Asked by: Owen Smith (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to promote the availability of basic bank accounts.
Answered by Steve Barclay
Under the Payment Accounts Regulations 2015, the nine largest personal current account providers in the UK have been legally required to offer fee-free basic bank accounts to customers who do not have a bank account or who are ineligible for a bank’s standard current account. The Financial Conduct Authority is the body responsible for monitoring and enforcing firms’ compliance with these requirements.
The Money Advice Service has a duty under the Regulations to endeavour to raise awareness among consumers about the availability, pricing and accessibility of basic bank accounts.
The Government continues to monitor firms’ wider commitments on basic bank accounts, including that the accounts should be visible to potential customers alongside other personal current accounts, and that applications for basic bank accounts can be accepted through the same channels the firm uses for other personal current accounts.
Firms also report data on basic bank accounts to the Treasury. The first publication of this data, in December 2016, showed that nearly half a million people had opened a new fee-free basic bank account in the first half of 2016. The publication, and further information on basic bank accounts, is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/576033/Basic_bank_account_2016_dec_final.pdf.
Asked by: Owen Smith (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make further payments to people affected by regulatory failings at Equitable Life.
Answered by Simon Kirby
After making payments of over £1.1billion to more than 900,000 policyholders, the Payment Scheme has now closed. There are no plans to reopen the Payment Scheme.
Asked by: Owen Smith (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to reopen the Equitable Life Payment Scheme.
Answered by Simon Kirby
After making payments of over £1.1billion to more than 900,000 policyholders, the Payment Scheme has now closed. There are no plans to reopen the Payment Scheme.
Asked by: Owen Smith (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential costs to the public purse of increasing compensation to members of the Equitable Life Payment Scheme.
Answered by Simon Kirby
After making payments of over £1.1billion to more than 900,000 policyholders, the Payment Scheme has now closed. There are no plans to reopen the Payment Scheme.
Asked by: Owen Smith (Labour - Pontypridd)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress the Government has made on steps to introduce a pensions dashboard by 2019.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
As people work longer and change jobs more often, pension savings can become confusing. The average person will move employers 11 times over their working life, meaning they could end up with 11 or more private pensions by the time they retire. Research shows that over a third of people approaching retirement find it difficult to keep track of their pension pots.
That is why the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced as part of the Budget 2016, that the government will ensure the industry designs, funds and launches a pensions dashboard by 2019. This will help people to clearly view all their pension savings in one place.
There are a number of exciting dashboard initiatives already going on and the government is keen to ensure that it does what it can to support the progress made by the industry so far. That is why I am acting as a ministerial champion to support the industry in designing and delivering the dashboard to consumers by 2019.
This work will be industry-led. The Treasury is starting the work on catalysing and challenging the industry to deliver and I will set out next steps in due course.