Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support international efforts to address sovereign debt challenges faced by developing countries; and what discussions he has had with international partners on reforming global debt restructuring mechanisms to improve access to timely and effective debt relief.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK has a long history of leadership on global sovereign debt. Tackling unsustainable debt and its impact on global stability is one of the UK Government’s international priorities. The UK has fully participated in recent debt restructurings, working alongside other creditors to restore debt sustainability. We have also championed transparency and sustainability, including publishing details of new lending and introducing “pause clauses” into UK debt to provide fiscal space following external shocks.
The Government works through various multilateral fora, including the G20, Paris Club and the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable. The UK also co-chairs the London Coalition on Sustainable Sovereign Debt which brings together government and private sector stakeholders to find innovative solutions to more sustainable sovereign debt financing in developing economies.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism due to come into effect on 1 January 2027 on UK companies that are reliant on imported steel and other carbon-intensive products.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
CBAM is expected to have limited impacts on importers and users of CBAM goods, as set out in the tax information and impact note published alongside primary legislation in November 2025. The tax information and impacts note can be found at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism/carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism#summary-of-impacts
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that individuals impacted by the Hartley Pensions Limited case will receive access to appropriate levels of advice and support while the FCA investigates allegations of criminal activity.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the impact of delays and uncertainty for those affected by the failure of Hartley Pensions. Hartley Pensions is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and HM Treasury continues to work with the FCA to monitor the administration. The administrators are responsible for updating customers directly and recent updates on timetables are available on their website.
The FCA’s enforcement investigation is a matter for the FCA as the independent regulator.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the potential impact on food prices caused by the proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism on imported fertiliser for UK agriculture.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
The Government does not expect the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to have an impact on food prices.
The CBAM will take effect from 1 January 2027. It will ensure that highly traded, carbon intensive goods which are imported into the UK face a comparable carbon price to that which is paid by manufacturers producing the same goods in the UK.
The CBAM rate that is charged on imports will reflect the effective carbon price paid by domestic industries after support mechanisms, such as free allowances within the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, have been taken into account. In recent years, UK-based fertiliser manufacturers have received more free allowances than they needed to surrender to cover their emissions. As such, UK-based fertiliser manufacturers are currently not in practice paying a carbon price.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when she plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Angus and Perthshire Glens with reference DD22592.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
The correspondence from the hon. Member for Angus and Perthshire Glens with reference DD22592 was sent to HMRC. HMRC will respond in due course.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential economic impact on Scottish communities of the estimated £551 million shortfall between the Financial Conduct Authority's proposed motor finance redress scheme pay outs and potential court awards as outlined in the APPG on Fair Banking Report on Car Finance redress published in November 2025.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government wants to see this issue resolved in an efficient and orderly way that provides certainty for consumers and firms.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the independent regulator, has consulted on proposals for a motor finance consumer redress scheme. The FCA has announced that it will set out its final approach to motor finance redress on 30 March: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/statements/timing-fca-motor-finance-announcement.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Financial Conduct Authority regarding its proposal to set compensatory interest for motor finance redress at the Bank of England base rate plus one per cent, in the context courts recently awarding eight per cent to compensate vulnerable consumers for consequential financial losses.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government wants to see this issue resolved in an efficient and orderly way that provides certainty for consumers and firms.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the independent regulator, has consulted on proposals for a motor finance consumer redress scheme. The FCA has announced that it will set out its final approach to motor finance redress on 30 March: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/statements/timing-fca-motor-finance-announcement.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 March 2026 to Question 116959 on Taxation: Overpayments, if she will publish the average processing time for HMRC overpayment relief claims in each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
HMRC does not produce an overall average processing time for overpayment relief claims. Processing times vary depending on the type of claim and the checks required to protect public funds.
However, HMRC recognises that payments to customers are important, therefore claims are processed as priority post. HMRC aims to process 80% of priority post received within 15 working days.
Customer correspondence performance is reported monthly and quarterly through HMRC’s published performance updates at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support she will introduce to assist people with oil heating through the current kerosine price increases.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The government recognises the pressures facing households who rely on heating oil. This is why we are providing an additional £53 million of targeted support for vulnerable households, largely in rural communities.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, (a) what the current average processing time is for HMRC overpayment relief claims; and (b) what steps her Department are taking to reduce times in processing those claims.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
HMRC recognises that payments to customers are important, therefore claims are processed as priority post. HMRC aims to process 80% of priority post received within 15 working days.
Customer correspondence performance is reported monthly and quarterly through HMRC’s published performance updates at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates.
HMRC continues to invest in automation and to review their internal processes to ensure overpayments relief claims are issued in a timely manner.