Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when (a) Government Ministers or civil servants and (b) representatives of the Bank of England last met representatives of Wells Fargo.
Answered by Simon Kirby
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:
The Bank of England is independent of Government, and so the Treasury is not in a position to comment on meetings held by its officials.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the alleged misselling of financial products by high street banks.
Answered by Simon Kirby
The Chancellor has meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to investigate reports of misconduct by Royal Bank of Scotland relating to small business finance.
Answered by Simon Kirby
HM Treasury has no plans to investigate these reports. This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority, which is undertaking a review.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will conduct an investigation into the sales practices of Wells Fargo in the UK.
Answered by Simon Kirby
Investigations into the conduct of financial services in the United Kingdom are a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.
The questions have been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the Honorable Member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the level of financial protection available to investors in mini-bonds not covered under the financial services compensation scheme.
Answered by Simon Kirby
The government is committed to regulating only where there is a clear case for doing so, in order to avoid putting additional costs on lenders that would ultimately lead to higher costs for businesses and consumers.
The marketing and promotion of mini-bonds is subject to financial promotion restrictions set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA). Firms that fail to meet any of these requirements may be subject to enforcement action by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to increase financial protection for investors within the UK who invest in mini-bonds.
Answered by Simon Kirby
The government is committed to regulating only where there is a clear case for doing so, in order to avoid putting additional costs on lenders that would ultimately lead to higher costs for businesses and consumers.
The marketing and promotion of mini-bonds is subject to financial promotion restrictions set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA). Firms that fail to meet any of these requirements may be subject to enforcement action by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of money lost by UK investors as a result of Providence Bonds and Providence Bonds II being placed in administration in September 2016.
Answered by Simon Kirby
The government does not hold this information.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what communication has taken place between the UK Financial Ombudsman Service, the Bank of England and the Channel Islands Financial Ombudsman in relation to protection for investors in Providence Bonds and Providence Bonds II.
Answered by Simon Kirby
The government is unable to comment on the communications of external bodies.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department's staff performance monitoring includes key performance indicators on how many personal independence payment (PIP) claims are (a) accepted and (b) rejected by those staff who are PIP assessors.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The role of contracted Assessment Providers is to carry out health and disability assessments on behalf of the Department. They do not determine if a claim to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is successful. They provide a report to DWP decision makers who then determine entitlement to benefit. No targets are in place as to how many applications are successful.
Asked by: Philip Boswell (Scottish National Party - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether personal independence payment (PIP) assessors employed by (a) his Department, (b) Capita and (c) Atos Healthcare have targets of how many PIP claims they (i) reject and (ii) accept.
Answered by Penny Mordaunt - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons
The role of contracted Assessment Providers is to carry out health and disability assessments on behalf of the Department. They do not determine if a claim to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is successful. They provide a report to DWP decision makers who then determine entitlement to benefit. No targets are in place as to how many applications are successful.