Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Kevin Foster and Simon Kirby

Tuesday 18th April 2017 Commons Chamber

[Simon Kirby]

What I can guarantee is that it is about time the Scottish National party started delivering for the people of Scotland. The level of growth in Scotland is a quarter of that across the UK.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

20. The Minister will be aware of the difference that will be made by the new high-tech and digital centre at South Devon College in Paignton, which is being supported by the third round of growth funding. Does he agree that the facility makes South Devon College an ideal place to be one of the first to offer the new T-level?

[Simon Kirby]

I absolutely agree that it would be an ideal place to be in the first stream.

Concentrix

Debate between Kevin Foster and Simon Kirby

Wednesday 26th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Simon Kirby]

I will cover that matter later, but there are clearly lessons for all of us to learn.

[Kevin Foster]

Given the number of people affected, what work will the Government—the Treasury, working with HMRC—carry out to help local advice centres that, like Members of Parliament, may be approached by people for advice about what to do if they receive such letters?

[Simon Kirby]

I will certainly ask HMRC to look into that. The important point is that this is about helping people. It is easy to stand in the Chamber citing figures and trying to pretend that something is not what it is. This is about making sure that the most vulnerable people get the money that they deserve, and about clearing the backlog as quickly as possible.

This issue is about customer service. Everyone has a right to expect a good level of customer service. There is no doubt that the customer service provided in recent times was simply not good enough and not up to the standard clearly specified in the contract. As a result of that poor performance, a great deal of worry and distress has been caused to the often vulnerable people who claim this benefit. We heard lots of very good examples of that today. I do not think that any MP is in any doubt that vulnerable people have suffered worry and distress. I advise anyone who has been adversely affected to get in touch with HMRC, which will take all complaints seriously and provide compensation where appropriate.

I move on to specific issues that hon. Members raised. The hon. Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Mhairi Black) suggested that Concentrix targeted people at random and engaged in fishing expeditions, which the hon. Member for Bootle (Peter Dowd) also mentioned. That was not the case—Concentrix was not allowed to engage in fishing expeditions. It is important to note that when information was incomplete or suggested that something was wrong, customers were asked to provide further information to enable an informed decision to be reached.

Sale of Annuities

Debate between Kevin Foster and Simon Kirby

Wednesday 19th October 2016 Commons Chamber

[Simon Kirby]

It is fair to say that there are often circumstances where information or announcements are market sensitive, and sometimes that drives how things are announced.

[Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)]

Given that these retirement annuities can form the bedrock of many people’s financial security, it is right that a decision is taken to secure the interests of those people rather than to press ahead purely because of a manifesto commitment. Will the Minister reassure me, though, about what work the Treasury is doing to ensure that people get a better deal on their annuities in the first place? For many people, looking to cash in their annuity in was about trying to deal with the bad deal they got on that annuity, not necessarily about wanting a lump sum.