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1716608

registered interest
date	08/05/2024
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Farmers: Loans
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 support agricultural businesses to access finance from banks.
tabling member constituency	Penrith and The Border
tabling member printed	Dr Neil Hudson
uin	25390
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>The Government recognises the vital role of agricultural businesses across the UK, and it is important they can access the finance they need.</p><p> </p><p>The government’s Growth Guarantee Scheme supports smaller businesses, including agricultural businesses, to access the finance they need to invest and grow. The scheme extends the support previously offered under the Recovery Loan Scheme and provides a 70% government guarantee on lending to UK small and medium-sized enterprises. The scheme supports a wide range of products provided by different lenders such as loan terms, overdrafts, asset finance, invoice finance and asset-based lending.</p><p> </p><p>The government has also supported farmers to adapt to the agricultural transition by providing them with free business advice. Advisers offered one to one consultations, farm visits and free workshops that helped support farming businesses to improve their financial viability, which will have made it easier for them to access finance.</p> answering member constituency Hitchin and Harpenden answering member printed Bim Afolami question first answered 13/05/2024 14:26:55 answering member 4639 label Biography information for Bim Afolami
tabling member	4853 label Biography information for Dr Neil Hudson

1716609

registered interest
date	08/05/2024
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Banks: Urban Areas
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 help preserve access to banking on high streets.
tabling member constituency	Penrith and The Border
tabling member printed	Dr Neil Hudson
uin	25391
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/05/2024 answer text <p>It is important that all customers have appropriate access to banking and cash services and the Government is monitoring this situation closely.</p><p> </p><p>Guidance from the FCA expects firms to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs, and put in place alternatives, where reasonable. Alternative options to access everyday banking services on the high street include via the Post Office or Banking Hubs. Banking Hubs are an industry initiative to enable customers of participating banks to access cash and banking services in shared facilities.</p><p> </p><p>UK Finance confirmed 225 Banking Hubs will be announced by the end of 2024. Furthermore, following my recent discussions with the UK high street banks, participating firms have also committed to improving Hubs by standardising the services available between firms, ensuring that customers do not require their own digital device to bank, trialling a ‘customer liaison service’ and trialling Saturday openings. The banks have agreed to keep services under review to ensure their effectiveness for all customers.</p> answering member constituency Hitchin and Harpenden answering member printed Bim Afolami question first answered 13/05/2024 14:25:17 answering member 4639 label Biography information for Bim Afolami
tabling member	4853 label Biography information for Dr Neil Hudson

1691419

registered interest
date	23/02/2024
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Bank Services: Rural Areas
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 accessibility of banking services to rural communities.
tabling member constituency	Penrith and The Border
tabling member printed	Dr Neil Hudson
uin	15507
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/02/2024 answer text <p>The Government believes that all customers, wherever they live, should have appropriate access to banking and cash services, and is monitoring this issue closely. It is imperative that firms recognise the needs of all their customers, including those who need to use in-person services.</p><p> </p><p>UK customers can access banking services through a number of different channels. This includes in branches, Post Offices or Banking Hubs, as well as via telephone banking and through digital means such as mobile or online banking.</p><p> </p><p>The Post Office allows personal and business customers to carry out everyday banking services at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK. The Post Office is required by the Department for Business &amp; Trade to ensure that 95% of the total rural population across the UK is within 3 miles of their nearest Post Office.</p><p> </p><p>Banking Hubs are an initiative which enable customers of participating banks to access cash and banking services in shared facilities. Over 100 Banking Hubs have been announced so far, and the Government hopes to see these all open as soon as possible.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Hitchin and Harpenden answering member printed Bim Afolami question first answered 28/02/2024 08:42:50 answering member 4639 label Biography information for Bim Afolami
tabling member	4853 label Biography information for Dr Neil Hudson

1688536

registered interest
date	08/02/2024
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Hospitality Industry and Tourism: Government Assistance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to support the hospitality and tourism sectors.
tabling member constituency	Penrith and The Border
tabling member printed	Dr Neil Hudson
uin	13814
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/02/2024 answer text <p>The Government is committed to supporting the hospitality and tourism sectors, which provide a significant contribution to the UK economy and society. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, over £37 billion has been provided to the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors in the form of grants, loans and tax breaks.</p><p> </p><p>At Autumn Statement 2023, the government announced it will extend the business rates Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief scheme at 75 per cent, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business for 2024-25. Around 230,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties will be eligible for this relief, a tax cut worth nearly £2.4 billion.</p><p> </p><p>Over this Spending Review period – the Government has allocated over £100m to the British Tourist Authority to support VisitBritain and VisitEngland with marketing activity to promote Britain as a destination.</p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Gareth Davies question first answered 19/02/2024 09:16:52 answering member 4850 label Biography information for Gareth Davies
tabling member	4853 label Biography information for Dr Neil Hudson

