Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to introduce measures to require banks to reimburse people who have been misled by fraudulent investment schemes.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government takes the issue of investment fraud very seriously and is committed to protecting people and pursuing those who perpetuate scams wherever possible. In the area of pension scams in particular, the Government introduced regulations to ban pensions cold calling which came into force in early January 2019. Firms who break the rules could face penalties of up to half a million pounds.
If fraudulent investments were recommended by an authorised financial advisor, the consumer can seek redress by the advisor’s firm by bringing the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
In the event that the authorised financial adviser is responsible or a UK authorised collective investment scheme fails, consumers also have access to Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection. The FSCS provides compensation to customers of financial services firms that have failed. Since 2011 the FSCS has paid over £60 million to claimants.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to (a) publish a legacy Company Car Tax table for vehicles registered before April 2020 and (b) freeze those rates at 2018-19 levels.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The government has engaged with stakeholders as part of the review of WLTP on vehicle taxes which closed on 17 February.
The review sought evidence on how reported carbon dioxide emissions are impacted by the introduction of WLTP and whether any adjustment should be made to Vehicle Excise Duty and company car tax from April 2020.
Responses to the review are currently being analysed and the government has committed to publishing a response in the spring.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on (a) employers and (b) employees of maintaining current rates of Company Car Tax as a result of the implementation of Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure.
Answered by Robert Jenrick
The government has engaged with stakeholders as part of the review of WLTP on vehicle taxes which closed on 17 February.
The review sought evidence on how reported carbon dioxide emissions are impacted by the introduction of WLTP and whether any adjustment should be made to Vehicle Excise Duty and company car tax from April 2020.
Responses to the review are currently being analysed and the government has committed to publishing a response in the spring.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value was of the contract with Concentrix for its investigation into payments of Working Tax Credits; how many claimants were pursued as part of Concentrix’s contract; and how many of those investigations were successful.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Full details on HMRC’s contract with Concentrix and details on how many investigations were undertaken and how many were successful are available publicly.
On 17 January 2017 the National Audit Office published its ‘Investigation into HMRC’s contract with Concentrix’. This can be found at
https://www.nao.org.uk/report/hmrcs-contract-with-concentrix/
On 4 April 2017 the Committee for Public Accounts published its report ‘HMRC’s contract with Concentrix’. This can be found at
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmpubacc/998/99802.htm