Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor for the Exchequer, whether he will commit to bringing forward a support package for local authorities to be able to adapt and protect communities against the impacts of climate change.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The 2023-24 Local Government Finance Settlement provides an increase in Core Spending Power for local authorities of around 9%, making available almost £5 billion in additional funding, demonstrating how Government stands behind councils up and down the country. As democratically elected organisations, local authorities are responsible for managing their budgets and making spending decisions that reflect their priorities.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is responsible for stewardship of the local government system and is committed to ensuring that funding allocations for councils are based on an up-to-date assessment of their needs and resources.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to incorporate lessons learned from the recent UK Investment Bank local lending pilots into government policy on financing Net Zero.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) has a mandate to tackle climate change and support regional and local economic growth across the UK.
UKIB has launched three pilot programmes with Transport for Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, and Bristol City Council to support the development of its Local Authority Advisory Function. UKIB has processes in place to regularly review progress on these pilots and identify replicable elements of these projects, with a view to disseminating this knowledge to a wider pool of local authorities.
The Bank is operationally independent but has developed an open dialogue with both HM Treasury and BEIS, including sharing their experiences of the development of their advisory and local lending functions.
In the first Strategic Steer to UKIB published in March of this year, the then-Chancellor set expectations that the UKIB should work constructively with government and institutions in each nation of the UK to maximise the impact of its investments and to develop a nuanced understanding of market characteristics, so investments can be targeted appropriately.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to investigate whether the transfer of (a) funds and (b) properties in the UK by families of Russian oligarchs is done to evade sanctions.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, assesses all reported breaches of financial sanctions regulations. Regulations prohibit any person intentionally acting to circumvent prohibitions, or enabling and facilitating breaches of financial sanctions. Financial institutions and estate agents are considered relevant firms under the regulations and therefore have additional obligations, including to report frozen assets and any suspected breaches they are aware of.
OFSI is able to utilise a variety of enforcement powers should investigations prove a breach has occurred, including publicising breaches and imposing a civil monetary penalty where cases meet the threshold. The National Crime Agency investigates the most serious evasion of sanctions and associated money laundering.
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 impact of a cashless society on vulnerable people.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government recognises that while the transition towards digital payments brings many opportunities cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has a considerable evidence base on cash provision and use across the UK. Analysis that was published by the FCA in February 2020 found that 5.4 million people are still reliant on cash. Meanwhile, the FCA’s analysis shows that, as of the end of 2021, over 95% of the population are within two kilometres of a free-to-use cash access point, such as a free-to-use ATM, bank branch or Post Office branch.
The government is currently taking legislation to protect access to cash across the UK through Parliament as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022. The legislation will establish the FCA as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities. This will ensure that people and businesses can continue to access cash withdrawal and deposit facilities, which in turn, will support those who use cash in their daily lives. Further details about the Bill can be found on the Parliament website: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3326