Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps his Department is taking to support future funding of county councils.
Answered by John Glen
At Spending Review 2021, the Government provided councils in England with £4.8 billion of new grant funding between 2022-23 and 2024-25.
Recognising that inflation is higher than it was when these budgets were set, at Autumn Statement 2022, the Chancellor announced that local authorities will have access to up to an additional £2.8 billion in 2023-24 and £4.7 billion in 2024-25 for social care and other services, which is of particular benefit to county councils.
The 2023-24 Local Government Finance Settlement confirmed an increase in total Core Spending Power for local authorities of 9.4%.
Decisions on spending beyond 2024-25 will be taken at the next Spending Review.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made a recent assessment of (a) the effectiveness of his Department's policies for supporting access to cash in rural areas and (b) the potential impact of rurality on access to cash.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
While the convenience, security, and speed of digital payments brings opportunities to the businesses and individuals that use them, the government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK.
The government is currently taking legislation through Parliament as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill to protect access to cash across the UK. The Bill will establish the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash and provide it with appropriate powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities.
The Bill requires the Treasury to publish a policy statement that sets out the government’s policy on cash access services. This may include policy with respect to urban and rural areas. The FCA will be required to have regard to the Treasury’s policy statement when exercising its regulatory powers. In addition, the FCA will be able to exercise its powers in order to address local deficiencies specifically in the provision of access to cash facilities that it has identified and considers to be significant. The government’s view is that this will allow for consideration of local circumstances in all parts of the UK, such as those in rural areas.
Further details about the Financial Services and Markets Bill can be found on the Parliament website: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3326
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of whether (a) banks and (b) building societies would be willing to provide (i) training and (ii) equipment to help ensure that post offices are able to undertake over-the-counter banking services.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Government recognises that millions of people across the UK continue to use cash as part of their daily lives, particularly those in vulnerable groups, and has introduced legislation to protect access to cash as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill. The Bill intends to establish the Financial Conduct Authority as the lead regulator for cash access and provide it with appropriate powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities.
The Government welcomes The Post Office Banking Framework between Post Office Limited and the major UK banks which allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business customers to carry out their everyday banking at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.
This is a commercial agreement and therefore the Government does not make assessments of the commercial discussions between POL and participating firms. However, the Government expects the UK banking sector to continue to ensure customers have appropriate access to banking services.
Any method for depositing cash must comply with relevant regulations, including Money Laundering Regulations. The value of cash that can be deposited at a Post Office branch is a commercial decision for the parties involved.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of increasing the amount of cash that can be deposited at a post office.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The Government recognises that millions of people across the UK continue to use cash as part of their daily lives, particularly those in vulnerable groups, and has introduced legislation to protect access to cash as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill. The Bill intends to establish the Financial Conduct Authority as the lead regulator for cash access and provide it with appropriate powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities.
The Government welcomes The Post Office Banking Framework between Post Office Limited and the major UK banks which allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business customers to carry out their everyday banking at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.
This is a commercial agreement and therefore the Government does not make assessments of the commercial discussions between POL and participating firms. However, the Government expects the UK banking sector to continue to ensure customers have appropriate access to banking services.
Any method for depositing cash must comply with relevant regulations, including Money Laundering Regulations. The value of cash that can be deposited at a Post Office branch is a commercial decision for the parties involved.