Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will have discussions with the Secretary of State for Education on the potential merits of increasing funding through the Barnett formula to assist schools in Northern Ireland with the cost of heating and electricity.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In the 2024 Northern Ireland Executive restoration financial package worth over £3.3 billion, the UK Government has committed to implement a 24% needs-based factor into the Barnett formula for the Northern Ireland Executive from 2024-25 onwards.
Funding provided to the Northern Ireland Executive through the Barnett formula is not ringfenced. This provides the Executive with the flexibility to allocate resources in devolved areas as they see fit and assign funding in response to their priorities.
The UK Government has no plans to replace the Barnett Formula
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 potential merits of restructuring the Barnett Formula for education.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In the 2024 Northern Ireland Executive restoration financial package worth over £3.3 billion, the UK Government has committed to implement a 24% needs-based factor into the Barnett formula for the Northern Ireland Executive from 2024-25 onwards.
Funding provided to the Northern Ireland Executive through the Barnett formula is not ringfenced. This provides the Executive with the flexibility to allocate resources in devolved areas as they see fit and assign funding in response to their priorities.
The UK Government has no plans to replace the Barnett Formula
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has been made on the levels of household disposable income as a result of the potential impact of the OBR's forecasts on household income.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Since 2022, the government has demonstrated its commitment to households by providing one of the largest support packages in Europe. Support for households with the cost-of-living, from 2022-23 to 2023-24, totalled £96 billion – an average of £3400 per UK household.
Real Household Disposable Income (RHDI) per capita has outperformed OBR expectations. RHDI per capita grew by 1.3% in 2023, rather than falling by 3.2% as predicted in the OBR’s March 2023 forecast. This means that, in 2023, RHDI per capita was over £1,200 higher than the OBR expected in their March 2023 forecast, when using 2019 prices.
In the 2024 Spring Budget, the Chancellor announced a further 2 pence cut to the main rates of National Insurance Contributions. This adds to a boost of similar size from the National Insurance Contributions cut announced in the Autumn Statement 2023.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies on small businesses of trends in the number of bank closures in the last two years.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Decisions to open or close a branch or mobile banking service are commercial decisions for firms and the Government does not intervene. However, it is imperative that banks and building societies recognise the needs of all their customers, including those who need to use in-person services. Banks and building societies occupy a privileged position in society and are essential to enabling businesses to manage their money on a day-to-day basis.
Guidance from the FCA sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs, and put in place alternatives, where this is reasonable.
Alternative options to access everyday banking services for small businesses can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and via the Post Office or Banking Hubs.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Bank of England on bank rates.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England. This includes decisions on the Bank Rate.
The Treasury meet with the Bank of England regularly to discuss their assessment of the economy and financial services. This includes regular meetings between the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.