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Written Question
Credit
Monday 8th January 2018

Asked by: Lord Elystan-Morgan (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how the UK compares with the Republic of Ireland, Canada and New Zealand in the provision of personal credit to its citizens.

Answered by Lord Bates

The government has not made a formal assessment of this kind.

The Bank for International Settlements publishes international comparisons of credit provision. In the latest figures from Q2 2017, total credit to the non-financial sector as a percentage of GDP was 281.0 in the UK, 345.2 in the Republic of Ireland, 296.0 in Canada, and 208.3 in New Zealand.

Written Question
Credit Unions
Monday 8th January 2018

Asked by: Lord Elystan-Morgan (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assistance they have given to credit unions in the UK in the last two financial years.

Answered by Lord Bates

The government is committed to supporting credit unions, which provide vital services to financially under-served communities and contribute to the diversity of the UK’s financial services sector. Over the last two financial years, the government has done this by:

  • Announcing at Autumn Budget 2017, that where a credit union’s membership conditions are based on locality, a credit union will be able to increase the number of potential members it can have to from 2 to 3 million. The legislation to make this change was laid in November 2017 and comes into force in April 2018.

  • Announcing at Autumn Statement 2016 that, from 2018, an existing scheme which incentivises credit union membership in communities at risk of being targeted by loan sharks, will be expanded. This uses funds recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act from convicted loan sharks.

  • Contributing £600,000 to an initiative developed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Young Enterprise, to start savings clubs in primary schools and educate young children in the benefits of saving. Lifesavers works with local credit unions to help run savings clubs with schoolchildren, and is currently being piloted in six primary schools.

  • Providing funding for the Credit Union Expansion Project, delivered by the Association of British Credit Unions Ltd. In 2017, three credit unions with a total membership of 16,500 began using an online banking platform provided by this project.

Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 12 Jul 2016
Wales: Economic Investment Projects

"My Lords, does the Minister recollect that, when the devolution legislation was going through Parliament about 20 years ago, solemn undertakings were given by the Government of the day, with regard to concordances between the Government and the Welsh Assembly, which were to operate in those fields which had not …..."
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 06 Jul 2015
Greece

"My Lords, can the Minister tell the House as a matter of basic law whether the treaties that brought about the formation of the eurozone and the regulation thereafter contain any provision at all with regard to a member state unilaterally leaving the eurozone of its own accord or the …..."
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 10 Feb 2015
Barnett Formula

"Does the Minister accept that the solemn undertaking given by the Prime Minister on Welsh devolution—that Wales should be at the very heart of devolution—means that as regards the Barnett formula, Wales should be on a par with Scotland in relation to that subvention?..."
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 03 Nov 2014
Barnett Formula

"Does the Minister recollect that our late splendid friend Lord Barnett often said that his formula was intended to be of only very short duration, and that he accepted, particularly in relation to Wales, that it was wholly inequitable for it to be perpetuated from year to year?..."
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Thu 16 Oct 2014
Credit Unions

"My Lords, I join in the expressions of good will that have come from all other Members. So that the House may judge how far we lag behind other countries, will the Minister confirm that, in the United Kingdom, the level of personal credit derived from credit unions is less …..."
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 01 Jul 2014
Payday Loans: Debt Collection

"The watchdog’s report shows that deceit on a massive scale has been perpetrated, but there are two questions that I wish to ask the Minister. First, with regard to the possible criminality involved, is it possible, if not likely, that offences have been committed under Sections 1 and 2 of …..."
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Mon 13 Jan 2014
Banks: Payment Protection Insurance

"My Lords, it is not for the claimant to put his or her claim forward, but for the banks to justify the holding of moneys to which they are in no way entitled. If the banks know that to be the case, are they not deliberately withholding those funds from …..."
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Speech in Lords Chamber - Tue 15 Oct 2013
Financial Conduct Authority

"Perhaps I may raise a point that I have raised on previous occasions. That is to say that the debtor is not entirely without protection in our law. As the Minister will know, a judge of the High Court, or indeed a circuit judge, always has the power in dealing …..."
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