Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the total value of money held by UK adults on crypto exchanges.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published consumer research in June 2021, which offered insight into the cryptoassets market in the UK. The FCA found that 4.4% of UK adults currently hold cryptocurrency, or approximately 2.3 million consumers.
The Cryptoasset Taskforce – HM Treasury, the Bank of England, the FCA and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) – continues to monitor ongoing development in cryptoasset markets, and is taking forward a number of regulatory initiatives to manage risks and support innovation.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will provide a breakdown of his Department's communications budget for the year 2021-22.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Expenditure on communications staffing was £2,629,182, and non-pay related items/services for the communications team was £763,291 in 2021-22.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the projected efficacy of Sustainability Disclosure Requirements in changing the behaviour of UK banks.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The document ‘Greening Finance: A Roadmap to Sustainable Investing’ sets out an indicative pathway to introducing coordinated Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) across the economy.
This set out our framework for greening the financial system in phases. The first is informing investors and consumers – addressing the information gaps in the market and ensuring a flow of decision-useful information on environmental sustainability from corporates to financial market participants, including banks. This is the main aim of SDR: to increase transparency for market participants to ensure they have the information they need to factor sustainability into their investment decisions.
Phase two in the Roadmap is about acting on that information. The government set out its expectation that, as this information becomes available and develops over time, the UK’s pensions and investment sectors – asset managers, asset owners, and the service providers that support them – will have the data to act as effective and responsible stewards of capital.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the total cost of creating the Royal Mint non-fungible token; and if he will provide a breakdown of that cost by spending on (a) staff time and resource, (b) development, (c) marketing and (d) other relevant costs.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Chancellor has asked the Royal Mint to produce a non-fungible token (NFT) as an emblem of the UK’s forward-looking approach to crypto-technologies.
The Royal Mint staff involved in the development of the NFT are also involved in a number of other commercial activities. Work on the NFT is at an exploratory phase and costs are not separately identifiable.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what projections he has made about changes in the use of unsecured credit over the next 12 months.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
HM Treasury regularly monitors changes in the consumer credit market as part of its normal process of policy development. However, it does not routinely forecast consumer credit usage, including use of unsecured credit.
It is worth noting that the ONS Quarterly National Accounts found that the household debt to income ratio has decreased to 136% in Q4 2021, down from a high of 163% in Q1 2008. Around three quarters of total debt is secured against housing. Unsecured debt as a share of household income is now 32% (Q4 2021), down from its peak of 43% before the financial crisis (Q1 2007).
Further retrospective analysis of trends in consumer credit product usage is produced by other organisations, including the Bank of England’s monthly statistical releases on money and credit and the Financial Conduct Authority’s Financial Lives Surveys.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to review the regulatory requirement on withdrawable capital for co-operative and mutual banks.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recognises the value of co-operatives. It is clear that they offer a different form of running a business, with a focus on delivering the services their members and communities need. Furthermore, the Government welcomes the efforts to establish regional mutual banks and recognises the importance of diversity in the banking system.
The Government also recognises that, given their distinct ownership model, raising capital may present challenges for co-operatives. To support this, in 2014 the Government raised the limit of withdrawable share capital that a member can hold from £20,000 to £100,000 to give co-operatives greater flexibility to raise capital.
The Government does not have any current plans to review this legislation.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential number of bank branch closures in 2022.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recognises the importance of appropriate access to banking. However, decisions on opening and closing branches are a commercial issue for banks and building societies. The Government does not intervene in these decisions or make direct assessments of these branch networks.
The largest banks and building societies have been signed up to the Access to Banking Standard since 2017, which commits them to ensure that customers are well informed about branch closures, the bank’s reasons for closure and options for continued access to banking services.
Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority also sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures that the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.
Alternative options for access can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to make additional green saving bonds available through National Savings & Investments in 2022.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
In October 2021, National Savings & Investments (NS&I) launched a first issue of Green Savings Bonds to give retail savers across the UK the chance to back the Government’s green projects and put their money to work in the fight against climate change. This first issue had a rate of 0.65% gross/AER fixed over a three-year term. In February 2022, NS&I repriced Green Savings Bonds through a second issue at 1.30% gross/AER fixed over a three-year term. This second issue remains on sale to UK retail customers. NS&I and HM Treasury continue to monitor demand for this product.
The retail Green Savings Bonds are part of the UK’s Green Financing Programme, under which the UK also issues sovereign green bonds (or ‘green gilts’) to institutional investors. The Government has announced that it plans to raise a further £10bn via green gilts in the 2022-23 financial year.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support those who rely on medical equipment to live and face rising bills as a result of energy price increases.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Living with a long-term illness or disability can impact significantly on the cost of living. This is why the government invests heavily in supporting disabled people both in and out of work through the welfare system.
The government is committed to help protect customers from price spikes, especially vulnerable customers and is very aware of the difficulties that consumers are experiencing as a result of the rise in energy prices. The Government is providing significant financial support – up to £350 – to the majority of households, which will cover more than half of the April rise in energy bills for the average household. This support is worth £9.1 billion in 2022-23.
The Government is providing further support for vulnerable households, elderly and low-income people through the Warm Home Discount - which is being expanded by a third to 3 million people and increased to £150 – in addition to the continuation of Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments.
The government is also providing an additional £500 million for the Household Support Fund from April, on top of the £500 million we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £1 billion. In England, Local Authorities are best placed to direct this help to those in their areas who need it most and will receive £421 million, whilst the devolved administrations will receive £79 million through the Barnett formula.
The Government continues to support vulnerable groups through NHS services. The additional funding announced at the Spending Review, made possible by the new Health and Social Care Levy, means that the NHS resource budget will increase to over £160 billion in 2024-25. These investments will allow the NHS to continue providing the services people need.
Asked by: Tulip Siddiq (Labour - Hampstead and Kilburn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation in each month from March 2019 to March 2022.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, is the competent authority for financial sanctions in the UK. The number of active staff in OFSI since March 2019 can be found in the table below:
Date | Paid FTE* |
Mar-19 | 35.55 |
Apr-19 | 34.55 |
May-19 | 34.55 |
Jun-19 | 33.55 |
Jul-19 | 37.55 |
Aug-19 | 37.55 |
Sep-19 | 39.55 |
Oct-19 | 38.15 |
Nov-19 | 37.42 |
Dec-19 | 38.44 |
Jan-20 | 38.22 |
Feb-20 | 37.22 |
Mar-20 | 36.95 |
Apr-20 | 36.95 |
May-20 | 35.95 |
Jun-20 | 35.95 |
Jul-20 | 35.95 |
Aug-20 | 35.95 |
Sep-20 | 36.95 |
Oct-20 | 35.95 |
Nov-20 | 36.95 |
Dec-20 | 36.55 |
Jan-21 | 37.55 |
Feb-21 | 37.55 |
Mar-21 | 38.55 |
Apr-21 | 38.55 |
May-21 | 38.55 |
Jun-21 | 40.55 |
Jul-21 | 39.55 |
Aug-21 | 38.8 |
Sep-21 | 38.15 |
Oct-21 | 37.4 |
Nov-21 | 40.15 |
Dec-21 | 42.15 |
Jan-22 | 42.15 |
*This is the number of staff on payroll. The number of active staff may differ.
The number of staff has since increased and is now increasing again, in light of recent developments in Ukraine. Releasing further details of OFSI’s budget and headcount by function could prejudice its operational effectiveness.