1688537

registered interest
date	08/02/2024
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Beer: Government Assistance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to help support the brewery industry.
tabling member constituency	Penrith and The Border
tabling member printed	Dr Neil Hudson
uin	13815
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/02/2024 answer text <p>The Government values the important contribution that the brewery industry makes to our economy and society. The new duty system, introduced on 1 August 2023, contains many benefits for brewers, including two new reliefs.</p><p> </p><p>The new Small Producer Relief means that small producers now see reduced duty rates on all products below 8.5 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV) up to a production threshold.</p><p> </p><p>The new Draught Relief means that all alcoholic products under 8.5 per cent ABV which are sold in containers of 20 litres or more and are sold to connect to a dispense system qualify for reduced duty rates. This relief provides a reduction in the duty on draught beer and cider products by 9.2 per cent.</p><p> </p><p>As with all tax policy, the Government keeps the alcohol duty system under review as part of the annual Budget process.</p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Gareth Davies question first answered 19/02/2024 09:13:21 answering member 4850 label Biography information for Gareth Davies
tabling member	4853 label Biography information for Dr Neil Hudson

1688538

registered interest
date	08/02/2024
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Public Houses: Government Assistance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to help support community pubs.
tabling member constituency	Penrith and The Border
tabling member printed	Dr Neil Hudson
uin	13816
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/02/2024 answer text <p>The Government values the important contribution that pubs make to our culture and the UK economy, including fostering a sense of place and community.</p><p> </p><p>Under the new alcohol duty system, Draught Relief provides a 9.2% duty reduction on draught beer and cider products below 8.5% alcohol by volume. This ensures that there will always be a lower duty rate for draught products to recognise the value of our great British pubs. This means that every pint, in every pub across the UK pays less duty than their supermarket equivalent - this is the Government's Brexit Pubs Guarantee.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, at Autumn Statement 2023, the government announced it will extend the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief scheme at 75 per cent, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business for 2024-25. Around 230,000 retail, hospitality and leisure properties, including pubs, will be eligible for this relief, a tax cut worth nearly £2.4bn.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is also funding a wide range of community assets, including pubs, through the Community Ownership Fund. To date, the Fund has allocated £71.3m to 257 projects, including many rural pubs.</p> answering member constituency Grantham and Stamford answering member printed Gareth Davies question first answered 19/02/2024 09:15:07 answering member 4850 label Biography information for Gareth Davies
tabling member	4853 label Biography information for Dr Neil Hudson

1683198

registered interest
date	17/01/2024
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Banks: Penrith and the Border
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to help prevent the closure of banks in Penrith and The Border constituency.
tabling member constituency	Penrith and The Border
tabling member printed	Dr Neil Hudson
uin	10343
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2024 answer text <p>Whilst the Government acknowledges that decisions to open or close a branch are commercial decisions for banks, and does not intervene on individual closures, it is imperative that banks and building societies recognise the needs of all their customers, including those who still need to use in-person services. The impact of branch closures must be mitigated where possible so that all customers, wherever they live, continue to have appropriate access to banking services.</p><p> </p><p>The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s guidance sets out that firms must carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs, and put in place reasonable alternatives. This seeks to ensure the implementation of closure decisions is done in a way that treats customers fairly. Where firms fall short, the FCA may ask for closures to be paused or other options to be put in place.</p><p> </p><p>Alternative options to access everyday banking services can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking and via the Post Office or Banking Hubs. The Post Office allows personal and business customers to carry out everyday banking services at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK, and Banking Hubs are an initiative which enable customers of participating banks to access cash and banking services in shared facilities. Over 100 Banking Hubs have been announced so far, and the Government hopes to see these Hubs open as soon as possible.</p><p> </p><p>With the increasing shift in customer behaviour to online and mobile banking, access to digital services is key, which is why my colleagues in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology are working with Building Digital UK (BDUK) to connect at least 85% of UK premises to gigabit-capable broadband by 2025, and for nationwide connectivity (at least 99%) to be realised by 2030. Over 80% of UK premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband, a huge leap forward from 2019, when coverage was just 6%.</p> answering member constituency Hitchin and Harpenden answering member printed Bim Afolami grouped question UIN 10344 question first answered 22/01/2024 18:29:09 answering member 4639 label Biography information for Bim Afolami
tabling member	4853 label Biography information for Dr Neil Hudson

