Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to extend the protections under the payday loan cap to the (a) rent-to-own and (b) home credit markets.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is committed to protecting consumers from unfair lending practises. To this end, the Government has given the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) strong powers, including the power to cap the cost of credit, and it will do so if it thinks it is necessary to protect consumers.
The FCA is conducting a review of the high-cost credit market, including rent-to-own and doorstep lending, and will publish an update later this month. The Government will continue to work closely with the FCA to ensure that all customers are treated fairly.
As well as supporting consumers through better regulation, the Government is also supporting consumers to make effective financial decisions, through the creation of a Single Financial Guidance Body (SFGB). The SFGB will have a statutory duty to improve the public’s financial capability.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure customers are protected from being pushed into problem debt by (a) rent-to-own and (b) home credit products.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is committed to protecting consumers from unfair lending practises. To this end, the Government has given the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) strong powers, including the power to cap the cost of credit, and it will do so if it thinks it is necessary to protect consumers.
The FCA is conducting a review of the high-cost credit market, including rent-to-own and doorstep lending, and will publish an update later this month. The Government will continue to work closely with the FCA to ensure that all customers are treated fairly.
As well as supporting consumers through better regulation, the Government is also supporting consumers to make effective financial decisions, through the creation of a Single Financial Guidance Body (SFGB). The SFGB will have a statutory duty to improve the public’s financial capability.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 3.47 of Autumn Budget 2017 on ensuring climate change levy exemptions for businesses that operate mineralogical and metallurgical processes remain operable after EU exit, what steps he has taken to clarify the definition of the exemptions in the Finance (No. 2) Bill 2018-19.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
Legislation amending the legal definition of the exemptions will be included in Finance Bill 2018-19 which will be introduced after Budget 2018 in the autumn. The legislation will be published in draft this summer.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the (a) direct and (b) indirect costs to the public purse of the decision by Ineos to invoke a force majeure clause in its contract for the Forties pipeline.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The government is monitoring the situation with the Forties Pipeline System closely. Energy Minister Richard Harrington has spoken to Ineos and the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy continues to liaise with industry operators to monitor the situation. Any material economic or fiscal effects would be considered by the Office for Budget Responsibility as part of their next forecasts at Spring Statement.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment the Government has made of the Financial Conduct Authority’s interim report on the Retirement Outcomes Review.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published their interim Retirement Outcomes Review report in July 2017 and plan to publish their final report in 2018.
The government welcomes the FCA’s work in this area ensuring that the market supports consumer choice and consumers have the right information when making decisions on how to manage their retirement income. The government awaits the publication of the final report of the review, and will consider any recommendations carefully.
The government notes the FCA’s interim report and believes it is right that individuals are trusted with their own hard-earned savings and that they should have choice about how to access their pension income rather than being forced to purchase an annuity.
As the FCA’s interim findings show, the majority of pots that are fully withdrawn are smaller (90% worth less than £30,000) and the majority of individuals (94%) have other sources of income in retirement. This does not indicate that people are squandering their savings as a result of the pension freedoms.
The pension freedoms have been very popular: as of October 2017 individuals have accessed over £14.2 billion through over 2.7 million payments.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to require the insurance industry to publish historic cost benefit analyses of under writing commercial helicopter flights in the offshore energy industry since 2009.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is responsible for monitoring and regulating the insurance industry.
As a rule, insurers use their claims experience, other industry-wide statistics and detailed risk assessments to calculate the risks posed when underwriting an insurance contract. This enables them to price their insurance products accordingly. The Government does not generally intervene in these commercial decisions by insurers.
If it becomes clear that intervention is necessary, the FCA is able to do so.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people aged 65 or over paid income tax at the (a) higher and (b) additional rate in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
An estimate of numbers of taxpayers aged 65 or over who are liable at the higher or additional rates of tax in the year 2014-15 are shown below:
2014-15: income taxpayers liable at higher or additional rates of tax | ||
Age | Number of individuals (Thousands) | |
| Higher Rate | Additional Rate |
65 and over | 506 | 30 |
These estimates are based on the 2014-15 Survey of Personal Incomes.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the likelihood that off-gas grid businesses will switch to higher carbon fuels when the climate change levy on liquid petroleum gas increases up to (a) 2019 and (b) 2025.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The government announced at Budget 2016, that Climate Change Levy rates for gas and electricity would be rebalanced to a 1:1 ratio by 2025, to reflect recent data on the fuel mix used in electricity generation. The Treasury have had constructive dialogue with liquid petroleum gas suppliers on the impacts of the policy changes on the off-gas grid market.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will hold discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority to bring forward its postponed 2017 review of the effectiveness of Independent Governance Committees in protecting consumer interests in contract-based pension schemes.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
This is an operational matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.
The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the Hon. Member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will establish a cross-departmental working group to implement consistent reporting standards across all asset classes and product structures.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are committed to ensuring that savers and investors are treated fairly when they make investment decisions and are able to get the best outcomes from their investments.
The Government welcomes the FCA’s final report on their competition market study on the asset management sector.
We will be studying the final findings and remedies closely to see what the Government can do to support the regulator’s work and deliver the right outcomes for people who rely on their pension savings.