Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 10 December (HL3181), when they expect the Chief Secretary to the Treasury to respond to the correspondence sent by Lord Blunkett on 21 October.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has responded to The Rt. Hon. the Lord Blunkett.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what targets the Treasury have for the time to respond to letters from parliamentarians specifically addressed to Treasury ministers; and what percentage of such correspondence is answered within that timeframe.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In line with Cabinet Office guidance, HM Treasury aims to respond to ministerial correspondence from parliamentarians within 20 working days. Correspondence performance data is published within HM Treasury’s Annual Report and Accounts. The 2023-24 Report noted that 62% of replies to parliamentarians were answered within the timeframe.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 19 March (HL Deb cols 93–96), what progress, if any, they have made in ensuring that there is automatic provision of accessible flat screen payment devices to hospitality and retail outlets, and specifically tactile covers to ensure these payment systems comply with the Equality Act 2010.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to ensuring high standards of financial inclusion across the financial services sector. It is important that all payment methods are accessible for those with disabilities, including those with visual impairments.
The Treasury has been engaging with UK Finance, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Royal National Institute of Blind People, and other Government departments on this matter. UK Finance will soon be assessing potential initiatives to encourage stakeholders to adopt common standards for point-of-sale terminals and drive improvements and adoption. The Government is closely monitoring progress in this important area.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much money (1) was raised by the apprenticeships levy, and (2) was passed onto the devolved nations from levy receipts, in each financial year since 2017–18.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Monthly receipts data for the Apprenticeship Levy is published by HM Revenue and Customs in their Tax and NIC Receipts publication which can be found online[1] at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk
While the Apprenticeship Levy is UK wide, apprenticeship policy and spending is devolved. From FY2017-18 to FY2019-20, the devolved administrations received a population share of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s apprenticeship Levy forecast. Beyond 2019-20, the devolved administrations received funding through the Barnett formula in relation to English apprenticeship spending. The Block Grant Transparency publication which is available on GOV.UK sets out all Barnett consequentials generated at both departmental and programme level. It is for the devolved administrations to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit, including investing in their skills programmes.
[1] HM Revenue & Customs (2024), HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many unclaimed Child Trust Funds are (1) currently outstanding and (2) outstanding where there is a continuing requirement for court approval to parents being able to access the Fund on behalf of their adult children.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
Information on Child Trust Funds (CTFs) are available in HMRC’s Annual Savings Statistics[1].
(1) As of April 2022, there were 428,000 matured accounts continuing as CTFs that had not been claimed or automatically transferred to an ISA.
(2) The Government does not hold information relating to the number of unclaimed Child Trust Funds where there is a need for a Power of Attorney or other court order to control their financial resources.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2023
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the annual loss to the Exchequer of revenue from domestic sales of cigarettes, cigars and tobacco from the 2028 financial year onwards, as a result of the proposed gradual phasing out of their legal sale.
Answered by Baroness Penn
As announced by the Prime Minister on 4 October 2023, the Government is creating the first smokefree generation, by bringing forward legislation so that children turning 14 this year or younger will never be legally sold tobacco products. This will prevent future generations from ever taking up smoking, as there is no safe age to smoke. The ‘Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation’ command paper sets out the proposed actions the Government will take to tackle smoking and youth vaping[1]. The Government launched the ‘Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping’ consultation on 12 October on the smokefree generation policy detailed in the command paper[2].
Once final policy decisions are confirmed, the impact of those decisions on the public finances will be assessed and reflected in the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast.
A smokefree generation will save the NHS billions over the long-term and put cash back in the pockets of millions of families across this country.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the likely change in smuggling of tobacco products as a result of the proposed gradual phasing out of their legal sale.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Government does not expect to see a significant change in smuggling of tobacco products. However, HMRC and Border Force will continue to monitor the situation and take appropriate action, and respond to any additional risks.
Work is already underway to update the current HMRC and Border Force Illicit Tobacco Strategy ‘Leaf to Light’. A new Strategy will be published in the coming months, and this will set out the Government’s approach to addressing the current and future challenges in tackling illicit tobacco, including smuggling.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consultations they have had with UK mortgage lenders regarding their assessment procedures, including the use of algorithms, for creditworthiness; and what steps they will take to ensure that first-time-buyers who have been renting from more than one landlord immediately prior to their mortgage application will not be disadvantaged during credit record checks.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Treasury are in regular contact with mortgage lenders on all aspects of their business, including lending to first-time buyers. However, the pricing and availability of loans is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. Likewise, beyond what is set out in regulation, the factors that lenders take into consideration when assessing mortgage applications is a commercial decision for individual lenders to make.
Nevertheless, this Government remains committed to making the aspiration of homeownership a reality for as many households as possible. Indeed, we are investing £11.5 billion to build more of the affordable, quality homes this country needs, and operate a range of schemes that aim to: increase the supply of low-deposit mortgages for credit-worthy households, increase the availability of new housing, and stimulate economic growth. These include First Homes, Shared Ownership through the Affordable Homes Programme and the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme. The Government also helps first-time buyers to save for a deposit through the Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy: ISA. Over 800,000 households have been helped to purchase a home since spring 2010 through these Government-backed schemes, with the annual number of first-time buyers at a 20-year high in 2021.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what level of economic growth was achieved in the UK in each of the last 25 financial years.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
Data on GDP growth for the last 25 financial years can be found online at the following link and is provided in the attached. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/datasets/uksecondestimateofgdpdatatables
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consultation they have undertaken with banking and finance industry bodies about the new requirements for two factor authentication for online payments, in particular relating to (1) potential disruption to business continuity, (2) consumer confidence, and (3) the cost of additional time incurred.
Answered by Baroness Penn
Regulatory technical standards relating to Strong Customer Authentication have been introduced across retail banking and payment services. These set industry requirements regarding two-factor authentication, for which the Financial Conduct Authority is the responsible authority.
The FCA consulted ahead of making regulatory technical standards for strong customer authentication, and have taken steps to ensure that as far as possible retailers are ready, including working though UK Finance and engaging with retailer trade bodies. Recognising concerns about industry readiness, and to account for impacts of COVID-19, implementation for card-based e-commerce transactions was postponed in several stages, from September 2019 to March 2022.
The rules aim to ensure that the person requesting access to your account, or trying to make a payment, is either you or someone to whom you have given consent. This is in order to enhance consumer protection and improve security.