Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2020 to Question 100935 on Housing: East Hampshire, if he will undertake an assessment of affordability ratios for homes inside (a) South Downs National Park and (b) other National Park boundaries relative to neighbouring areas.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the (a) residence-based and (b) workplace-based house price to income ratios for (i) East Hampshire parliamentary constituency and (ii) East Hampshire district local authority area disaggregated by the area (A) inside and (B) outside the South Downs National Park in all years where data is available.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the finding by the Centre for Social Justice in its report entitled Collecting dust, published in April 2020, that the personal debt owed to the Government and public bodies under the remit of his Department is £13.5 billion.
Answered by Chloe Smith
We welcome the Centre for Social Justice’s report, which highlights that progress has been made in government debt management and suggests further areas for improvement. The Centre for Social Justice report notes the work of the government Fairness Group, the Breathing Space policy and reduction in the rate of benefit deductions as recent advances.
The Government Debt Management Function will be launching a Call for Evidence in due course to gather views on the current debt management approach.
I would encourage the Centre for Social Justice, along with other interested parties to also submit evidence through the Call for Evidence.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that debt collection by public sector organisations meets the standard expected of firms regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The government recognises the importance of providing the right support for people who are vulnerable or in financial hardship during the debt recovery process. This position was emphasised by the joint public statement, drafted in partnership with the debt advice sector and other consumer groups.
The government’s Fairness Principles are aligned with the Financial Conduct Authority’s Treating Customers Fairly Principles. These provide a best practice framework that has been embedded into the Government Debt Strategy and the Government Debt Standard.
Debt management in local government is undertaken in line with specific legislation. When a customer is identified as being vulnerable, there is support available, tailored to individual circumstances. This includes longer repayment terms and consideration of payment holidays. Government has a duty to balance this against the need to recover money owed to taxpayers.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the May 2019 Fairness Group Joint Public Statement, what progress he has made in applying Fairness Principles to government debt management.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The government recognises the importance of providing the right support for people who are vulnerable or in financial hardship during the debt recovery process. This position was emphasised by the joint public statement, drafted in partnership with the debt advice sector and other consumer groups.
The government’s Fairness Principles are aligned with the Financial Conduct Authority’s Treating Customers Fairly Principles. These provide a best practice framework that has been embedded into the Government Debt Strategy and the Government Debt Standard.
Debt management in local government is undertaken in line with specific legislation. When a customer is identified as being vulnerable, there is support available, tailored to individual circumstances. This includes longer repayment terms and consideration of payment holidays. Government has a duty to balance this against the need to recover money owed to taxpayers.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what time series data sets her Department holds of average earnings (a) by sector, (b) by region and (c) for people consistently in employment before and since 2007-08; and for how many years those data sets have been collated.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.