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1351215

registered interest
date	18/08/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Post Office Card Account
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of security and fraud risks posed by Post Office Card Account (POca) voucher alternatives offered in £100 denominations.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	40937
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 08/09/2021 answer text <p>The new Payment Exception Service has been designed as a simple service to ensure customers have access to cash. Vouchers will be uploaded to a card or sent electronically via SMS text or email. Customers will need to cash the full amount of the voucher (vouchers are maximum £100) but do not have to cash all of their vouchers at the same time. This is a similar process to when customers used to be issued with Order Books and Girocheques.</p><p> </p><p>PayPoint retailers and the Post Office will ask for customer ID when someone cashes a voucher. Customers are provided with the list of acceptable ID in their welcome letter from the new PES supplier.</p><p> </p><p>In designing the new service, the same levels of security have been applied as they were to HMG PES. Fraud will be treated as a business as usual process in line with existing DWP Policy.</p> answering member constituency Hexham answering member printed Guy Opperman question first answered 08/09/2021 13:05:17 answering member 4142 label Biography information for Guy Opperman
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

1348103

registered interest
date	19/07/2021
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Energy Supply: Costs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment (a) his Department and (b) Ofgem has made of the potential disproportionate effect on (i) vulnerable and (ii) less-able-to-pay consumers of the mutualisation of costs from energy supplier failures.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	35690
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/07/2021 answer text <p>Keeping down bills and protecting vulnerable consumers remains a key focus for Government and Ofgem. For example, the Government’s Warm Home Discount and Energy Company Obligation schemes are focussed on reducing bills for vulnerable households.</p><p> </p><p>When a supplier fails and Ofgem appoints A Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR), they carefully consider the ability of the incoming supplier to effectively serve the new customers, including those in vulnerable circumstances. Very rarely does the appointment of a SoLR involve mutualisation of the costs of onboarding the customers.</p><p> </p><p>Mutualisation of unpaid supplier bills under the Renewables Obligations support scheme, is now less likely to occur. The Government recently restored the link between the threshold at which mutualisation occurs and the annual cost of the scheme, making the threshold much higher. We will also be consulting soon on the wider matter of supplier payment default under the Renewables Obligation, which will consider both regulatory and legislative approaches.</p> answering member constituency Berwick-upon-Tweed answering member printed Anne-Marie Trevelyan question first answered 27/07/2021 11:19:34 answering member 4531 label Biography information for Anne-Marie Trevelyan
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

1348104

registered interest
date	19/07/2021
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Energy Supply: Costs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps (a) his Department and (b) Ofgem has taken to avoid the risk of mutualisation of the cost of customer credit balances in the event of energy supplier failure.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	35691
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/07/2021 answer text <p>Ofgem have strengthened checks at market entry to ensure that suppliers understand their obligations and have the appropriate arrangements in place to operate in the retail energy market (introduced from July 2019).</p><p> </p><p>In January this year Ofgem introduced a suite of new rules to ensure that suppliers act in a financially responsible manner and do not take actions that may result in their competitors and consumers facing increased costs should they fail. Ofgem are currently consulting on further measures that would require suppliers to automatically refund customers’ credit balances every year, and protect any amounts they hold above a certain threshold.</p> answering member constituency Berwick-upon-Tweed answering member printed Anne-Marie Trevelyan question first answered 27/07/2021 11:20:55 answering member 4531 label Biography information for Anne-Marie Trevelyan
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

1348105

registered interest
date	19/07/2021
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Energy: Billing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of energy suppliers using customer credit balances to fund low-cost acquisition tariffs.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	35692
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/07/2021 answer text <p>Deliberately collecting more credit than is required to service customers, in order to fund acquisition tariffs, would be unreasonable and unsustainable.</p><p> </p><p>In January this year, Ofgem introduced a suite of new rules to ensure that suppliers act in a financially responsible manner and do not take actions that may result in their competitors and consumers facing increased costs should they fail.</p><p> </p><p>We await the outcome of Ofgem’s recent consultation on further measures that would require suppliers to automatically refund customers’ credit balances every year, and protect any amounts they hold above a certain threshold.</p> answering member constituency Berwick-upon-Tweed answering member printed Anne-Marie Trevelyan question first answered 27/07/2021 11:17:37 answering member 4531 label Biography information for Anne-Marie Trevelyan
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

1348116

registered interest
date	19/07/2021
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Energy Supply: Costs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many energy suppliers have been investigated by Ofgem for the purpose of Ofgem undertaking its financial responsibility to protect customers against mutualisation of costs in the event of energy supplier failure.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	35693
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/07/2021 answer text <p>Ofgem closely monitors suppliers’ ability to meet their customer service and financial obligations. Ofgem are actively implementing the new rules in relation to financial responsibility, and will take action where there is a risk of consumer detriment. A range of tools is available to tackle poor behaviour, including enforcement action.</p><p> </p><p>Mutualisation mechanisms play an important role in supporting the effective functioning of the energy market. Ofgem aims to ensure that suppliers do not behave in a manner that increases the likelihood or scale of costs to be mutualised across their competitors, and ultimately consumers, if and when they fail.</p> answering member constituency Berwick-upon-Tweed answering member printed Anne-Marie Trevelyan question first answered 27/07/2021 11:18:27 answering member 4531 label Biography information for Anne-Marie Trevelyan
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

