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1312284

registered interest
date	27/04/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Debts
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	What assessment he has made of the change in the level of personal debt in the last 12 months.
tabling member constituency	Sheffield Central
tabling member printed	Paul Blomfield
uin	914840
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2021 answer text <p>The Government is committed to understand the impact of COVID-19 on personal debt levels and to help people access the support they need to get their finances back on track.</p><p> </p><p>The Government works closely with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to monitor financial difficulty through an annual survey and notes the Financial Conduct Authority’s biennial Financial Lives Survey.</p><p> </p><p>The latest findings from the Financial Lives Survey were published in February 2021. The findings include the impact of Covid-19 on people’s finances.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 27/04/2021 12:36:02 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4058 label Biography information for Paul Blomfield

1312037

registered interest
date	26/04/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Debts: Advisory Services
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what additional resources the Government will provide to the debt advice sector to ensure it can respond effectively to the 60 per cent increase in demand for debt advice forecast by The Money and Pensions Service.
tabling member constituency	Stockton North
tabling member printed	Alex Cunningham
uin	187218
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>The Government recognises the importance of providing a strong financial footing for the debt advice sector and is committed to helping people access the support they need to get their finances back on track.</p><p> </p><p>This is why the Government has agreed to maintain record levels of debt advice funding for the Money and Pension Service in 2021-22, bringing the budget for free debt advice in England to £94.6 million. This is more than a 70% increase since 2019-20 and reflects the Government’s commitment to ensure that appropriate support is available for people in problem debt.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 29/04/2021 06:35:04 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4122 label Biography information for Alex Cunningham

1312086

registered interest
date	26/04/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Financial Services Compensation Scheme: Compensation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the announcement of a compensation scheme for London and Capital Finance bond holders of 19 April 2021, whether his Department has considered paying similar compensation to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to offset claims they have already settled.
tabling member constituency	Inverclyde
tabling member printed	Ronnie Cowan
uin	187266
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>Following an extensive investigation, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) found that certain London Capital and Finance (LCF) bondholders were eligible for FSCS compensation.</p><p> </p><p>The FSCS has now paid out £57.6m to over 2,800 LCF bondholders, and has identified and contacted all bondholders whom it believes are eligible for compensation.</p><p> </p><p>As previously announced, the government will establish a compensation scheme for all LCF bondholders who are not eligible for FSCS compensation. Details of this scheme were set out in a Written Ministerial Statement on 19 April. The government expects the scheme to have paid all bondholders within 6 months of securing the necessary primary legislation, which it will bring forward as soon as parliamentary time allows.</p><p> </p><p>The scheme will not make payments to the FSCS to offset settled claims, as these claims were paid to eligible bondholders in line with FSCS rules. HM Treasury’s separate compensation scheme will compensate those bondholders who are not eligible for FSCS compensation, recognising the unique and exceptional circumstances around LCF’s failure. This compensation will be capped at 80% of bondholders’ initial investments up to a cap of £68,000.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 29/04/2021 06:35:17 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4465 label Biography information for Ronnie Cowan

1312211

registered interest
date	26/04/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of the risks to consumers of buy-now-pay later products.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Kemptown
tabling member printed	Lloyd Russell-Moyle
uin	187302
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>The Woolard Review into the unsecured credit market found several potential harms from interest-free buy now pay later products. The Government recognises those risks. That is why on 2 February the Government announced its intention to regulate Buy Now Pay Later products. On 17 March, the Government tabled an amendment to the Financial Services Bill to allow the Government to bring Buy Now Pay Later products into the scope of FCA regulation in a proportionate way.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 29/04/2021 06:35:34 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4615 label Biography information for Lloyd Russell-Moyle

