Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using a potential digital pound for its own disbursements and cash management.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
No decision has yet been made to issue a digital pound. HM Treasury and the Bank of England continue to explore the feasibility and potential design choices of a digital pound as part of the current design phase. The exploration of a digital pound considers the future of central bank money, meaning that this project supports the Bank of England’s primary objectives on monetary and financial stability.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the fiscal impact of a potential digital pound by way of increased seigniorage revenue.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
No decision has yet been made to issue a digital pound. HM Treasury and the Bank of England continue to explore the feasibility and potential design choices of a digital pound as part of the current design phase. The exploration of a digital pound considers the future of central bank money, meaning that this project supports the Bank of England’s primary objectives on monetary and financial stability.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing VAT on veterinary (a) services and (b) medicines for 12 months and then undertaking a review of that policy; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of that policy on costs for pet owners.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
VAT has been designed as a broad-based tax on consumption, and the twenty per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services, including veterinary medicines and veterinary services. While there are exceptions to the standard rate, these have always been strictly limited by both legal and fiscal considerations.
Although all taxes are kept under review, the Government has no plans to change the VAT treatment of veterinary services or medicines.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of children in the UK who live in a household in debt in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government does not hold this information.
The Government carefully monitors trends in household finances in order to inform policy making to help people manage their money well, encourage them to save, and access support if they need to get their finances back on track. It does so by working closely with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and engages regularly with a range of other stakeholders on their research and findings.
The FCA conducts a biennial Financial Lives Survey of 16,000 adults which provides a comprehensive insight into the finances of the UK population. The latest findings from the survey were published in February 2021. MaPS monitor financial difficulty through an annual survey of 22,000 people. MaPS will publish the results of the 2021 Debt Need Survey early next year.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to support disabled children and their families to access health, education and care services during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The government has to date provided the NHS with over £27bn to support its response to and recovery from Coronavirus, which includes the provision of healthcare services to disabled children. This is part of the overall £87bn support for health services since the start of the pandemic.
The government has also provided over £6 billion in un-ringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19, including in children’s social care.
We are increasing education funding for children with complex special educational needs and disabilities by nearly a quarter in two years, to £8 billion this year.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that free-to-use cash points are available in the places that they are needed.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government created the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group in 2019, which has provided a forum for the public bodies to formally co-ordinate respective approaches to access to cash. This is chaired by HM Treasury and attended by the Bank of England, Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Group published an update on the actions of the Group’s members in July 2020. This included work led by the PSR and FCA to develop a comprehensive picture of cash access infrastructure across the UK.
With regards to ATMs, LINK (the scheme that runs the UK’s largest ATM network) has existing arrangements in place to protect free-to-use ATMs that do not have another free-to-use ATM or Post Office within one kilometre. LINK’s members have also made £5 million available to fund ATMs at the request of communities with poor access to cash. The PSR has powers to regulate LINK and is holding it to account over its commitment to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs.
The Government also continues to be fully supportive of the Post Office Banking Framework Agreement. The agreement allows 95% of business and 99% of personal banking customers to carry out their everyday banking at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK until December 2022. The terms of future Banking Framework Agreements are commercial decisions between industry and the Post Office. The Government will continue to engage with industry and the Post Office to ensure that that all customers, wherever they live, continue to have access to over the counter banking services.
Industry-led initiatives to support financial inclusion and access to cash are also underway. This includes the Community Access to Cash Pilots initiative which is taking place in nine locations across the UK. This initiative is trialling additional cash access facilities – including new ATMs, automated cash deposit facilities and cashback without a purchase – within selected pilot areas. These pilots are to test solutions for ensuring that communities can conveniently withdraw and deposit cash and to identify ways that basic banking services can be better delivered, that could be adopted in other locations. The Government looks forward to the outcomes of these pilots.
The Government has committed to legislate to protect access to cash and ensure that the UK’s cash infrastructure is sustainable for the long term. To progress this work, the Government published a Call for Evidence on Access to Cash in October 2020. The Call for Evidence sought views on the key considerations associated with cash access, including deposit and withdrawal facilities, cash acceptance, and regulatory oversight of the cash system. The Government is considering responses to the Call for Evidence and will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to support the introduction of free-to-use deposit-taking ATMs across the UK.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government created the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group in 2019, which has provided a forum for the public bodies to formally co-ordinate respective approaches to access to cash. This is chaired by HM Treasury and attended by the Bank of England, Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Group published an update on the actions of the Group’s members in July 2020. This included work led by the PSR and FCA to develop a comprehensive picture of cash access infrastructure across the UK.
