Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether pension fund holders may be liable for administration costs when pension fund providers are placed into administration.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Whether pension fund holders are liable for administration costs will ultimately depend on the type of pension fund and its rules. Pension funds in the UK can have several different structures, and the structure will affect administration.
Defined contribution personal pension schemes, including Self-Invested Personal Pensions, are the type of scheme most likely to enter administration. If such a provider goes into administration, its contractual rules may allow the insolvency practitioner to recover their fees from customers’ accounts. In some cases, the customers may be eligible for compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), although this too will depend on the circumstances.
In other cases, if the pension assets are held under trust, the insolvency practitioner may be able to obtain a court order to recover their fees from the trust assets under what is known as the Berkeley Applegate doctrine.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing regulations on pension investments in the context of trends in relation to digital assets in the global economy.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has set out ambitious plans to robustly regulate cryptoassets activities to mitigate the most significant risks, while harnessing the advantages of crypto technologies.
UK investment regulations place a fiduciary responsibility on pension fund trustees and managers to diversify their investment portfolios and seek the highest returns at acceptable levels of risk through a well-designed investment strategy and process. The Government continues to seek ways to encourage trustees and managers to consider a more diverse range of asset classes that will help them achieve this outcome.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many promoters and operators of schemes subject to the Loan Charge have been prosecuted for promoting and operating those schemes.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
I refer the hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton to the answer I gave on 20 March 2023 to Question UIN 162288 .
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps to provide targeted fiscal support to disabled young people and their families, in the context of rises in cost-of-living.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government provides support to young disabled people primarily through Disability Living Allowance (DLA), as well as Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for those aged 16 and over. These benefits provide significant financial support to cover extra costs incurred as a result of a disability and were uprated in line with inflation in April.
The Government has also provided further targeted support to those in receipt of disability benefits like DLA and PIP through the Disability Cost of Living Payments. The Government will begin to deliver the second Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 from June 20th. This is in addition to the previous Disability Cost of Living Payment, also worth £150, delivered from September 2022.
Some family members who provided care to a disabled young person may also be eligible for Carer’s Allowance if they meet the eligibility criteria. This is worth £76.75 per week.
Young disabled people and their families have also benefited from other forms of Cost of Living support. This includes the Energy Price Guarantee and Energy Bills Support Scheme and the Council Tax rebate.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of raising the upper limit of the tax-free childcare allowance in the context of rising nursery fees.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) provides financial support for working parents with their childcare costs. For every £8 parents pay into their childcare account, the Government adds £2 up to a maximum of £2,000 in top up per year for each child up to age 11 and up to £4,000 per disabled child until they are 17.
The Government recognises the importance of supporting parents with the costs of childcare and continues to support families with a range of other childcare offers. At Spring Budget 2023, the Government announced that it will expand the free childcare hours offer, so that eligible working parents in England will be able to access 30 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks per year from when their child is 9 months old, to when they start school. Parents who are not eligible for 30 hours may still be able to access other offers: all three- and four-year-olds can access 15 hours of free childcare per week, regardless of circumstance; and two-year-olds who meet certain social and economic criteria can receive 15 free hours per week. This additional investment at Spring Budget will bring total Government support for childcare to over £10bn by 2027/28. In addition, parents working on Universal Credit claimants are able to claim up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs At Spring Budget, the government announced it would increase the Universal Credit childcare maximum amounts to £951 for 1 child and £1,630 for 2 children, as well as ensuring parents moving into work or increasing their hours have support with childcare costs upfront when they need it.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of an independent investigation into the (a) Loan Charge, (b) conduct of HM Revenue and Customs in relation to that Charge and (c) consequences of that conduct for people subject to that Charge.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
I refer the Hon Member to the answer that I gave on 16 March to the Hon Member for Portsmouth South, UIN 162282.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a minimum level of access to free-of-charge cash services for small businesses.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The way consumers and businesses interact with their banking and make payments continues to develop at pace, bringing significant benefits to those who choose to opt for the convenience, security, and speed of digital services.
