Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to support small businesses with cash banking, in the context of closures of physical banks.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In recognition that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those in vulnerable circumstances, the government legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to establish a new legislative framework to protect access to cash. This establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash and provides it with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities.
Following this legislation, the government published a Cash Access Policy Statement. This set out that the vast majority of people should be no further than 1 mile from access to cash deposit and withdrawal services in predominately urban areas, and no further than 3 miles in predominately rural areas. The FCA is required to have regard to this statement when exercising its access to cash powers.
The government considers that this legislation will support businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they have reasonable access to deposit facilities.
The FCA recently held a consultation on its proposed regulatory approach: FCA Access to Cash Consultation. The FCA is currently considering feedback and expects to publish its final rules in the third quarter of this year.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to take legislative steps to help ensure public access to cash.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In recognition that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those in vulnerable circumstances, the government legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to establish a new legislative framework to protect access to cash. This establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash and provides it with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities.
Following this legislation, the government published a Cash Access Policy Statement. This set out that the vast majority of people should be no further than 1 mile from access to cash deposit and withdrawal services in predominately urban areas, and no further than 3 miles in predominately rural areas. The FCA is required to have regard to this statement when exercising its access to cash powers.
The government considers that this legislation will support businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they have reasonable access to deposit facilities.
The FCA recently held a consultation on its proposed regulatory approach: FCA Access to Cash Consultation. The FCA is currently considering feedback and expects to publish its final rules in the third quarter of this year.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to reinforce the status of cash as legal tender.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The forms of payment that are accepted should remain the choice of individual businesses , based on their consideration of factors such as customer preference and cost.
Nevertheless, the Government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 established a new legislative framework to protect access to cash for consumers and businesses.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to help increase the adoption of electric vehicles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Government grants have been in place for over a decade to help reduce the up-front purchase price of electric vehicles, with over £1.8 billion in grant funding provided since 2011. Grants remain available for vans, trucks, wheelchair accessible vehicles and taxis. Favourable tax benefits also remain in place to support the transition to EVs.
These policies are working. March 2024 saw the highest ever recorded volume of monthly battery electric vehicle registrations in the UK, with manufacturers reporting over 48,000 vehicles sold.
As stated in the Plan for Drivers, the Government will also continue to support the uptake of zero emission vehicles, by addressing common misconceptions and showing how they can be a practical option for most drivers.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps to prevent the accumulation of debt among carers due to (a) delayed investigation and (b) non-investigation of overpayment alerts.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The DWP is progressing an enhanced notification strategy for Carers’ Allowance, to help claimants understand when they may have received an earnings-related overpayment, and to meet their obligation to inform the Department of changes in their income and other relevant circumstances. This will be designed to help prevent Carer’s Allowance claimants accumulating debt.
As part of that, DWP is considering the most effective and efficient way of contacting customers when alerted to a potential change in the customer’s income, building on existing communications. This could include targeted text messaging, email, phone calls or letters.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many carer’s allowance overpayment cases that have not been investigated by his Department; and how many such cases there were in each of the last five years.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are unable to provide a response as it is unclear from your question as to the information you seek.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2023 to Question 6880 on Cycling: Pedestrian Areas, whether he plans to develop targeted educational campaigns to improve cyclists' knowledge of pedestrian safety.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Active Travel England is providing £50 million to expand Bikeability cycle training to a million more young people between 2023 and 2025 as part of a projected £3 billion investment in active travel up to 2025. This will help to improve standards of cycling behaviour by teaching young cyclists the rules of the road. In addition, a THINK! Campaign, with significant media investment, supported the changes made to The Highway Code in January 2022. The campaign aimed to raise awareness and understanding of the changes, helping to improve road safety for people walking cycling and horse riding. It included messaging on the hierarchy of road users, making clear that those road users who can do the greatest harm have the greatest responsibility to reduce the danger or threat they may pose to others.
There are no further plans to develop a targeted educational campaign to improve cyclists’ knowledge of pedestrian safety.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2023 to Question 6880 on Cycling: Pedestrian Areas, if his Department will make such an assessment.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has no plans to make such an assessment.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2024 to Question 15138 on Cycling: Pedestrian Areas, how he plans to support the DVSA in increasing awareness of Rule 64 of the Highway Code among cyclists.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Factual awareness-raising and behaviour change campaigns took place in 2022 and 2023, to highlight the changes the Department made to the Highway Code in January 2022, as part of helping to improve road safety for people walking, cycling, and horse riding.
The campaigns were supported by significant media resource: utilising channels such as radio, digital audio, video on demand, and social media advertising. This approach has helped the Department and DVSA to increase awareness of the relevant Highway Code rules for cycling.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We will publish the National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides (NAP) shortly. It will set out Defra’s ambition to minimise the risks and impacts of pesticides to human health and the environment and the actions that need to be taken to deliver those goals.
We have not waited for the publication of the NAP to move forward with work to support sustainable pest management. Defra has recently funded a package of research projects that will bring together scientific evidence underpinning Integrated Pest Management (IPM), a sustainable way of managing pests, in order to look at ways of further encouraging its uptake. This work will support farmers’ access to the most effective IPM tools available and ensure that we understand changing trends in pest threats across the UK.