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874868

	registered interest
	date	29/03/2018
	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 Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the rent-to-own and doorstep lending industry on how they target customers.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	135169
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/04/2018 answer text <p>The Government transferred the regulation of consumer credit to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2014 and has given the FCA strong powers to protect consumers. This was demonstrated by the FCA announcement in October 2017 that BrightHouse, a rent-to-own firm, would pay over £14.8 million in redress to 249,000 customers in respect of agreements which may not have been affordable, and payments which should have been refunded.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has also given the FCA the power to cap the cost of all forms of credit, and the FCA can do so if it thinks it is necessary to protect consumers. The FCA’s review of the high-cost credit sector has identified concerns about the high costs of rent-to-own borrowing, as well as concerns about repeat borrowing and refinancing in the doorstep lending sector. The FCA has said that it will consult on proposed remedies in May 2018.</p><p> </p><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: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen grouped question UIN 135167 question first answered 18/04/2018 13:03:39 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

874867

	registered interest
	date	29/03/2018
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Financial Services: Education
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans the Government has to increase access to financial education for people on low incomes.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	135168
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/04/2018 answer text <p>Government policy on financial education and capability focuses on ensuring that people have the confidence and skills they need to successfully engage with their finances. To this end the Government established the Money Advice Service (MAS), which provides free-to-use financial guidance and coordinates the UK’s Financial Capability Strategy. This is a 10-year strategy which aims to gather evidence on the most effective interventions to improve people’s financial capability, and support and coordinate initiatives that are proven to work. As part of this strategy MAS will shortly publish plans to commission projects to help working age adults manage their money, which will include a focus on households on low incomes. The plans will also focus on the financial capability needs of children and young people at home, in school, and in community settings.</p><p>Moving forward, the Government is legislating to merge the functions of MAS with those of The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) and Pension Wise, to create a Single Financial Guidance Body to simplify the existing public financial guidance landscape. The government’s commitment to improving people’s financial capability is reflected in the new body’s strategic function to develop and coordinate a national strategy to improve the financial capability of members of the public, which will build on and further progress MAS’s work.</p><p>It is also particularly important that children and young adults receive financial education to help them shape their financial habits later in life. This is why financial literacy was made statutory within the national curriculum in England in 2014, as part of the curriculum for citizenship education for 11-16 year olds.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen question first answered 18/04/2018 13:10:16 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

874866

	registered interest
	date	29/03/2018
	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 Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to cap the maximum sum of money people can borrow from rent to own and doorstep lenders.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	135167
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/04/2018 answer text <p>The Government transferred the regulation of consumer credit to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2014 and has given the FCA strong powers to protect consumers. This was demonstrated by the FCA announcement in October 2017 that BrightHouse, a rent-to-own firm, would pay over £14.8 million in redress to 249,000 customers in respect of agreements which may not have been affordable, and payments which should have been refunded.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has also given the FCA the power to cap the cost of all forms of credit, and the FCA can do so if it thinks it is necessary to protect consumers. The FCA’s review of the high-cost credit sector has identified concerns about the high costs of rent-to-own borrowing, as well as concerns about repeat borrowing and refinancing in the doorstep lending sector. The FCA has said that it will consult on proposed remedies in May 2018.</p><p> </p><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: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel.</p> answering member constituency Salisbury answering member printed John Glen grouped question UIN 135169 question first answered 18/04/2018 13:03:39 answering member 4051 label Biography information for John Glen
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1238352

	registered interest
	date	28/09/2020
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Self-employment Income Support Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason his extension of the Self-employed Income Support Scheme is a grant covering 20 per cent on average monthly trading profits.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	96047
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/10/2020 answer text <p>The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme Grant Extension has been introduced to help the self-employed who are actively trading but are suffering from reduced demand due to COVID-19, to help them continue to trade through the winter months. The Government has broadly aligned the size of the grant with the Government’s contribution provided for employees through the Job Support Scheme.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman question first answered 01/10/2020 14:36:14 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1437005

	registered interest
	date	01/03/2022
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Energy Bills Rebate
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason local authorities are not able to make the £150 council tax rebate via residents' council tax bills rather than making a direct payment to council tax payers.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	132237
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/03/2022 answer text <p>In most cases the rebate will be delivered as a direct payment. This allows support to be provided up front rather than spread across the usual council tax instalments and means that households that don’t pay council tax are not disadvantaged.</p><p> </p><p>Councils can, however, offer the option of a credit to council tax accounts to non-direct debit holders as part of the claims process. This is intended to help speed up the claims process (and limit the administrative burden on local authorities), and in recognition that not all taxpayers will want to provide payment details where not already held.</p> answering member constituency Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland answering member printed Mr Simon Clarke question first answered 15/03/2022 14:21:08 answering member 4655 label Biography information for Sir Simon Clarke
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1451753