1312251

registered interest
date	26/04/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Economic Situation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the policies of the Wellbeing Economy Governments partnership on the UK's strategy for economic recovery at (a) local, (b) national and (c) global level; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Brighton, Pavilion
tabling member printed	Caroline Lucas
uin	187191
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2021 answer text <p>This government has provided an unprecedented package with a cumulative cost of £352 billion to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods and to support businesses and public services across the UK since the start of the pandemic.</p><p> </p><p>The government has consistently erred towards generosity in its support, reflecting the severity of the impact of the pandemic on peoples’ lives.</p><p>To continue to support people on low incomes during the Covid-19 crisis, at Budget the government announced a six-month extension to the temporary £20 per week uplift to the Universal Credit (UC) standard allowance. The government has also announced similar support for eligible Working Tax Credit (WTC) claimants; because of the way the WTC system operates, being provided through a one-off £500 payment in April.</p><p> </p><p>The government's actions to protect lives and livelihoods have been aimed at mitigating the most damaging effects of the pandemic on peoples’ wellbeing, and the government has considered a wide range of data throughout.</p><p> </p><p>This includes National accounts statistics like GDP, which remains one of our most important economic indicators. It is closely correlated with employment, incomes and tax receipts and is comparable across time periods, making it useful for the government and Bank of England when setting economic policy and managing the public finances.</p><p> </p><p>GDP has its limitations and should not be seen as an all-encompassing measure of welfare – something it was never designed to be.</p><p> </p><p>Sir Charles Bean’s 2016 Independent Review of Economic Statistics acknowledged some of these limitations, such as the challenge of capturing activities where no market transaction takes place and the fact that GDP estimates make no allowance for the depletion of natural resources that may be inherent in many forms of economic production.</p><p> </p><p>The government fully supported the recommendations of the Bean review and, to date, has provided the ONS with an additional £25m to help improve UK economic statistics - including through an initiative called “Beyond GDP” that aims to address the limitations in GDP by developing broader measures of welfare and activity.</p><p> </p><p>This includes developing a suite of personal well-being measures, better accounting for unpaid work and developing estimates for natural and human capital.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 29/04/2021 08:22:08 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	3930 label Biography information for Caroline Lucas

1311767

registered interest
date	23/04/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Financial Services: Internet
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to (a) increase accountability among digital financial service providers and (b) ensure that (i) PayPal and (ii) other providers of digital financial services process customers' complaints in a timely manner.
tabling member constituency	Fylde
tabling member printed	Mark Menzies
uin	186149
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2021 answer text <p>PayPal currently provides services in the UK through the Temporary Permissions Regime, and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The FCA’s handbook rules require payment service providers, which includes banks, payment institutions and electronic money institutions, to send a final response to complaints about rights and obligations arising under the Payment Services and Electronic Money Regulations within 15 business days after the day on which it received the complaint. In exceptional circumstances, such as where the respondent cannot send a final response within this period for reasons beyond the control of the firm, a response must be sent within 35 business days.</p><p> </p><p>If a consumer complains to a relevant financial services firm and is unhappy with the response, they may be able to bring their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS provides consumers with a free, independent service that enables the proportionate, prompt and informal resolution of disputes with financial firms</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>With regards to next of kin procedures for banks, payment institutions, and electronic money institutions, the FCA expects firms to have an effective process for dealing with a deceased customer’s accounts from notification of death to the transfer of funds to those who are entitled to receive them. This process is set out in the FCA’s handbook rules.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen grouped question UIN 186150 question first answered 28/04/2021 12:41:46 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	3998 label Biography information for Mark Menzies

1311768

registered interest
date	23/04/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Financial Services: Internet
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that (a) PayPal and (b) other digital financial services providers have a clearly defined process for next of kin, should a customer pass away, and prevent the withholding of access from next of kin or organisations that the individual was previously involved with.
tabling member constituency	Fylde
tabling member printed	Mark Menzies
uin	186150
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/04/2021 answer text <p>PayPal currently provides services in the UK through the Temporary Permissions Regime, and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The FCA’s handbook rules require payment service providers, which includes banks, payment institutions and electronic money institutions, to send a final response to complaints about rights and obligations arising under the Payment Services and Electronic Money Regulations within 15 business days after the day on which it received the complaint. In exceptional circumstances, such as where the respondent cannot send a final response within this period for reasons beyond the control of the firm, a response must be sent within 35 business days.</p><p> </p><p>If a consumer complains to a relevant financial services firm and is unhappy with the response, they may be able to bring their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FOS provides consumers with a free, independent service that enables the proportionate, prompt and informal resolution of disputes with financial firms</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>With regards to next of kin procedures for banks, payment institutions, and electronic money institutions, the FCA expects firms to have an effective process for dealing with a deceased customer’s accounts from notification of death to the transfer of funds to those who are entitled to receive them. This process is set out in the FCA’s handbook rules.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen grouped question UIN 186149 question first answered 28/04/2021 12:41:46 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	3998 label Biography information for Mark Menzies

