Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on access to cash of NoteMachine's plans to convert approximately 3,000 of its 7,000 free-to-use machines to pay-to-use; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recognises that widespread free access to cash remains important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers in the UK. However, it is not appropriate for the Government to comment on individual contracts relating to ATM charges.
The Government is engaging, and will continue to engage, with the regulators and industry on this important topic. The Government-established Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is closely monitoring developments in ATM provision. The PSR regulates LINK, the scheme which runs the UK’s ATM network, and has used its powers to hold LINK to account over LINK’s commitments to preserve the broad geographic spread of the ATM network.
LINK has put in place specific arrangements to protect free-to-use ATMs more than 1 kilometre away from the next nearest free-to-use ATM and has also enhanced its Financial Inclusion Programme. More recently, LINK has committed to protecting free access to cash on high streets – where there is a cluster of five or more retailers – that don’t have a free-to-use ATM or a Post Office counter within 1 kilometre.
UK Finance has also launched a Community Access to Cash Initiative, offering grants to local communities to improve cash access.
In addition, the Government has invested heavily in maintaining a stable network of Post Office branches, with investment of around £2 billion since 2010. Currently, 99% of personal customers and 95% of small business customers can carry out their everyday banking locally at one of the Post Office’s 11,500 branches.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money his Department allocated the consolidated fund to the (a) Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, (b) Cabinet Office, (c) Ministry of Defence, (d) Department for Education, (e) Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (f) Foreign and Commonwealth Office, (g) Department of Health and Social Care, (h) Home Office, (i) Ministry of Justice, (j) Department for Transport, (k) HM Treasury, (l) Department for Exiting the European Union, and (m) Department for International Trade for contingency planning for leaving the EU without an agreement in each month since January 2019.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
As set out in my Written Ministerial Statement to the House of 18 December 2018, departments were allocated over £2bn of funding for 19/20 to prepare for all EU Exit scenarios. A full breakdown can be found in the statement, (https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-12-18/HCWS1205/). Additional funding has been provided for the Single Intelligence Account (£13.95m); the Home Office (£5.45m); the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (£5.6m) and Department for Transport (£6m) since that announcement.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many free to use ATMs are located in Wolverhampton North East Constituency; and how many free to use ATMs there were in that constituency in (a) 2010 and (b) 2015.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government does not hold this information. Information on ATM numbers by Parliamentary Constituency for recent periods is publicly available on the LINK website. Data on the total stock of ATMs in the UK and how this has changed each year since 1998 – including the split between free-to-use and pay-to-use ATMs – is also available online. Furthermore, LINK publish monthly data on their Financial Inclusion Programme, and the numbers of free-to-use ATMs 1 kilometre or further from the next nearest free-to-use ATM.
The Government-established Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) continues to monitor developments in ATM provision, and has used its powers to hold LINK to account over its commitments to preserve the broad geographic spread of the ATM network.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department engages enforcement agents.
Answered by Jesse Norman
Officers of HMRC act as Enforcement Agents in relation to HMRC debts. HMRC does not make use of private sector enforcement agents.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to reduce unemployment in constituencies with high levels of unemployment.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Our economic plan, reducing the deficit whilst investing in infrastructure and supporting businesses to grow, has delivered growth in the economy, growth in employment and growth in wages. The unemployment rate currently stands at 4.0%, down from 8% in 2010 and the lowest rate since the 1970s. The jobs recovery has benefitted the whole of the UK, and more than 70% of the increase to employment since 2010 has been outside of London.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of money raised for the public purse from tax paid by the (a) aerospace and (b) automotive sector in each of the last 10 years.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
HMRC does not produce statistics on the total tax paid by specific industries. The information requested is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Estimates of home VAT liability by sector are published in Table 2.5.1 of HMRC’s annual VAT factsheet in the link below. It is not possible to estimate VAT liabilities for the aerospace sector as HMRC does not collect this level of information (https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Statistical Factsheets/VAT_Factsheet_17.xls)
Table 3.9 of HMRC’s Personal Incomes Statistics Publication provides estimates of self-employment income assessable to tax split by high-level industry and is published at the link below. (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-incomes-tables-31-to-311-for-the-tax-year-2015-to-2016)
HMRC’s estimates of Pay As You Earn tax by high-level industry sector are published at the link below.
(https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/pay-as-you-earn-tax-deducted-from-pay-by-industry).
Corporation Tax liabilities split by high-level industry sector are published in Table 11.5 of HMRC’s annual Analyses of Corporation Tax receipts and liabilities publication in the link below.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) holds reports setting out the current economic relationship between the UK and other individual EU member states.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
We are undertaking a comprehensive programme of analytical work to inform negotiations.
The Government is seeking input from a wide range of businesses and industry bodies.
Our department works closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union to ensure that they are informed of our understanding of these issues.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many properties in Wolverhampton North East sold for over £1 million in 2016.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In 2016 fewer than 30 residential properties in the Wolverhampton North East constituency sold for over £1 million.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to reduce unemployment in constituencies with high levels of unemployment.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
In 2010 we inherited the UK’s largest deficit since the second world war at 9.9% of GDP. We set out a clear framework to restore confidence in the economy and reduce the deficit which has fallen by three quarters. At just 4.3% our unemployment rate is at its lowest in over 40 years and down from 8.0% in 2010. The economy is now operating with near record high employment and more than 70% of the increase to employment since 2010 has been outside of London.
The government is proud of this record but not complacent. That is why we have introduced new targeted employment support to help young people, people with disabilities and the long-term unemployed this year. We are also committed to building strong city regions led by elected mayors. Devolution deals have given a number of areas greater involvement in the provision of localised and targeted employment support.
Asked by: Emma Reynolds (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many properties sold in 2016 in Wolverhampton were below the stamp duty threshold.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In 2016, there were 3,600 property transactions in the Wolverhampton Local Authority which were below the stamp duty land tax threshold.