It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.<\/p>
"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4142", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Guy Opperman"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hexham"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Guy Opperman"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-09-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-09-09T16:34:17.537Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "29"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-09-03", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Credit Unions"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the recent talks between the Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion and credit unions in Northern Ireland, what lessons have been learned by his Department on the expansion of credit unions for the England, Wales and Scotland.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1409", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "East Londonderry"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Gregory Campbell"} ], "uin" : "286141"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1059769", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Work and Pensions"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1059769/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "Over 70 Credit Unions benefited from the Credit Union Expansion Project with products such as an Automated Lending and Decision System. These credit unions operated across England, Wales and Scotland. The Credit Union Expansion Project did not include credit unions in Northern Ireland as the aim of the project was to drive up membership of GB credit unions from a very low base. Across GB less than 1% of the population were members of a credit union at the outset of the project. The situation in Northern Ireland is different with over 26% of the population being members of credit unions. The Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion met with representatives of Northern Ireland credit unions on the 20 July 2018 in Belfast.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4142", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Guy Opperman"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hexham"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Guy Opperman"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-02-18", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-02-18T17:45:45.673Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "29"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-02-12", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Credit Unions"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many credit unions have been involved in the Credit Union Expansion Project; and in which region do they operate.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1409", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "East Londonderry"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Gregory Campbell"} ], "uin" : "220111"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/991171", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Work and Pensions"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/991171/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Government is committed to facilitating sustainable financial services that give consumers greater choice in accessing credit. Credit union membership in Great Britain has increased year-on-year since 2014, rising to around 1.32 million members in 2017; this was an increase of over 150,000 individuals over the 3 year period. It is even more encouraging that credit unions are becoming more popular with junior members; in 2017 there were over 139,000 junior members of credit unions in Great Britain compared to around 128,000 in 2014.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Credit Union Expansion Project (CUEP) aims were for participating credit unions to modernise and grow in a financially sustainable way, over time. The contractor aimed to deliver that by enabling credit unions to access a standardised banking service.<\/p>
CUEP has delivered an Automated Loans and Decision tool (ALD) used by over 70 credit unions, centralised services such as a standardised front facing website, and that the ALD has allowed credit unions to achieve up to 40% administrative savings on delivering loans and reduce provision for unpaid debt by over £1 million. CUEP also led to a number of credit unions to merge, and others to work together to develop standardised products and deliver local marketing campaigns to increase membership. CUEP contributed to credit unions on the platform to increase the value of loans made.<\/p>
Due to the Contractors failure to meet contractual milestones, DWP terminated the CUEP contract on 16th<\/sup> February 2018. Whilst the contractor has not met their contractual agreement, they have delivered a banking platform that allows credit union members to receive a range of banking services and benefit from more affordable credit. At the point the contract was terminated the platform was being used by three credit unions with a total of approximately 16.5k members allowing members to benefit from 24 hour online access to their accounts, and receive faster payments on a loan on the same day, usually within 4 hours.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4142", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Guy Opperman"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Hexham"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Guy Opperman"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2018-10-24", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2018-10-24T15:11:56.777Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "29"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Work and Pensions"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2018-10-19", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Credit Unions"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the credit union expansion project.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1409", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "East Londonderry"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Gregory Campbell"} ], "uin" : "181556"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 3, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }