Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential (a) merits of requiring social media platforms to contribute to the costs of reimbursing victims of fraud and (b) impact of such a requirement on tackling fraud.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The government recognises that protecting the UK population from fraud, including is incredibly important. That is why we have agreed the Online Fraud Charter with the technology sector. Signatories, including some of the largest global tech companies, have committed to a number of actions to reduce fraud on their platforms and services including: blocking and reporting fraudulent activity, taking down fraudulent posts, and engaging with law enforcement.
More broadly, under the Online Safety Act, social media platforms will be required to establish systems and processes to remove both user generated fraudulent content and fraudulent advertising. If platforms do not comply, they may face fines of up to £18 million or 10% of their annual turnover, whichever is higher.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility of November 2022, what recent discussions he has had with that Office on the factors behind the projected increase in revenue from business rates.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
OBR forecasts are produced independently of ministers, objectively, transparently and impartially, as set out clearly by law. The spring forecast is available at: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2023/
For the spring forecast, the OBR have been engaged with the Treasury in the normal way and there have been regular discussions of the economic and fiscal outlook.
As set out in the Memorandum of Understanding between HM Treasury and the OBR, the forecast process involves the OBR producing multiple draft iterations of the forecasts which it shares with the Chancellor.
With regard to business rates, the 5-year forecast takes account of the Government’s £13.6 billion package of support announced at Autumn Statement 2022, and annual CPI indexation of the multiplier.
Future decisions regarding business rates will be taken in line with the normal Budget process.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on his policies of trends in the level of population growth in the East of England; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Felicity Buchan
The Treasury along with other Government departments, carefully considers a number of factors, including local populations, in the impact assessments of individual measures, as well as the distribution of many funding programmes.
The Treasury is making significant investments in the East of England. For example, almost £90m in funding from the first round of the Levelling Up Fund went to projects in the East of England, investing in infrastructure to improve everyday life for local residents.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) stakeholders on the potential merits of a windfall tax on electricity generators.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
On 26th May, the Chancellor announced that the Government was urgently evaluating the scale of extraordinary profits in the energy generation sector and the appropriate next steps.
As part of this process, officials have been engaging with industry stakeholders to gather evidence on energy generators’ level of profitability and the operation of their business models.