Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to improve free access to cash in Scotland.
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 people and small businesses in Scotland and across the UK.
The UK has one of the most extensive free-to-use ATM networks in the world; around 80% of the ATM network in Scotland is free and there are now around 700 more free ATMs in Scotland compared to 2015. From January 2018 to March 2019, there were no publicly accessible Protected ATMs in Scotland that closed which did not have alternative free access to cash via another source, such as a Post Office.
In addition, the Government is engaging, and will continue to engage, with the regulators and industry on this important topic. In 2015, the Government established the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), with a statutory objective to ensure that the UK’s payment systems work in the interests of their users. As a result, the PSR is closely monitoring developments within ATM provision, and has used its powers to ensure LINK meets its commitment on maintaining the broad geographical spread of free-to-use ATMs.
To support this, LINK has introduced premiums through its Financial Inclusion programme to boost interchange fees, helping protect ATMs in remote, rural and deprived locations.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the suspension of European Social Fund payments on third sector organisations in Scotland.
Answered by David Mundell
In Scotland, the European Social Fund is administered by the Scottish Government, and therefore the impact of any suspension of payments on beneficiaries in the Third Sector is a matter for the Scottish Government to address. I would suggest the hon. Gentlemen contacts the relevant Minister in the Scottish Government directly to discuss the particular issue with ESF payments being referred to. I'm disappointed that this situation has arisen but this is a matter for the Scottish Government.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of fuel poverty in the UK.
Answered by Chris Skidmore
We welcome the Annual Fuel Poverty Statistics Report for England, published on Thursday 13 June 2019, which showed that 18,000 fewer households were in fuel poverty in 2017 compared to 2016. We also saw a 4% year-on-year decrease in the average fuel poverty gap between fuel poor and other households.
These statistics show that our policies are working. Continued delivery of energy efficiency measures, the introduction of the National Living Wage in 2016 and the prepayment meter price cap introduced in April 2017 will all have made a contribution. Next year’s projections will capture the impact of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards in the private rented sector for the first time, as well as the updated Energy Company Obligation, worth £640m per year, which focuses 100% on low income and vulnerable households.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to improve public awareness of scams in Scotland.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
Responsibility and funding to provide consumer advice, education and advocacy was devolved to the Scottish Government under the Scotland Act 2016. The Scottish Government fund Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) and Advice Direct Scotland (ADS) to deliver. BEIS remains responsible for funding the delivery of national and cross-border enforcement in Scotland through Trading Standards Scotland (TSS).
CAS and TSS are currently working together to deliver the annual Scams Awareness campaign in Scotland which runs from 10th to 23rd June to raise awareness, educate consumers and encourage the reporting of scams. TSS also worked with Policy Scotland, local Trading Standards and Neighbourhood Watch on the “Shut out Scammers” campaign in April this year to tackle doorstep crime and bogus callers.
Much of the work undertaken by TSS is targeted at preventing scams; tackling rogue traders; and bringing the perpetrators to justice.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the benefits freeze on the incomes of households with children.
Answered by Will Quince
An Impact Assessment of the benefit freeze was published in 2015, this is available in the link below.
https://www.parliament.uk/documents/impact-assessments/IA15-006C.pdf
The Welfare Reforms such as the benefit freeze were designed to incentivise parents to choose to move into and progress in work. Evidence shows that work is the best route out of poverty. Children in workless households are five time more likely to be in poverty than those in households where all adults were working. Since 2007/08, the incomes of the poorest fifth have increased by over £850 above inflation, whereas the incomes of the richest fifth have increased by around £650.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on employment levels in Scotland's construction sector.
Answered by David Mundell
I have regular discussions with the Scottish Government on a range of issues on Scotland’s economy, including those which span both devolved and reserved matters.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of train cancellations in 2018.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The industry definition for cancellations includes those trains which did not complete their full journey or failed to call at one or more stations. Around 4% of planned services met this criteria between 7 January 2018 and 5 January 2019.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the effect of air pollution on public health.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The Secretary of State has regular meetings with his counterpart at the Department for Health and Social Care and they discuss air pollution and public health most weeks.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the sustainability of the Post Office Network.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government recognises the critical role that post offices play in communities and for small businesses across the UK. This is why the Government committed to safeguard the post office network and protect existing rural services. The overall number of post offices across the UK remains at its most stable in decades with over 11,500 branches thanks to significant Government investment of over £2 billion since 2010.
While the Government sets the strategic direction for the Post Office, it allows the company the commercial freedom to deliver this strategy as an independent business.
The operation and management of the Post Office Network are operational matters for Post Office Limited.
I have therefore asked Alisdair Cameron, the Group interim Chief Executive of Post Office Limited, to write to the hon Member on this matter. A copy of his reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.
Asked by: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the level of the National Minimum Wage on the income of people in employment aged under 18.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
This Government is committed to building an economy that works for everyone. Through the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage, the Government is ensuring that the lowest paid within our society benefit from their contribution to the economy.
In April 2019, an above-inflation increase in the 16-17 year old National Minimum Wage saw 38,000 young workers receive a pay rise. The rate increased by 3.6% to £4.35 per hour. Since 2015, the National Minimum Wage for the 16-17 age group has increased by 12.4%.
In the first quarter of 2019, the unemployment rate for 16-17 year olds was 19.2%, down from 28% in 2015. As noted by the Low Pay Commission in its 2018 report, for 16-17 year olds, the priority remains their effective entry into the labour market, as they are the most vulnerable age group in the labour market due to their relative lack of experience.
In 2018, approximately 2,900 workers in Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill were on one of the minimum wage rates.