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Written Question
Cash Dispensing: Rural Areas
Tuesday 13th February 2024

Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to ensure access to ATMs in rural locations.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups.

The government legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to establish a new legislative framework to protect access to cash. This establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash and provides it with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities.

Following this, the government published a Cash Access Policy Statement, which the FCA must take into account in exercising its powers. This sets out that the vast majority of people in predominately rural areas of the UK should have access to cash deposit and withdrawal services within a maximum of 3 miles of where they live. The government’s policy statement is available on gov.uk: Cash Access Policy Statement

Regarding ATM provision specifically, LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) also has commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs. It is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator.


Written Question
Insurance: Prices
Tuesday 13th February 2024

Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made a recent assessment of the impact of increased (a) car and (b) home insurance on the cost of living.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Insurers make commercial decisions about the pricing of insurance based on their assessment on the likelihood and expected cost of a claim. The Government does not intervene in these commercial decisions by insurers as this could damage competition in the market.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the independent regulator and responsible for supervising the insurance industry. The FCA have introduced several reforms, including the Consumer Duty rules, to ensure consumers are treated fairly in regard to pricing. The FCA can and does act in appropriate cases where firms are breaching its rules.


Written Question
Revenue and Customs: Proof of Identity
Monday 15th January 2024

Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what safeguards HMRC has in place to ensure the authenticity of digital signatures on paperwork provided by third-party businesses acting on behalf of their clients in exchanges with HMRC.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC operates a risk-based approach to the verification of signatures upon receipt into their systems. Where there are reasons to doubt that the taxpayer has provided the signature themselves HMRC seeks assurances from the agent, intermediary or taxpayer directly to validate the authorisation and, if required, request further information about the processes that the agent uses to obtain authorisation and/or signatures.


Written Question
NHS: Pay
Thursday 20th April 2023

Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Barnett consequential arising from the pay settlement for NHS workers in England is.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Barnett formula is applied when departmental budgets change – not when departments announce how they are spending their budgets.

Discussions between HMT and DHSC on the funding implications, should a pay deal be agreed, are ongoing.


Written Question
Energy Bills Discount Scheme: Agriculture
Wednesday 15th March 2023

Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the Energy and Trade Intensive Industry scheme to include primary agricultural production.

Answered by James Murray - Shadow Financial Secretary (Treasury)

As part of the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS), we have taken a consistent approach to identifying the most energy and trade intensive sectors, with all sectors that meet agreed thresholds for energy and trade intensity eligible for Energy and Trade Intensive Industries (ETII) component of the scheme. These thresholds have been set at sectors falling above the 80th percentile for energy intensity and 60th percentile for trade intensity, plus any sectors eligible for the existing energy compensation and exemption schemes. We have also published further information on the methodology which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/energy-bills-discount-scheme-factsheet/energy-bills-discount-scheme-energy-and-trade-intense-industries-assessment-methodology

All other eligible businesses, except for those experiencing low energy costs, will automatically receive a unit discount on their bills of up to £19.61/MW for electricity, and £6.97/MW for gas.

We remain committed to supporting our farmers to produce high quality food and to increase the productivity, resilience, and sustainability of their businesses. That is why we have maintained farm budgets across this Parliament as promised, each year providing an average of £2.4 billion in England, £621m in Scotland, £340m in Wales, and £330m in Northern Ireland.


Written Question
Fuels: Excise Duties
Wednesday 15th February 2023

Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue has accrued to the Treasury from fuel duty in each of the last three years.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Office for Budget Responsibility holds Government receipts from all taxes and duties for each year. Revenue accrued from fuel duty receipts in each of the last three years can be viewed online in their Public Finances Databank:

Data - Office for Budget Responsibility (obr.uk)


Written Question
Child Benefit: Personal Income
Tuesday 25th October 2022

Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money the Government has recouped from child benefit claimants due to overpayment as a result of the High-Income Child Benefit Charge in each of the last three years.