1348199

registered interest
date	19/07/2021
answering body	Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept id	201
answering dept short name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
answering dept sort name	Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
hansard heading	Energy Supply: Costs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the extent of the risks to consumers of energy suppliers failing in the context of recent increases in wholesale energy costs.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	35694
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/07/2021 answer text <p>When an energy supplier becomes insolvent, for whatever reason, Ofgem revokes the supplier’s licence, and appoints another supplier to quickly take over serving the customers, via the Supplier of Last Resort (SoLR) process. Customer credit balances are protected under this process, nearly always without recourse to the Last Resort Supply levy, which allows for the mutualisation of certain costs of onboarding the new customers.</p><p> </p><p>In the unlikely event where the use of SoLR powers would not be practicable, the Government has put in place a Special Administration Regime, whereby my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State may seek the appointment of an administrator, whose primary objective is to ensure continuity of energy supply at the lowest practical cost.</p> answering member constituency Berwick-upon-Tweed answering member printed Anne-Marie Trevelyan question first answered 27/07/2021 11:16:21 answering member 4531 label Biography information for Anne-Marie Trevelyan
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

1345545

registered interest
date	09/07/2021
answering body	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept id	208
answering dept short name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
hansard heading	Gaza: Israel
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to ensure (a) an investigation into and (b) accountability for potential violations of international law in the context of Israel’s May 2021 military offensive on Gaza.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	30365
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/07/2021 answer text <p>Israel has a legitimate right to self-defence, and the right to defend its citizens from attack. In doing so, it is vital that Israel ensures its actions are proportionate, in line with International Humanitarian Law, and that it makes every effort to avoid civilian casualties. We repeatedly call on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law and have a regular dialogue with Israel on legal issues relating to the occupation, including raising concern about Israel's actions when warranted.</p> answering member constituency Braintree answering member printed James Cleverly question first answered 16/07/2021 10:12:43 answering member 4366 label Biography information for James Cleverly
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

1342989

registered interest
date	01/07/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	Immigration Controls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the recommendations of the Global Travel Taskforce report, published in April 2021, what progress has been made on rolling out full e-gate integration across all UK ports of entry to reduce waiting times at the border.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	25847
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2021 answer text <p>Border Force continues to work, including with UK Port Operators, to increase the number and effectiveness of ePassport gates</p><p>Annual passenger transactions at the e-Passport gates have grown rapidly since the 1 million recorded in the 12 months of 2009. In the 12-month period from March 2020 to February 2021, the number of passenger transactions at e-Passports gates was 8 Million (8,092,175). This compares to 63 Million (63,095,660) passengers in the corresponding period last year (March 2019 to February 2020), a decrease of 55 Million (55,003,485) due to the current COVID-19 travel restrictions</p><p>In addition to our work on e-Gates referenced in the report, we are also developing Border Crossing systems so Border Force can scan passenger passports and immediately identify whether the passenger has a completed Passenger Locator Form.</p><p>This is to protect the public and the UK's vaccine rollout, as international travel resumes.</p> answering member constituency Torbay answering member printed Kevin Foster question first answered 09/07/2021 12:03:59 answering member 4451 label Biography information for Kevin Foster
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

1342990

registered interest
date	01/07/2021
answering body	Home Office
answering dept id	1
answering dept short name	Home Office
answering dept sort name	Home Office
hansard heading	UK Border Force: Finance
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the recommendations of the Global Travel Taskforce report, publish in April 2021, whether the Government plans to increase the budget for UK Border Force.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	25848
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2021 answer text <p>The budget for the Home Office, including Border Force, will be reviewed as part of the forthcoming Spending Review 2021 to be commissioned by the Treasury. An announcement on the Spending Review plans is expected in due course.</p><p> </p><p>The Home Office will always ensure Border Force has the necessary resources to keep the border secure</p> answering member constituency Croydon South answering member printed Chris Philp question first answered 09/07/2021 14:39:04 answering member 4503 label Biography information for Chris Philp
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier

1342992

registered interest
date	01/07/2021
answering body	Treasury
answering dept id	14
answering dept short name	Treasury
answering dept sort name	Treasury
hansard heading	Self-employed Income Support Scheme
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme to include self-employed company directors and homeworkers, in particular those working in the travel industry who are not eligible for current salary support schemes.
tabling member constituency	Rutherglen and Hamilton West
tabling member printed	Margaret Ferrier
uin	25849
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/07/2021 answer text <p>The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) has supported 2.9 million people, paying over £25bn across all four SEISS grants. Together, the five SEISS grants combined will have provided individual claimants with support up to £36,570, making it one of the most generous self-employment income COVID support schemes in the world.</p><p> </p><p>Company directors are not self-employed and so cannot qualify for the SEISS. They have access to the CJRS if they are paid a salary through PAYE and if they meet the eligibility criteria. Those paid annually have been and are still eligible to claim, as long as they meet the relevant conditions including being notified to HMRC on an RTI submission within the relevant cut-off dates.</p><p>In designing the SEISS, the Government’s priority was to get support to the greatest number of people but in a way that guards against fraud and abuse. That meant designing a system where HMRC can automatically match the data people provide in their applications with information already in the system to verify and pay out the claim.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has explored a range of options and proposals to support company directors who pay themselves through dividends. However, HMRC do not have data – as it is not needed to administer the tax system – to identify them or verify how much grant they should be awarded. This would rely solely on self-certification and would thus open any scheme up to unacceptable levels of fraud and error by organised criminals and others who would seek to exploit these schemes.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman question first answered 09/07/2021 12:42:58 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
tabling member	4386 label Biography information for Margaret Ferrier