Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will meet with FairLife to discuss the potential merits of a fair trading mark for firms in the financial sector.
Answered by Richard Fuller - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government wants to ensure that everyone, regardless of their background or income, has access to useful and affordable financial products and services. These include products and services such as banking, payment services, credit products and insurance.
The Government also shares FairLife’s aims of ensuring that people build financial capability, meaning that they are able to use, and maximise their use of, products and services made available by the financial services industry.
Government policy on financial capability focuses on ensuring that people can access the guidance they need and have the confidence and skills to manage their money well.
To promote financial inclusion and capability, the Government works closely together with regulators and stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors. The Chancellor, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and HMT officials regularly meet with a wide range of organisations to exchange views, collaborate and inform our policy development and delivery. The government would welcome a discussion with FairLife as part of this engagement and HM Treasury officials will get in touch with them to arrange this.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will consider supporting the work of FairLife to raise standards in finance by adopting a fair trading mark for financial firms.
Answered by Richard Fuller - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government wants to ensure that everyone, regardless of their background or income, has access to useful and affordable financial products and services. These include products and services such as banking, payment services, credit products and insurance.
The Government also shares FairLife’s aims of ensuring that people build financial capability, meaning that they are able to use, and maximise their use of, products and services made available by the financial services industry.
Government policy on financial capability focuses on ensuring that people can access the guidance they need and have the confidence and skills to manage their money well.
To promote financial inclusion and capability, the Government works closely together with regulators and stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors. The Chancellor, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and HMT officials regularly meet with a wide range of organisations to exchange views, collaborate and inform our policy development and delivery. The government would welcome a discussion with FairLife as part of this engagement and HM Treasury officials will get in touch with them to arrange this.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to raise standards in finance with a fair trading mark.
Answered by Richard Fuller - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government wants to ensure that everyone, regardless of their background or income, has access to useful and affordable financial products and services. These include products and services such as banking, payment services, credit products and insurance.
The Government also shares FairLife’s aims of ensuring that people build financial capability, meaning that they are able to use, and maximise their use of, products and services made available by the financial services industry.
Government policy on financial capability focuses on ensuring that people can access the guidance they need and have the confidence and skills to manage their money well.
To promote financial inclusion and capability, the Government works closely together with regulators and stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors. The Chancellor, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and HMT officials regularly meet with a wide range of organisations to exchange views, collaborate and inform our policy development and delivery. The government would welcome a discussion with FairLife as part of this engagement and HM Treasury officials will get in touch with them to arrange this.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking fiscal steps to reduce the impact of the rising cost of living on people who are blind or partially sighted.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The government recognises that the rising cost of living has presented additional financial challenges to many people, and especially to the most vulnerable members of society, such as blind or partially sighted people. That is why this government announced on 26th May a Cost of Living package, providing over £15bn of support targeted particularly at those with the greatest need. This package builds on the over £22bn already announced, bringing total government support for the Cost of Living to over £37bn this year. The latest package includes additional UK-wide support to help disabled people with the particular extra costs they are facing, with 6 million people who receive non-means-tested extra-costs disability benefits due to receive a one-off Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150. People who are blind or partially sighted and were eligible for payment of disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment on the 25th May will be eligible for this Disability Cost of Living Payment. This payment can be received in addition to the other Cost of Living Payments for households on means-tested benefits or in receipt of Winter Fuel Payments that were announced as part of the same package. People who are blind or partially sighted will also benefit from the £400 of support for energy bills that the government is providing through an expansion of the Energy Bills Support Scheme, doubling the £200 of support announced earlier this year and making the whole £400 a non-repayable grant.
This Cost of Living package is in addition to the existing specific financial support to help blind or partially sighted people. The government provides the Blind Person's Allowance (BPA), an extra amount of tax-free allowance that can be added to an individual’s Personal Allowance, to those who are blind or severely sight impaired. In 2022-23, the allowance is £2,600 and therefore worth £520 given the basic rate of 20%. If the recipient does not pay tax or earn enough to use their full BPA, the remainder of the allowance can be transferred to a spouse or civil partner.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to take steps to provide financial incentives for the use of hydrogen powered commercial vehicles.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Department for Transport, as the lead for the roll out of zero emission vehicles, continues to work closely with colleagues in BEIS on the government’s support for the use of hydrogen for transport to deliver the plans set out in the recent Energy Security Strategy. This includes recent announcements of investment such as the £200m for the government’s zero emission road freight HGV demonstrator programme and funding 124 hydrogen fuel cell buses and accompanying refuelling infrastructure through our Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme. A number of hydrogen related projects were also funded as part of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, which forms part of the Research and Development undertaken by the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE).
The government also uses the tax system to encourage the purchase of cars with low carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Road vehicles powered by hydrogen as fuel in an internal combustion engine benefit from a reduced rate of fuel duty in comparison to the main road fuel rate. Budget 2018 extended the current duty differential until 2032, subject to review in 2024. Hydrogen that is used other than to fuel an internal combustion engine, for example in a fuel cell to generate electricity which charges a battery used to supply power to an electric motor, it is not currently liable to fuel duty.
All taxes are kept under review.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing a rebate on HVO fuels for the affordability of that fuel compared to diesel.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) continues to be taxed at the same rate as diesel. As with all taxes, the Government keeps the tax treatment of HVO under review.