	registered interest
	date	16/03/2022
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Tax Avoidance: Prosecutions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many promoters and operators of schemes subject to the loan charge have been prosecuted for promoting and operating those schemes.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	141180
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2022 answer text <p>The Loan Charge was announced at Budget 2016 as part of a package of measures to tackle Disguised Remuneration (DR) tax avoidance. The forecast was last revised at Spring Budget 2021. There was an estimated overall Exchequer yield of £3.3 billion for the entire package, including the Loan Charge.</p><p> </p><p>In September 2019, the Government commissioned an Independent Review into the Loan Charge which was led by Lord Morse. The Government accepted 19 of the 20 recommendations made by the review. Changes to the Loan Charge were estimated to reduce the forecast yield. At Budget 2020, the changes were costed as a separate measure, with an estimated reduction to the Exchequer yield of £745 million.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC is committed to continuing to tackle promoters and operators of tax avoidance schemes. This includes challenging the entities and individuals who promote disguised remuneration loan schemes.</p><p> </p><p>Promotion or operation of mass marketed tax avoidance schemes is not in and of itself a criminal offence. However, there are a range of offences which might be committed by those who promote tax avoidance schemes or advise on their use.</p><p> </p><p>On that basis, while to date there have been no prosecutions of individuals directly related to the promotion of schemes subject to the Loan Charge, a number of individuals are currently under criminal investigation by HMRC for offences linked to schemes subject to the Loan Charge.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to schemes subject to the Loan Charge, since 1 April 2016, more than 20 individuals have been convicted for offences relating to arrangements which have been promoted and marketed as tax avoidance, including offences related to DR. These have resulted in over 100 years of custodial sentences, the majority of which relate to promoters.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 141179 question first answered 22/03/2022 17:34:37 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1019417

	registered interest
	date	03/12/2018
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	LGBT+ People
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money the Government has allocated to organisations and groups supporting LGBTQ+ rights in England since 2010.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	198218
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/12/2018 answer text <p>The UK is recognized as a world leader on LGBT rights. Sexual orientation is one of the nine characteristics protected under the Equality Act 2010, for which the Government Equalities Office (GEO) within DfID is the Government’s lead department. A wide range of government departments have spending in support of LGBT rights. For instance, in 2015, GEO ran a £2.0 million pilot fund to test approaches to effectively tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying in schools. Following the evaluation of the pilot, the Government is now providing £4.0 million worth of funds from 2016 to 2020 to tackle HBT bullying in schools. However, the information requested on broader funding allocations is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South West Norfolk answering member printed Elizabeth Truss question first answered 10/12/2018 14:43:22 answering member 4097 label Biography information for Elizabeth Truss
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1171957

	registered interest
	date	20/01/2020
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Audiobooks and Electronic Publishing: VAT
	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 charging VAT for e-books and audiobooks on (a) literacy rates and (b) the wellbeing of people with disabilities.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	5409
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2020 answer text <p>The Government keeps all taxes under review, including VAT.</p><p> </p><p>The impact on literacy and people with disabilities of any reduction of VAT on e-publications is likely to depend on commercial decisions about the extent to which any tax saving would lead to price reductions for consumers, and any associated behavioural changes.</p><p> </p><p>Any amendments to the VAT regime as it applies to physical publications and e-publications must be carefully assessed against policy, economic and fiscal considerations. Any representations on this issue will be considered as part of the fiscal events process.</p><p> </p><p>Over the past year the Government has engaged with industry on this issue. It will continue to consider the benefits and risks associated with changing the VAT rate for e-publications; for digital businesses, high street retailers, consumers and taxpayers.</p><p> </p><p>HMRC are carefully considering the Upper Tribunal’s ruling.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman grouped question UIN 5407 5408 question first answered 28/01/2020 13:48:51 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1187723

	registered interest
	date	25/03/2020
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide support businesses to encourage their employees to move towards part-time shift working during the outbreak of covid-19 through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	34964
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/04/2020 answer text <p>The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme does not subsidise part-time work. It is designed to support individuals who would otherwise have been made redundant and it also protects public health by minimising the number of non-key workers outside of their homes on a regular basis. The Government has strengthened the welfare system to support those whose hours change, including through an increase to the Universal Credit standard allowance and to the working tax credit basic element.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman question first answered 21/04/2020 14:28:16 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon

1180332

	registered interest
	date	25/02/2020
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Fuels: Excise Duties
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to freeze fuel duty.
	tabling member constituency	Harlow
	tabling member printed	Robert Halfon
	uin	20453
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/03/2020 answer text <p>The Government recognises that transport is a significant cost for households and businesses, and at Budget 2018 the main rate of fuel duty was frozen for the ninth successive year, saving the average car driver £1000 since the freeze.</p><p> </p><p>The Government keeps all taxes under review and changes are announced at fiscal events.</p> answering member constituency Hereford and South Herefordshire answering member printed Jesse Norman question first answered 04/03/2020 16:24:00 answering member 3991 label Biography information for Jesse Norman
	tabling member	3985 label Biography information for Robert Halfon