Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of the budget preparing for a no-deal Brexit has been spent on advertisements (1) in newspapers, (2) on radio and television, and (3) on social media.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The Treasury allocated £100m to Cabinet Office to deliver the No-Deal Brexit Public Information Campaign in August 2019. The costs of the campaign will be published monthly on gov.uk, as part of routine government transparency. This will be broken down by supplier. The Treasury does not hold a detailed breakdown of how departments have allocated funding for no-deal preparations, therefore it is difficult to determine the exact amount spent on any other advertising delivered by individual departments.
Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to have discussions with the major banks about the use of contactless credit cards for sums under £30 and the ease with which such cards might be misused.
Answered by Lord Bates
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. This includes regular meetings with consumer organisations to discuss relevant regulatory issues, including consumer protection on payment instruments.
Government takes all fraud extremely seriously. In February 2016 the government set up the Joint Fraud Taskforce, which aims to use the collective powers, systems and resources of banks, payment providers, police, wider law enforcement and regulators to tackle fraud, and raise awareness of the risk of fraud among consumers.
The Taskforce is currently focused on: developing a national fraud prevention campaign to provide targeted advice to the public; improving the police response to fraud at national, regional and local level; exploring ways in which more victims of fraud can have their losses repaid; removing vulnerabilities fraudsters exploit to commit certain types of fraud; and, improving support for victims of fraud which will ensure a consistent response including for those who may be more vulnerable or susceptible to fraud.
Industry statistics received from Financial Fraud Action UK indicate that in the first half of 2016 there were £2.9 million losses attributed to fraud on contactless cards compared to a spend of £9.27 billion. This is just 0.031% of spending on contactless technology. According to the industry, fraud on contactless cards accounts for less than 1% of card fraud losses.
Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to address the delays in dealing with applications for clearance under section 1044 of the Company Tax Act 2010 by HMRC in Newcastle due to a shortage of resources, in the light of the urgency of some of the outstanding cases.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
HMRC must notify its decision on an application under section 1044 Corporation Tax Act 2010 within 30 days of its receipt.
During the six months from October 2015 to March 2016, HMRC received 1105 clearance applications under section 1044. The average time taken to reply to these applications was 15 days. Decisions on over 95% of the applications were notified within the statutory time limit.
HMRC monitors the number of clearance applications it receives in this area and the time taken to reply to them to ensure a consistent service.
Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to alter fuel duties to change the relative price difference paid by customers for petrol and diesel fuels.
Answered by Lord O'Neill of Gatley
The Government has no current plans to alter fuel duty to change the relative price difference paid by customers for petrol and diesel.
Asked by: Lord Steel of Aikwood (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to ensure that banks continue to offer account facilities to local voluntary associations, clubs and societies within their communities.
Answered by Lord Deighton
The Government believes it is important for local voluntary associations, clubs and societies to be able to access account facilities, and it will continue to monitor the situation.