Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many residents in Newport West have waited longer than 15 days to receive a refund from HMRC in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
Information in the form requested is not readily available and could only be obtained, compiled, and collated at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he will take to help ensure the reduction to fuel duty will be passed down in full to customers in (a) Newport West constituency and (b) Wales.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Government is clear that it expects those in the supply chain to pass the fuel duty cut through to consumers as soon as possible, and has written to key industry stakeholders to set out this expectation.
The Government will continue to monitor fuel prices closely.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much tax he projects HM Treasury will collect on the interest accrued on Russian assets frozen in UK banks.
Answered by John Glen
This information is not held centrally within government and would involve disproportionate costs to gather.
Please note that HM Treasury is not responsible for freezing assets, or for holding frozen assets. On the enactment of an asset freeze, the funds and economic resources are to be frozen immediately by the person in possession or control of them. An asset freeze does not involve a change in ownership of the frozen funds or economic resources, nor are they confiscated or transferred to Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation for safekeeping. Any release of frozen assets can only be accomplished legally with a licence from Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact on access to cash and banking services of the Lloyds Banking Group announcement that it will shut 60 bank branches.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises the importance of appropriate access to banking. However, decisions on opening and closing branches are a commercial issue for banks and building societies. The Government does not intervene in these decisions or make direct assessments of these branch networks.
Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures that the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.
Alternative options for access can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.
The Government also recognises that cash remains an important part of daily life for millions of people across the UK, particularly those in vulnerable groups, and has committed to legislate to protect access to cash.
Following the Government’s commitment to legislate, firms are working together through the Cash Action Group to develop new initiatives to provide shared services. New shared services will complement other industry initiatives to support access to cash, such as mobile branches and pop-up services, as well as services for people who need to make payments in their own homes. The Government welcomes the direction set by industry’s commitments at the end of last year and looks forward to seeing what results they deliver in protecting cash facilities for local communities across the UK.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of bank closures on access to cash for older people.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises the importance of appropriate access to banking. However, decisions on opening and closing branches are a commercial issue for banks and building societies. The Government does not intervene in these decisions or make direct assessments of these branch networks.
Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures that the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.
Alternative options for access can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.
The Government also recognises that cash remains an important part of daily life for millions of people across the UK, particularly those in vulnerable groups, and has committed to legislate to protect access to cash.
Following the Government’s commitment to legislate, firms are working together through the Cash Action Group to develop new initiatives to provide shared services. New shared services will complement other industry initiatives to support access to cash, such as mobile branches and pop-up services, as well as services for people who need to make payments in their own homes. The Government welcomes the direction set by industry’s commitments at the end of last year and looks forward to seeing what results they deliver in protecting cash facilities for local communities across the UK.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many banks have closed on high streets in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland, (c) England and (d) Northern Ireland since 2015.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises the importance of appropriate access to banking. However, decisions on opening and closing branches are a commercial issue for banks and building societies. The Government does not intervene in these decisions or make direct assessments of these branch networks.
Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures that the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.
Alternative options for access can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.
The Government also recognises that cash remains an important part of daily life for millions of people across the UK, particularly those in vulnerable groups, and has committed to legislate to protect access to cash.
Following the Government’s commitment to legislate, firms are working together through the Cash Action Group to develop new initiatives to provide shared services. New shared services will complement other industry initiatives to support access to cash, such as mobile branches and pop-up services, as well as services for people who need to make payments in their own homes. The Government welcomes the direction set by industry’s commitments at the end of last year and looks forward to seeing what results they deliver in protecting cash facilities for local communities across the UK.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on supporting economic growth in Newport West constituency.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Chancellor regularly meets with his Cabinet colleagues to discuss economic growth across the UK.
As set out in the Levelling Up White Paper, published in February, the Government is committed to levelling up every part of the UK, including Newport West.
Additionally, the Autumn Budget and Spending Review 2021 provided both UK-wide support and targeted funding to meet local economic needs. It also provided the Welsh Government with an additional £2.5 billion per year on average through the Barnett formula over the Spending Review 2021 period, on top of its annual baseline funding of £15.9 billion, to enable further locally targeted investments.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to help ensure that local bank branches in Newport West constituency remain open to enable vulnerable people to have access to cash.
Answered by John Glen
The Government recognises that cash remains an important part of daily life for millions of people across the UK, particularly those in vulnerable groups, and has committed to legislate to protect access to cash.
Last year, the Government held an Access to Cash Consultation on proposals for new laws to make sure people only need to travel a reasonable distance to pay in or take out cash. The Government’s proposals intend to support the continued use of cash in people’s daily lives and help to enable local businesses to continue accepting cash by ensuring they can access deposit facilities. The Government will set out next steps in due course.
Following the Government’s commitment to legislate, firms are working together through the Cash Action Group to develop new initiatives to provide shared services. The Government welcomes the direction set by industry’s commitments at the end of last year and looks forward to seeing what results they deliver in protecting cash facilities for local communities across the UK.
On bank branches specifically, the largest banks and building societies, including those with a presence in Wales, have been signed up to the Access to Banking Standard since 2017, which commits them to ensure that customers are well informed about branch closures, the bank’s reasons for closure and options for continued access to banking services.
Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority also sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.
Alternative options for access can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to (a) tackle economic crime and (b) prevent fraudulent companies from accessing public funds.
Answered by John Glen
Wider work to tackle economic crime is set out through the Economic Crime Plan. The Government is on course to deliver 49 of the 52 actions set out in the Plan. Key progress includes updating the Money Laundering Regulations to close vulnerabilities in our system and to bring new sectors in scope of the requirements; the publication of proposals for Companies House reform, which will ensure it has a larger role in combatting economic crime; and legislating for a new Economic Crime (Anti-Money Laundering) Levy, which will aim to raise around £100 million per year to help fund anti-money laundering measures.
The Prime Minister announced on Thursday 24 February that we will bring forward measures on Unexplained Wealth Orders from the Economic Crime Bill to be introduced before the House rises for Easter. We will set out further detail before Easter on the range of policies to be included in the full Bill in the next session, including on reforms to Companies House and a Register of Overseas property ownership. The Prime Minister also confirmed that we will set up a new dedicated Kleptocracy cell in the National Crime Agency to target sanctions evasion and corrupt Russian assets hidden in the UK – and that means oligarchs in London will have nowhere to hide.
The steps taken to prevent fraudulent companies accessing public funds depend on the nature of the public funding. Common due diligence approaches include Spotlight, the government’s online automated due-diligence tool, fraud prevention data analytics, and Credit Reference Agency due diligence services.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the amount of duty lost because of the fraudulent use of red diesel in (a) Wales and (b) the UK.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The Measuring Tax Gaps 2021 report published by HMRC sets out that the oils tax gap, which includes Great Britain and Northern Ireland diesel, is estimated at 1% (£190 million) in 2019-20, of which £150 million was in duty and a further £40 million in VAT. As set out in the annex of this report, the tax gap is driven by the misuse of rebated fuel, which is subject to a lower duty rate.
The Chancellor confirmed at Spring Budget 2021 that the Government will remove the entitlement to use red diesel from most sectors from April 2022. This will help to ensure fairness between the different users of diesel fuels and that the tax system incentivises the development and adoption of greener alternative technologies.
The reduction in legitimate red diesel usage following these reforms coming into effect is expected to reduce the level of illegitimate use overall.