Covid-19 Economic Effect 2020-11-25
2020-11-25
TAGS
Response quality
Questions & Answers
Q1
Direct Answer
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Context
Discussions with the Chancellor regarding the impact of the pandemic on women, disabled people, and BAME communities.
What discussions she has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the economic effect of the covid-19 outbreak on (a) women, (b) disabled people and (c) Black, Asian and minority ethnic people. The pandemic has affected all communities in our country. This Government have done their utmost to protect lives and livelihoods.
The pandemic has affected all communities in our country. This Government have done their utmost to protect lives and livelihoods. We have targeted economic support at those who need it most. For example, rolling out unprecedented levels of economic support worth over £200 billion has provided a much needed lifeline for those working in shut-down sectors such as retail and hospitality, the workforces in which are disproportionately young, female and from a black, Asian or minority ethnic background.
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Assessment & feedback
Response accuracy
Q2
Partial Answer
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Context
Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies showed that shut-down sectors are worst affected and have higher proportions of workers who are women, disabled or BAME.
Will the Minister commit to demanding stronger support from the Chancellor such as protecting the £20 universal credit uplift and extending it to people on legacy benefits? Will she also request bespoke financial support for the hardest-hit sectors?
The hon. Lady will be aware that the Chancellor will be announcing his spending review this afternoon, and I think she will find that many of the questions she is asking will be answered at that point. With respect to the sectors that have been shut down, as I said in my first answer, we recognise that those people who are on low incomes have been disproportionately affected, and those groups are the ones who have most benefited from the interventions that the Treasury has put in place.
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Assessment & feedback
Commitment to specific actions or demands for strengthening support measures was not made.
Will Be Answered Later
Response accuracy
Q3
Partial Answer
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Context
Nearly one in seven people in Coventry are now on universal credit with a 97% increase since March. Low earnings, higher rates of poverty and greater need mean that these groups rely more on UC.
What has the Minister done to push for measures such as scrapping the two-child limit, benefit cap and an uplift in payments during today's spending review?
I am afraid that, as I said in my earlier answer, questions about the spending review need to be asked during the spending review, which will take place later this afternoon.
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Assessment & feedback
Questions Should Be Asked During The Spending Review
Response accuracy
Q4
Partial Answer
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Context
Discussion on the work being done with DWP to protect these groups from becoming disadvantaged.
Will my hon. Friend update the House on the work that she is undertaking with the Department for Work and Pensions to make sure that women, disabled people and BAME people are not disadvantaged when we come out of the pandemic?
As we discussed at the Women and Equalities Committee a few weeks ago, this is something that the Government Equalities Office is very much alive to. I am working with equalities Ministers across various Departments to see how the interventions that we are making are not going to impact on those groups who are most vulnerable, and I will continue to update her on that work.
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Assessment & feedback
Will Continue To Update
Response accuracy
Q5
Partial Answer
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Context
Over 600,000 people in work who are clinically extremely vulnerable have been affected by current shielding guidance.
Does the Minister think it is fair that many disabled people have had to choose between their lives and livelihoods when employers refuse to put them on furlough?
As the hon. Lady will know, the pandemic has affected many different groups in very bad ways, and we have done everything we can to support them. Specifically on disabled people, we have done quite a lot in looking at the benefits that they have and providing support in many other ways, including employment support. These are the ways that we are protecting those people who are being disproportionately impacted.
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Assessment & feedback
Everything Done To Support Them
Response accuracy