Asked by: Luke Charters (Labour - York Outer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his international counterparts on helping to implement sanctions on Russian crude oil exports.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Sanctions are at their most effective when countries work together. We continue to work closely with G7 and other partners to ensure our sanctions have the maximum impact on Russia, including by restricting the energy revenues fuelling its war machine. The Government has already taken action to that end.
At the recent European Political Community Summit, the UK secured the agreement of 44 European countries plus the European Union to work together to disrupt and deter Russia's 'shadow fleet', which is undermining our sanctions and poses environmental and security threats. We continue to explore a range of options to deepen our sanctions regime, and enforcement, including in the energy sector.
Asked by: Luke Charters (Labour - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to implement the second bullet point of recommendation two in section seven of the report by the UK Commission on Bereavement entitled Bereavement is everyone's business, published in October 2022.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This recommendation concerns extending Bereavement Support Payment to 6 years or until completion of secondary education for the youngest child, from its current duration of 18 months. However, BSP is not a cost-of-living benefit but is intended to help with the immediate costs of bereavement. Where longer-term income support is needed, individuals can look to benefits such as Universal Credit, which have been specifically designed to provide ongoing assistance with living costs. Whilst we welcome the report, we have no current plans to change the duration of bereavement support payment.
Asked by: Luke Charters (Labour - York Outer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the (a) access to and (b) availability of cash for (i) businesses and (ii) consumers in York Outer constituency.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to protecting access to cash for individuals and businesses. The most recent analysis undertaken by the FCA on cash access coverage across the UK found that in Q2 2023, over 99% of people in urban areas are within 1 mile of a cash access point offering withdrawals, and over 98% of people in rural areas are within 3 miles of a cash access point offering withdrawals. Further details of this analysis, including a breakdown of cash access coverage by Local Authority District is available on the FCA website: https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/data/access-cash-coverage-uk-2023-q2
The Financial Conduct Authority is the regulator responsible for access to cash further to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, with powers to seek to ensure the reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities for individuals and businesses, including free withdrawal services for individuals. The FCA has recently published its final rules setting out its regulatory approach to protecting access to cash. These can be found on the FCA's website: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/policy/ps24-8.pdf
The Government also recognises the importance of banking to communities and high streets. The Government has therefore committed to work closely with banks to roll out at least 350 banking hubs, which provide individuals and businesses up and down the country with critical cash and banking services.
Asked by: Luke Charters (Labour - York Outer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she plans to take to support the provision of bank hubs in local communities across the UK.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to protecting access to cash for individuals and businesses. The most recent analysis undertaken by the FCA on cash access coverage across the UK found that in Q2 2023, over 99% of people in urban areas are within 1 mile of a cash access point offering withdrawals, and over 98% of people in rural areas are within 3 miles of a cash access point offering withdrawals. Further details of this analysis, including a breakdown of cash access coverage by Local Authority District is available on the FCA website: https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/data/access-cash-coverage-uk-2023-q2
The Financial Conduct Authority is the regulator responsible for access to cash further to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, with powers to seek to ensure the reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities for individuals and businesses, including free withdrawal services for individuals. The FCA has recently published its final rules setting out its regulatory approach to protecting access to cash. These can be found on the FCA's website: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/policy/ps24-8.pdf
The Government also recognises the importance of banking to communities and high streets. The Government has therefore committed to work closely with banks to roll out at least 350 banking hubs, which provide individuals and businesses up and down the country with critical cash and banking services.
Asked by: Luke Charters (Labour - York Outer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking with the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation to enforce the UK’s sanctions regime.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) is responsible for civil enforcement of the UK’s financial sanctions regimes.
OFSI is committed to ensuring that the UK has the strongest possible capability to implement and enforce the UK’s financial sanctions. OFSI has scaled up its enforcement capabilities through legislative changes and expanded its team, allowing it to progress a higher number of complex investigations. For example, in the financial year 2022 – 2023 OFSI increased resource in its enforcement team by 175%.
OFSI expects to see the first monetary penalties resulting from breaches related to the 2022 Russia designations in 2024.
Asked by: Luke Charters (Labour - York Outer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to tackle business fraud.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this devastating crime. We will tackle the criminals responsible for fraud at home and overseas, work with industry to make it much more difficult to commit fraud, and support victims across the UK.
Asked by: Luke Charters (Labour - York Outer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to improve outcomes for patients who have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is working with NHS England to deliver interventions to improve outcomes for those with pancreatic cancer across England. Early diagnosis is imperative to improving outcomes for all types of cancer, especially pancreatic due to the non-specific nature of its symptoms. As the first step to ensuring faster diagnosis and treatment, we will deliver an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week. For pancreatic cancer specifically, NHS England is providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at inherited high-risk to identify lesions before they develop into cancer. NHS England is additionally creating pathways to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms, and is increasing direct access for general practitioners to diagnostic tests.
Additionally, the Getting it Right First-Time (GIRFT) team in NHS England is undertaking a deep dive into pancreatic cancer, which will highlight good practice and actions National Health Service providers need to take to improve services. NHS England is also funding a new audit into pancreatic cancer, aiming to provide regular and timely evidence to cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, to increase the consistency of access to treatments and to stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients.
Asked by: Luke Charters (Labour - York Outer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number of businesses in the Yorkshire and the Humber region that experienced fraud in the last financial year.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office does not hold data on the number of businesses in the Yorkshire and the Humber region that experienced fraud in the last financial year.
The Economic Crime Survey 2024 is a representative survey of businesses, which is currently conducting fieldwork, and will build the evidence base on the incidents and nature of fraud against businesses in the UK.
Asked by: Luke Charters (Labour - York Outer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to take further steps to tackle consumer fraud.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this devastating crime.
We will tackle the criminals responsible for fraud at home and overseas, work with industry to make it much more difficult to commit fraud, and support victims across the UK.