Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect of LINK’s proposed reduction in the ATM interchange fee on the ability of older people to access cash free of charge.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises that widespread free access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses in the UK. Government has been engaging and will continue to engage with the regulators and industry, including LINK, to ensure that it is maintained. At Spring Statement, Government also launched a public Call for Evidence on cash and digital payments which, amongst other things, seeks to find out how cash usage and need varies by demographics.
The Government established the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) in 2015 with a statutory objective to ensure that the UK’s payment systems work in the interests of their users.
As part of this, the PSR is monitoring developments within ATM provision. The PSR recently commissioned work to understand the impact on the provision of free-to-use ATMs that a reduction in interchange fees may have. A summary of the findings can be found on their website at this link: https://www.psr.org.uk/psr-focus/the-uk-atm-network/atm-impact-study. The Government has therefore not made its own assessment of the impact.
The PSR have also set out three requirements of LINK: that LINK must maintain the current geographical spread of ATMs; that any changes made to interchange fees must be incremental to allow LINK to monitor the impact and take action if the impact is not as expected; and for a greater focus on LINK’s financial inclusion programme, to continue to fill gaps in the network. The PSR has committed to using its powers to act should LINK behave in a way that conflicts with its statutory objectives.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many women have applied for support for a child conceived without consent whilst claiming child tax credits since 6 April 2017.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Statistics relating to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children in Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit will be published on 28th June 2018.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many women had their application for support for a child conceived without consent whilst claiming child tax credit refused since 6 April 2017.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Statistics relating to the policy to provide support for a maximum of two children in Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit will be published on 28th June 2018.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions his Department has had with the European Commission on the application of a zero rate of VAT to sanitary products.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Government has continued to press at EU level for the flexibility to apply a zero rate of VAT to women’s sanitary products so that this can be introduced in the UK at the earliest opportunity.
The European Commission has now brought forward a legislative proposal, which is under discussion in the EU and, if it is agreed by Member States, would give the UK that flexibility.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government has any responsibility to support RBS in retaining its customers.
Answered by John Glen
The Government’s shareholding in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is managed at arm's length and on a commercial basis through UK Financial Investments Ltd, a company which is wholly owned by the Government, with the objective of creating and protecting value for the taxpayer.
RBS retains its own board which is responsible for commercial and operational decisions, including in relation to customers.
Asked by: Danielle Rowley (Labour - Midlothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on the Government's shareholding in RBS of changes in the level of RBS customers.
Answered by John Glen
The Government’s shareholding in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is managed at arm's length and on a commercial basis through UK Financial Investments Ltd, a company which is wholly owned by the Government.
RBS has made significant progress on resolving its legacy issues and refocusing on serving British businesses and consumers. The Government’s policy remains to return its shareholding in RBS to the private sector, when it represents value for money to do so and market conditions allow. At Autumn Budget 2017, the Government announced that it intends to recommence RBS share sales before the end of 2018‑19, and dispose of around £15 billion worth of shares by 2023.