Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many officials in his Department work on policies relating to mutual societies.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Treasury allocates resources based on the priorities of the department, and officials within the Financial Services Group of HM Treasury provide advice to ministers on issues related to the mutuals sector. Resourcing is kept under regular review to ensure priorities are delivered.
The government recognises the value that mutuals bring to the UK economy. That is why we are taking appropriate steps to ensure that the legislative framework in which mutuals operate under is both a modern and supportive business environment.
As part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill, the Government is amending existing legislation so that credit unions in Great Britain can offer a wider range of products and services. In due course the government will also bring forward legislation to amend the Building Societies Act 1986, which will give building societies further flexibility in raising funds and modernise corporate governance requirements.
In addition, the government is supporting Sir Mark Hendrick’s Private Member’s Bill which would allow co-operatives, mutual insurers, and friendly societies further flexibility in determining for themselves the best strategies for their business, relating to their surplus capital and restrictions on the use of these assets.
Furthermore, the government is in active discussions with the Law Commission on options to proceed with a review of both the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 and the Friendly Societies Act 1992 with a view to launching the reviews in the next financial year.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of Post Office banking deposit limits for business customers.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK and that access to deposit facilities is an important factor in supporting the continued acceptance of cash.
In 2020, the National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing noted an increase in the abuse of cash-related services, such as cash deposit services, in Post Offices.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and banking sector have since been working to address these vulnerabilities. As part of this, banks are implementing a range of enhanced financial crime controls for cash deposits made at the Post Office.
Throughout, the FCA has discussed with banks the importance of considering the impact of the changes they are making on customers. The rollout of these financial controls is still at an early stage and the FCA is continuing to work with the Post Office and the banking sector to ensure that the financial controls strike an appropriate balance between dynamically combating illicit finance, and helping to maintain appropriate access to cash deposit services for legitimate customers.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to subpostmasters who have received compensation following the failure of the Post Office Horizon IT system, if he will make an estimate of the total amount of tax he expects to be due on that compensation.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government wants to see all victims affected by the Post Office Horizon IT scandal compensated fairly and swiftly. We will continue to work across Government and with the Post Office to ensure the postmasters get the full compensation they deserve and that payments and associated taxes are fair and proportionate.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to employers of the health and social care levy by sector.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The table below shows the estimated exchequer yield of the employer portion of the Health and Social Care Levy, in the 2022 to 2023 tax year, by sector:
Sector | Exchequer yield |
Other* | £490m |
Accommodation and food service activities | £185m |
Administrative and support service activities | £515m |
Arts, entertainment and recreation | £100m |
Construction | £400m |
Education | £995m |
Financial and insurance activities | £1,000m |
Human health and social work activities | £975m |
Information and communication | £685m |
Manufacturing | £895m |
Other service activities | £125m |
Professional, scientific and technical activities | £990m |
Real estate activities | £155m |
Transportation and storage | £345m |
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | £925m |
Total | £8,775m |
Figures are rounded to the nearest £5 million. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Other* sector includes: ‘Unknown’, ‘Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies’, ‘Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods-and services-producing activities of households for own use’, ‘Agriculture, forestry and fishing’, ‘Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply’, ‘Mining and quarrying’, ‘Public administration and defence; compulsory social security’, ‘Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities’. These sectors were aggregated due to their small size, to avoid the risk of disclosure.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to employers of the health and social care levy, by region.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
It is not possible to provide a regional breakdown of the employer portion of the Health and Social Care Levy impact.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any Ministers or senior civil servants in his Department have met anyone currently subject to sanctions imposed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the last 18 months.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on UK involvement with Infosys in response to that company's ongoing operational links to Russia.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the economic impact of the covid-19 restrictions announced on 8 December 2021.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
On 8 December, the government implemented its Plan B response to managing Covid-19. This was in response to the risks posed by the omicron variant. The government set out Plan B in its Autumn and Winter Plan, published in September 2021. Plan B has been designed to help control the spread of the virus while avoiding unduly damaging economic and social restrictions. A full assessment of the measures can be found in the link below.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-autumn-and-winter-plan-2021
The government will keep the data under constant review, and the government will continue to monitor the impacts of Plan B on the economy.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many bids were received by the Money and Pensions Service during their recent tendering process for regional debt advice services.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Money and Pension Service’s (MaPS) tendering process is an important step towards a more resilient debt advice sector and will drive better quality of advice and customer outcomes over the longer term. Information on the number of bids received as part of MaPS’ procurement process for regional debt advice is commercially sensitive while that process is still ongoing, with it being set to conclude early in 2022.
However, MaPS has confirmed they have received sufficient bids to enable competition between bidders in the regional lot and therefore remain confident that the thorough procurement process will lead to a successful outcome in each region to enable strong support for people experiencing debt problems.
Asked by: Jonathan Reynolds (Labour (Co-op) - Stalybridge and Hyde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made on the effect of reforming RPI to align with CPIH on pension schemes deficits.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Retail Prices Index (RPI) is a measure of inflation with a number of shortcomings. To address these shortcomings, the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) has made a proposal to reform RPI by bringing the methods and data sources of the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH) into RPI. Owing to the use of RPI in specific index-linked gilts, prior to 2030 the Chancellor’s consent to this proposal is required before it can be implemented.
At the Budget in March, the government and UKSA launched a consultation to consider whether UKSA’s proposal should be implemented at a date other than 2030, and, if so, when between 2025 and 2030. The consultation closed for responses on 21 August. As part of the consultation, the government has invited views on matters including how the holders of the government’s issues of index-linked gilts, all of which use RPI as their reference rate, will be affected by the implementation of reform. As noted in this year’s Debt Management Report, pension funds are a major holder of index-linked gilts. The consultation also contained a section which invited views on the broader impacts of the proposed reform of RPI.
The government and UKSA will respond to the consultation in the autumn.