Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions her Department has had with stakeholders in the banking sector on the use of a first school as an (a) online and (b) telephone security question.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) in the Payment Services Regulations 2017 sets out the requirements which firms must follow when customers are accessing their payment accounts online, including the use of two-factor authentication to verify a customer’s identity. However, the specific questions firms should use to authenticate a customer’s identity are not prescribed, which is a matter for individual firms.
Therefore, the Government has not had discussions with banking stakeholders on the specific uses of first school attended, mother’s maiden name, pet’s name or birthplace as online banking or telephone security questions.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the personal allowance remaining below the value of the new state pension from April 2026 on pensioners.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to making sure older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve in retirement. The State Pension is the foundation of the support available to them. Over the course of this Parliament, the yearly amount of the full new State Pension is currently projected to go up by around £1,900 based on the Office for Budget Responsibility's latest forecast.
The Government is also committed to keeping people’s taxes as low as possible while ensuring fiscal responsibility, and so, at our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze on personal tax thresholds.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential fiscal impact of exempting the state pension from income tax.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to making sure older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve in retirement. The State Pension is the foundation of the support available to them. Over the course of this Parliament, the yearly amount of the full new State Pension is currently projected to go up by around £1,900 based on the Office for Budget Responsibility's latest forecast.
The Government is also committed to keeping people’s taxes as low as possible while ensuring fiscal responsibility, and so, at our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze on personal tax thresholds.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring the Bank of England to pay interest on its reserves to commercial banks.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Bank of England has operational independence from the government to carry out its statutory responsibilities for monetary policy and financial stability. Monetary policy, including quantitative easing, is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England.
There are no plans to change the way reserves are remunerated at the Bank of England. The government continues to support the Bank to bring inflation in line with its target, including by managing the public finances responsibly.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of (a) recent changes to tax rates applied to betting operators on levels of betting activity and (b) trends in the level of betting activity on revenues to the Exchequer.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Gambling Duties raised £3.6 billion in revenue in 2024-25, an increase of 7% (£227 million) compared to 2023-24.
No changes have been made to the gambling duty rates applied to betting operators in this Parliament.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to protect HMRC-held personal data from unauthorised access.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HMRC have strict security standards, and have appropriate technical, physical and managerial procedures in place to safeguard and secure personal information.
HMRC limit access to personal information to those persons, or agents who have a business or legal need to do so. For customer-facing services, this includes identity checking procedures and access controls, such as voice biometrics and multi-factor authentication.
Fraudsters use the HMRC brand to target individuals with fake correspondence, phishing emails, text messages and telephone calls. We publish phishing and scams guidance on GOV.UK, showing how to recognise scams, report issues and stay safe online.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential fiscal implications of ending Strategic Priorities Grant funding for journalism courses.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
My department regularly discusses Strategic Priorities Grant funding and its fiscal implications with the Department for Education. As a result of the challenging fiscal context that we inherited, we are prioritising support for high-cost subjects that are essential to delivery of our industrial strategy – such as science, engineering and medicine – and core funding to support access to higher education for disadvantaged groups. It is important that the targeted funding allocated through the Strategic Priorities Grant supports provision of subjects that have higher costs of delivery and the key sectors set out in the Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of removing the £250 fee for making claims to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) provides a free service for consumers and small businesses to resolve disputes with their financial services providers.
The FOS is independent from the government and is funded entirely through a combination of levies and case fees paid by financial services firms within the FOS’s jurisdiction and by professional representatives. Financial services firms are charged a fee of £650 per case. As of 1 April 2025, professional representatives who bring a case to the FOS on behalf of complainants may bring 10 cases a year for free, after which they are charged a fee of £250 per case and receive a £175 refund if the case is found in favour of the consumer they represent. No fee is charged to the consumer.
The FOS is responsible for determining exactly who it charges and the level of any fees, within its legislative framework which is set by Parliament. The FOS consults annually on its proposed Plans and Budget for the following year, including the level of its case fees.
On 25 November 2024, Parliament approved a Statutory Instrument allowing the FOS to charge fees to professional representatives bringing complaints on behalf of consumers. The government considers that introducing a fee for professional representatives when they bring cases to the FOS will help to ensure that the FOS can focus on promptly resolving consumer complaints and reduce the impact of spurious complaints on financial services firms. The new charges were introduced by the FOS following extensive consultation.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure that motorists are aware of their rights in relation to mis-sold car finance agreements involving discretionary commission arrangements.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The government notes that this matter is currently being considered by the Supreme Court and a judgment is expected to be handed down in due course.
The Financial Conduct Authority has confirmed that subject to the Supreme Court outcome, if consumers are found to have lost out from widespread failings by motor finance firms they are likely to set up a consumer redress scheme. On June 5, they published a statement setting out the key considerations that will influence the design of any redress scheme.
The Financial Conduct Authority will set out their next steps within 6 weeks of the judgment.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the cost of living on households in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government is taking a comprehensive approach in response to increasing costs: supporting those in immediate need while addressing the structural changes necessary to fix the country's foundations. The Plan for Change outlines key milestones, including raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom to put more money back in people’s pockets. In the latest data, living standards (as measured by real household disposable income per capita) are already growing at their fastest quarterly rate in two years.
The Government has set out the next steps in delivering our approach for regional growth, spreading growth across the country through investment and reform. This will benefit people across the country, including in the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.