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  • Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    Adam Afriyie – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Adam Afriyie on 2015-11-23.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Prompt Payment Code on (a) UK businesses in the FinTech sector and (b) other businesses.

    Anna Soubry

    The Prompt Payment Code is a voluntary code which organisations from the public, private and third sector can sign up to. The Government monitors a variety of sources to monitor the level of late payment debt. We are not able to assess the direct effect of the Prompt Payment Code on any individual sector.

    New transparency measures will allow us to monitor the payment performance of signatories. Through powers in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 the Government will introduce a new reporting requirement on the UK’s largest companies – including many Code signatories – to report on their payment practices and performance. We plan to introduce this next year, and the Code will make full use of this new information. From next year small and medium-sized Code signatories will also report on their payment performance directly to the Code. Small and medium-sized companies will report, on an annual basis, on a comply or explain basis.

  • Yvonne Fovargue – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Yvonne Fovargue – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yvonne Fovargue on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what conditions the Financial Conduct Authority has placed on the rent-to-own firms it has authorised in respect of low income users of such firms.

    Harriett Baldwin

    This question has been passed on to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA will reply to directly to the Honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

  • Yvonne Fovargue – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Yvonne Fovargue – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Yvonne Fovargue on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many rent-to-own firms have applied to the Financial Conduct Authority for authorisation; and how many such firms have been so authorised.

    Harriett Baldwin

    This question has been passed on to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA will reply to directly to the Honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

  • Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Andy Slaughter – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Slaughter on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much Freshfields Brukhaus Deringer has received in legal fees from the public purse since 2010.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Legal fees paid to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in the last five financial years are as follows in the table below.

    Supplier

    Year

    Spend

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

    2010-11

    £0

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

    2011-12

    £0

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

    2012-13

    £0

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

    2013-14

    £23,603

    Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer

    2014-15

    £1,920,914.24
  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward plans to develop a formula to allocate the Homelessness Protection Grant according to the levels of homelessness and rough sleeping in local authorities.

    Greg Hands

    The allocation of Homeless Prevention Grant has developed over many years to take account of different kinds of pressures, including rough sleeping and statutory homelessness.

    Since 2013-14 support for preventing homelessness has been included in the annual Local Government Finance Settlement, split between Revenue Support Grant and retained business rates. Revenue Support Grant and retained business rates are not ring-fenced. It is up to individual authorities to decide how grant funding should be spent in order to deliver local services.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward plans to monitor the effectiveness of how the Homelessness Protection Grant is spent.

    Greg Hands

    Since 2010, local councils have had more flexibility over how they spend the money they receive from central government. It is up to individual authorities to decide how grant funding should be spent in order to deliver local services. To ensure that councils have the necessary skills to do this, the Government supported the establishment of the National Practitioner Support Service’s ‘Gold Standard’ programme to help improve the effectiveness of local authority homelessness prevention services.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2015 to Question 16174, what success his Department has had in targeting operational and intelligence activity on tackling online VAT fraud.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is actively targeting operational and intelligence activity, as well as a range of other options, to tackle this issue. The work is ongoing. However, HMRC is unable to give details of specific results in respect of any individual taxpayer because of taxpayer confidentiality.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2015 to Question 16174, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of HM Revenue and Customs’ targeting of operational and intelligence activity on tackling online VAT fraud.

    Mr David Gauke

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is actively targeting operational and intelligence activity, as well as a range of other options, to tackle this issue. This work is ongoing. However, HMRC is unable to give details of specific results in respect of any individual taxpayer because of taxpayer confidentiality.

  • Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rebecca Long Bailey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rebecca Long Bailey on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he has taken to ensure that the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme is introduced and now planned on 1 January 2016.

    Damian Hinds

    The Government remains committed to introducing the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) from 1 January 2016. Since 1 October 2015, HMRC has invited a number of businesses to test the registration service that will be released, including some whose applications are now lodged with HMRC and are ready to be considered when registration activity formally begins.

  • Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Jim Shannon – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2015-11-23.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to reduce the level of charges imposed on credit card debt; and if he will make a statement.

    Harriett Baldwin

    he Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, which includes the credit card sector. Consumer credit regulation transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014.

    The FCA is currently undertaking a thorough review of the credit card market through its ‘credit card market study’. The market study is investigating three areas, one of which is the extent of unaffordable credit card debt. On the 3rd November 2015 the FCA published its interim report which found that the market was working reasonably well for most customers. However, the FCA expressed concern about the scale of potentially problematic debt in this sector, and the incentives for firms to manage this.

    The interim report also included the FCA’s early thinking on potential remedies which include measures to give consumers more control over their credit limits, measures to encourage customers to pay off debt quicker when they can afford to, and proposals that firms do more to identify earlier those consumers who may be struggling to repay and take action to help them manage their repayments. The FCA is currently asking for feedback on the findings and potential remedies.

    The Government is looking forward to the full report in the spring, and would encourage interested parties to give their views to the FCA to assist it in addressing the issues it has identified.