Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether he plans to (a) retain, (b) replace and (c) revoke the Deposit Guarantee Scheme Regulations 2015.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Retained EU law in financial services is not repealed automatically by the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill. Instead, the Financial Services and Markets Bill repeals retained EU law in financial services so that it can be replaced with an approach to regulation designed for the UK. This includes the Deposit Guarantee Scheme Regulations 2015, which are listed in Schedule 1 of the Bill.
As part of the Edinburgh Reforms, the government published “Building a Smarter Financial Services Framework for the UK “, which sets out its approach to repealing and replacing retained EU law in financial services using the powers in the Financial Services and Markets Bill. This includes identifying the first two “tranches” of reforms.
The Deposit Guarantee Scheme Regulations 2015 will not form part of the first two tranches of reforms, and the government will set out plans regarding these regulations in due course.
Much of the UK’s deposit protection framework is already delegated to the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and sits in PRA rules. These rules are not repealed by the Financial Services and Markets Bill. The rules include, among other things, the depositor coverage limit, which is currently set at £85,000 per eligible person, per bank.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value of tax relief granted under (a) Part 15 of the Corporation Tax 2009, (b) Part 15A of the Corporation Tax 2009 and (c) Part 15B of the Corporation Tax 2009 was in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The information can be found in the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-statistics-august-2022
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) HMRC are working on Retained EU Law legislation, as (i) headcount and (ii) Full Time Equivalent.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
HMT and HMRC hold a large body of Retained EU Law (REUL), primarily in relation to Financial Services and tax (including excise, customs and VAT). A number of officials from both HMT and HMRC work on REUL legislation. This work is carried out as part of officials’ normal business activities, and we do not record the amount of staff time spent specifically on this work.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the Government's response to its consultation on the Regulation of Buy-Now Pay-Later.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government published a consultation on policy proposals for the regulation of Buy-Now Pay-Later (BNPL) on 21 October 2021, which closed on 6 January 2022. The Government is now reviewing responses to this consultation and considering next steps, and intends to publish a consultation response in the spring.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of increasing living costs on the number of people using buy now pay later services.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
HM Treasury regularly monitors changes in the consumer credit market, including the impact of economic developments, as part of its normal process of policy development.
However, it does not hold information regarding the impact of increasing living costs on the number of people using Buy-Now Pay-Later (BNPL), or the prevalence of the use of BNPL products to purchase essential items. Instead, HMT draws on the research of various stakeholders, including consumer groups and the wider financial services industry, to inform policy development.
The Woolard Review into the unsecured credit market found several potential risks of consumer detriment from interest-free BNPL products. The Government recognises those risks, but also notes that as an interest-free product, BNPL can often be lower-risk than other forms of borrowing and a useful tool to help consumers manage their finances. That is why on 2 February 2021, the Government announced its intention to regulate BNPL products in a proportionate manner.
The Government published a consultation on policy proposals for the regulation of BNPL on 21 October 2021, which closed on 6 January 2022. The Government is now reviewing responses to this consultation and considering next steps and intends to publish a consultation response in the spring.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment the Government has made of the prevalence of the use of buy now pay later products to purchase (a) toiletries, (b) food and (c) other essential items.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
HM Treasury regularly monitors changes in the consumer credit market, including the impact of economic developments, as part of its normal process of policy development.
However, it does not hold information regarding the impact of increasing living costs on the number of people using Buy-Now Pay-Later (BNPL), or the prevalence of the use of BNPL products to purchase essential items. Instead, HMT draws on the research of various stakeholders, including consumer groups and the wider financial services industry, to inform policy development.
The Woolard Review into the unsecured credit market found several potential risks of consumer detriment from interest-free BNPL products. The Government recognises those risks, but also notes that as an interest-free product, BNPL can often be lower-risk than other forms of borrowing and a useful tool to help consumers manage their finances. That is why on 2 February 2021, the Government announced its intention to regulate BNPL products in a proportionate manner.
The Government published a consultation on policy proposals for the regulation of BNPL on 21 October 2021, which closed on 6 January 2022. The Government is now reviewing responses to this consultation and considering next steps and intends to publish a consultation response in the spring.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the Government has spent on promoting the tax-free childcare scheme in each of the last four financial years.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The government is committed to supporting families with their childcare costs. 316,000 families used Tax-Free Childcare for 371,000 children and spent £35.0 million on top-up for families in September 2021; compared to 227,000 families who used Tax-Free Childcare for 263,000 children and spent £26.5m in September 2020.
The government has spent the following on marketing and research in the current and three previous financial years.
2018/19 – £1,113,270
2019/20 – £241,580
2020/21 – £197,338
2021/22 – £151,205 (full year forecast and not all costs are committed)
In 2018/19 marketing spend involved a national campaign as part of the phased rollout of the scheme.
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of eligible families with children under five (a) have an open Tax Free Childcare account and (b) used their Tax Free Childcare account in 2020-21.
Answered by Simon Clarke
The total eligible population is 1.3m families. This estimate is not broken down by family characteristics. The total number of eligible children in those families is 1.7m for 2020-21.The table below shows the total number of children with open and used Tax-Free Childcare accounts for 0-4 year olds in 2020-21:
Month/Year | Total Open Accounts (0-4 year olds) | Total Used Accounts (0-4 year olds) |
Apr-20 | 447,725 | 87,055 |
May-20 | 442,905 | 62,575 |
Jun-20 | 446,180 | 117,490 |
Jul-20 | 460,955 | 157,200 |
Aug-20 | 470,145 | 159,840 |
Sep-20 | 465,120 | 225,020 |
Oct-20 | 464,860 | 232,435 |
Nov-20 | 474,150 | 240,935 |
Dec-20 | 477,185 | 245,065 |
Jan-21 | 490,315 | 230,370 |
Feb-21 | 503,135 | 230,450 |
Mar-21 | 525,770 | 283,095 |
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the tax-free childcare scheme, how many (a) active accounts and (b) children eligible there were for that scheme on 31 March in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Simon Clarke
Tax-Free Childcare began to be rolled out from April 2017.
The figures for Open and Used accounts for Tax-Free Childcare are published in Official Statistics (latest release November 2021 for figures up to September 2021).
The estimated figures for eligible children from 2017-18 onwards, as well as the annual Open and Used account figures can be found in the table below.
Number of (000s) | Financial Year | |||
2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | |
Children with Open Accounts | 314 | 537 | 768 | 901 |
Children with Used Accounts | 72 | 203 | 396 | 462 |
Eligible Children | 1,800 | 1,900 | 1,900 | 1,700 |
Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 16 November 2021 to Question 72406, how many and what proportion of user accounts for the tax-free childcare scheme that have not had their details reconfirmed in the last three months relate to children under the age of 12.
Answered by Simon Clarke
There were 125,800 accounts that had reached the end of an eligibility period but had not reconfirmed details between 1st August and 31st October 2021. Of these, 125,300 or over 99% relate to children aged under 12 on 31st October.
There can be many reasons why a family might not reconfirm their account in a 3-month period. For example, there may have been changes to their childcare arrangements or their working arrangements which mean they are no longer eligible for TFC or don’t need it. They may still reactivate and use their TFC account in a future period.