There are no plans at present to change treatment as the Government uses the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) to incentivise the use of low carbon fuels and reduce emissions from fuel supplied for use in transport and non-road mobile machinery. HVO is eligible for Renewable Transport Fuel Certificates under the RTFO, and is eligible to receive twice the reward in certificates under this scheme where it is produced from waste.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money has he claimed through the Dormant Assets Scheme in the last calendar year.
Answered by John Glen
The UK Dormant Assets Scheme is led by the financial services industry and initiatives across the UK whilst protecting the original asset owner’s right to reclaim. Assets that are classed as dormant always remain the property of their owners, who can reclaim money owed to them in full at any time. Dormant account funds are transferred to an authorised reclaim fund, Reclaim Fund Ltd (RFL) which retains enough funds to meet any future reclaims, and then distributes the surplus funding onwards to The National Lottery Community Fund to be used for public benefit.
In April 2021, RFL became a Treasury-owned arm’s length body, but it remains financially and operationally separate from HM Treasury. Dormant account funds do not ever enter the Treasury and the Government does not have access to dormant monies that are transferred into the Dormant Assets Scheme. RFL received £127 million of dormant balance transfers in 2021, taking total amounts received by RFL since it commenced operations in 2011 to over £1.5 billion.
The Dormant Assets Act 2022 delivers on the Government's commitment to expand the Scheme, potentially unlocking a further £880 million over the coming years. It enables a wider range of dormant assets to be transferred into the Scheme from the insurance and pensions; investment and wealth management (including orphan monies attributable to collective scheme investments); and securities sectors.
The decision on what new assets are included in the future will depend on a number of factors, including: identifying asset classes with high instances of dormancy; setting the dormancy definitions for such assets, and how restitution would be achieved. It would also be important to consider whether other mechanisms for dealing with dormancy already exist. Any further expansion will require the same close collaboration between Government, an authorised reclaim fund, and industry that has supported this phase of expansion.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps is he taking to claim funds from orphan stocks & shares and insurance policies through the Dormant Assets Scheme.
Answered by John Glen
The UK Dormant Assets Scheme is led by the financial services industry and initiatives across the UK whilst protecting the original asset owner’s right to reclaim. Assets that are classed as dormant always remain the property of their owners, who can reclaim money owed to them in full at any time. Dormant account funds are transferred to an authorised reclaim fund, Reclaim Fund Ltd (RFL) which retains enough funds to meet any future reclaims, and then distributes the surplus funding onwards to The National Lottery Community Fund to be used for public benefit.
In April 2021, RFL became a Treasury-owned arm’s length body, but it remains financially and operationally separate from HM Treasury. Dormant account funds do not ever enter the Treasury and the Government does not have access to dormant monies that are transferred into the Dormant Assets Scheme. RFL received £127 million of dormant balance transfers in 2021, taking total amounts received by RFL since it commenced operations in 2011 to over £1.5 billion.
The Dormant Assets Act 2022 delivers on the Government's commitment to expand the Scheme, potentially unlocking a further £880 million over the coming years. It enables a wider range of dormant assets to be transferred into the Scheme from the insurance and pensions; investment and wealth management (including orphan monies attributable to collective scheme investments); and securities sectors.
The decision on what new assets are included in the future will depend on a number of factors, including: identifying asset classes with high instances of dormancy; setting the dormancy definitions for such assets, and how restitution would be achieved. It would also be important to consider whether other mechanisms for dealing with dormancy already exist. Any further expansion will require the same close collaboration between Government, an authorised reclaim fund, and industry that has supported this phase of expansion.
Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps is he taking to claim orphan funds through the Dormant Assets Scheme.
Answered by John Glen
The UK Dormant Assets Scheme is led by the financial services industry and initiatives across the UK whilst protecting the original asset owner’s right to reclaim. Assets that are classed as dormant always remain the property of their owners, who can reclaim money owed to them in full at any time. Dormant account funds are transferred to an authorised reclaim fund, Reclaim Fund Ltd (RFL) which retains enough funds to meet any future reclaims, and then distributes the surplus funding onwards to The National Lottery Community Fund to be used for public benefit.
In April 2021, RFL became a Treasury-owned arm’s length body, but it remains financially and operationally separate from HM Treasury. Dormant account funds do not ever enter the Treasury and the Government does not have access to dormant monies that are transferred into the Dormant Assets Scheme. RFL received £127 million of dormant balance transfers in 2021, taking total amounts received by RFL since it commenced operations in 2011 to over £1.5 billion.
The Dormant Assets Act 2022 delivers on the Government's commitment to expand the Scheme, potentially unlocking a further £880 million over the coming years. It enables a wider range of dormant assets to be transferred into the Scheme from the insurance and pensions; investment and wealth management (including orphan monies attributable to collective scheme investments); and securities sectors.
The decision on what new assets are included in the future will depend on a number of factors, including: identifying asset classes with high instances of dormancy; setting the dormancy definitions for such assets, and how restitution would be achieved. It would also be important to consider whether other mechanisms for dealing with dormancy already exist. Any further expansion will require the same close collaboration between Government, an authorised reclaim fund, and industry that has supported this phase of expansion.