Asked by: Lee Pitcher (Labour - Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an of the potential impact of banks not accepting cheques on groups with protected characteristics; and whether she has discussions about this with (a) the Financial Conduct Authority, (b) the Payment Systems Regulator and (c) UK Finance.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises that cheques remain an important payment method for some people, including those with protected characteristics. UK’s largest retail banks continue to accept cheques through a range of channels, including at bank branches, in banking hubs and the Post Office, by post, and digitally through cheque imaging.
The Treasury has not made a formal assessment of the impact of individual banks’ decisions on specific groups. Where banks have taken commercial decisions to change how they accept cheque deposits, they are expected to consider the needs of customers in vulnerable circumstances and to ensure alternative routes remain available.
The treatment of customers by UK banks is governed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which requires firms to provide a prompt, efficient, and fair service to all of their customers. This includes special considerations for vulnerable customers. In addition, like all service providers, banks and building societies are bound under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, where necessary, in the way they deliver their services. Treasury Ministers and officials engage regularly with the FCA, the Payment Systems Regulator and UK Finance on matters relating to retail banking and payments.
Ensuring everyone has access to the appropriate financial products and services they need is a priority for the Government. That is why we have published the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy which sets out a package of ambitious measures to improve financial inclusion and resilience across the UK. Access to banking is a key area of focus in the Strategy, alongside digital inclusion, including an intervention to make financial products more accessible through an industry-led inclusive design working group. Action to improve financial inclusion requires a joined-up approach, and the Government is committed to continuing to work collaboratively across the UK on this important agenda going forward.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to answer of 4 February 2026, to Question 108748, on Growth Mission Board: Membership, if she will list each of the internal and external members who attended the most recent meeting of the Growth Mission Board.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor chaired the Growth Mission Board. The membership was flexible, at the Chancellor's discretion, with internal and external attendees determined based on their relevance to the agenda. The Growth Mission Board was a Cabinet Committee. It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its committees, including attendance, is not normally shared publicly.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 21 January 2026, to Question 105914, on Cryptocurencies, what information her Department holds on the Financial Conduct Authority and the Financial Stability Board conducting a review into Tether.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMT does not hold any information on this matter.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing statutory protections that would allow surviving policyholders, where the death of a partner has led to terminations of reissuing of joint insurance policies, to continue existing insurance policies until the end of their contract.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly, including where they have suffered a bereavement, and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules. The FCA requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive). FCA rules also require insurers to ensure their communications are clear, fair and not misleading. The FCA have published guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers, including those who may recently have experienced bereavement.
The FCA monitors firms to make sure they comply with these rules, and, where necessary, it has robust powers to take action.
More broadly, insurers make commercial decisions about the terms of cover they offer based on their assessment of the relevant risks. The government does not generally intervene in these decisions by insurance companies.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential benefits of introducing a mandatory bereavement grace period for insurers.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly, including where they have suffered a bereavement, and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules. The FCA requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive). FCA rules also require insurers to ensure their communications are clear, fair and not misleading. The FCA have published guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers, including those who may recently have experienced bereavement.
The FCA monitors firms to make sure they comply with these rules, and, where necessary, it has robust powers to take action.
More broadly, insurers make commercial decisions about the terms of cover they offer based on their assessment of the relevant risks. The government does not generally intervene in these decisions by insurance companies.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff in her Department are reliant on a visa for employment.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
We do not disclose the exact number of staff with visas for data privacy reasons, but can confirm that fewer than five staff members at HM Treasury are reliant on a visa for their right to work in the UK.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to support the growth of (a) small and (b) micro companies.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are taking measures to ensure the wider economic environment is conducive to growth. We are cutting borrowing and debt, and supporting the Bank of England by taking action to bring inflation down – which otherwise dampens investment in the UK and slows economic growth. Government took measures at Budget to reduce consumer price inflation by 0.4pp in 2026/27, which the office for budget responsibility forecast will reduce CPI.
The Government set out its overall approach for supporting SMEs in the Small Business Strategy published in July 2025 and built on this with targeted reforms to support small businesses at Autumn Budget 2025. The Government is committed to a fair tax system that supports small firms, while ensuring the ongoing funding of essential public services and economic stability. Through our changes to Employer National Insurance Contributions, the threshold at which business start paying Employer NICs has doubled to £10,500.
We are supporting employment and skills by changing the rules to fully fund SME apprenticeships training costs for eligible people under the age of 25.
At the Budget we announced an Entrepreneurship package to support starts ups and scale ups. As part of this, Government is undertaking its largest ever injection of capital into the British Business Bank. Over the next five years, the British Business Bank will increase annual deployment by two-thirds, aiming to unlock around £26 billion of private capital alongside £13 billion in public funding, and enable up to an additional £10 billion in small business lending through guarantees. We are also doubling the eligibility of our enterprise tax incentives to boost scale-ups, consulting on plans to reducing business energy prices, and reforming and simplifying regulation.
We have also launched the Business Growth Service, making it easier for all firms, including micro companies, to get the advice and support they need to grow and thrive.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 17 November 2025, to Question 88685, on Coinage: Design, on what dates the Committee and Sub-Committee have met since July 2024; and what changes have been made to coinage theme and design policy since July 2024.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Following the conclusion of each financial year, the Royal Mint Advisory Committee publishes its annual report on the Royal Mint Museum website. These reports contain detail on when the Committee and the Sub-Committee on the selection of themes met over the financial year and themes that were recommended to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in her capacity as Master of the Mint and HM The King. The annual report for 2024-25 can be found here: www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/siteassets/about-us/rmac-annual-report-2024-25.pdf
The annual report for 2025-26 will be published later this year.
All designs for the themes recommended by the Committee can be found on The Royal Mint website, here: Coin Designs and Specifications | The Royal Mint
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the overseas scale rates.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Where employers reimburse allowable travel expenses, tax relief is available provided the expenses are wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred for work purposes.
Ordinarily, employers must hold evidence of the employee’s actual expenditure. However, to reduce administrative burdens on employers, HMRC allows expenses for travel outside the UK to be reimbursed without evidence up to the levels contained within the Overseas Scale Rates. Where the Overseas Scale Rates do not cover the expense incurred by employees, employers can still reimburse and provide tax relief provided they have appropriate evidence.
The government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact on global reinsurance markets of war risk insurance coverage for the Strait of Hormuz being cancelled by marine insurers.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury is in regular contact with the Bank of England, international counterparts, and affected industries, including our maritime sector.
I recently met with Lloyd’s of London as part of the government’s ongoing work to monitor impacts from the unfolding conflict in Iran and the Middle East. The Treasury will continue to monitor global insurance markets, including war risk insurance coverage.