Answered by Richard Fuller

The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) is a tax charge which applies to anyone with an adjusted net income of over £50,000 who receives Child Benefit, or whose partner receives it. HICBC is calculated on an individual rather than a household basis, in line with other income tax policy. The charge increases gradually for those with incomes between £50,000 and £60,000 and is equal to one per cent of a family’s Child Benefit for every extra £100 of income that is over £50,000 each year. Where income exceeds £60,000, the tax charge is equal to the amount payable in Child Benefit.

The total value of HICBC revenue in relation to the year of liability is published on gov.uk at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-income-child-benefit-charge-data/high-income-child-benefit-charge.

The figures for the last three years for which data is available are shown in the table below.

2017-18

2018-19

2019-20

HICBC revenue (£million)

423

437

416


Written Question
No-interest Loans Scheme
Tuesday 25th October 2022

Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made in the wider pilot of the No Interest Loan Scheme.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Progress on the pilot of the No-Interest Loan Scheme is good and over 60 no-interest loans have now been issued at the proof-of-concept site in South Manchester, providing real world impact for recipients.

Fair4All Finance (who are delivering the scheme) are now finalising contracts with the lenders chosen to take part in the wider pilot and the government expect three pilot locations to have started lending by the end of November and a further pilot location to start lending in January, so that full-scale rollout will have commenced by early 2023. Fair4All Finance expects to deliver tens of thousands of no-interest loans over the course of the pilot.


Written Question
Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges
Tuesday 25th October 2022

Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to help ensure companies do not charge consumers excessive fees for withdrawing cash at ATMs.

Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Arrangements for cash machines are commercial decisions for the operators of ATMs and ATM networks.

LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. LINK has committed to protect free-to-use ATMs more than one kilometre away from the next nearest free ATM or Post Office, and free access to cash on high streets (where there is a cluster of five or more retailers) that do not have a free-to-use ATM or a Post Office counter within one kilometre.

In recognition that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK the Government has introduced legislation to protect access to cash as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill. The legislation will establish the Financial Conduct Authority as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to ensure that people can continue to access cash withdrawal and deposit facilities. These powers will allow the FCA to take account of factors it considers appropriate for seeking to ensure there is reasonable provision of cash access services, this could include factors such as cost for end users.


Written Question
Bank Services: Fraud
Tuesday 26th April 2022

Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to (a) support vulnerable people when using banking services and (b) tackle fraud and scams perpetrated against those people.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government is strongly committed to ensuring those with a characteristic of vulnerability have access to appropriate, useful and affordable financial products and services. The Government also works with industry to combat fraud and ensure members of the public have the information they need to spot a scam and stand up to fraudsters. The Government works closely together with regulators and stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors, to ensure that all consumers of financial services are appropriately protected.

UK banks’ and building societies’ treatment of their customers is governed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in its Principles for Businesses. This includes a general requirement for firms to provide a prompt, efficient and fair service to all of their customers.

The FCA’s Guidance for firms on the Fair Treatment of Vulnerable Customers requires that firms should understand what harms their customers are likely to be vulnerable to and ensure that customers in vulnerable circumstances receive the same fair treatment and outcomes as other customers.

If a firm has doubts about a consumer’s ability to understand a product or service, suspects they do not have capacity to make decisions or that they are acting as a result of fraud or coercion, the firm should assess whether it should allow the consumer to proceed. It may be appropriate for firms to contact, or act on the instructions of, a family member, friend or other third party.

The Government also recognises the actions of the financial services industry to help tackle fraud, including through investment in anti-fraud capabilities, the creation of a voluntary reimbursement Code, and the implementation of initiatives such as Confirmation of Payee. While we welcome these initiatives, it is clear that more needs to be done both to prevent these scams, and to ensure that victims are not left paying for fraud through no fault of their own.

The Government therefore welcomed the Payment Systems Regulator’s recent consultation on Authorised Push Payment scams, which set out potential measures that could improve scam prevention and outcomes, including proposals to introduce mandatory requirements to reimburse victims. The Government has confirmed it intends to legislate to address any barriers regarding regulatory action regarding mandatory reimbursement when parliamentary time allows.