Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support residents in Herefordshire in accessing financial services following the recent closures of high street banks.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The decision to close branches is a commercial issue for banks and building societies and the Government does not intervene in these decisions.
Nevertheless, the Government firmly believes that the impact of branch closures should be understood, considered and mitigated where possible so that all customers and businesses continue to have access to banking services.
In September 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority published guidance setting out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of a planned closure on their personal and small business customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This will ensure the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly. Alternative options for access include the Post Office, which allows 95% of business and 99% of personal banking customers to carry out their everyday banking at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.
The Government also remains committed to legislating to protect access to cash and ensuring that the UK's cash infrastructure is sustainable for the long term. On 23 September 2021, the Government closed the Access to Cash Consultation, which included proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash. The Government’s proposals support the continued use of cash in people’s daily lives and help to enable local businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they can access deposit facilities. This follows legislative changes to support the widespread offering of cashback without a purchase by shops and other businesses as part of the Financial Services Act 2021.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will review the proposals for long-term infrastructure and marketing spending in the Money Advice Service's 2016-17 business plan to take into account the implications of the proposed new delivery model for public financial guidance.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Following the publication of the government’s Public Financial Guidance: proposal for consultation, the Money Advice Service (MAS) will publish a revised 2016-17 Business Plan in May.
As outlined in the proposal for consultation document, the government will work closely with the Financial Conduct Authority and MAS to ensure a smooth transition to the new money guidance body.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many cider and perry producers are registered as exempt from paying duty in (a) Hereford and South Herefordshire constituency, (b) Herefordshire and (c) the UK.
Answered by Priti Patel
There are currently 475 cider and perry producers in the UK who are registered as exempt from paying excise duty on their production. There is no breakdown of this figure by parliamentary constituency.
Asked by: Jesse Norman (Conservative - Hereford and South Herefordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the number of people in Hereford and South Herefordshire constituency who will no longer pay income tax as a result of the increased personal allowance.
Answered by David Gauke
By April 2015, this government’s increases in the personal allowance are estimated to have taken 3.2 million individuals out of income tax.
271,000 of these individuals live in the West Midlands, which includes the Parliamentary Constituency of Hereford and South Herefordshire.
HM Revenue & Customs does not publish this information at constituency level.