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Written Question
Public Sector: Northern Ireland
Tuesday 19th March 2024

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that public sector workers in Northern Ireland are able to receive a pay award that is equal to levels in England and Wales.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The UK Government is providing the Northern Ireland Executive with a comprehensive £3.3 billion spending settlement to stabilise public services, better manage public finances and pave the way for transformation of public services.

Within this package, the UK Government provided £846 million to support the Northern Ireland Executive’s budget pressures in 2023-24, including public sector pay pressures


It is the Executive’s responsibility to decide on the level of public sector pay awards for devolved areas in Northern Ireland and to balance these costs against other priorities.


Written Question
First Time Buyers: Mortgages
Wednesday 28th February 2024

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with major banks on the accessibility of mortgages for first time buyers.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government is regularly in contact with mortgage lenders on all aspects of their business, including the provision of finance to first time buyers.


Written Question
Bank Services: Northern Ireland
Tuesday 13th February 2024

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with the authorities in Northern Ireland on rural banking services.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Treasury engages with a range of different stakeholders to discuss policy matters. We look forward to working with the restored Executive to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland.

It is imperative that banks and building societies recognise the needs of all their customers, including those who need to use in-person services.

UK customers can access banking services through a number of different channels. This includes in branches, Post Offices or Banking Hubs, as well as via telephone banking and through digital means such as mobile or online banking.

The Post Office allows personal and business customers to carry out everyday banking services at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK. The Post Office is required by the Department for Business & Trade to ensure that 95% of the total rural population across the UK is within 3 miles of their nearest Post Office.

Moreover, Banking Hubs are an initiative which enable customers of participating banks to access cash and banking services in shared facilities. Over 100 Banking Hubs have been announced so far, and the Government hopes to see these Hubs open as soon as possible across all four nations of the United Kingdom. To date, 5 Hubs have been announced in Northern Ireland, with Kilkeel already open.


Written Question
Mortgages: Government Assistance
Wednesday 24th January 2024

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help support mortgage holders with high interest rates; and whether he has had recent discussions with mortgage lenders on taking steps to support mortgage holders.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The pricing of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. However, the Government is regularly in contact with mortgage lenders on all aspects of their business

The path to lower interest rates is through low inflation, and the government is fully committed to supporting the Bank of England get inflation back down to the 2% target, including by keeping borrowing under control.

The Government has taken steps to limit the impact of rising interest rates on mortgage holders, through the Mortgage Charter, which sets out the standards signatory lenders will adopt when helping their customers, including new flexibilities to help customers manage their mortgage payments over a short period.

The Charter is in addition to the significant safeguards already in place for consumers in the mortgage market.


Written Question
Supermarkets: Prices
Tuesday 12th December 2023

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether officials in his Department have had discussions with representatives of (a) supermarkets and (b) other retail outlets on steps being taken to mitigate the impact of increased costs on the prices of goods for consumers.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

As part of the process of policy development and delivery, Treasury Ministers and officials meet a wide variety of organisations, including retail businesses, supermarkets, and their representative organisations, to discuss a range of issues including inflation. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at gov.uk:

HMT ministers' meetings, hospitality, gifts and overseas travel - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Inflation was 4.6% in October, which is the lowest rate in two years. The government is fully committed to supporting the Bank of England get inflation back down to 2%. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts that government policies in the Autumn Statement will help reduce inflation to 2.8% by the end of 2024, and return to target in the first half of 2025.


Written Question
Public Sector Debt
Monday 11th December 2023

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking reduce the national debt in the (a) short- and (b) medium-term.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government is committed to sustainable public finances and has taken responsible decisions to keep debt falling, while reducing taxes and boosting economic growth. Over the short and medium-term, this includes tough choices to control public pending and drive greater efficiencies.

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) confirmed that underlying debt is forecast to fall to 92.8% of GDP in 2028-29 and is 2.1 percentage points lower on average compared to the OBR’s March forecast.


Written Question
Public Sector: Pay
Thursday 7th December 2023

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he had made a recent assessment of the implications for his policies of the recommendations of public sector pay review bodies on pay increases for public sector workers.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

For the 2023/24 pay round, the Government accepted the headline pay recommendations of the PRBs in full for the armed forces, teachers, prison officers, police, the judiciary, medical workforces, and senior civil servants, which has resulted in the highest pay uplifts in three decades.

We have ensured that these PRB awards will not be paid for through borrowing.


Written Question
Housing: Prices
Thursday 7th December 2023

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of changes in the level of house prices since September 2023.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The most reliable measure of average house prices in the UK is published by the ONS. The latest release is for September 2023, when the average house price in the UK was assessed to be £291,400. That leaves average UK house prices 25% higher than their average level in 2019, although 0.2% lower than their average level in Sept 2022.

While prices have remained resilient, housing market activity has slowed in recent months, largely as a result of rising mortgage rates, which are in part driven by Bank Rate. Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England. The path to lower rates is through low inflation, which is why the government is fully committed to supporting the Bank get inflation back down to the 2% target. The MPC continues to have the Government’s full support as it takes action to return inflation to target through its independent monetary policy decisions.

The Government has taken steps to limit the impact of rising interest rates on mortgage holders, through the Mortgage Charter. This Charter sets out the standards that signatory lenders – who represent over 90% of the UK mortgage market – will adopt when helping their customers.

We have also taken a number of measures aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol, the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS), and Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans. Accordingly, arrears and repossessions remain at historic lows, despite the rise in interest costs.

The government continues to monitor developments in the housing market closely and consider the implications for its policies.


Written Question
Vacancies
Wednesday 6th December 2023

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of changes in the level of job vacancies; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of that on economic activity.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Information on the level of job vacancies was provided by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on 14th November 2023. A link to that report is provided below.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/jobsandvacanciesintheuk/november2023


Written Question
Hospitality Industry: Northern Ireland
Thursday 26th October 2023

Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of increased alcohol duties on the hospitality industry in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government publishes tax information and impact notes (TIINs) for tax policy changes when the policy is final or near final. The summary of impacts from the latest changes to alcohol duty at Spring Budget 2023 can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-alcohol-duty-rates/alcohol-duty-rate-changes#:~:text=At%20the%20current%20VAT%20rate,will%20be%202%20pence%20higher