wider point I would make is that it is important across the United Kingdom as a whole that decisions on local lockdowns are shaped by the Joint Biosecurity Centre so that we have a consistency of approach that is led by the medical science, and then, on the basis of that, the Treasury can have discussions about any individual issues that arise from that advice from the Joint Biosecurity Centre.
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Question
Last Friday, in an interview with the BBC, the Prime Minister said that additional resources would be available for Northern Ireland in the light of restrictions due to alarming covid numbers, which are now twice the UK average. There are local restrictions in place, hundreds of students are isolating, and businesses are struggling but have to keep the doors open to pay the bills. With furlough ending and an extra 89,000 universal credit claimants just in the second quarter of this year, people cannot afford to wait and see. When asked whether extra funds would be available, the Prime Minister said, “Absolutely.” When will those funds come?
Minister reply
We have provided significant funds to Northern Ireland—an additional £2.2 billion—to cope with the pressures of the pandemic, and that has enabled 300,000 jobs in Northern Ireland to be protected through the furlough scheme, along with an additional 78,000 jobs through the self-employed income support scheme. Indeed, the package of measures that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced in his winter plan applies in terms of additional support for Northern Ireland as it shapes its response to the pandemic.
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Question
Does the Chief Secretary agree that the best way to help business is to let business get on with the job, as free as possible from Government control? Will he note that when the Treasury argues against further lockdowns for business, scores of Tory MPs and tens of thousands of businesses cheer it on? After all, to quote the Chancellor, is it not our “sacred” duty to “balance the books”? What is the point of solving this problem by borrowing money? Is that not the socialist way? What would be the point of a Conservative Government if we did that?
Minister reply
As a former Chair of the Public Accounts Committee, my right hon. Friend is quite right to focus on the importance of value for money and protecting the interests of the taxpayer. He knows me well enough to know that I share that sentiment. On our wider response, it is important that we get the right balance between responding to the virus and doing so in a way that is supportive to the economy. It is a false choice to see this as a choice between health and economics; they are clearly intertwined and we need to work together in shaping our response.
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Question
It is a horrific irony that while we risk 1980s levels of unemployment, the Chancellor was busy reminding his party conference that Tory values are old and timeless. I appreciate that not every job can be saved, but many more jobs can be saved by a proper extension of the furlough scheme and targeted support for aerospace, aviation, travel, tourism, hospitality, the night-time economy and those excluded to date. If the Treasury is not going to step up, does the Minister agree that the Scottish Government need borrowing powers so that they can provide targeted sector support and localised support where local restrictions might be needed for public health measures?
Minister reply
The slightly puzzling thing is that the hon. Gentleman does not seem to accept yes for an answer. When I was asked by the Scottish Government Finance Minister whether I would give further guarantees on Barnett consequentials, we agreed that, thereby enabling the Scottish Government to make spending commitments with that guarantee, yet that point is not recognised at all. The reality is that it is because of our broad shoulders and ability to act across the United Kingdom that we have been able to protect 930,000 jobs in Scotland at the peak in July, and 65,000 businesses in Scotland have benefited from our loan schemes. Our ability to act across the United Kingdom enables us to better protect jobs.
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Question
I urge my right hon. Friend not to forget areas like the High Peak which, although not under local restrictions themselves, are impacted economically by the local restrictions next door in Greater Manchester. I wish to highlight specifically the events industry, which, if it is allowed to trade again, could be a crucible for economic recovery. The situation is imminent—lots of fantastic events, such as Buxton International Festival, are having to make decisions now about when their event can go ahead next year—so I urge my right hon. Friend to look urgently at measures for the industry.
Minister reply
My hon. Friend is quite right that the impact on business is not constrained to those areas most acutely affected by the virus; there is a wider displacement effect on businesses, including in neighbouring constituencies. We very much recognise that issue, which very much shaped the approach that the Chancellor set out in the winter plan, particularly in respect of the cash-flow pressures faced by those businesses. Together with the job support that he brought forward, the package recognises the very real pressures businesses face and will provide comfort as we go through the winter period.
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Question
Suggests meeting local MPs from Liverpool city region, council leaders and the Metro Mayor for a constructive discussion about how a comprehensive package for those sectors can be put in place as a matter of urgency.
Minister reply
Agrees to meet MPs from all parties to discuss these issues. The Liverpool city region's request for £700 million equates to an additional funding commitment of £23 billion, and the Government will work closely with local authorities.
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Question
Asks the Minister to use his influence to end delay in youth investment fund to get help to young people who need it.
Minister reply
Acknowledges the importance of the youth investment fund and highlights measures such as the kickstart scheme, tripling of traineeships, £2,000 for apprentices, and doubling work coaches.
