Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding in Barnett consequentials the Welsh Government will receive as a result of funding allocated to the Sheffield light rail project.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Barnett formula is being applied in the normal way to any planned changes in the Department for Transport’s budget, as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.
Full details of any Barnett consequentials for the Welsh Government will be set out at future fiscal events, estimates rounds and spending reviews.
The UKG has so far announced almost £7 billion in Barnett consequentials to the devolved administrations in response to Covid-19.
This means £2.1 billion for the Welsh Government to support people, business and public services in Wales. This includes over £200m of Barnett consequentials in relation to Covid-19 funding announced by the UK government for railway services in England.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding from the public purse will be allocated to Wales under the Barnett consequentials following expenditure on the Manchester light rail project.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Barnett formula is being applied in the normal way to any planned changes in the Department for Transport’s budget, as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.
Full details of any Barnett consequentials for the Welsh Government will be set out at future fiscal events, estimates rounds and spending reviews.
The UKG has so far announced almost £7 billion in Barnett consequentials to the devolved administrations in response to Covid-19.
This means £2.1 billion for the Welsh Government to support people, business and public services in Wales. This includes over £200m of Barnett consequentials in relation to Covid-19 funding announced by the UK government for railway services in England.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Barnett consequentials are for Wales from the West Midlands light rail project.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Barnett formula is being applied in the normal way to any planned changes in the Department for Transport’s budget, as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.
Full details of any Barnett consequentials for the Welsh Government will be set out at future fiscal events, estimates rounds and spending reviews.
The UKG has so far announced almost £7 billion in Barnett consequentials to the devolved administrations in response to Covid-19.
This means £2.1 billion for the Welsh Government to support people, business and public services in Wales. This includes over £200m of Barnett consequentials in relation to Covid-19 funding announced by the UK government for railway services in England.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Barnett consequentials are for Wales from the Nottingham light rail project.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Barnett formula is being applied in the normal way to any planned changes in the Department for Transport’s budget, as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.
Full details of any Barnett consequentials for the Welsh Government will be set out at future fiscal events, estimates rounds and spending reviews.
The UKG has so far announced almost £7 billion in Barnett consequentials to the devolved administrations in response to Covid-19.
This means £2.1 billion for the Welsh Government to support people, business and public services in Wales. This includes over £200m of Barnett consequentials in relation to Covid-19 funding announced by the UK government for railway services in England.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the equity of interest rates charged by credit card companies deferring payments on loans as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
On 14 April, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published guidance that sets out what it expects firms to do for customers facing payment difficulties due to the exceptional circumstances arising from COVID-19.
In relation to credit cards, the guidance states that firms should exercise forbearance in the form of suspending, reducing, waiving, or cancelling any further interest or charges, deferring payment of arrears, or accepting token payments for a reasonable period of time.
The guidance also covers credit card rates, with the expectation that firms review their prices to consider whether they are consistent with the obligation to treat customers fairly and to ensure that they do not pose unjustifiable burdens on customers who may be experiencing temporary payment difficulties.
The Government is committed to doing whatever it takes to get our nation through the impacts of COVID-19 and will continue to work closely with the FCA and industry. The Government stands ready to announce further action wherever necessary.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the covid-19 outbreak, whether he has plans to provide emergency funding to the Welsh Government; and what discussions he has had with the Welsh Government on accessing the HM Treasury Reserve as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy published in November 2015.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
As of the 18th March the UK government has provided the Welsh Government with £1.6 billion of funding to support people, businesses and public services affected by COVID-19.
The funding provided is in addition to the UK-wide support to tackle the impact of COVID-19, such as extending Statutory Sick Pay, making it easier and quicker to access benefits, and providing a Business Interruption Loan Scheme.
The UK government will continue to work closely with the devolved administrations as the situation develops to ensure they have the funding needed to tackle the impacts of COVID-19.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how the £360 million Barnett allocation for Wales arising from Budget 2020 was calculated.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
As set out in the Statement of Funding Policy, the Barnett formula was applied where Budget measures changed UK government Departmental Expenditure Limits. Barnett consequentials were generated for the Welsh Government where measures related to programmes that are devolved in Wales.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Barnett consequential payment will be to Wales arising from the £3,000 grant to be made available to English businesses as part of the Government’s response to the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
From the measures announced to support to people, businesses and public services affected by COVID-19 the devolved administrations will receive over £5.2 billion. In total the UK Government has provided the Welsh Government with £1.6 billion to date.
The funding provided is in addition to the UK-wide support to tackle the impact of COVID-19, such as extending Statutory Sick Pay, making it easier and quicker to access benefits, and providing a Business Interruption Loan Scheme.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on Barclays' overdraft pricing changes planned for March 2020.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with many organisations in the public and private sectors on a variety of issues.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is operationally independent from Government and carries out its functions, including its work on the High-cost Credit Review and reforms to overdrafts, within the framework of statutory objectives and duties agreed by Parliament.
In June 2019, the FCA announced new rules governing how firms can charge for overdrafts as part of their High-cost Credit Review. These include mandating that firms cannot charge more for unarranged overdrafts than arranged overdrafts, banning fixed daily and monthly charges, and a package of measures to improve the transparency of pricing.
Overall the FCA expects these changes to make overdrafts simpler, fairer, and easier to manage and will protect the millions of consumers that use overdrafts, particularly more vulnerable consumers. According to their analysis, 7 out of 10 overdraft users will be better off or see no change to their fees.
In instances where consumers see increased fees on their overdrafts firms are required to develop strategies to reduce repeat use harm and incorporate monitoring and identification systems into their processes. Firms must make appropriate interventions if they identify that a customer is in financial difficulty, including presenting options for reducing use. If constituents think these changes to overdrafts will put them in financial difficulty, or are worried about higher charges, they should contact their bank.
Asked by: Jonathan Edwards (Independent - Carmarthen East and Dinefwr)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the schedule is of payments to the EU under terms of the Withdrawal Agreement.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The OBR’s most recent estimate of the financial settlement, taking account of Article 50 extension to 31st October 2019, estimated that the vast majority of payments (85%) will be made by 2025. The OBR will publish an updated forecast at the Budget.
The Government’s objective is to publish information that gives an accurate and comprehensive picture of the financial settlement including, for example, forecast payments to and receipts from the EU. As part of this, the Government presents to Parliament each year the European Union Finances statement, and the 2018 version includes an annex devoted to EU withdrawal and detailed information on the financial settlement. The Government will continue to produce the EU Finances statement now that we have left the EU.