Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will ask the Chief Executive of HMRC to meet with the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Work and Pensions and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence to discuss the potential merits of payroll deduction for credit union schemes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC’s financial wellbeing offer for its workforce, aligned to the Civil Service Financial Strategy, includes access to a variety of advances including rental deposits and season ticket loans, as well as debt/budgeting advice and support through its Employee Assistance Programme.
HMRC has no current plans to introduce payroll deduction arrangements, to enable its employees to join a Credit Union. It does not hold the role of policy lead for payroll deduction schemes across government, and decisions on the merits of payroll deduction arrangements would be a matter for the relevant departments.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy for HMRC to offer payroll deduction to its employees to enable them to join a credit union.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC’s financial wellbeing offer for its workforce, aligned to the Civil Service Financial Strategy, includes access to a variety of advances including rental deposits and season ticket loans, as well as debt/budgeting advice and support through its Employee Assistance Programme.
HMRC has no current plans to introduce payroll deduction arrangements, to enable its employees to join a Credit Union. It does not hold the role of policy lead for payroll deduction schemes across government, and decisions on the merits of payroll deduction arrangements would be a matter for the relevant departments.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she will hold discussions with the Secretaries of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and Business and Trade on the conclusions of the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods on how to achieve private sector growth in mission critical neighbourhoods.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
We acknowledge the work of the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods and its recommendations for how to invest in deprived communities.
The Pride in Place Programme, announced in September, demonstrates this Government’s firm commitment to backing neighbourhoods that have for too long been left behind and overlooked. This flagship programme will deliver up to £5bn funding and support to 244 of the most deprived places across Britain over the next decade, and the accompanying Pride in Place Strategy set out a broader plan for giving communities across the country the tools and powers they need to drive change in their neighbourhood.
We will carefully consider the Commission’s findings, engaging with relevant departments and stakeholders as appropriate to understand how we can further deliver for neighbourhoods across the country.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with National Savings and Investments on the provision of Help to Save services by credit unions.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has not undertaken any recent engagement with National Savings and Investments on this issue.
HMRC Officials are continuing to take forward work on Help to Save reform, including engagement with a range of financial institutions, such as credit unions. This engagement is focused on exploring options for the future delivery approach of the scheme.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to devolve powers to the Mayor of London to adjust taxation rates in London.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
While the Government keeps the tax system under review, the Government has no plans to extend the Mayor’s powers to adjust tax rates in London.
However, the Government is empowering Mayors to introduce a visitor levy on short-term overnight accommodation in their region, to drive economic growth including through support for the local visitor economy. The Government has published a consultation, running until 18 February, so that the public, businesses, and local government can shape the design of the power to introduce a levy that will be devolved to local leaders. Local leaders will decide whether to introduce a levy and how the revenue raised will be used to drive growth in their region.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what further steps will she take to help tackle illegal money lenders.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government funds specialist Illegal Money Lending Teams (IMLTs) operating across the UK to tackle the crimes of illegal money lenders. These teams investigate and prosecute illegal lenders while providing crucial support to victims. To learn more about the work of the IMLTs, visit the Stop Loan Sharks website: https://www.stoploansharks.co.uk/.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions her Department has had with (a) Monzo, (b) Metro Bank, (c) Revolut and (d) Marks and Spencer bank about their use of the cash handling services provided by the Post Office.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the importance of access to cash and banking services for individuals and businesses, including those who may be in vulnerable groups or require assistance and is supportive of industry initiatives that improve access to these vital services.
Treasury Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at the link below.
The Post Office plays a key role in supporting access to banking services. Under the Banking Framework, a commercial agreement between the Post Office and 30 banking firms , personal and business customers can withdraw and deposit cash, check their balance, pay bills and cash cheques at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK. The specific services provided under the Framework are subject to commercial negotiations between individual banks and the Post Office, and the Government has no role in deciding what these arrangements are.
On 21 January, the Government held joint discussions between the Post Office and the banking sector to explore where continued collaboration, on a commercial and voluntary basis, would allow all parties to better meet the needs of individuals and businesses.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many prosecutions have there been for illegal lending in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Illegal money lenders, commonly known as loan sharks, are dangerous criminals who inflict serious harm on their victims. The Government funds specialist Illegal Money Lending Teams (IMLTs) operating across the UK to tackle their crimes. These teams investigate and prosecute illegal lenders while providing crucial support to victims. Details of the teams’ work and case studies are available at the Stop Loan Sharks website: https://www.stoploansharks.co.uk/.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses have applications pending for banking licences.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury does not hold this information. This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), which are operationally independent from government and responsible for authorising firms seeking to offer banking services. These organisations will each respond to the Honourable Member by letter, and a copy of the letters will be placed in the Library of the House of Commons.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will visit a community development finance institution within the next six months.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Community development finance institutions (CDFIs) play an important role in supporting access to credit. My predecessor was pleased to chair a roundtable in July 2025 attended by banks and CDFIs, to discuss the barriers to achieving greater growth for CDFIs providing personal lending products. I am looking forward to a similarly productive discussion when I meet the Chief Executive of Responsible Finance later this Spring.