Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution of the Economic Secretary to the Treasury of 10 March 2018, Official Report, column 978, what compensation he proposes be provided to the small business customers of Royal Bank of Scotland who were subject to inappropriate behaviour by that company.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In November 2016 the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) established a complaints process for small and medium-sized enterprises in their Global Restructuring Group (GRG) between 2008-2013, overseen by an independent third party, and took the decision to automatically refund complex fees paid by relevant customers to GRG during that period. RBS have set aside £400m for this scheme.
Following a meeting with the Chief Executive of RBS I received a letter on 9 May stating that RBS have also committed to setting up an independent appeal process for consequential loss claims under the redress scheme.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General of 26 April 2018, on customs and borders, what estimate he has made of the financial contribution to trade (a) as an amount and (b) as a proportion of total UK overseas trade of trade conducted between the UK and a Crown Dependencies customs union in each year of the first five years after such a union is formally established.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Crown Dependencies are currently part of the EU Customs Union, by virtue of the UK’s membership.
When the UK leaves the EU, the Crown Dependencies’ relationship with the EU will also change and they will leave the Customs Union alongside the UK.
The Government is working closely with the Crown Dependencies to maintain our trading relationships after EU exit.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 16 February 2018 to Question 126877, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that information shared by HMRC with organisations outside the UK is not subsequently shared with third parties.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is subject to a strict duty of confidentiality and will only disclose information where there is lawful authority to do so.
HMRC carefully considers what is permitted by law before it shares information, and has a range of safeguards to ensure information is handled appropriately when it is shared with other Departments or organisations, whether in the UK or overseas. Where appropriate, these include, but are not limited to, ensuring that onward disclosure of information is only allowed with HMRC’s consent and putting in place agreements or Memoranda of Understanding containing provisions detailing how the information must be accessed, stored, used and protected by the receiving Department or organisation.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to respond to the findings of the Financial Conduct Authority report on RBS treatment of small businesses recently published by the Treasury Select Committee.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The investigation into the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) treatment of small and medium-sized enterprise customers transferred to its Global Restructuring Group is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent of Government.
It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment further while the FCA’s investigation is ongoing.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution of the hon. Member for Sefton Central of 6 February 2018, Official Report column 1388, Point of Order whether there are discrepancies between the summary and the full contents of the section 166 report on RBS's treatment of small business customers; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its final summary of the independent review of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) treatment of small and medium-sized enterprise customers transferred to its Global Restructuring Group (GRG). The review is a matter for the FCA, which is operationally independent of Government.
The FCA announced it is investigating the matters arising from the review and focusing on whether there is any basis for it to take further action. It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment further whilst this process is ongoing.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution of The Minister for Higher Education of 30 January 2018, on Keep Me Posted campaign, if he will make an estimate of the number of people unable to access online bank services.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the honourable member to the answer that I gave on 17 January to PQ UIN 121701.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2018 to Question 123416, when he plans to respond to the Financial Conduct Authority's consultation on widening the remit of the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
It is important that small businesses have access to the appropriate forum to address their concerns with the financial services that they have received. The Government therefore welcomes the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) consultation on the remit of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). The FCA are operationally independent of the Government. The remit of the FOS is therefore a matter for the FCA.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Economic Secretary to the Treasury of 18 January 2018, Official Report, column 1128, what the timetable is for Lloyds Bank to maintain its support for SMEs affected by the liquidation of Carillion.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is aware that the largest UK SME lending banks have set out their plans to help SMEs exposed to the liquidation of Carillion. While the support offered is a commercial decision for each bank to take, the Government will continue to engage with the banking industry on how best to support these small businesses.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Economic Secretary to the Treasury of 19 January 2018, Official Report, column 1126, what steps he plans to take to change the culture to enable wrongdoing to be exposed and dealt with.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
It is important that small businesses have access to the appropriate forum to address their concerns with the financial services that they have received, including where they believe wrongdoing has occurred. The Government welcomes the publication of the Financial Conduct Authority’s paper on small businesses as customers of financial services firms, and is carefully considering its findings.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the timetable is for the completion of the Financial Conduct Authority inquiry on RBS; and whether that report will be published.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a final summary of the independent review of Royal Bank of Scotland’s treatment of small and medium-sized enterprise customers transferred to its Global Restructuring Group. The FCA announced it is investigating the matters arising from the review and focussing on whether there is any basis for it to take further action.
The review is solely a matter for the FCA, which is operationally independent of Government. It would not be appropriate for the Government to comment further whilst this process is ongoing.