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Question
Asks what consideration has been given to the impact of local lockdowns on businesses and supply chains located beyond the lockdown areas. What support will be made available?
Minister reply
Engages closely with Welsh Government and others, providing Barnett consequentials worth £4 billion and a winter plan package of additional measures.
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Question
Asks why nightclubs are not eligible for any help from the local restrictions support grant.
Minister reply
Explains that while businesses can benefit from universal elements of the package, nightclubs have been shut down since lockdown and repurposing is challenging. The Chancellor reluctantly stated they cannot save every job.
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Question
Asks for reassurance that businesses in Stoke-On-Trent will continue to access financial support if local lockdown restrictions are imposed.
Minister reply
Reassures with the package of support announced in winter plan, including job retention and cash flow assistance.
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Question
Asks for a comprehensive range of measures to help the leisure and entertainment industry. Highlights specific effects on his constituency.
Minister reply
Clarifies that coach companies can benefit from support, particularly in school transport. Acknowledges impact on cinema industry due to supply delays and consumer confidence issues.
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Question
Asks why some areas are being treated differently under local restrictions and for greater transparency and equity.
Minister reply
Flags concern about the transparency of the decision-making process.
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Question
Thanks Minister for support in Aberconwy but asks him to press Welsh Government to provide funding when introducing stricter restrictions than other parts of UK.
Minister reply
Emphasises consistency and communication importance, shaped by the Joint Biosecurity Centre.
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Question
Welcomes Minister’s willingness to meet local MPs from Liverpool city region and asks for an open mind on extra support needed.
Minister reply
Agrees to discuss further but highlights wider package of support already offered.
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Question
There is no doubt that a number of businesses in Birmingham, Northfield and across Birmingham, especially in hospitality, would not exist now if it was not for the support packages put in place by the Government over the past several months. Will my right hon. Friend please commit to looking at as many ways as possible of supporting businesses, especially those affected by the local restrictions and the 10 pm curfew?
Minister reply
As I said in an earlier reply, the Chancellor was very clear yesterday that he continues to listen and to strive to be creative in our response. The comprehensive package includes the winter plan announced by the Chancellor which provides considerable support to businesses through various schemes such as furlough bonus, jobs support scheme, self-employed income support scheme, tax deferrals, loans, etc.
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Question
The fact is that more and more people are struggling just to put food on the table, so with furlough being wound down, will the Government end the five-week wait for universal credit? Will they also make the £20 uplift permanent and extend it to legacy benefits?
Minister reply
We always keep these things under review. The Chancellor has continued to revise the package of support that was set out in March for individuals, public services and businesses with the most recent iteration being the winter plan announced by him a week or so ago.
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Question
A theme of many of the questions is predicated on the assumption that some of these economic support measures will be needed only for a short period. Is it the Treasury’s assumption that these measures will be needed only for a shorter period, or is it more likely that we will see permanent changes to our economy that require us to accept significant economic transformation?
Minister reply
The Chancellor has been quite clear about longer-term consequences for public finances due to significant fiscal measures. We will be living with the virus at least for another six months, and efforts are focused on limiting long-term damage through vaccines.
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Emma Hardy
Lab
Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice
Question
The Minister will no doubt appreciate just how precarious the future of many businesses is. Will he please outline the additional and specific support that businesses facing significantly lower demand can expect to receive?
Minister reply
One of most important areas of support is avoiding, if at all possible, businesses closing in the first place. The balance between businesses being open for the majority of the evening and addressing social distancing risks has been drawn.
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Question
Will my right hon. Friend prioritise ensuring that we continue to see a refocusing of investment into areas hit hardest by covid as we build a stronger recovery, so that no part of our country is left behind?
Minister reply
There are few stronger champions of the levelling-up agenda in this House than my hon. Friend and I share his determination to ensure that our levelling-up agenda speaks to people across the UK.
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Question
From 1 November, the job support scheme will only be available to firms offering their staff at least a third of usual working hours. For businesses forced to close as a result of local restrictions, that will not be possible. What do the Government suggest such businesses do in these circumstances?
Minister reply
Specific measures for areas with local lockdowns include £1,500 support for businesses closed for three weeks or more and tax deferrals, loans and other cash-flow support as part of the Chancellor's winter plan.
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Question
What measures will be in place to support London boroughs or a whole London-wide lockdown if local restrictions occur?
Minister reply
We continue to listen and evaluate the circumstances, including as applies to London. The Chancellor has set out a comprehensive package of support assisting businesses in retaining staff talent and addressing cash-flow pressure.
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Question
The International Monetary Fund encouraged Governments to spend on infrastructure, including the west end and suburban theatres. What urgent plan will the Government put in place to protect theatre workers?