In recognition that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, the government is currently taking legislation through Parliament as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill to protect access to cash. The Bill will establish the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash and provide it with appropriate powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities. These powers will allow the FCA to have regard to factors it considers appropriate, which could include cost for users.
Regarding in-person banking services, the government believes that everyone, wherever they live, should have appropriate access to banking services. However, decisions on opening and closing branches, and the provision of in-person services, are a commercial issue for banks and building societies.
Guidance from the FCA sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. The guidance has recently been strengthened and clearly expects firms to put in place alternatives, where this is reasonable, to ensure customer needs are met. Where firms fall short of expectations, the FCA may ask for closures to be paused or other options to be put in place.
Alternative options to access cash and in-person banking services can be via the Post Office and other industry initiatives including cash pods, mobile banking vans and shared banking hubs. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK. Meanwhile, industry has committed to shared banking hubs in over 40 locations across the UK to date.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a minimum level of access to essential in-person banking services.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The way consumers and businesses interact with their banking and make payments continues to develop at pace, bringing significant benefits to those who choose to opt for the convenience, security, and speed of digital services.
In recognition that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, the government is currently taking legislation through Parliament as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill to protect access to cash. The Bill will establish the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash and provide it with appropriate powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities. These powers will allow the FCA to have regard to factors it considers appropriate, which could include cost for users.
Regarding in-person banking services, the government believes that everyone, wherever they live, should have appropriate access to banking services. However, decisions on opening and closing branches, and the provision of in-person services, are a commercial issue for banks and building societies.
Guidance from the FCA sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. The guidance has recently been strengthened and clearly expects firms to put in place alternatives, where this is reasonable, to ensure customer needs are met. Where firms fall short of expectations, the FCA may ask for closures to be paused or other options to be put in place.
Alternative options to access cash and in-person banking services can be via the Post Office and other industry initiatives including cash pods, mobile banking vans and shared banking hubs. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK. Meanwhile, industry has committed to shared banking hubs in over 40 locations across the UK to date.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what targeted support his Department is providing to families with a child with a vision impairment.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Children under 16 with a disability such as a vision impairment may qualify for Disability Living Allowance for Children (DLA) if they meet certain conditions. Families can access DLA regardless of income.
At the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced that benefits including DLA will be uprated by 10.1% in April this year, protecting the value of awards for the thousands of DLA recipients with vision impairments. From April 2023, those on the highest rate of DLA will see their award increased from £156.9 a week to £172.75 a week.
Children who are 16 or older and who have a vision impairment can make an application for Personal Independent Payment (PIP); a non-means tested benefit to help with the extra costs associated with their health condition or disability.
Families who are in receipt of benefits such as DLA or PIP may be eligible for one-off Disability Cost of Living Payments. At Autumn Statement, the Government announced that it will provide a further payment of £150 in 2023/24 to people in receipt of extra-costs disability benefits. This is additional to the £150 payment for recipients of disability benefits in 2022 already announced as part of the Cost of Living package in May.
For children with a vision impairment who are educated in special schools, funding comes from the Local Authorities’ high needs budgets. High needs funding will be rising to £10.1 billion in 2023-24 - an increase of over 50% from the 2019-20 allocations.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of equalising the rate of VAT on (a) public and (b) home charging for electric vehicles.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Government has not specifically introduced a reduced rate of VAT for charging EVs at home. However, the practical challenges of differentiating between the electricity used at home for general domestic purposes, and electricity used to charge EVs currently mean that the domestic fuel and power reduced rate is effectively being applied to EV charging at home.
Introducing an additional VAT relief for public EV charging to match the VAT treatment of domestic fuel and power would impose additional pressure on the public finances, to which VAT makes a significant contribution. There are therefore no plans to change the VAT treatment of EV charging.