Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made for the average waiting time on HM Revenue and Custom's phone lines for individuals seeking support with tax credits; and if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of that call waiting time.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC publishes performance data monthly and quarterly at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports and https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support people with learning difficulties when using HM Revenue and Customs phonelines.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HMRC has a range of options available to customers who need extra support, including for people with learning difficulties. Details can be found on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/get-help-hmrc-extra-support.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of push payment fraud.
Answered by Felicity Buchan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government recognises the growing threat to consumers by Push Payment fraud, with increasingly sophisticated scams that can be detrimental to people’s lives.
Specific data on the levels of APP fraud is collected by the Payment Systems Regulator and by UK Finance. The latter regularly issues this data in publicly available documents.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of which banks have been impacted by push payment fraud (a) as a percentage of the impact as a whole, (b) over each of the past five years, in terms of (i) being host to the accounts where funds have been lost to this fraud, and (ii) being the host bank of accounts perpetrating this fraud.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the growing threat posed to consumers by Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, with increasingly sophisticated scams that can be detrimental to people’s lives. The Government is committed to tackling fraud within payments networks. That is why the Government has introduced legislation as part of the Financial Services & Markets Bill to enable the PSR to require payment service providers to reimburse APP scam victims. The Government believes this will ensure more consistent and comprehensive reimbursement for future APP scam victims.
Currently, data relating to the amounts lost and returned following APP scams is collected by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and by UK Finance. The latter regularly issues this data in publications such as its Annual Fraud Report: in 2021 for instance, UK Finance recorded gross annual losses of roughly £583 million, an increase of 39% by value over 2020, of which roughly £271 million (46%) was returned to victims. Due to changes in how APP scams are identified and reported, UK Finance note that data for years prior to 2020 is not directly comparable. More comprehensive data on APP scams can be found in UK Finance’s 2022 Fraud Report:
www.ukfinance.org.uk/policy-and-guidance/reports-and-publications/annual-fraud-report-2022
More specific data regarding the impact of APP scams on individual payment service providers does not usually form a part of these publications. However, as detailed in its 2021 consultation on APP scams, the PSR has proposed requiring the 12 largest groups of UK payment service providers (including the main High Street banks) to publish a balanced scorecard of APP scam data on a six-monthly basis, setting out their individual performance in relation to APP scams. This would include their APP scam rates, their rates of reimbursement for customers scammed, as well as comparative data on the providers receiving APP scam payments. The PSR expect the provision of this data to provide strong reputational incentives on payment service providers to reduce APP scam losses incurred by consumers, both through preventing APP scams and reimbursing those who are scammed. The PSR will respond to this consultation in due course.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) value and (b) proportion of funds lost due to push payment fraud have been repaid to consumers in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the growing threat posed to consumers by Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, with increasingly sophisticated scams that can be detrimental to people’s lives. The Government is committed to tackling fraud within payments networks. That is why the Government has introduced legislation as part of the Financial Services & Markets Bill to enable the PSR to require payment service providers to reimburse APP scam victims. The Government believes this will ensure more consistent and comprehensive reimbursement for future APP scam victims.
Currently, data relating to the amounts lost and returned following APP scams is collected by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and by UK Finance. The latter regularly issues this data in publications such as its Annual Fraud Report: in 2021 for instance, UK Finance recorded gross annual losses of roughly £583 million, an increase of 39% by value over 2020, of which roughly £271 million (46%) was returned to victims. Due to changes in how APP scams are identified and reported, UK Finance note that data for years prior to 2020 is not directly comparable. More comprehensive data on APP scams can be found in UK Finance’s 2022 Fraud Report:
www.ukfinance.org.uk/policy-and-guidance/reports-and-publications/annual-fraud-report-2022
More specific data regarding the impact of APP scams on individual payment service providers does not usually form a part of these publications. However, as detailed in its 2021 consultation on APP scams, the PSR has proposed requiring the 12 largest groups of UK payment service providers (including the main High Street banks) to publish a balanced scorecard of APP scam data on a six-monthly basis, setting out their individual performance in relation to APP scams. This would include their APP scam rates, their rates of reimbursement for customers scammed, as well as comparative data on the providers receiving APP scam payments. The PSR expect the provision of this data to provide strong reputational incentives on payment service providers to reduce APP scam losses incurred by consumers, both through preventing APP scams and reimbursing those who are scammed. The PSR will respond to this consultation in due course.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the value of funds lost to push payment fraud in each of the last five years.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government recognises the growing threat posed to consumers by Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, with increasingly sophisticated scams that can be detrimental to people’s lives. The Government is committed to tackling fraud within payments networks. That is why the Government has introduced legislation as part of the Financial Services & Markets Bill to enable the PSR to require payment service providers to reimburse APP scam victims. The Government believes this will ensure more consistent and comprehensive reimbursement for future APP scam victims.
Currently, data relating to the amounts lost and returned following APP scams is collected by the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and by UK Finance. The latter regularly issues this data in publications such as its Annual Fraud Report: in 2021 for instance, UK Finance recorded gross annual losses of roughly £583 million, an increase of 39% by value over 2020, of which roughly £271 million (46%) was returned to victims. Due to changes in how APP scams are identified and reported, UK Finance note that data for years prior to 2020 is not directly comparable. More comprehensive data on APP scams can be found in UK Finance’s 2022 Fraud Report:
www.ukfinance.org.uk/policy-and-guidance/reports-and-publications/annual-fraud-report-2022
More specific data regarding the impact of APP scams on individual payment service providers does not usually form a part of these publications. However, as detailed in its 2021 consultation on APP scams, the PSR has proposed requiring the 12 largest groups of UK payment service providers (including the main High Street banks) to publish a balanced scorecard of APP scam data on a six-monthly basis, setting out their individual performance in relation to APP scams. This would include their APP scam rates, their rates of reimbursement for customers scammed, as well as comparative data on the providers receiving APP scam payments. The PSR expect the provision of this data to provide strong reputational incentives on payment service providers to reduce APP scam losses incurred by consumers, both through preventing APP scams and reimbursing those who are scammed. The PSR will respond to this consultation in due course.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2022 to Question 17100 on Diesel: Prices, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of an essential user rebate of 15ppl on fuel duty; and whether he has had recent discussions on this topic with the representatives of the Road Haulage Association.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on (20 June) to the Hon Member for Weaver Vale.
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: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2022 to Question 25897 on Airlines: Contracts, what recent assessment he has made of the impact on (a) tax revenues and (b) the UK economy of UK-based airlines utilising non-UK-based sub-contractors on an aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance basis for passenger flights originating in the UK.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
UK airlines lease aircraft and crew from foreign airlines to provide additional capacity, often during the summer holiday peak. The flexibility to bring in additional capacity for limited periods is welcomed by the UK’s largest carriers to manage seasonal peaks or when aircraft and crew are otherwise unavailable.
This summer has seen an increase in this type of activity for several reasons including shortage of aircraft and of cabin crew.
How the leasing of foreign aircraft and crew develops is something the Government will keep under review as the market recovers and evolves following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to minimise the amount of interest charged to people whose self-assessment tax accounts are in query and who face delays in receiving information from HMRC.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC does not have an estimate of the amount of interest that is being charged on tax that is outstanding on self-assessment tax accounts and this information could only be obtained and compiled at a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of interest charged to people whose self-assessment tax accounts have been queried and who face delays in receiving information from HMRC.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC does not have an estimate of the amount of interest that is being charged on tax that is outstanding on self-assessment tax accounts and this information could only be obtained and compiled at a disproportionate cost.