Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help support victims of domestic abuse who are unable to pay their bills due to sharing a joint bank account with an abuse perpetrator.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to ensuring that all victims of domestic abuse receive the support they need, when they need it. We also know that abuse can often leave victims economically dependent on abusers, creating financial insecurity that makes it harder for them to access safety. The Government is determined to tackle this form of abuse which is why for the first time in history, economic abuse is now recognised in law as part of the statutory definition of domestic abuse, included in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (the Act). In the Domestic Abuse (DA) Plan, we have doubled funding to a minimum of £200,000 to further support improving the response to economic abuse.
The DA Plan also highlights the importance of financial institutions signing up to UK Finance's Financial Abuse Code to support customers who are victims of economic abuse and encourages more institutions to do so. The Code sets out how participating banks and building societies should support customers who are victims of economic abuse, aims to increase awareness and provide understanding of what financial and economic abuse looks like and ensure consistency in the support available to help customers to understand and regain control of their finances.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to safeguard domestic abuse victims against financial abuse in the event that they have a joint bank account with a perpetrator.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government is committed to ensuring that all victims of domestic abuse receive the support they need, when they need it. We also know that abuse can often leave victims economically dependent on abusers, creating financial insecurity that makes it harder for them to access safety. The Government is determined to tackle this form of abuse which is why for the first time in history, economic abuse is now recognised in law as part of the statutory definition of domestic abuse, included in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (the Act). In the Domestic Abuse (DA) Plan, we have doubled funding to a minimum of £200,000 to further support improving the response to economic abuse.
The DA Plan also highlights the importance of financial institutions signing up to UK Finance's Financial Abuse Code to support customers who are victims of economic abuse and encourages more institutions to do so. The Code sets out how participating banks and building societies should support customers who are victims of economic abuse, aims to increase awareness and provide understanding of what financial and economic abuse looks like and ensure consistency in the support available to help customers to understand and regain control of their finances.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of local authorities on tackling financial abuse by perpetrators of domestic abuse.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We know that many victims of domestic abuse suffer from economic abuse and that this can be part of a pattern of controlling or coercive behaviour. Economic abuse can make the individual economically dependent on the abuser, and/or create economic instability, limiting the victims’ options to escape and access safety.
The draft updated Controlling or Coercive Behaviour Guidance, published April 2022, recognises the role of economic abuse within a pattern of controlling and coercive behaviour and has a dedicated section on economic abuse including examples of economic abuse, information on how to respond, guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority and signposting to relevant supporting services such as Surviving Economic Abuse.
The Domestic Abuse (DA) Statutory Guidance, published in July 2022, also covers economic abuse, and provides support to professionals on how to safeguard and support victims of domestic abuse. The DA Statutory Guidance is aimed at statutory and non-statutory bodies working with victims and perpetrators, including local authorities. Both pieces of guidance were subject to public consultations which were aimed at local authorities, among others, with local authority representatives also attending focus groups on the DA Statutory Guidance.
Asked by: John McNally (Scottish National Party - Falkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to ensure that victims of financial abuse are not (a) disallowed from mortgages, (b) given poor credit ratings and (c) negatively impacted in other ways by the finance industry.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government is strongly committed to tackle financial exclusion and discrimination and aims for everyone, whatever their background or income, to be able to access useful and affordable financial products and services. The Government works closely together with regulators, the financial services industry and other stakeholders, to ensure that all consumers of financial services are appropriately protected.
Industry-agreed principles, rather than government policy, determine what and how information is shared between organisations and Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs). CRAs then hold this information on individuals’ credit files and use it to create a credit score.
Consumers can add a Notice (of up to 200 words) to their credit file explaining any circumstances, such as being a victim of financial abuse, that may impact decisions made about their applications for credit, including mortgages. Lenders should take the content of this Notice into account alongside the other information on the credit file. In addition, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is currently undertaking a Credit Information Market Study which is assessing how the sector is working now and how it may develop in the future. The FCA will publish an interim report in summer 2022.
