Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the powers of the Financial Ombudsman Service to require companies to pay compensation to customers.
Answered by Bim Afolami
Parliament set up the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to decide complaints quickly as an alternative to the courts – not to act as a law enforcer. However, firms that are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are required under the FCA’s rules to co-operate with the ombudsman.
Following a consumer’s acceptance of the ombudsman’s final decision, this becomes binding on the firm. Firms are required to comply promptly with any decision that ombudsmen may make, including decisions on compensation.
If a firm fails to comply with the Ombudsman's decision, under the legislative framework, a complainant can enforce the decision through the courts. A money award can be recovered by execution of a county court order, while compliance with a direction is enforceable by way of an injunction. This does not require the merits of the case to be considered again by the court.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to require Ascot Lloyd to pay the amount of compensation to customers recommended by the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Answered by Bim Afolami
Parliament set up the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to decide complaints quickly as an alternative to the courts – not to act as a law enforcer. However, firms that are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are required under the FCA’s rules to co-operate with the ombudsman.
Following a consumer’s acceptance of the ombudsman’s final decision, this becomes binding on the firm. Firms are required to comply promptly with any decision that ombudsmen may make, including decisions on compensation.
If a firm fails to comply with the Ombudsman's decision, under the legislative framework, a complainant can enforce the decision through the courts. A money award can be recovered by execution of a county court order, while compliance with a direction is enforceable by way of an injunction. This does not require the merits of the case to be considered again by the court.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information he holds on the current status of the EU's review of compensation due to Robert McCoy; what official UK involvement there has been in investigating the criminal allegations originally made by him; what legal support has been provided to him; if he will ensure that all outstanding anti-fraud cases relating to EU institutions and involving UK nationals as eye-witnesses are resolved as part of negotiations on the UK leaving the EU; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The UK Government does not monitor official investigations or legal cases that the EU has initiated against its own staff, irrespective of nationality. The conduct of these investigations and cases is a matter for the EU.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Table C5 of the 2017 Autumn Budget 2017 and Table B.4 of the Office for Budget Responsibility's Economic Economic and Fiscal Outlook November 2017, when the forecast own resources contribution to the EU of £3.5bn in 2019-20 and subsequent years will be reallocated to domestic UK spending, what plans he has for these monies; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Office for Budget Responsibility’s independent forecast has maintained EU contributions past the point of exit in order to produce a fiscally neutral forecast; they have made no assumptions on the outcome of future policy decisions. The funding choices we take after exiting the EU will be based on the UK’s domestic priorities and will also be affected by the then economic environment and the fiscal position. We are determined to secure the very best deal we can for households and businesses in these negotiations and to seize the opportunities ahead by laying the foundations of a stronger, fairer Britain outside the EU.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of his Department's preparations for the UK leaving the EU with (a) an agreement on future partnership and (b) no agreement with the EU; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Steve Barclay
HM Treasury keeps its work in this area under review, and will continue to ensure it is well placed to make the preparations necessary to deliver UK’s exit from the EU, alongside its other commitments.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what provisions have been made to replace the role of the European Securities and Markets Authority, the European Banking Authority and the European Insurance Occupational Pension Authority in the UK.
Answered by Steve Barclay
The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will convert all directly applicable European Union financial services legislation into British law. The powers under that Bill will be used to transfer functions currently undertaken by EU institutions to an appropriate UK body.
The future of our relationship with the European Supervisory Authorities is subject to the outcome of the withdrawal negotiations. The UK and the EU will start from the unique position of regulatory alignment. We will look to create a new framework that allows for continued trust in one another’s institutions and a close partnership.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many EU-EEA citizens are currently recorded within HM Revenue and Customs' tax and tax credit system.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
The number of EU and EEA citizens that interact with HMRC through payment of Income Tax or National Insurance Contributions, or receipt of tax credits or Child Benefit, is available in the publication “Income Tax, NICs, Tax Credits and Child Benefit Statistics for EEA Nationals, 2014 to 2015”. The statistics are available on gov.uk at the following location:
Table B1 (page 10) provides information on Income Tax, National Insurance Contributions, tax credits and Child Benefit with a breakdown by EU country, and aggregates for EEA and EU. Table D1 (page 14) shows the total number of non-UK EEA nationals with a tax record.
These tables show that in 2014-15, 580,000 EEA nationals were claiming tax credits and there were 2,870,000 EEA nationals with an Income Tax record.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library a full list of tariffed commodities with their identifying codes and their annual revenues for 2015.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The full list of tariffs is contained in the Integrated Tariff of the United Kingdom, which publishes the schedule of duty rates for over 16,600 commodities. This information is available online here:
www.gov.uk/trade-tariff/sections
Specific information relating to the revenue yield for each commodity code is not collated in a readily available format by HM Revenue and Customs.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the soft drinks industry levy on levels of employment; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The government will shortly be consulting on the detail of the soft drinks industry levy, and we will publish an initial impact assessment alongside the consultation. This assessment will be updated and refined when the policy detail is finalised.
For Finance Bill measures, HMRC provide a Tax Impact Information Note alongside the draft Finance Bill legislation, which we expect to publish in the winter.
Asked by: Jacob Rees-Mogg (Conservative - North East Somerset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of the potential effect of the soft drinks industry levy on the (a) consumer price index and (b) cost of uprating index-linked benefits; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Damian Hinds
Since 2010 the Chancellor has adopted the independent economic and public finance forecasts produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) as the UK’s official forecasts. The OBR is required to take into account the effect of government policies in its analysis. The OBR sets out its forecasts in its Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which includes a full breakdown of how the forecast is composed and any explanations.
The OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook document, published at Budget 2016, summarised the OBR’s views. The document noted that the OBR expect the levy to be passed onto the price paid by consumers. On this basis the OBR expected it to add around a quarter of a percentage point to CPI and RPI inflation in 2018-19.
The government maintains that it is up to soft drinks companies how they respond to the levy. If companies reformulate their drinks to contain less sugar – as many are already doing – then they will not have to pay the levy. Companies two years to continue working on this before the levy begins. They do not need to pass the levy onto consumers.