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Written Question
Schools: Concrete
Friday 22nd March 2024

Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 3.5 of Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Second report from Session 2023-24, HC 78, published 8 March 2024, how much and what proportion of funding to tackle RAAC concentrate in schools will come from (a) existing and (b) additional budget funding.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Government is funding the removal of RAAC present in schools and colleges either through grants, or through the School Rebuilding Programme. A list of education settings with confirmed RAAC and the funding route to remove RAAC was published on 8 February, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reinforced-autoclaved-aerated-concrete-raac-management-information.


Written Question
Fraud: Self-assessment
Monday 4th March 2024

Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the support offered by HMRC to self-assessment customers who have been victims of scams by people impersonating HMRC.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The HMRC Customer Protection Team is responsible for reporting known cases, requesting removal of suspicious websites, and raising awareness among the general public of how to identify scams and avoid becoming victims of fraud. HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) is responsible for the department’s civil and criminal investigations into the most serious fraud and wrongdoing. FIS ensures that HMRC has an effective approach to tackling the most serious tax evasion and fraud.

HMRC encourages customers to report scams through reporting mechanisms directly to HMRC or through Action Fraud.

The channels through which suspicious activity can be reported to HMRC are:

Suspicious emails – phishing@hmrc.gov.uk

Suspicious text – 60599

Suspicious phone calls – Report suspicious HMRC emails, text messages and phone calls - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)


Written Question
Fraud: Self-assessment
Friday 1st March 2024

Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of HMRC processes for (a) identifying and (b) tackling fraudulent self-assessment repayment claims.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Repayments are a feature of Income Tax Self-Assessment regime and can be generated for many reasons. HMRC continuously monitors its tax repayment systems to prevent criminal attacks on the tax system, fraud; and mitigate the risk of error and non-compliance.


Written Question
Child Benefit
Monday 26th February 2024

Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of administering Child Benefit as a working age benefit via the Department for Work and Pensions.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government does not have plans to administer Child Benefit as a working age benefit via the Department for Work and Pensions.

Administering Child Benefit as a joint claim per household could mean finding out the incomes and relationships of all Child Benefit claimants. This would pose administrative burdens on households, who do not currently need to provide this information to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), and on HMRC.

As with all Government policy, Child Benefit is kept under regular review.


Written Question
Child Benefit
Monday 26th February 2024

Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of administering Child Benefit as a joint claim per household.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government does not have plans to administer Child Benefit as a working age benefit via the Department for Work and Pensions.

Administering Child Benefit as a joint claim per household could mean finding out the incomes and relationships of all Child Benefit claimants. This would pose administrative burdens on households, who do not currently need to provide this information to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), and on HMRC.

As with all Government policy, Child Benefit is kept under regular review.


Written Question
Fire and Rescue Services: Finance
Tuesday 6th February 2024

Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2023 to Question 7211 on Fire and Rescue Services Finance, what Barnett consequentials arise as a result of additional funding support for Fire and Rescue Authorities in England.

Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Barnett formula applies to all increases or decreases to Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL), including when budgets change in relation to funding for Fire and Rescue Authorities.

Fire and Rescue Authorities in England receive funding through the Local Government Finance Settlement. Part of this funding comes from DEL agreed at the Spending Review and the Barnett formula has been applied in the usual way. Additionally, Fire and Rescue Funding is raised through council tax precepts, which is council tax funding ring-fenced for Fire and Rescue Authorities. The Barnett formula does not apply to spending financed by council tax.


Written Question
Revenue and Customs: Standards
Thursday 1st February 2024

Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of HMRC response times to enquiries from financial representatives.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Financial representatives such as tax agents are encouraged to use HMRC’s free online services wherever possible. Agents can save time by using online services specifically designed to help them manage their client’s tax affairs. Online information and tools are also available, this includes the agent dashboard where agents can check HMRC’s current processing times and service levels for post and online requests.

Agents are also directed to use HMRCs webchat for simple enquiries so we can free up our advisers time to help those agents with more complex queries.

HMRC performance data is published on a monthly and quarterly basis and can be found on the GOV.UK Website here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates


Written Question
High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge
Tuesday 9th January 2024

Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2023 to Question 543 on High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of trends in the level of tax revenue received from the High Income Child Benefit Tax Charge since 2020-21.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government believes in having a fair taxation system which allows individuals to keep more of what they earn. The Government also needs to manage the public finances in a disciplined and responsible way in order to protect our vital public services. In 2020-2021 (the latest year that data is available), 99.7% of those liable for the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) paid income tax at the higher rate or above, and 88% of Child Benefit claimants were unaffected by the HICBC. The Government therefore currently considers that maintaining the threshold remains appropriate, but will keep this threshold under review in line with all other tax policy.


Written Question
Credit
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of different practices relating to the (a) provision of forbearance and (b) prioritisation of payments on essential bills in the (i) regulated and (ii) buy-now-pay-later sector.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) rules require firms offering regulated credit products to offer forbearance to customers who are in arrears with their repayments. Firms can meet these requirements by suspending, reducing, waiving, or cancelling any further interest or charges on credit agreements and allowing customers to defer payment of arrears or make token payments for a reasonable period of time.

The FCA is also in the process of strengthening its framework for firms to provide better support to customers facing payment difficulties. It recently consulted on plans to incorporate its Tailored Support Guidance into its Handbook. This guidance sets out the FCA’s expectations of firms when supporting borrowers in financial difficulty, including providing tailored forbearance.

While Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) agreements are unregulated, when a BNPL firm passes a debt to a debt collection agency, the debt collection agency must be authorised and regulated by the FCA. It must also comply with the FCA’s rules, including those on the treatment of customers in financial difficulty outlined above.


Written Question
Credit
Monday 18th December 2023

Asked by: Martyn Day (Scottish National Party - Linlithgow and East Falkirk)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the (a) repayment terms and (b) enforcement action borrowers are subject to when in arrears with buy-now-pay-later products.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) rules require firms offering regulated credit products to offer forbearance to customers who are in arrears with their repayments. Firms can meet these requirements by suspending, reducing, waiving, or cancelling any further interest or charges on credit agreements and allowing customers to defer payment of arrears or make token payments for a reasonable period of time.

The FCA is also in the process of strengthening its framework for firms to provide better support to customers facing payment difficulties. It recently consulted on plans to incorporate its Tailored Support Guidance into its Handbook. This guidance sets out the FCA’s expectations of firms when supporting borrowers in financial difficulty, including providing tailored forbearance.

While Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) agreements are unregulated, when a BNPL firm passes a debt to a debt collection agency, the debt collection agency must be authorised and regulated by the FCA. It must also comply with the FCA’s rules, including those on the treatment of customers in financial difficulty outlined above.