Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions her Department has had with Barclays Bank on technical issues impacting (a) payments and (b) transactions for customers in (i) Newcastle-under-Lyme and (ii) Staffordshire since 31 January 2025.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government was sorry to hear of the issues impacting Barclays customers over the weekend including those in my Hon. Friend’s constituency but understands that Barclays’ services are restored, and the firm has committed to ensure customers are not left out of pocket as a result of the issues.
Engagement with specific firms is a matter for the sector’s regulators, including the Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, who will continue to monitor the firm and the impact of the issues.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an estimate of the number of people impacted by the Barclays IT outage in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government was sorry to hear of the issues impacting Barclays customers over the weekend including those in my Hon. Friend’s constituency but understands that Barclays’ services are restored, and the firm has committed to ensure customers are not left out of pocket as a result of the issues.
Engagement with specific firms is a matter for the sector’s regulators, including the Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, who will continue to monitor the firm and the impact of the issues.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to reduce food waste in her Department.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury’s buildings are managed by the Government Property Agency (GPA). The GPA are responsible for the provision of catering services across our sites and the disposal of food waste.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of removing VAT from defibrillator sales in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme, (b) Staffordshire and (c) England.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government currently provides VAT reliefs to aid the purchase of defibrillators. For example, when an AED is purchased with funds provided by a charity and then donated to an eligible body no VAT is charged. Furthermore, all state schools in England have been fitted with AEDs.VAT is the UK's second largest tax forecast to raise £176 billion in 2024/25, and taxation is a vital source of revenue which helps to fund public services. Tax breaks reduce this revenue and must represent value for money for the tax payer. Evidence suggests that businesses only partially pass on any VAT reliefs to the consumer.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much tax was taken on the interest accrued on Russian assets frozen in UK banks in each of the last five years.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI)’s, part of HM Treasury, announced in its 2022-2023 Annual Review that between February 2022 and October 2023, £22.7 billion in frozen funds had been reported in relation to the Russia sanctions regime. OFSI does not disclose the value held by particular designated persons and so the figure is provided as a cumulative total of assets reported.
Frozen assets are not transferred to HM Treasury and there is no change of ownership. Interest accrued on frozen assets remains subject to the asset freeze, and are to be frozen immediately by the person in possession or control of them. There is no obligation for a relevant institution to inform OFSI when it credits an account with interest and therefore OFSI does not hold this information.
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the number of pay to use ATMs in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq
The operator of the UK’s largest ATM network, LINK, publishes data on the number of ATMs across each parliamentary constituency. This includes a breakdown of the number of pay-to-use ATMs operated by the LINK network. In the constituency of Newcastle-under-Lyme, LINK operated 17 pay-to-use ATMs out of a total of 81 cash access points.
The data can be accessed at: https://www.link.co.uk/data-research/the-atm-network
Asked by: Adam Jogee (Labour - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to increase access to cash in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq
While the ongoing trend in payments in the UK has been away from cash and towards digital payment methods, the government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups.
For this reason, cash access has been protected in UK law. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 provides the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities across the UK.
In July 2024, the FCA published its final rules setting out its approach to regulating access to cash, which come into force on 18 September. Under these rules, designated firms – which include the UK’s largest banks and building societies, as well as the ATM operator, LINK – will be required to conduct an assessment in response to a service closure or a cash access request from local residents, community organisations and representatives, and provide additional cash services if there is a need for it. LINK conducts these assessments of access to cash needs in communities and can recommend additional shared services, such as shared Banking Hubs or cash deposit services. Further information can be found via its website.