Financial Secretary to the Treasury to give evidence to Lords Employment and COVID-19 inquiry
Monday 16 November 2020
On Tuesday 17 November 2020 the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, the Rt Hon Jesse Norman MP, will give evidence to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee’s Employment and Covid-19 inquiry.
He will be joined by Lindsey Whyte, Director for Personal Tax, Welfare and Pensions at the Treasury.
This session, which will start 3pm, will be held remotely and streamed on Parliament TV.
Questions the Committee is likely to ask include:
- What is stopping the Treasury from publishing an economic impact assessment of lockdown and other health restrictions to enable Parliament to better scrutinise these policies?
- What was the basis for the Treasury’s decision to extend the furlough scheme in full? Why did it not make changes to its design to better target those sectors most affected?
- The Treasury has made five changes to the Job Retention Scheme and the Job Support Scheme. What effect has the uncertainty over policy direction had on the labour market?
- More than 3 million people are still excluded from the various employment and self-employment support schemes. What steps is the Treasury taking to address this?
- Has the Government considered any proposals for schemes that would aim to redeploy workers that are most at risk into sectors that are more resilient?
- Has the Government considered any proposals to expand job creation schemes such as Kickstart?
- Does the Treasury accept the IMF’s view that Governments in advanced economies should engage in fiscal stimulus in response to the crisis?
More on this inquiry, Employment and Covid-19
Last week witnesses from the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), McKinsey & Company, University of Cambridge, King's College London, and the London School of Economics gave evidence to the Committee.
The transcripts are available and you can also watch the sessions back on Parliament TV.
This inquiry has its own web page.
More on the Economic Affairs Committee
The Economic Affairs Committee is one of the five permanent investigative committees in the House of Lords and is charged with considering economic affairs.
