Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) his Ukrainian counterpart and (b) the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on Ukrainian sovereign debt relief.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Chancellor continues to engage with G7 partners and International Financial Institutions on progressing current and future support to Ukraine. This includes a G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting held on 1 March with the Ukrainian Finance Minister.
Alongside our allies, we’ve hit Russia with the most severe package of sanctions it has ever seen and our economic and humanitarian support to Ukraine now totals around £400 million. This includes USD$100 million of funding to Ukraine through the World Bank Multi-Donor Trust Fund and that we stand ready to provide USD$500 million in loan guarantees to support Multilateral Development Bank lending. This support has also enabled a package to be agreed on 8 March of over $700m for direct fiscal support to Ukraine via the World Bank, to help mitigate direct economic impacts.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions has he had with (a) bank and card issuers, (b) the Financial Conduct Authority, c) the British Bankers’ Association and (d) the UK Cards Association on (i) subscription traps and (ii) supporting customers to cancel continuous payment authorisations.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is committed to tackling subscriptions traps and other business practices that harm consumers. To that end, the Government has been working closely with regulators to ensure consumers can easily cancel unwanted subscription contracts and avoid facing unreasonable charges.
Regarding Continuous Payment Authorities (CPAs), the Payment Services Regulations regulate how CPAs are established, and the rights and obligations of payers, payees and payment service providers. In its published guidance on the regulations, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) states that consumers have the right to cancel CPAs by contacting their payment service provider at any time before the end of the business day before a payment is due to be made, and to obtain an immediate refund from their payment service provider if any future payments are debited from their account after they have revoked their consent.
Treasury Ministers and officials 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 and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-giftsand-overseas-travel
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the Social Investment Tax Relief in Wales.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) was introduced in 2014 to encourage risk finance investments in qualifying social enterprises and charities. Social enterprises anywhere in the UK can benefit from SITR, provided that they meet certain qualifying conditions.
HMRC statistics show that up to 2018-19, about 110 enterprises have used the scheme to raise £11.2 million.
The Government keeps all taxes and reliefs under review in order to ensure they continue to meet policy objectives in a way that is fair and effective. The Government previously published a Call for Evidence in 2019 on SITR’s use to date. A response to the consultation will be published in due course and a decision on SITR’s future will be announced at the Budget.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Social Investment Tax Relief in Wales.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) was introduced in 2014 to encourage risk finance investments in qualifying social enterprises and charities. Social enterprises anywhere in the UK can benefit from SITR, provided that they meet certain qualifying conditions.
HMRC statistics show that up to 2018-19, about 110 enterprises have used the scheme to raise £11.2 million.
The Government keeps all taxes and reliefs under review in order to ensure they continue to meet policy objectives in a way that is fair and effective. The Government previously published a Call for Evidence in 2019 on SITR’s use to date. A response to the consultation will be published in due course and a decision on SITR’s future will be announced at the Budget.