Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has had recent discussions with the Financial Ombudsman Service on resolving complaints of mis-sold timeshares in a timely manner.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The selling of timeshares is outside of Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulation and therefore outside of the remit of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), which can only consider complaints about FCA regulated activities. Where consumers have purchased a timeshare using a product regulated by the FCA, such as consumer credit, they may have recourse to the FOS if that product was mis-sold.
When complaints are made to the FOS, these should be dealt with in a timely manner. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Handbook, which sets out the rules on how the FOS should handle complaints, states that ‘the ombudsman will attempt to resolve complaints at the earliest possible stage’. In its Plans and Budget 2024-25, the FOS has set itself the target of resolving 90 per cent of cases within 6 months and the government will continue to hold the FOS to account on this through its regular engagement with the FOS.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he will alter the existing categories for voluntary National Insurance contributions up to 15 years to include British National (Overseas) visa holders by (a) creating a new category of eligibility for Class 2 and 3 voluntary contributions and (b) carving out an exception for BNO visa holders in the existing requirements for people who have previously worked overseas.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
British National Overseas individuals who live or work abroad (or have previously) are usually able to make backdated voluntary National Insurance contributions payments for the previous six tax years where they have either previously lived in the UK for three years in a row or paid at least three years of contributions.
For the tax years 2016 to 2017 and 2017 to 2018 the government has extended the deadline for paying voluntary contributions to 5 April 2025.
The deadline has also been extended to 5 April 2025 for eligible customers to pay voluntary contributions for the tax years 6 April 2006 to 5 April 2016. Further guidance on the eligibility and deadlines for making voluntary contributions, including for those living or working abroad is published online at: https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions.
The Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the number of private members clubs.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) publish data within its official statistics.
You can view the data on row 198 here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64674a0f62837100123a88ac/NDR_Stock_SCat_2023.xlsx
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring all banks to sign up to the contingent reimbursement model code.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Government recognises the threat posed to consumers by Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, with sophisticated scams that can be detrimental to people’s lives.
That is why the Government has legislated in the Financial Services & Markets Act 2023 to enable the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to require banks and other payment service providers to reimburse APP fraud victims, and placed a duty on the PSR to require reimbursement by payment service providers that use the Faster Payments system (where the vast majority of APP scams currently occur) within 6 months of the legislation coming into force. The Government believes this will ensure more consistent and comprehensive protections for APP scam victims than the existing voluntary contingent reimbursement model code.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has had discussions with payment service providers on mandatory protections for victims of authorised push payment scams.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Government recognises the threat posed to consumers by Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, with sophisticated scams that can be detrimental to people’s lives.
That is why the Government has legislated in the Financial Services & Markets Act 2023 to enable the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to require banks and other payment service providers to reimburse APP fraud victims, and placed a duty on the PSR to require reimbursement by payment service providers that use the Faster Payments system (where the vast majority of APP scams currently occur) within 6 months of the legislation coming into force. The Government believes this will ensure more consistent and comprehensive protections for APP scam victims than the existing voluntary contingent reimbursement model code.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if HMRC will publish the criteria for exceptional circumstances of late applications for Self Employment Income Support Scheme grants.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The guidance on exceptional circumstances for late applications to Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grants was last reviewed in February 2022. This coincided with the final date for making a late claim of 28 February 2022; this date was published in advance on GOV.UK.
HMRC has no plans to publish the criteria for exceptional circumstances of late applications for SEISS grants. The SEISS ended on 30 September 2021. HMRC had limited discretion which was applied in exceptional circumstances. The deadline for making a request to consider a late claim to a SEISS grant was 28 February 2022.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the guidance on exceptional circumstances for late applications to Self Employment Income Support Scheme grants was last reviewed.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The guidance on exceptional circumstances for late applications to Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grants was last reviewed in February 2022. This coincided with the final date for making a late claim of 28 February 2022; this date was published in advance on GOV.UK.
HMRC has no plans to publish the criteria for exceptional circumstances of late applications for SEISS grants. The SEISS ended on 30 September 2021. HMRC had limited discretion which was applied in exceptional circumstances. The deadline for making a request to consider a late claim to a SEISS grant was 28 February 2022.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to improve consumer protections for customers in the event that merchants use a third party payment handler.
Answered by John Glen - Shadow Paymaster General
Payments in the UK have seen rapid change over recent years. These changes offer exciting opportunities for UK businesses and consumers, with many making payments faster and cheaper. However, and as will always be the case with a rapidly changing technological landscape, they also present new challenges and risks.
Given the pace of change, the Government is leading a review of the payments landscape to ensure the right policy approach to these challenges and opportunities. The Government published a Payments Landscape Review Call for Evidence in 2020, setting out and seeking views on its aims and actions for UK payments. The Government’s primary aims include ensuring that UK payments networks operate to the benefit of end users, including consumers. The Government will publish a response to its Call for Evidence shortly, setting out next steps and the long-term vision for UK payments.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will introduce legislation to protect free access to cash for people in (a) the Luton North constituency and (b) the UK.
Answered by John Glen - Shadow Paymaster General
The Government recognises that cash is important to the daily lives of millions of people across the UK, and has committed to legislating to protect access to cash for those who need it and ensuring that the UK's cash infrastructure is sustainable for the long term.
In line with this commitment, the Government published a Call for Evidence last year, which sought views on the key considerations associated with cash access, including deposit and withdrawal facilities, cash acceptance, and regulatory oversight of the cash system.
Since then, the Government has made legislative changes to support the widespread offering of cashback without a purchase by shops and other businesses as part of the Financial Services Act 2021. These changes will come into effect in late June of this year. The Government’s view is that cashback without a purchase has the potential to be a valuable facility to cash users, and to play an important role in the UK’s cash infrastructure.
In addition, the Government has recently announced that it will consult this summer on further legislative proposals for protecting cash for the long term.
Asked by: Sarah Owen (Labour - Luton North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish an evaluation of the (a) financial and (b) public health effects in the Luton North constituency of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - Leader of HM Official Opposition
HMRC published official statistics on the Eat Out to Help Out scheme on 25th November 2020. Regional statistics will be published in due course.
The scheme was designed in a safe and responsible manner to aid business owners who worked hard to implement the social distancing guidelines and make their premises safe. The scheme was designed to boost demand when it is typically lowest – during the week, Monday-Wednesday – rather than at the weekend when some restaurants will face excess demand. It did not include spend on alcohol due to its public health impact, which has significant economic and social costs.
The Government considers the effect of all measures in aggregate, based on a range of epidemiological evidence and the expert advice of SAGE. Public Health England’s National COVID-19 Surveillance Reports over August and the early part of September showed that only a small fraction of incidents investigated were linked to restaurant settings. These reports are available on the Government’s website.