Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the Treasury were first made aware of the financial risk posed by Safe Hands Plans funeral scheme.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
During a wide-ranging meeting with industry in July 2017 to discuss pre-paid funeral plans, some concerns about Safe Hands Plans were raised with HM Treasury.
In response, officials advised that such concerns should more properly be reported to the Financial Conduct Authority, reflecting the fact that HM Treasury has no investigatory or enforcement powers of its own.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) potential breaches of sanctions have been investigated and (b) penalties have been issued for non-compliance by the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation since its establishment in 2016.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) takes some form of compliance action in every suspected instance of non-compliance, and the majority of cases are resolved by enforcement activity short of a penalty. All suspected financial sanctions breaches reported are investigated. OFSI uses the figure of reports of suspected breaches of financial sanctions as our measurement of non-compliance in a given period.
OFSI has published information about the number of breach investigations since 2017 in its Annual Reviews, accessible via GOV.UK. The number of reported suspected financial sanctions breaches over these previous years is as follows:
Since its establishment in 2016, OFSI has issued 7 fines for non-compliance, ranging from £5000 to £20,471,809.83 in scale.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation has; and how many of those staff hold investigation and enforcement roles.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, is the competent authority for financial sanctions in the UK. The staff in post in OFSI was 37.8 FTE as at 31 March 2021. This information can be found in HM Treasury’s Outcome Delivery Plan 2021 to 2022, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hm-treasury-outcome-delivery-plan/hm-treasury-outcome-delivery-plan-2021-to-2022.
The number of staff has since increased and is now increasing again, in light of recent developments in Ukraine. Releasing further details of OFSI’s budget and headcount by function could prejudice its operational effectiveness.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how the Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation works with (a) other Government departments and (b) UK regulators to ensure compliance with sanctions; and with which organisations that body has Memorandums of Understanding.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
OFSI engages extensively and regularly with other Government departments and regulators involved in relevant work, to ensure a consistent cross-Government approach and aligned sanctions messaging.
This covers a broad range of areas, including (but not necessarily limited to):
Its engagement with the above includes information-sharing (with information both received and provided) under the provisions of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 and associated relevant legislation.
OFSI has a number of Memoranda of Understanding with partner organisations. However, I am unable to provide details of those currently in force or being negotiated between OFSI and other Government departments/partner agencies and regulators. The provision of such information could jeopardise ongoing investigations.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Money and Pensions Service's press release entitled Helplines forecast a call about debt every four minutes in January, published on 20 January 2021, what additional resources his Department plans to provide to ensure the sector is well-placed to scale up quickly to meet increased demand and additional need.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government recognises the importance of providing a strong financial footing for the debt advice sector and is committed to helping people access the support they need to get their finances back on track.
The Government has agreed to maintain record levels of debt advice funding for the Money and Pension Service in 2021-22, bringing the budget for free debt advice in England to £94.6 million. This is more than a 70% increase since 2019-20 and reflects the Government’s commitment to ensure that appropriate support is available for people in problem debt, especially during this challenging time.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he had (a) discussions and (b) text communication with former Prime Minister David Cameron in Government support to Greensill Capital.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the honourable member to the recent publication by HM Treasury on this matter on gov.uk
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/response-to-a-freedom-of-information-request-on-greensill
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to support self-employed people whose industries have not re-started during the covid-19 outbreak after the Self-Employed Income Support Scheme closes on 19 October 2020.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has said there will be no further extension or changes to the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). The SEISS will remain open for applications for the second and final grant until 19 October.
Some businesses will be affected by coronavirus for longer than others, and the Government will seek to support these businesses appropriately.
Those who require more support may be able to benefit from other elements of the comprehensive package of support for individuals and businesses. This package includes Bounce Back loans, tax deferrals, rental support,?increased levels of Universal Credit, mortgage holidays, and other business support grants. More information about the full range of business support measures is available at www.gov.uk/government/collections/financial-support-for-businesses-during-coronavirus-covid-19.
