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Written Question
Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group
Monday 10th June 2019

Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's news story of 3 May 2019, Cash here to stay as government commits to protecting access, if he will publish the remit of the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

As part of our response to the Call for Evidence on access to cash, the Government announced that the Treasury would set up and chair the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy (JACS) Group.

The Group brings together the Bank of England, Payments Systems Regulator and Financial Conduct Authority. This was in recognition of the need to ensure joined-up oversight of the UK’s cash infrastructure, in light of the changing behaviours and preferences of consumers and businesses.

The Group will coordinate strategy across members, to ensure that the roles and responsibilities of each regulator remain clear and relevant, and that the effects of regulatory activities are evaluated across the full end-to-end cash system. The Group does not affect the statutory responsibilities of individual regulators.

The Group is up and running and further details of its activities will be announced in due course.


Written Question
Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group: Meetings
Monday 10th June 2019

Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's news story of 3 May 2019, Cash here to stay as government commits to protecting access, if he will publish the schedule of meetings of the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group; and whether minutes will be taken at those meetings.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

As part of our response to the Call for Evidence on access to cash, the Government announced that the Treasury would set up and chair the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy (JACS) Group.

The Group brings together the Bank of England, Payments Systems Regulator and Financial Conduct Authority. This was in recognition of the need to ensure joined-up oversight of the UK’s cash infrastructure, in light of the changing behaviours and preferences of consumers and businesses.

The Group will coordinate strategy across members, to ensure that the roles and responsibilities of each regulator remain clear and relevant, and that the effects of regulatory activities are evaluated across the full end-to-end cash system. The Group does not affect the statutory responsibilities of individual regulators.

The Group is up and running and further details of its activities will be announced in due course.


Written Question
Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group
Monday 10th June 2019

Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will publish in full any recommendations produced by the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy Group.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

As part of our response to the Call for Evidence on access to cash, the Government announced that the Treasury would set up and chair the Joint Authorities Cash Strategy (JACS) Group.

The Group brings together the Bank of England, Payments Systems Regulator and Financial Conduct Authority. This was in recognition of the need to ensure joined-up oversight of the UK’s cash infrastructure, in light of the changing behaviours and preferences of consumers and businesses.

The Group will coordinate strategy across members, to ensure that the roles and responsibilities of each regulator remain clear and relevant, and that the effects of regulatory activities are evaluated across the full end-to-end cash system. The Group does not affect the statutory responsibilities of individual regulators.

The Group is up and running and further details of its activities will be announced in due course.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Cohabitation
Thursday 9th May 2019

Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending (a) the marriage allowance and (b) other benefits to long-term cohabiting couples.

Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

The Government introduced the Marriage Allowance in April 2015. Every time the personal allowance increases, the Marriage Allowance automatically becomes more generous.

The increase to personal allowance to £12,500 means that, from April this year, eligible couples will be able to transfer £1,250, compared to £1,060 in 2015-16. This means that in 2019-20, eligible couples can receive a tax reduction of up to £250, or £1,150 if they make a backdated claim to 2015-16.

The Marriage Allowance was introduced specifically to recognise marriage and civil partnerships in the tax system. Therefore, the Government has made no assessment of extending Marriage Allowance to cohabiting couples.

The majority of benefits are paid on a household basis and the Government currently has no plans to change this.


Written Question
Access to Cash Review
Monday 1st April 2019

Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the final report of the Access to cash review published on 6 March 2019; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

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 on this topic.

The Treasury initiated a discussion on payment methods at Spring Statement 2018 through a Call for Evidence on Cash & Digital Payments in the New Economy. This sought to gather evidence on how changing preferences for cash and digital payments impact on different sectors, regions and demographics.

The Government welcomes the recent Access to Cash Review, which is an important contribution to the debate on cash and which will help inform our future policy development.

The Government will formally respond to the Call for Evidence in due course.


Written Question
Bank Cards: Fees and Charges
Wednesday 6th March 2019

Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government has plans to reform the cap on interchange rate fees for card payments introduced in the Interchange Fee Regulation 2016 from a percentage cap to a flat rate of 50p per transaction.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government is open to hearing views on this issue, and digital payments more broadly, as evidenced by its call for evidence on cash and digital payments in the new economy. Amongst other things, this explored how the Government can best support digital payments. The Government will formally respond to the call for evidence in due course.


Written Question
Cash Dispensing
Monday 4th March 2019

Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Bank of England, (b) Financial Conduct Authority and (c) Payment Systems Regulator on the availability of access to cash through (i) ATMs and (ii) other means.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

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 both the Payment Systems Regulator and LINK (the scheme that runs the UK’s ATM network), on this topic. For example, last year we conducted a call for evidence on cash and digital payments in the new economy. This explored how the trend from cash to digital payments impacts on different sectors, different regions and different demographics. The Government will formally respond to the call for evidence in due course.

The Government established the Payment Systems Regulator with a statutory duty to ensure that payment systems work well for those who use them. As part of this, the PSR regulates LINK and is closely monitoring developments within ATM provision. LINK has committed to maintain the broad geographical coverage of the ATM network in the UK. The PSR has used its powers to hold LINK to account over its commitments and to ensure LINK reports to it on a regular basis.

Government also notes that LINK has commissioned an independent review (chaired by Natalie Ceeney) which is looking at long-term access to cash.


Written Question
Cash Dispensing
Monday 4th March 2019

Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if the Government will include in the statutory objectives of the Payment Systems Regulator powers to protect access to cash; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

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 both the Payment Systems Regulator and LINK (the scheme that runs the UK’s ATM network), on this topic. For example, last year we conducted a call for evidence on cash and digital payments in the new economy. This explored how the trend from cash to digital payments impacts on different sectors, different regions and different demographics. The Government will formally respond to the call for evidence in due course.

The Government established the Payment Systems Regulator with a statutory duty to ensure that payment systems work well for those who use them. As part of this, the PSR regulates LINK and is closely monitoring developments within ATM provision. LINK has committed to maintain the broad geographical coverage of the ATM network in the UK. The PSR has used its powers to hold LINK to account over its commitments and to ensure LINK reports to it on a regular basis.

Government also notes that LINK has commissioned an independent review (chaired by Natalie Ceeney) which is looking at long-term access to cash.


Written Question
Cash Dispensing
Monday 4th March 2019

Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions the Government has had with the Payment Systems Regulator on its review of cash infrastructure; and what the timeframe is for the publication of (a) further details on the review and (b) the review itself.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

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 both the Payment Systems Regulator and LINK (the scheme that runs the UK’s ATM network), on this topic. For example, last year we conducted a call for evidence on cash and digital payments in the new economy. This explored how the trend from cash to digital payments impacts on different sectors, different regions and different demographics. The Government will formally respond to the call for evidence in due course.

The Government established the Payment Systems Regulator with a statutory duty to ensure that payment systems work well for those who use them. As part of this, the PSR regulates LINK and is closely monitoring developments within ATM provision. LINK has committed to maintain the broad geographical coverage of the ATM network in the UK. The PSR has used its powers to hold LINK to account over its commitments and to ensure LINK reports to it on a regular basis.

Government also notes that LINK has commissioned an independent review (chaired by Natalie Ceeney) which is looking at long-term access to cash.


Written Question
Money
Monday 10th December 2018

Asked by: Ged Killen (Labour (Co-op) - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when his Department plans to publish its response to the call for evidence on cash and digital payments in the new economy that closed on 5 June 2018.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Call for Evidence produced a wide range of evidence, which requires thoughtful consideration.

We have recently announced that the denominational mix of notes and coins would not change. Response to other matters will be made in due course.