Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department has spent on radio adverts in each of the the last five years broken down by radio station.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury has not incurred expenditure on radio adverts in the last five years. HM Treasury’s expenditure on advertising, marketing and communications is published in the Department’s transparency reporting returns- HM Treasury exceptions to cross government moratoria on spending - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the underspend in each financial year in the total budget of Departments was as a percentage of the total Government budget; and what the equivalent figures are for the Scottish DEL for each year for which figures are available since 2010.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Analysis of DEL underspends since 2010 are provided below for total central government (departments and devolved administrations) and for the Scottish government only. Note that these underspends represent the funding that departments return to the Exchequer after accounting for carry forward under Budget Exchange rules (as departmental Budget Exchange carry forward is processed at Supplementary Estimates based on forecasts), whereas the figures for the Scottish Government are before carry forward as this is processed for the devolved administrations using outturn information. The figures are not therefore directly comparable.
Data for this analysis are taken from recent editions of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA) command paper using tables in chapter three.
*RDEL | CDEL | ||||
| Total Government Underspend as % final provision | Scottish Government underspend as % final provision | Total Government Underspend as % final provision | Scottish Government underspend as % final provision | |
2010-11 | -1.1% | -0.4% | -2.4% | -0.1% | |
2011-12 | -1.7% | -0.5% | -3.8% | -1.1% | |
2012-13 | -1.6% | -0.6% | -4.4% | -1.0% | |
2013-14 | -0.7% | -0.6% | -2.5% | -1.1% | |
2014-15 | -0.6% | -0.6% | -5.5% | -10.1% | |
2015-16 | -0.3% | -0.3% | -3.2% | -2.5% | |
2016-17 | -0.8% | -0.5% | -3.8% | -2.8% | |
2017-18 | -0.8% | -2.1% | -4.6% | -0.2% | |
2018-19 | -0.9% | -2.1% | -4.3% | -3.5% | |
2019-20 | 0.3% | -1.3% | -3.2% | -2.4% | |
2020-21 | -5.1% | -0.9% | -6.4% | -4.1% | |
2021-22 | -2.9% | -1.9% | -5.6% | -7.5% | |
*For 2010-11 and 2011-12 figures presented are RDEL. From 2012-13 onwards | |||||
presented as RDEL excluding depreciation. | |||||
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many officials in their Department are working on Retained EU Law legislation.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
We can confirm that HM Treasury does not hold information within the scope of your request.
HMT holds a large body of Retained EU Law (REUL), primarily in relation to Financial Services. A number of officials from across HMT 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: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department plans to take to help businesses manage (a) administrative and (b) tariff changes in UK customs after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
As a responsible Government we continue to prepare for a range of outcomes and we are looking closely at how to ensure that businesses are clear on what they need to do and have the support they need to be as prepared as they can be in the time available, whilst not undermining the benefits of an implementation period.
HMRC has already published Technical Notices covering Customs, Excise and VAT procedures, and has written on no deal arrangements to the 145,000 UK business over the VAT threshold, who currently only trade with the EU. Later in the year we intend to provide more information on what businesses should do to prepare.
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will conduct an assessment of the effect of RBS bank branch closures on free access to cash in Scotland; and what discussions he has had with the Payment Systems Regulator on potential intervention with respect to a reduction in the availability of free access to cash.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government does not make assessments of bank branch closures. The decision to open or close a branch is a commercial decision, in which the Government does not intervene. However, the impact on communities must be understood, considered and mitigated where possible. That is why the Government supports the industry’s Access to Banking Standard, which ensures customers understand the options they have locally to continue to access banking services, including specialist assistance for customers who need more help.
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. The Government has been engaging regularly with LINK and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) to ensure that widespread free access is maintained.
The 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 informed us that it is 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: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the costs incurred by his Department in the current financial year in preparation for the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
Like all departments, HMT is planning for a number of EU Exit scenarios to make sure we are ready on Day 1. Over £250m of additional funding has been approved across a number of departments in 2017/18 to prepare for Brexit. Additional funding received from the reserve will be set out at Supplementary Estimates.
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what additional funds he plans to allocate to the Scottish Government to prepare for when the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Elizabeth Truss
My Written Ministerial Statement of 12 October set out the UK Government’s approach to preparations for EU Exit. Where additional funding is provided to UK Government departments to prepare for EU Exit, the Scottish Government will receive additional funding through the Barnett system.
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what expert groups his Department set up in 2016-17; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Jones
Her Majesty’s Treasury permanently established the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) in January 2017. This expert group which offers advice on the UK’s strategic infrastructure needs was originally set up as an interim group in October 2015.
The Chancellor’s statement concerning the establishment of the NIC is available on gov.uk[1]
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-unveils-infrastructure-body-to-help-build-better-britain-for-everyone
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether, and at what cost, his Department contracted consultants to carry out (a) marketing, (b) focus group, (c) polling and (d) other promotional activity relating to his Department's responsibilities in 2016-17.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The total marketing spend in 2016/17 was £785,261. This is for invoices paid during the period April 2016 to March 2017. Any spend over £25,000 can be found by following the link below:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/25000-spend
Asked by: Stewart Hosie (Scottish National Party - Dundee East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, which administrative functions of his Department are carried out on premises in (a) England and (b) London; and what administration costs were associated with those functions in each of those two areas in 2016-17.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The Treasury has two office locations (1Horse Guards Road, London and Norwich).
The 2016-17 cost of the administrative functions can be found in the Annual Report and Accounts under operating expenditure, on the Financial Statements, which will be published in due course.