Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of short term loans are made by the Department for Work and Pensions; and what assessment the Financial Conduct Authority has made of the effect of those loans on the functioning of the market.
In 2014, regulatory responsibility for the consumer credit market was transferred to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Whilst the FCA is responsible for regulating this market, HM Treasury sets the regulatory perimeter which informs the types of agreements that fall under the FCA’s remit. Loans made by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) do not fall within the FCA’s regulatory remit. For that reason, the FCA has not assessed the impact of these loans on the functioning of the market.