Minister reply
On the specific point about the theatre, it is a sector championed by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The Chancellor has set out £1.57 billion package which includes infrastructure investment including Crossrail, High Speed 2, road schemes, broadband.
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Question
The hospitality sector benefited from an incredible and innovative package of support. But if we do not rethink the 10 pm curfew, some businesses may close permanently. Will the Government reconsider their approach to the 10 pm curfew?
Minister reply
It is about getting balance right in our health response to pandemic. We are not alone in that approach as The Netherlands and parts of Spain have taken similar approach.
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Question
Live music professionals saw an average income drop of 97.5% during the initial lockdown. If further local restrictions come into force, the situation is likely to become bleaker. Will the Chief Secretary extend the remit of the £1.57 billion arts support package to cover live music?
Minister reply
We keep all packages under review but extended self-employed income support scheme as one of vehicles assisting many constituents affected particularly in the arts.
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Question
We can all agree that the Government’s economic support has been a lifeline for millions of hard-working people but in local lockdown areas, such as those across the north-east, hospitality businesses are really struggling with restrictions such as the 10 pm curfew and households not being able to meet for a meal and a pint. May I urge my right hon. Friend to look at how he can offer additional economic and financial support? Some of these businesses have seen their takings drop through no fault of their own.
Minister reply
I know that the 10 pm curfew is an issue that a number of colleagues across the House have raised. As I said a moment ago, it is about getting the balance right. We have striven to ensure that venues are able to continue to be open most of the evening rather than, as we saw in the initial lockdown, having to close. It is about protecting the majority of the evening and getting the balance right with the later night socialising that the chief medical officer and others are most concerned about in terms of the risk to public health. It is something that we continue to keep under review and learn from other countries around the world.
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Question
Last week, one of my constituents who owns a bridal store contacted me in desperation. Because of the coronavirus restrictions in the north-east, brides-to-be can no longer take a relative or friend to their dress-fitting appointments, leading to numerous cancellations. To echo my hon. Friends, will the Minister commit to providing support for businesses like my constituent’s or will the Government allow them to fail through no fault of the owner?
Minister reply
This is one of those sectors that has been hit hard both emotionally and economically. It is certainly not the case that this is about the Government letting businesses fail in that regard. The consequences of the pandemic hit particular sectors more acutely than others. We have put in place a comprehensive package of support, but it will not address every job.
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Question
I listened very carefully to my right hon. Friend’s response to the question of my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East about restrictions in London. I have heard from a lot of small and medium-sized enterprises in Wimbledon that the business rate support grant was the lifeline that has kept them going. If there are further restrictions, may I ask him to look again at that as the way to help SMEs, a vital part of our economy, to keep going?
Minister reply
My hon. Friend speaks with great authority when it comes to the business community. I know he engages extensively with it and understands the issues closely. He raises an important issue, which I am very happy to relay to my right hon Friend the Secretary of State.
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Question
With the Health Secretary reportedly considering further restrictions on hospitality in areas with local restrictions and 19,000 people still on the furlough scheme that ends in just 25 days, will the Treasury bring in a local furlough scheme to save those viable jobs now under threat due to Government decisions?
Minister reply
The hon. Lady raises a legitimate concern, but I do not see an open-ended furlough as a panacea. The Chancellor's strategy is through the winter plan, job support scheme and self-employed income support scheme to support jobs we can sustain.
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Question
I think there is a growing understanding that this crisis will last longer than initially hoped. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is essential to have a longer-term framework in place—a framework of support for families and businesses through periods of rolling on-off lockdowns—and that, underneath this framework, we need a strong safety net of social security?
Minister reply
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. Our response needs to evolve as our understanding improves. The Chancellor's strategy involves moving from the initial phase in March to protecting NHS capacity, then to the plan for jobs and winter plans as we look to bring people back into workplaces.
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Question
In areas of Lancashire that I represent, businesses are in events, weddings, and bands. They will put people first but are looking at three winters ahead. They would not be here without the coronavirus business interruption loans, bounce back loans and furlough. Can the Minister assure me he is considering these businesses' survival past this virus?
Minister reply
The Chancellor supports those businesses through loan extensions and tax deferrals. We face living with the virus longer, so we need a targeted approach within fiscal sustainability.
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Question
Speculation that the Scottish Government are about to introduce greater restrictions in Scotland just as we go into October school holidays is causing concern for businesses in my constituency, especially those working in the visitor economy. Can he give them comfort that they will be protected at this last opportunity before the third winter comes?
Minister reply
The right hon Gentleman raises an important point about concern in the business community and consistency across UK measures. Joint work is undertaken through the Joint Biosecurity Centre, and I engage regularly with Scottish Government counterparts.