With regards to ATMs, LINK (the scheme that runs the UK’s largest ATM network) has existing arrangements in place to protect free-to-use ATMs that do not have another free-to-use ATM or Post Office within one kilometre. LINK’s members have also made £5 million available to fund ATMs at the request of communities with poor access to cash. The PSR has powers to regulate LINK and is holding it to account over its commitment to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs.
The Government also continues to be fully supportive of the Post Office Banking Framework Agreement. The agreement allows 95% of business and 99% of personal banking customers to carry out their everyday banking at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK until December 2022. The terms of future Banking Framework Agreements are commercial decisions between industry and the Post Office. The Government will continue to engage with industry and the Post Office to ensure that that all customers, wherever they live, continue to have access to over the counter banking services.
Industry-led initiatives to support financial inclusion and access to cash are also underway. This includes the Community Access to Cash Pilots initiative which is taking place in nine locations across the UK. This initiative is trialling additional cash access facilities – including new ATMs, automated cash deposit facilities and cashback without a purchase – within selected pilot areas. These pilots are to test solutions for ensuring that communities can conveniently withdraw and deposit cash and to identify ways that basic banking services can be better delivered, that could be adopted in other locations. The Government looks forward to the outcomes of these pilots.
The Government has committed to legislate to protect access to cash and ensure that the UK’s cash infrastructure is sustainable for the long term. To progress this work, the Government published a Call for Evidence on Access to Cash in October 2020. The Call for Evidence sought views on the key considerations associated with cash access, including deposit and withdrawal facilities, cash acceptance, and regulatory oversight of the cash system. The Government is considering responses to the Call for Evidence and will set out next steps in due course.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to require private creditors to cancel debt owed by developing countries during the covid-19 pandemic.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The UK recognises the debt burden faced by developing countries during the Covid-19 pandemic. Support for developing countries is a key priority for the UK’s G7 presidency this year, and this includes delivering effective debt treatments that free up fiscal space to respond to the pandemic.
We regularly work with our international partners in the G7, G20 and Paris Club on debt issues, including private sector participation in debt restructurings. As such, we are supportive of the full and swift implementation of the Common Framework. The Common Framework is a G20 agreement that brings together, for the first time, G20 creditors to participate in coordinated debt restructurings.
Under the Common Framework, private sector creditors will be required to implement debt restructurings on at least as favourable terms as official creditors. This agreement should pave the way for more efficient, equitable, and effective case-by-case debt restructurings, which will allow low income countries to benefit from a more transparent and responsive approach to seeking debt treatment.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an impact assessment of the potential effect of Budget 2021 on women working in the (a) wedding and (b) the hair and beauty industries.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Treasury carefully considers the impact of its decisions on those sharing protected characteristics, including at Budgets and other fiscal events, in line with its legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010.
Measures announced at Budget which the wedding and hair and beauty sectors may benefit from include an extension of the furlough scheme until September; extensions to the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS); 12 months of relief from business rates; a new UK-wide recovery loan scheme; enhanced Time to Pay for taxes; a 12 month VAT cut; and cash grants to protects businesses. The Government recognises that employees in the wedding events sector, and the hair and beauty sector are more likely to be female. Therefore, in as much as these business support measures contribute to business survival, and thus the continued employment of these employees, these support measures will benefit women working in these sectors.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to support small and medium-sized businesses in the construction industry through the changes required as a result of the implementation of VAT reverse charge.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government recognised that the introduction of the reverse charge will have an impact on cashflow for some affected businesses in the construction sector, and provided a long lead in time. The measure has also been delayed twice to allow businesses more time to prepare and also in recognition of the impact of COVID-19. HMRC have published guidance on reducing cash flow impacts and have written to affected businesses on three occasions signposting where to obtain information and outlining the steps they need to take to prepare.
More broadly, the Government has provided a very substantial level of support to business through the various COVID-19 schemes.
All businesses and self-employed people in financial distress and with outstanding tax liabilities may be eligible to receive support with their tax affairs through HMRC's Payment Support service.