Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses have applied to extend their use of CHIEF and have yet to register for the Customs Declaration Service.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
4,727 businesses made import declarations on CHIEF in 2021. As of week, commencing 7 November 2022, 3,440 businesses are using the full service on the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), with over 86% of import declarations now being made on CDS. 1,287 businesses have yet to subscribe to CDS. 1,231 businesses are in the Trader Dress Rehearsal, which allows businesses to practice making declarations in CDS.
Out of 1,653 businesses that applied for an extension to use CHIEF until 31 October 2022, 263 are yet to subscribe to CDS.
Out of 2,485 businesses that applied for an extension to use CHIEF beyond 31 October 2022, 470 are yet to subscribe to CDS.
As of 16 November 2022, c600 businesses have a valid extension to use CHIEF to allow them to complete training or because of issues with their third-party software. HMRC is working with these third-party software providers to resolve their issues and is tracking their progress.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses registered for CHIEF have yet to register for the Customs Declaration Service.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
4,727 businesses made import declarations on CHIEF in 2021. As of week, commencing 7 November 2022, 3,440 businesses are using the full service on the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), with over 86% of import declarations now being made on CDS. 1,287 businesses have yet to subscribe to CDS. 1,231 businesses are in the Trader Dress Rehearsal, which allows businesses to practice making declarations in CDS.
Out of 1,653 businesses that applied for an extension to use CHIEF until 31 October 2022, 263 are yet to subscribe to CDS.
Out of 2,485 businesses that applied for an extension to use CHIEF beyond 31 October 2022, 470 are yet to subscribe to CDS.
As of 16 November 2022, c600 businesses have a valid extension to use CHIEF to allow them to complete training or because of issues with their third-party software. HMRC is working with these third-party software providers to resolve their issues and is tracking their progress.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what impact assessment he has undertaken on the proposed changes to Small Brewers' Relief.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
The Treasury keeps the effect of the relief, and potential reforms to it, under regular review. A technical consultation was launched in January to help inform the Government’s review of the relief, and the consultation document provides further information on the Government’s assessment of changes.Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to respond to the consultation on the review of Small Brewers' Relief that ran from 30 January 2019 to 17 March 2019; and what steps he is taking to use the findings of that consultation to inform the consultation on Small Brewers' Relief that closes on 4 April 2021.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Following the announcement of the Small Brewers Relief (SBR) review at the 2018 Budget, the Treasury conducted a survey of brewers between January and March 2019. An update on the review was provided to Parliament in July 2020, outlining the Government’s initial conclusions. In January 2021 a technical consultation was launched to gain further feedback from brewers. The information provided by the consultation will be used alongside the data from the 2019 survey to inform final policy decisions.
Further updates will be provided after the close of the consultation.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the time taken by the Valuation Office Agency to process rateable value appeals.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The time taken by the Valuation Office Agency to process rateable value appeals depends on a number of factors. These include the complexity of a case or whether it proceeds to a hearing by the independent Valuation Tribunal. Some cases can be held up in litigation or placed on hold at the ratepayer's request. The Government has reformed the appeals process to ensure that genuine appeals can be dealt with more quickly.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that there is full market participation in real-time data-sharing in the short-term credit market.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Government agrees that market-wide credit data sharing is key to effective affordability assessments in the high-cost, short-term credit market. In February 2014 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) asked the payday lending industry to identify and remove any blockages to real-time data sharing as a matter of urgency. The FCA reports that there has been substantial recent progress made by the industry in this area. Over 90% of high-cost, short-term lenders by market share are meeting the FCA’s expectations to share data in real-time.
The FCA expects that the proportion of firms using real-time data sharing to further increase by the time the authorisation process is complete for most high-cost short-term credit firms. The FCA will continue to monitor progress to keep this momentum, and ensure that there continues to be improvement in this area.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to tackle fuel fraud in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The government is committed to reducing revenue loss due to fuel duty fraud in Northern Ireland. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a comprehensive anti-fraud strategy in place that has driven down the estimated illicit share of the market for diesel in Northern Ireland (NI) from 26% to 13% since its launch in 2002. Autumn Statement 2013 also announced the expansion of HMRC Road Fuel Testing Unit and Criminal Investigation capacity in NI and Great Britain.
The fight against fraud will be further enhanced by the new rebated fuel marker introduced in April 2015, which makes it much harder to launder marked fuel.
HMRC also works closely with the Revenue Commissioners in the Republic of Ireland to fight fuel fraud on a wide range of fronts. This multi-agency approach includes regular exchange of information and joint operational activity. The Republic of Ireland have also introduced the same new marker as the UK.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the progress made by the short-term credit industry on full market participation in real-time data-sharing.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market. The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) new, more robust regulatory regime is improving protections for consumers, including through the introduction of a cap on the cost of payday loans as required by Government.
The Government and the FCA have made it clear to payday lenders that real-time market-wide credit data sharing is key to more effective affordability assessments. In its November 2014 policy statement, the FCA set out there has been substantial progress made by the payday industry, with “the vast majority of the market now participating in real-time data sharing”. The FCA has committed to press the industry for further improvements, and has said it will make rules if it detects any loss of momentum.
The FCA can use its flexible rule-making powers across the consumer credit market where it deems necessary to support its objectives, including protecting consumers.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to ensure that full market participation in real-time data-sharing in the short-term credit market includes participants who are non-payday lenders.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market. The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) new, more robust regulatory regime is improving protections for consumers, including through the introduction of a cap on the cost of payday loans as required by Government.
The Government and the FCA have made it clear to payday lenders that real-time market-wide credit data sharing is key to more effective affordability assessments. In its November 2014 policy statement, the FCA set out there has been substantial progress made by the payday industry, with “the vast majority of the market now participating in real-time data sharing”. The FCA has committed to press the industry for further improvements, and has said it will make rules if it detects any loss of momentum.
The FCA can use its flexible rule-making powers across the consumer credit market where it deems necessary to support its objectives, including protecting consumers.
Asked by: Meg Hillier (Labour (Co-op) - Hackney South and Shoreditch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the affordability criteria used by the Financial Conduct Authority to set rules to protect consumers taking out loans in the short-term credit market.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market. The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) new, more robust regulatory regime is improving protections for consumers in the payday market, including through the introduction of a cap on the cost of payday loans as required by Government.
The FCA has turned key elements of the Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT) Irresponsible Lending Guidance into binding rules, enforceable with the full range of FCA enforcement powers. These rules strengthen consumer protection and are based on the principle that money should only be lent to a consumer if they can afford to repay it.
These rules set out that a firm should assess the customer’s creditworthiness, having regard to:
the potential for the commitments to impact adversely on the consumer’s financial situation, taking into account information which the firm is (or ought reasonably to be) aware at the time;
and the consumer’s ability to make repayments as they fall due.
Further information on the FCA’s rules can be found in its handbook which is available online: http://fshandbook.info/FS/html/handbook/CONC.