Select committee: Treasury Committee
Conclusion 22
Eighth Report: Economic impact of coronavirus: the challenges of recovery
Published 11 Sep 2020
Paragraph 170
Addressed to HM Treasury
Treasury Committee Economic impact of coronavirus All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
It is too simplistic to say that a compulsory lockdown is a trade-off between the people’s health and the economy. The very presence of the virus, and how people respond to it regardless of what the Government mandates, has an economic impact. And lockdowns don’t just affect the economy—they have health implications as well, positive and negative, beyond just combatting coronavirus.
From: Treasury Committee, Eighth Report: Economic impact of coronavirus: the challenges of recovery (HC 271), paragraph 170, 11 September 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 20 November 2020 (deadline 11 November 2020).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Treasury's response sets out the support measures and positions it has taken on the Committee's recommendations, accepting some points, declining others and deferring several to later announcements.
- On recapitalising SMEs, the government has considered proposals including contingent tax liabilities and student loan type structures, but remains "of the view that accredited lenders, not the government, are best placed" to support borrowers repaying government-guaranteed loans.
- On the OBR and levelling up, the government points to the OBR's "clearly defined mandate" and to past reviews recommending "caution" about expanding it, rather than proposing a change.
- On a roadmap to fiscal sustainability, the government will set out further details, including a revised fiscal framework, "in due course, as the economic and fiscal outlook becomes clearer".
- On updating its COVID-19 distributional analysis, the government has "taken note and will consider doing so at an appropriate point", citing difficulties producing it to the same quality across wider characteristics.