1311451

registered interest
date	22/04/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Credit: Companies
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish a list of the meetings (a) in-person, (b) online and (c) by phone and other correspondence that (i) Ministers and (ii) in his Department officials have had with buy now, pay later companies in 2021 to date; and what the names were of those companies.
tabling member constituency	Walthamstow
tabling member printed	Stella Creasy
uin	185872
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2021 answer text <p>Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-giftsand-overseas-travel" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-giftsand-overseas-travel</a></p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 27/04/2021 14:35:37 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4088 label Biography information for Stella Creasy

1311565

registered interest
date	22/04/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Credit Unions: Assets
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of discontinuities in credit union capital requirements on credit unions' capacity to grow assets beyond £10 million; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	185969
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2021 answer text <p>HM Treasury officials have regularly engaged with the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the credit union sector. I have also engaged with representatives from the credit union sector through the Consumer Finance Forum and Financial Inclusion Policy Forum, which are bringing financial services and consumer group representatives together to discuss how to best support people through this period.</p><p>Fair4All Finance, the independent body set up by Government to distribute dormant assets funding to support financial inclusion, has set up a £5 million resilience fund to support credit unions and community development finance institutions in England during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 20 May 2020, the Government announced that additional funding through the dormant assets scheme would be released immediately to Fair4All Finance. This included an expanded Affordable Credit Scale-up Programme, which aims to improve the access and availability of affordable credit. I am also aware that credit unions have had access to wider COVID-19 support schemes, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and grant funding from local authorities.</p>Capital requirements for credit unions are a matter for the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). In March 2020, the PRA concluded its consultation into simplifying the capital regime for credit unions. This reduced complexity by removing the link between a credit union’s activities and membership with capital requirements, removed the old 2% capital buffer, and introduced a graduated rate approach to capital requirements. These proposals were broadly supported by the credit union sector.<p> </p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen grouped question UIN 185970 185971 185972 question first answered 27/04/2021 14:31:24 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens

1311566

registered interest
date	22/04/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Credit Unions
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received on changing credit union capital requirements; and if he will make a statement.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	185970
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/04/2021 answer text <p>HM Treasury officials have regularly engaged with the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the credit union sector. I have also engaged with representatives from the credit union sector through the Consumer Finance Forum and Financial Inclusion Policy Forum, which are bringing financial services and consumer group representatives together to discuss how to best support people through this period.</p><p>Fair4All Finance, the independent body set up by Government to distribute dormant assets funding to support financial inclusion, has set up a £5 million resilience fund to support credit unions and community development finance institutions in England during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 20 May 2020, the Government announced that additional funding through the dormant assets scheme would be released immediately to Fair4All Finance. This included an expanded Affordable Credit Scale-up Programme, which aims to improve the access and availability of affordable credit. I am also aware that credit unions have had access to wider COVID-19 support schemes, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and grant funding from local authorities.</p>Capital requirements for credit unions are a matter for the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). In March 2020, the PRA concluded its consultation into simplifying the capital regime for credit unions. This reduced complexity by removing the link between a credit union’s activities and membership with capital requirements, removed the old 2% capital buffer, and introduced a graduated rate approach to capital requirements. These proposals were broadly supported by the credit union sector.<p> </p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen grouped question UIN 185969 185971 185972 question first answered 27/04/2021 14:31:24 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens