Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to tackle the (a) use and (b) distribution of counterfeit currency.

Maintaining a coinage that is robust against the threat of counterfeiting is an important objective for HM Treasury as the issuing authority for UK coins.

Maintaining banknotes that are robust against the threat of counterfeiting is the responsibility of the Bank of England.

The Bank of England develop and issue new state-of-the-art counterfeit resilient notes. This was one of the primary reasons for moving from cotton-paper to polymer banknotes. Furthermore, HM Treasury worked with the Royal Mint to introduce a new 12-sided £1 coin to combat high levels of counterfeiting of the current £1 coin, in 2017.

It is important to have a currency in which there is widespread confidence as well as protecting taxpayers and businesses from the cost of counterfeiting.

The Bank of England, the Royal Mint and HM Treasury have worked together to modernise the currency through the transition to polymer banknotes and the introduction of new coinage.

The Bank of England and the Royal Mint work with law enforcement and educate retailers, banks and the public on identifying counterfeit banknotes and coins. These are important steps in disrupting the use and distribution of counterfeit currency.