Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 February 2018 to Question 126599, on Cash Dispensing: Fees and Charges, if he will make the correspondence between his Department and LINK on proposals to reduce the interchange fee available to those Members who request it.
Answered by John Glen
It is not the Department’s policy to make copies of correspondence relevant to ongoing policy formation available to Members.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will place in the Library, copies of the correspondence between his Department and LINK on proposals to reduce the interchange fee.
Answered by John Glen
It is not the Department’s policy to place copies of correspondence between it and third parties in the Library.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect on free access to cash of LINK’s upcoming decision on the ATM interchange fee on (a) rural areas and (b) inner-city communities.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises that widespread free access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses in the UK. Government has been engaging and will continue to engage with industry, including LINK, to ensure that this access is maintained.
The Government has not made any formal assessment of the potential effect of LINK’s proposals to change the interchange fee rate. However, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), which Government set up as an independent regulator in 2015 with a statutory objective to ensure that the UK’s payment systems work in the interests of their users, is monitoring developments within ATM provision, and is conducting ongoing work on the impact that changes may have. The PSR has recently published a summary of their work to date, which can be found at https://www.psr.org.uk/psr-focus/the-UK-ATM-network
The PSR has committed to using its powers to act should any of the firms it regulates behave in a way that conflicts with its statutory objectives.
LINK has assured us and the PSR that industry is committed to maintaining an extensive network of free-to-use cash machines, and to ensuring that the present geographical spread of ATMs is maintained. LINK intends to bolster its Financial Inclusion Programme, which ensures the provision of ATMs in areas of deprivation, where demand would not otherwise make one viable, and has also committed to protecting all free-to-use ATMs which are a kilometre or more from the next nearest free-to-use ATM.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has (a) made to LINK or (b) received from LINK any representations on proposed changes to the ATM interchange fee in the last six months.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises that widespread free access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses in the UK. Government has been engaging and will continue to engage with industry, including LINK, to ensure that this access is maintained.
The Government has not made any formal assessment of the potential effect of LINK’s proposals to change the interchange fee rate. However, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), which Government set up as an independent regulator in 2015 with a statutory objective to ensure that the UK’s payment systems work in the interests of their users, is monitoring developments within ATM provision, and is conducting ongoing work on the impact that changes may have. The PSR has recently published a summary of their work to date, which can be found at https://www.psr.org.uk/psr-focus/the-UK-ATM-network
The PSR has committed to using its powers to act should any of the firms it regulates behave in a way that conflicts with its statutory objectives.
LINK has assured us and the PSR that industry is committed to maintaining an extensive network of free-to-use cash machines, and to ensuring that the present geographical spread of ATMs is maintained. LINK intends to bolster its Financial Inclusion Programme, which ensures the provision of ATMs in areas of deprivation, where demand would not otherwise make one viable, and has also committed to protecting all free-to-use ATMs which are a kilometre or more from the next nearest free-to-use ATM.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department will ask the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to intervene following LINK's proposal on the interchange fee should changes to that fee have a detrimental effect on the long-term sustainability of the ATM network and (b) LINK’s Financial Inclusion Programme fails to protect access to ATMs in areas which already face financial exclusion.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises that widespread free access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers and businesses in the UK. Government has been engaging and will continue to engage with industry, including LINK, to ensure that this access is maintained.
The Government has not made any formal assessment of the potential effect of LINK’s proposals to change the interchange fee rate. However, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), which Government set up as an independent regulator in 2015 with a statutory objective to ensure that the UK’s payment systems work in the interests of their users, is monitoring developments within ATM provision, and is conducting ongoing work on the impact that changes may have. The PSR has recently published a summary of their work to date, which can be found at https://www.psr.org.uk/psr-focus/the-UK-ATM-network
The PSR has committed to using its powers to act should any of the firms it regulates behave in a way that conflicts with its statutory objectives.
LINK has assured us and the PSR that industry is committed to maintaining an extensive network of free-to-use cash machines, and to ensuring that the present geographical spread of ATMs is maintained. LINK intends to bolster its Financial Inclusion Programme, which ensures the provision of ATMs in areas of deprivation, where demand would not otherwise make one viable, and has also committed to protecting all free-to-use ATMs which are a kilometre or more from the next nearest free-to-use ATM.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of Treasury employees are paid through trusts rather than through PAYE.
Answered by Andrew Jones
No HM Treasury employees are paid through trusts rather than through PAYE.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the capital allowance treatment is of (a) solar power, (b) Good Quality gas CHP, (c) solar thermal, (d) battery storage technologies, (e) biomass boilers and (f) heat pumps.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Capital Allowances are tax reliefs available for qualifying expenditure by businesses which comply with the conditions of the schemes.
The rate of Capital Allowances available for:
(a) Solar power is 8%
(b) Gas CHP is 100%
(c) Solar thermal is 100%
(d) Battery storage technologies is 18%
(e) Biomass boilers is either 100% or 18%
(f) Heat pumps is 100%
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of Government employees are paid through trusts rather than through PAYE.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
The information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) capping interest rates and (b) other further regulation in the rent-to-own sector.
Answered by Steve Barclay
The government transferred the regulation of consumer credit, including rent-to-own, to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2014.
The government has given the FCA strong powers to protect consumers, including the power to cap all forms of credit, and the FCA can do so if it thinks it is necessary to protect consumers. In 2015, the FCA capped the cost of payday lending, and the FCA has said that it will keep the issue of capping the cost of credit in other markets under review.
The government welcomes the ongoing work of the FCA to review the high-cost credit market, including the rent-to-own sector. The FCA published a feedback statement in July 2017, noting concerns in rent-to-own, catalogue credit, home-collected credit, and overdrafts. The FCA aims to consult on proposed remedies in Spring 2018.
The FCA recently announced that BrightHouse, a rent-to-own firm, will pay over £14.8 million in redress to 249,000 customers in respect of agreements which may not have been affordable, and payments which should have been refunded.
Asked by: Roger Godsiff (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to provide additional ring-fenced funding from the public purse for pay rises over one per cent for nurses.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
As announced in September, for 2018/19, we will no longer have an across-the-board policy of 1% average basic pay awards. Before we make final decisions on pay awards, we will seek the views of the independent Pay Review Bodies including the NHSPRB which sets the pay award for nurses and other Agenda for Change staff. The Pay Review Bodies will consider evidence on how we ensure we attract and retain the very best people within our public services.