Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of (a) email or web form or webchat and (b) letter correspondence from (i) firms and (ii) consumers the Financial Conduct Authority provides a substantive response to within two working days of receipt; and how many such substantive responses in total there were in each of the last five years.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government. The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the right honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of losing access to the EU Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme on tackling terrorism in the UK.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
No decisions have been taken regarding how the UK will continue to cooperate with the EU on tackling cross-border crime and security threats as this will be a matter for negotiations. The Government has been clear that one of the 12 negotiating objectives is continuing to work with the EU to preserve European security, to fight terrorism, and to uphold justice across Europe. We are examining a number of options and as part of the negotiations, we will discuss with the EU and its Member States how best to continue cooperation on security, law enforcement and criminal justice, including access to the EU Terrorist Finance Tracking terrorism.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what records his Department holds on how many (a) free to use ATM machines and (b) charging ATM machines there have been in each local authority area in England and Wales in each year since 2010.
Answered by Simon Kirby
The Treasury does not hold any information on the number of free to use or charging ATMs broken down by local authority.
The Treasury does hold aggregate figures for the UK, published by the LINK payment system.
The number of ATMs in the UK is at an all-time high of nearly 70,000 machines, having risen from 36,000 in 2001. The number of free-to-use ATMs is also at an all-time high of over 53,000 and over 98% of all ATM cash withdrawals by UK cardholders in the UK are made free of charge.
LINK, the network which connects the UK’s ATM machines, runs a financial inclusion programme which subsidises some independent ATM providers to allow them to offer a free cash withdrawal service in those areas of greatest need. LINK has identified 1,694 rural and/or deprived ‘target’ areas, and 87% of these areas are now served by 916 subsidised cashpoints, up from up from 171 in 2007.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people who had completed their VAT return through the Government Gateway by the deadline date received an incorrect late-filing penalty of £100 in each financial year since 2010-11.
Answered by Jane Ellison
VAT does not have a £100 penalty for late filing of returns. Nevertheless, the number of surcharges reviewed, varied and cancelled are published in the ‘Tax Assurance Commissioner’s Annual Report’, which can be found on gov.uk at; https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/how-we-resolve-tax-disputes.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessments has HM Revenue and Customs made of the effectiveness of repaying overpaid national insurance and income tax to NHS trainees under the widening access fund.
Answered by Jane Ellison
For claims from 2013-14 NHS trusts are responsible for repaying any overpaid tax or National Insurance contributions in respect of trainees on the Widening Access Scheme. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is working closely with the Trusts to ensure that the rules are correctly applied and NHS trainees receive refunds as quickly as possible. For earlier years HMRC is working through claims from trainees and repaying them directly.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average time taken is for refunds on overpaid national insurance and income tax to be paid to NHS trainees under the Widening Access fund.
Answered by Jane Ellison
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not keep records of the average time taken to process such refunds. HMRC only holds records for the number of NHS trainees receiving refunds under the widening access scheme from April 2013. A total of 8209 refunds have been processed since then, as follows:
2013/14 | 252 |
2014/15 | 1115 |
2015/16 | 4100 |
2016/17 | 2742 |
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many NHS trainees under the Widening Access fund received a refund for their overpaid (a) national insurance and (b) income tax contributions in each of the last six years.
Answered by Jane Ellison
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not keep records of the average time taken to process such refunds. HMRC only holds records for the number of NHS trainees receiving refunds under the widening access scheme from April 2013. A total of 8209 refunds have been processed since then, as follows:
2013/14 | 252 |
2014/15 | 1115 |
2015/16 | 4100 |
2016/17 | 2742 |
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Oral Contribution of the Economic Secretary to the Treasury of 1 February 2016, Official Report, column 748, what further progress has been made on investigations into the Connaught Income Fund, series 1.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The issues raised are a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) who are operationally independent from Government.
The questions have been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the Honorable Member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average hourly earnings of (a) female, (b) male, (c) full-time and (d) part-time employees of his Department were in each of the last five years.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
This information is published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on their website http://www.ons.gov.uk. ONS figures include both the mean and median gender pay gaps for the Civil Service and HM Treasury. The ONS headline estimates are also calculated using hourly earnings excluding overtime.
Asked by: David Hanson (Labour - Delyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Financial Conduct Authority staff are (a) seconded to his Department and (b) work in the private office of each Minister of his Department.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
HM Treasury currently has 3 secondments in from the Financial Conduct Authority. None of these work in any ministerial private office.