Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to strengthen the system of accountability in the financial sector to ensure that banks are accountable for financial misconduct in (a) the UK and (b) overseas.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is committed to ensuring that the interests of businesses and individuals who use financial services are protected.
In response to the banking crisis and significant conduct failings, Parliament passed legislation leading to the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority applying the Senior Managers and Certification Regime. This regime aims to reduce harm to consumers and govern market integrity by making individuals more accountable for their conduct and competence.
Additionally, the FCA has been given a strong mandate to stop inappropriate behaviour in financial services, and the Government is confident they have the appropriate tools to protect consumers, including powers to ban or restrict products; powers of disclosure; power to take formal action against misleading financial promotions; and a power to accept super-complaints from consumer bodies about competition and consumer problems.
The Chief Executive of the FCA has set out his plans to transform the FCA into a more assertive regulator; testing the limits of its powers and working with other agencies to ensure they bring their own powers to bear, to ensure consumer protection and market integrity.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the changes by the major banks to interest charges on personal overdrafts relative to levels before the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The pricing of financial products, including the interest rates charged on overdrafts, is a commercial decision for firms and the Government does not seek to intervene in, or make assessments of, such decisions.
In April 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) required firms to have implemented new rules governing how they can charge for overdrafts. These included mandating that firms cannot charge more for unarranged overdrafts than arranged overdrafts, banning fixed daily and monthly charges, and a package of measures to improve the transparency of pricing. FCA analysis found that 7 out of 10 overdraft users would be better off or see no change to their overdraft costs as a result of the FCA’s rules.
In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the FCA announced a series of temporary proposals to provide emergency support for consumer credit customers who were facing short-term cash flow problems as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak. On overdrafts, firms were expected to provide up to £500 interest free buffer for customers, if requested, and make sure that customers did not see increased overdraft fees.
In September 2020, the FCA announced updated guidance to ensure that firms continued to provide tailored support for users of consumer credit and overdraft products who continue to face payment difficulties due to Covid-19. Where a customer needs further support, firms are expected to use measures such as reducing or waiving interest, agreeing a programme of staged reductions in the overdraft limit, or supporting customers to reduce their overdraft usage by transferring the debt.
In 2022, the FCA will carry out a post-implementation evaluation of the remedies it introduced on overdrafts.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to avoid a recession in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government’s preference is to leave the EU with a deal and is working in an energetic and determined way to get that deal. The Government has been stepping up preparations for leaving the EU. We have made more than £8 billion available to prepare for EU Exit since the referendum, including £2.1 billion specifically for No Deal planning.
The fundamentals of the British economy are strong – wages are growing at the fastest rate in over a decade, employment is at a joint record high and the unemployment rate is at its lowest in over 40 years. If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, we will be ready, and HM Treasury will be ready to support the economy if needed.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he had had with the Secretary of State for Health on the flexibility of pensions available to NHS (a) doctors and (b) consultants.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government is committed to public service pensions which are fair to workers and fair to other taxpayers. The Government is aware of specific concerns raised by NHS doctors who are impacted by annual allowance tax charges, and we are currently discussing the issue with the Department of Health and Social Care. All public sector pay and pensions policies are kept under constant review.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he had had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on reviewing the annual allowance taper in relation to NHS doctor and consultant pensions.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The Government is committed to public service pensions which are fair to workers and fair to other taxpayers. The Government is aware of specific concerns raised by NHS doctors who are impacted by annual allowance tax charges, and we are currently discussing the issue with the Department of Health and Social Care. All public sector pay and pensions policies are kept under constant review.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department has taken to support the Scottish Government in establishing the Scottish National Investment Bank.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Treasury ministers and officials have regular discussions with our counterparts in the Scottish Government on matters of importance to Scotland and the wider UK, including the Scottish Government’s plans to establish a Scottish National Investment Bank.
