On 17 March, the Government announced a package of measures totalling £350 billion aimed at supporting the financial wellbeing of British businesses, individuals, and families. The Government is committed to doing whatever it takes to get our nation through the impacts of COVID-19 and, as part of this, is continually assessing all areas of the financial sector \u2013 including rates of interest on long-term loans. The Government is working closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the lending sector on this issue and stands ready to announce further action wherever necessary.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4051", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for John Glen"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Salisbury"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "John Glen"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-03-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-03-25T11:46:24.893Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-03-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Loans: Interest Rates"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to limit the rate of interest charged on long-term loans.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3987", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Rehman Chishti"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Gillingham and Rainham"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Rehman Chishti"} ], "uin" : "30751"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1183772", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1183772/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
In 2014, HM Treasury asked the Law Commission to review the legislation underpinning logbook loans. During consultation stakeholders raised concerns that any reform could increase consumer detriment, particularly amongst vulnerable consumers. Furthermore, the number of logbook loans also fell substantially from 52,000 loans registered in 2014 to 10,194 in June 2019. For these reasons, the government decided not to take forward reform of this legislation.<\/p>
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In 2014, the government also transferred regulatory responsibility for the consumer credit market to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Logbook lending is part of the FCA\u2019s new supervisory strategy for high-cost credit lenders, which will run until 2021.<\/p>
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Treasury ministers and officials meet regularly with the FCA and continue to work closely to ensure consumers of financial services are treated fairly.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4051", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for John Glen"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Salisbury"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "John Glen"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2020-03-12", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2020-03-12T14:24:29.267Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2020-03-09", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Loans: Unfair Practices"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to eliminate unfair practices by logbook loan companies.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3987", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Rehman Chishti"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Gillingham and Rainham"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Rehman Chishti"} ], "uin" : "26953"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }