Contributions
3,765 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDEconomy UpdateI am glad the hon. Lady welcomed the extension of job support through to next year. With regard to Scotland, it is clear, as even the First Minister has conceded, that the…05 Nov 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateI am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this. He has raised with me the impact on businesses in his area of a potential move into tier 2, and I hope he will be reassured by…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateI am pleased to tell the hon. Lady that the tier 2 grants that I announced today will be backdated, so that her businesses and local authority will receive funding that is…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateThe hon. Lady is right in saying that support should now be targeted at where it can make the most difference. That is why our approach has evolved through this crisis, and what…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateMy hon. Friend is absolutely right on his last point. We are lucky to benefit from the considerable business experience that he brings to this place. He is also right to say that,…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateThe hon. Lady might make disparaging comments about photo opportunities at Wagamama, but that was precisely because that sector employs 2 million people who are disproportionately…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateThe hon. Lady asks for an extension of the job retention scheme. It is worth drawing her attention to the fact that the employer contribution to the job retention scheme in…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateMy right hon. Friend is right that the Mayor, Andy Street, has been vocal, and rightly so, in highlighting the particular impact of the tier 2 restrictions on the hospitality…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateThat is an interesting idea. Obviously, for areas in tier 3, the local authorities are receiving funding to use at their discretion. It may well be that that is an idea they want…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateI am happy to tell my hon. Friend that the money provided to Lancashire, as it entered tier 3, for overall business support can be used precisely to help the businesses he rightly…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateThose are wise words from my hon. Friend. He is right to highlight the importance, in this House and elsewhere, of our adopting a constructive and collegiate approach to tackling…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateIt is precisely because we took a generous and universal approach to eligibility for the job support scheme, with its new generosity, that supply chains of all affected industries…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateThe hon. Lady is right to highlight the particular importance of good-quality childcare, which, as she said, enables mums to protect their employment. I am happy to look at the…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateWe have addressed this point before, but I am happy to repeat it. Very low-paid workers will benefit from the flexibility and responsiveness of universal credit, and that is where…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateAs ever, I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s advice and support. He is right: the business rates holiday we have put in place this year has provided over £10 billion of support to…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateWe have tried to reduce the bureaucracy by making sure that we do not have overlapping schemes at the same time. That would only increase complexity for businesses. We have…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateYes, I can, and I hope I did, provide that reassurance. For all areas that have been suffering essentially de facto restrictions, as the hon. Gentleman said, we will backdate the…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateMy hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I thank her for her warm words. She knows, as someone who is a huge champion of small businesses in her area, repeatedly bringing their…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateI know that my hon. Friend is a proud champion of all her local pubs, judging by all her Instagram photos—I am very jealous. Having visited many of them with her during the…22 Oct 2020HANSARDCovid-19: Economy UpdateGiven that the grants are backdated, if that results in extra Barnett consequentials, of course that extra funding will flow to Northern Ireland, as it will to other devolved…22 Oct 2020