The Scottish Government’s new fiscal framework was agreed in December 2016, including increased borrowing powers and a larger Scotland Reserve. It is for the Scottish Government to decide how to use these flexibilities to support the Scottish National Investment Bank.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with the Scottish Government on borrowing limits for the proposed Scottish National Investment Bank.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Treasury ministers and officials have regular discussions with our counterparts in the Scottish Government on matters of importance to Scotland and the wider UK, including the Scottish Government’s plans to establish a Scottish National Investment Bank.
The Scottish Government’s new fiscal framework was agreed in December 2016, including increased borrowing powers and a larger Scotland Reserve. It is for the Scottish Government to decide how to use these flexibilities to support the Scottish National Investment Bank.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which (a) UK Government, (b) devolved and (c) local authority agencies have powers to defer borrowing from one year to the next.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
The ability to borrow direct from markets is highly restricted in government. Government borrowings are largely made up of gilts held by the National loans fund, National savings and Investment products held by the National loans fund and Treasury bills held by the Debt Management Account. This is managed by the debt management office , who publish an annual Debt management report to provide transparency on debt financing.
Managing Public Money (paragraph 5.8, 5.9 and Annex 5.5) set out the rules for central government bodies in respect of borrowing. Treasury approval for borrowing from the National Loans Fund requires Treasury consent and specific legal powers (MPM 5.8.1). External borrowing also requires Treasury approval (MPM 5.9.1). Loan guarantees require provisions in estimates, specific statutory powers and Treasury approval.
Local authorities are responsible for managing their own borrowing plans. Local authorities are not supposed to knowingly borrow in advance of need.
The borrowing caps for the Scottish and Welsh Governments are set out in the respective fiscal framework documents while the borrowing cap for the Northern Ireland Executive is agreed with the Chief Secretary as part of spending review negotiations. The devolved administrations do not have the flexibility to defer borrowing from one year to the next.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of widening the scope of the Women in Finance Charter to other sectors of the economy.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
It is the Government’s aspiration to see diversity across the UK economy. A diverse workforce is good for business – it is good for customers, for profitability and workplace culture.
HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter reflects our ambition to see an improved gender balance in the financial services industry. So far, 300 financial services firms have signed the Charter, committing to implement strategic actions to improve their gender balance at a senior level.
The AAT MP Survey Results positively highlights the need to take action to improve gender diversity across all sectors, as we work towards gender parity as a society.
We recognise that there is still further work to be done to address the gender imbalance in the wider economy, and the need to adopt an industry-led approach so that new initiatives are tailored to the issues each sector is facing. We are pleased to have already seen other sectors take action to improve their gender balance and establish their own initiatives including the Women in Maritime Pledge (the forerunner to the Women in Maritime Charter), the Women in Aviation and Aerospace Charter and the Tech Talent Charter.
We are supportive of this approach and encourage other sectors to consider what further action they can take to improve their gender balance. We will continue to focus on strengthening industry-led work in this area, and sharing knowledge and best practice across sectors, to maximise their impact on the wider economy.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will rename the Women in Finance Charter to reflect the contribution of women across the whole of the economy.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
It is the Government’s aspiration to see diversity across the UK economy. A diverse workforce is good for business – it is good for customers, for profitability and workplace culture.
HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter reflects our ambition to see an improved gender balance in the financial services industry. So far, 300 financial services firms have signed the Charter, committing to implement strategic actions to improve their gender balance at a senior level.
The AAT MP Survey Results positively highlights the need to take action to improve gender diversity across all sectors, as we work towards gender parity as a society.
We recognise that there is still further work to be done to address the gender imbalance in the wider economy, and the need to adopt an industry-led approach so that new initiatives are tailored to the issues each sector is facing. We are pleased to have already seen other sectors take action to improve their gender balance and establish their own initiatives including the Women in Maritime Pledge (the forerunner to the Women in Maritime Charter), the Women in Aviation and Aerospace Charter and the Tech Talent Charter.
We are supportive of this approach and encourage other sectors to consider what further action they can take to improve their gender balance. We will continue to focus on strengthening industry-led work in this area, and sharing knowledge and best practice across sectors, to maximise their impact on the wider economy.