1683199

registered interest
date	17/01/2024
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Bank Services: Standards
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to maintain appropriate banking access in areas with (a) closing banks and (b) poor digital connectivity.
tabling member constituency	Penrith and The Border
tabling member printed	Dr Neil Hudson
uin	10344
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/01/2024 answer text <p>Whilst the Government acknowledges that decisions to open or close a branch are commercial decisions for banks, and does not intervene on individual closures, it is imperative that banks and building societies recognise the needs of all their customers, including those who still need to use in-person services. The impact of branch closures must be mitigated where possible so that all customers, wherever they live, continue to have appropriate access to banking services.</p><p> </p><p>The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s guidance sets out that firms must carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs, and put in place reasonable alternatives. This seeks to ensure the implementation of closure decisions is done in a way that treats customers fairly. Where firms fall short, the FCA may ask for closures to be paused or other options to be put in place.</p><p> </p><p>Alternative options to access everyday banking services can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking and via the Post Office or Banking Hubs. The Post Office allows personal and business customers to carry out everyday banking services at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK, and Banking Hubs are an initiative which enable customers of participating banks to access cash and banking services in shared facilities. Over 100 Banking Hubs have been announced so far, and the Government hopes to see these Hubs open as soon as possible.</p><p> </p><p>With the increasing shift in customer behaviour to online and mobile banking, access to digital services is key, which is why my colleagues in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology are working with Building Digital UK (BDUK) to connect at least 85% of UK premises to gigabit-capable broadband by 2025, and for nationwide connectivity (at least 99%) to be realised by 2030. Over 80% of UK premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband, a huge leap forward from 2019, when coverage was just 6%.</p> answering member constituency Hitchin and Harpenden answering member printed Bim Afolami grouped question UIN 10343 question first answered 22/01/2024 18:29:09 answering member 4639 label Biography information for Bim Afolami
tabling member	4853 label Biography information for Dr Neil Hudson

1666857

registered interest
date	24/10/2023
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Beer
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to support pubs and small breweries.
tabling member constituency	Penrith and The Border
tabling member printed	Dr Neil Hudson
uin	204062
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/10/2023 answer text <p>I refer the hon member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2023 to PQ UIN 203159.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 26/10/2023 07:50:44 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4853 label Biography information for Dr Neil Hudson

1665434

registered interest
date	17/10/2023
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Hospitality Industry and Tourism
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 support the hospitality and tourism sectors.
tabling member constituency	Penrith and The Border
tabling member printed	Dr Neil Hudson
uin	203157
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/10/2023 answer text <p>The Government believes that pubs make an important contribution to our culture, fostering a sense of place and community, and to the UK economy.</p><p> </p><p>The Government is aware that the high street faces long-term challenges and is committed to supporting the businesses that make our high streets and town centres successful. Therefore, at Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a package of support worth £13.6 billion over the next five years, including:</p><ul><li>a freeze to the business rates multiplier for 2023-24, a tax cut worth £9.3 billion over the next 5 years, meaning all bills are 6% lower than without the freeze;</li><li>an increased 75% relief for retail, hospitality and leisure properties including pubs, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business for 2023-24. This is a tax cut worth over £2 billion for around 230,000 RHL businesses, to support the high street and protect small shops.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Furthermore, to support pubs, our 'Brexit Pubs Guarantee,' confirms that the duty on a draught pint will always be lower than its equivalent in a supermarket. And the new alcohol duty system implemented in August of this year included a new Draught Relief that provides a significant duty discount on beers below 8.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) sold in containers of 20 litres or more in the on-trade.</p><p> </p><p>The Community Ownership Fund has awarded £49.3 million to 195 projects across the UK, including rural pubs, with £35 million allocated to 131 projects across England, £6.2 million allocated to 28 projects in Scotland, £4 million to 18 projects in Wales and £4.1 million to 18 projects in Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p><p>The Government keeps all taxes under review.</p> answering member constituency Louth and Horncastle answering member printed Victoria Atkins question first answered 23/10/2023 15:19:14 answering member 4399 label Biography information for Victoria Atkins
tabling member	4853 label Biography information for Dr Neil Hudson