As the economy reopens, it is right that state support is reduced and the focus shifts to getting people back to work. On 8 July, the Government introduced the Plan for Jobs which will make available up to £30 billion to assist in creating, supporting and protecting jobs. The Plan supports jobs through the Kickstart Scheme, protects jobs by reducing the level of VAT for the hospitality and accommodation sector, and creates jobs through £8.6 billion of infrastructure, decarbonisation and maintenance projects. This is alongside many other measures that will help support people and kickstart the economic recovery. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-plan-for-jobs-documents/a-plan-for-jobs-2020.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Minister for the Cabinet Office's oral statement of 13 July 2020, Official Report, column 1268, on EU Exit: End of Transition Period, how much has been spent on developing HMRC border trading systems as at 16 July 2020; and what estimate his Department has made of the future cost for that development.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC’s spending on EU Exit and Transition in 2017/18 was £46.8m, and in 2018/19 was £261.7m.
HMRC’s spending in 2019/20 will be confirmed with the publication of their annual accounts in October.
Funding for the systems to meet the requirements of the end of the transition period is included within HMRC’s EU transition budget allocation.
Previous year figures include the Border and Protocol Delivery Group (BPDG), which was located with HMRC.
HMRC funding for 2020/21, excluding BPDG who have now moved to the Cabinet Office, consists of the £357m at Main Estimate with the addition of £50m for intermediaries support, £69m agreed by HMT, and £185m announced by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, for border readiness. HMRC remain in regular contact with HMT to ensure that HMRC are resourced sufficiently to carry out requirements.
Future costs will be subject to the forthcoming comprehensive spending review.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Minister for the Cabinet Office's 12 July 2020 news story entitled Government accelerates border planning for the end of the Transition Period, what improvements are required to HMRC border systems; and what his timeframe is for their (a) development and (b) completion.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC are making changes to ensure that border systems have the capacity and functionality to process anticipated volumes of declarations by the end of the Transition Period. HMRC’s delivery for December 2020 requires the scaling of key IT systems, integration with other Government department systems, and trader and border industry readiness to comply with new requirements. HMRC also need to develop new functionality and processes to implement the Northern Ireland Protocol and get traders, and the wider border industry, ready to use them. HMRC’s plans are on track to meet the requirements of the Northern Ireland Protocol at the end of December 2020 and the staging in of customs controls by July 2021.
HMRC have clear plans to develop delivery plans with carriers and operators, accommodating technical build and testing activity in line with their individual plans to December. Technical discussions with carriers and operators to supplement this testing are in progress and will continue through to 31 December 2020. HMRC are also working with Community System Providers (CSPs), Software Developers (SWDs) and the wider border industry to ensure they are aware of and can prepare for border arrangements. HMRC are also undertaking calls with stakeholder groups following the publication of the Border Operating Model on 12 July.
Asked by: Nick Smith (Labour - Blaenau Gwent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Minister for the Cabinet Office's 12 July 2020 news story entitled Government accelerates border planning for the end of the Transition Period, whether his Department and HMRC plan to test border systems with industry representatives before the end of the transition period.
Answered by Jesse Norman
HMRC are making changes to ensure that border systems have the capacity and functionality to process anticipated volumes of declarations by the end of the Transition Period. HMRC’s delivery for December 2020 requires the scaling of key IT systems, integration with other Government department systems, and trader and border industry readiness to comply with new requirements. HMRC also need to develop new functionality and processes to implement the Northern Ireland Protocol and get traders, and the wider border industry, ready to use them. HMRC’s plans are on track to meet the requirements of the Northern Ireland Protocol at the end of December 2020 and the staging in of customs controls by July 2021.
HMRC have clear plans to develop delivery plans with carriers and operators, accommodating technical build and testing activity in line with their individual plans to December. Technical discussions with carriers and operators to supplement this testing are in progress and will continue through to 31 December 2020. HMRC are also working with Community System Providers (CSPs), Software Developers (SWDs) and the wider border industry to ensure they are aware of and can prepare for border arrangements. HMRC are also undertaking calls with stakeholder groups following the publication of the Border Operating Model on 12 July.