Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help support people in the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community to obtain (a) buildings and (b) contents insurance.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Insurers make commercial decisions about the terms on which they will offer cover following an assessment of the relevant risks. However, the Government is determined that insurers treat customers fairly and insurers must comply with the relevant legislative and regulatory rules.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s rules require insurers to treat their customers fairly and the FCA has robust powers to act against firms that do not comply. The UK Government is also committed to tackling discrimination and the Equality Act 2010 providers legal protections from discrimination due to protected characteristics. This means insurers cannot use ethnicity as a risk factor when determining the price of insurance.
Customers who feel they have not been treated fairly by their insurer are able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service, the independent body established to provide arbitration in such cases.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the efficiency and effectiveness of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in its assessment of mortgage mis-selling complaints.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme may be able to pay compensation to customers who have lost money as a result of bad mortgage advice or been mis-sold mortgage endowments. The FSCS can only pay compensation if the firm, broker, or advisor that the customer dealt with was regulated and has failed. Any complaints about live regulated firms should be addressed to the Financial Ombudsman Service. For mortgage claims, the FSCS carries out its compensation function within rules set by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), but is operationally independent of them. The FSCS publishes an annual report and levy class statements, including for the home finance intermediation levy class. The FSCS’s certified accounts and audit report are provided to HM Treasury each year, and copies are laid before Parliament.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of appeals to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme have resulted in an over-turned decision.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is the UK’s compensation scheme of last resort and pays compensation to consumers when authorised financial firms fail. If a claimant is unhappy with the FSCS’s decision on their claim, they can launch an appeal which will be reviewed by someone independent of the original decision. The FSCS operates a 2-stage internal appeal process. In the financial year 2022-2023, the FSCS made just under 97,000 claims decisions, and 1,695 customers asked the FSCS to review its decisions. The FSCS does not publish data on the proportion of appeals that are upheld or rejected at each stage. Customers who are unhappy at the end of the FSCS’s internal appeal process have the option of seeking a Judicial Review of the FSCS’s decision on their claim.
Asked by: Christian Wakeford (Labour - Bury South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to increase public sector pay in line with inflation.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Pay for most frontline workforces is set via independent Pay Review Bodies (PRBs). PRBs consider a range of evidence when forming their recommendations, including the need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people; the financial circumstances of government; the government’s policies for improving public services; and the inflation target.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential merits of increasing funding through the Barnett formula to assist schools in Northern Ireland with the cost of heating and electricity.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In the 2024 Northern Ireland Executive restoration financial package worth over £3.3 billion, the UK Government has committed to implement a 24% needs-based factor into the Barnett formula for the Northern Ireland Executive from 2024-25 onwards.
Funding provided to the Northern Ireland Executive through the Barnett formula is not ringfenced. This provides the Executive with the flexibility to allocate resources in devolved areas as they see fit and assign funding in response to their priorities.
The UK Government has no plans to replace the Barnett Formula
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of restructuring the Barnett Formula for education.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In the 2024 Northern Ireland Executive restoration financial package worth over £3.3 billion, the UK Government has committed to implement a 24% needs-based factor into the Barnett formula for the Northern Ireland Executive from 2024-25 onwards.
Funding provided to the Northern Ireland Executive through the Barnett formula is not ringfenced. This provides the Executive with the flexibility to allocate resources in devolved areas as they see fit and assign funding in response to their priorities.
The UK Government has no plans to replace the Barnett Formula
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the recent decline in corporate insolvencies, what steps they are taking to (1) identify the factors they believe contributed to this reduction, and (2) ensure this trend continues.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government was pleased to see that statistics reported by the Insolvency Service showed the number of corporate insolvencies in March 2024 had fallen by 28% compared to March 2023.
The Government continues to help businesses, including through a swathe of policy measures in the Autumn explicitly aimed at ‘Backing British business’. Recent and current Government policies supporting businesses include:
· Energy Bills Discount Scheme that provided discounts on high energy bills to eligible businesses and other non-domestic energy users from April 2023 to April 2024, with higher support to businesses in energy / trade intensive sectors.
· Continued frozen small business rates multiplier and business rates relief for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sector, the latter policy supporting around 230,000 properties up to £110,000 per business. Transitional Relief to protect ratepayers facing bill increases due to rising rateable value and scrapping ‘downwards caps’.
· Payment and cashflow review outlining measures to combat late payments that can jeopardise stable cashflows, and penalising late paying firms by exempting those paying invoices after an average of 55 days from bidding for Government contracts worth over £5mn.
The Government will continue to monitor the UK corporate sector, including insolvency trends, using official data and engaging with firms and business groups to inform policy decisions.
Asked by: Lord Sharkey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the disparities between conventional and Sharia-compliant mortgage products in respect of the imposition of capital gains tax.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is aware of a difference in tax treatment when a commercial or residential property is refinanced using alternative rather than conventional finance methods. In these situations, a capital gains liability may arise for those using alternative financing, when this would not have been the case for those using conventional financing. The refinancing of main homes is unaffected as Private Residence Relief (PRR) applies.
On 16 January 2024, the government published the Tax Simplification for Alternative Finance consultation to seek views on reforms that would address the capital gains issue. The consultation closed on 9 April 2024 and all responses will be carefully considered and a summary of responses will be published in due course together with details of the next steps.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of HMRC's reported customer service issues on tax compliance among small businesses; and what steps they are taking to mitigate this impact.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Small businesses play a vital role in the UK economy. The majority want to meet their obligations and pay their fair share of tax, but many struggle to understand tax rules, lack confidence and find the process of complying burdensome. In response, HMRC is investing in approaches to help support including simplifying guidance whilst Making Tax Digital for VAT and data analytics have helped reduce errors. HMRC is also targeting investigations at those who bend or break the rules to help create a level playing field for the honest majority.
Asked by: Lord Wasserman (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs have issued any guidance to Police and Crime Commissioners concerning the taxation of their home security.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs cannot comment on the guidance issued to taxpayers on individual cases, including to Police and Crime Commissioners on the taxation of their home security.