The FCA is also currently developing a new Consumer Duty, which would require firms to place more emphasis on the needs of all customers, including those who are vulnerable or at risk of being financially excluded. The FCA is required to publish its final rules before the end of July.
Prior to this, in February 2021, the FCA also published its finalised guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers, setting out a number of best practices (https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/finalised-guidance/guidance-firms-fair-treatment-vulnerable-customers).
This applies to all firms where the FCA Principles for Business apply, regardless of sector and in respect of the supply of products or services to retail customers.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help support victims of domestic abuse who are unable to pay their utility bills due to the perpetrator emptying a joint bank account.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
All forms of domestic abuse are unacceptable, and no one should have to suffer financially at the hands of their perpetrator.
The landmark Domestic Abuse Act became law in April 2021, and created for the first-time a general purpose legal definition of domestic abuse which incorporates a range of abuses beyond physical violence, including economic abuse. This recognition will improve understanding among frontline professionals, law enforcement officers and prosecutors so that victims can be better supported.
The Home Office supports and funds organisations that raise awareness of economic abuse and support victims. This includes providing £567k of funding between 2018-2022 to the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, which provides emotional and practical support targeted at victims of economic abuse.
In recognition of the role that financial services have to play in responding to domestic abuse, in 2018 UK Finance and the Building Societies Association introduced a Financial Abuse Code of Practice. The voluntary Code of Practice sets out how participating banks and building societies should support customers who are victims of domestic and financial or economic abuse. We are building on this by working to encourage banks and the wider financial services sector to improve the support provided to victims of domestic abuse accessing their services; help victims move forward to escape debt, joint accounts, and mortgages.
We will continue to work alongside financial institutions and frontline agencies to raise awareness and improve support for victims of economic abuse.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what provisions are in place to help victims of domestic abuse transfer funds from a joint bank account held with a perpetrator to their own personal bank account.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
All forms of domestic abuse are unacceptable, and no one should have to suffer financially at the hands of their perpetrator.
The landmark Domestic Abuse Act became law in April 2021, and created for the first-time a general purpose legal definition of domestic abuse which incorporates a range of abuses beyond physical violence, including economic abuse. This recognition will improve understanding among frontline professionals, law enforcement officers and prosecutors so that victims can be better supported.
The Home Office supports and funds organisations that raise awareness of economic abuse and support victims. This includes providing £567k of funding between 2018-2022 to the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, which provides emotional and practical support targeted at victims of economic abuse.
In recognition of the role that financial services have to play in responding to domestic abuse, in 2018 UK Finance and the Building Societies Association introduced a Financial Abuse Code of Practice. The voluntary Code of Practice sets out how participating banks and building societies should support customers who are victims of domestic and financial or economic abuse. We are building on this by working to encourage banks and the wider financial services sector to improve the support provided to victims of domestic abuse accessing their services; help victims move forward to escape debt, joint accounts, and mortgages.
We will continue to work alongside financial institutions and frontline agencies to raise awareness and improve support for victims of economic abuse.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help support victims of domestic abuse who are unable to pay their mortgage due to the perpetrator emptying a joint bank account.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
All forms of domestic abuse are unacceptable, and no one should have to suffer financially at the hands of their perpetrator.
The landmark Domestic Abuse Act became law in April 2021, and created for the first-time a general purpose legal definition of domestic abuse which incorporates a range of abuses beyond physical violence, including economic abuse. This recognition will improve understanding among frontline professionals, law enforcement officers and prosecutors so that victims can be better supported.
The Home Office supports and funds organisations that raise awareness of economic abuse and support victims. This includes providing £567k of funding between 2018-2022 to the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, which provides emotional and practical support targeted at victims of economic abuse.
In recognition of the role that financial services have to play in responding to domestic abuse, in 2018 UK Finance and the Building Societies Association introduced a Financial Abuse Code of Practice. The voluntary Code of Practice sets out how participating banks and building societies should support customers who are victims of domestic and financial or economic abuse. We are building on this by working to encourage banks and the wider financial services sector to improve the support provided to victims of domestic abuse accessing their services; help victims move forward to escape debt, joint accounts, and mortgages.
