Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average number of staff in the (a) Financial Conduct Authority, (b) Prudential Regulation Authority, (c) Financial Ombudsman Service and (d) Financial Services Compensation Scheme attending the office in person on every day on which they worked was in the weeks commencing 9 and 16 January 2023.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), and Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) are operationally independent from the Government although funded by the taxpayer and/or industry levies. Detailed questions about operational matters are for those independent bodies to respond to.
These questions have been passed to the FCA, PRA, FOS and FSCS who will respond to the honourable member by letter.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) headcount and (b) operating costs were for the (i) Financial Conduct Authority, (ii) Prudential Regulation Authority, (iii) Financial Ombudsman Service and (iv) Financial Services Compensation Scheme in the most recent period for which data are available.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), and Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) are operationally independent from the Government although funded by the taxpayer and/or industry levies. Detailed questions about operational matters are for those independent bodies to respond to.
These questions have been passed to the FCA, PRA, FOS and FSCS who will respond to the honourable member by letter.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to make the Gift Aid system more (a) streamlined, (b) efficient, (c) effective and (d) simple for charities.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Government recognises the important work the
charity sector does in the UK, which is why we currently provide tax relief to charities and their donors worth over £5 billion per year, including over £1.3 billion in Gift Aid.
The Government keeps all tax reliefs under review and HM Revenue and Customs is undertaking a review of the ‘Claim Gift Aid online’ service. The review considers all aspects of the service including whether the service meets the needs of its users, the registration and claims process.
HMRC are engaging with the sector to understand the challenges faced when claiming Gift Aid online. One way this is taking place is through inviting charities to complete a short survey about the process. The survey can be found here: https://zwgy80l7.optimalworkshop.com/questions/z6n2hh7v
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to take steps to modernise the process for charities claiming Gift Aid on donations.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
The Government recognises the vitally important work the charity sector does in the UK, which is why we currently provide tax relief to charities and their donors worth over £5 billion per year, including over £1.3 billion in Gift Aid.
HMRC keeps under review all of the processes involved for claiming Gift Aid so that it remains accessible to the charitable sector, as well as their donors.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to improve financial inclusion for people under the age of 18.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Government wants to ensure that people, regardless of their background or income, have access to useful and affordable financial products and services and is committed to ensuring that people build financial capability. This means they are able to use, and maximise their use of, products and services made available by the financial services industry.
To promote financial inclusion and capability, the Government works closely together with regulators and stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors. For people under the age of 18, economic and financial education are important parts of a broad and balanced curriculum that provide the essential knowledge to ensure that young people are prepared to manage money well and make sound financial decisions.
Financial education was made statutory for 11 to 16-year olds within the national curriculum for citizenship in England in 2014. Primary schools can choose to teach citizenship, using non-statutory programmes of study.
To further support schools to deliver high quality financial education, the Money and Pensions Service published financial education guidance for primary and secondary schools in England in 2021. This guidance supports school leaders and education decision makers to enhance the financial education currently delivered in their schools.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if it is his policy to select Darlington as the location of the Treasury's new Northern Economic Campus.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
We are already making significant progress in establishing the Economic Campus in Darlington based in Feethams House. We announced on 26 July 2022 the Brunswick Street site as its new permanent home. We have committed to moving over 1,100 roles to the campus by 2025 from across all seven Departments and agencies based in the campus.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing Government funding for the provision of Entonox cylinders for Mountain Rescue teams.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Mountain Rescue England and Wales are a charitable organisation. They currently receive no direct government funding and the government is not responsible for making equipment decisions.
Asked by: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will introduce a zero rating of VAT for all audiobooks.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
At March Budget 2020 the Government announced the introduction of a zero rate of VAT on certain e-publications (including e-books) to support literacy and reading in all its forms and make it clear that e-books, e-newspapers, e-magazines, and academic e-journals are entitled to the same VAT treatment as their physical counterparts.
The extension of the zero rate of VAT to e-publications was introduced to provide consistency of approach between certain physical and digital publications. Audiobooks are already taxed consistently at the standard rate in both physical and digital formats.
The Government keeps all taxes under review, including VAT, but there are no current plans to extend the VAT zero rate to audiobooks.