We will continue to work alongside financial institutions and frontline agencies to raise awareness and improve support for victims of economic abuse.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has taken to safeguard domestic abuse victims against financial abuse in the event that they have a joint bank account with a perpetrator.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
All forms of domestic abuse are unacceptable, and no one should have to suffer financially at the hands of their perpetrator.
The landmark Domestic Abuse Act became law in April 2021, and created for the first-time a general purpose legal definition of domestic abuse which incorporates a range of abuses beyond physical violence, including economic abuse. This recognition will improve understanding among frontline professionals, law enforcement officers and prosecutors so that victims can be better supported.
The Home Office supports and funds organisations that raise awareness of economic abuse and support victims. This includes providing £567k of funding between 2018-2022 to the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, which provides emotional and practical support targeted at victims of economic abuse.
In recognition of the role that financial services have to play in responding to domestic abuse, in 2018 UK Finance and the Building Societies Association introduced a Financial Abuse Code of Practice. The voluntary Code of Practice sets out how participating banks and building societies should support customers who are victims of domestic and financial or economic abuse. We are building on this by working to encourage banks and the wider financial services sector to improve the support provided to victims of domestic abuse accessing their services; help victims move forward to escape debt, joint accounts, and mortgages.
We will continue to work alongside financial institutions and frontline agencies to raise awareness and improve support for victims of economic abuse.
Asked by: Jo Platt (Labour (Co-op) - Leigh)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to prevent joint mortgages being used as a method of financial abuse.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Following our public consultation last year, on 21 January we published a landmark draft Domestic Abuse Bill, consultation response and research on the societal costs of domestic abuse. This work contains a ground-breaking series of measures to transform our response to all forms of domestic abuse – including economic abuse – by promoting awareness, supporting victims, tackling perpetrators and improving services.
We are explicitly including economic abuse in the proposed new statutory definition of domestic abuse in the draft Bill to acknowledge the life-changing impact that economic abuse can have on a victim’s life and to raise awareness of this issue amongst criminal justice agencies and frontline professionals.
In our Government consultation response published alongside the draft Bill we set out our commitment to fund the National Skills Academy £200,000 to develop and deliver financial capability training for frontline workers to support individuals who are experiencing economic abuse. We are also providing approximately £250,000 until 2020 to create a national advice service for banks and building societies, increase the capacity of existing telephone casework services for victims of domestic abuse and develop resources to help people identify if they are experiencing economic abuse.
In addition, we are working closely with UK Finance to support their work to encourage banks and the wider financial services sector to improve the support they provide to victims of domestic abuse accessing their services, such as the voluntary Code of Conduct for banks to sign up to and a Consumer Information Pack setting out for victims what support they can expect from their bank. We will continue to work with UK Finance to encourage banks and financial authorities to do more to support victims of domestic abuse and help them move forward to escape debt, joint accounts, and mortgages.
More widely, the Joint Fraud Taskforce is leading an ambitious programme of work to prevent all forms of fraud and protect the most vulnerable in our society who are often targeted by fraudsters.
Asked by: Lisa Cameron (Conservative - East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance his Department issued to (a) banks and (b) the financial service sector on responding to cases has of domestic abuse in which the perpetrator and victim have a joint bank accounts.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Treasury has not issued guidance. The independent financial services regulator - the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) - requires firms to treat their customers fairly and has broad and robust powers to enforce breaches of its rules.
Confirmed Industry Guidance for the FCA’s Banking Conduct of Business Sourcebook sets out what information firms must provide to customers when they open a joint account, including an explanation of a customer’s rights and duties and the concept of joint and several liability. UK Finance and the Building Societies Association also publish an information leaflet for those considering opening a joint account.
The Government wants to ensure that all victims of domestic abuse are provided with the support they need. The Government will shortly be launching a consultation into tackling domestic abuse, in advance of bringing forward legislation, and I encourage the hon. Member to engage with the consultation when it is published.