Simon Kirby: Improving productivity is the key driver of higher real wages in the long-term, that’s why we have consistently backed business by creating the right environment for them to invest and grow. We have also taken action to ensure that workers are fairly rewarded though the National Living Wage, a pay rise for over a million workers.
Simon Kirby: HM Treasury does not employ anyone in Wales. For the Chancellor’s other departments, HMRC has 3,510 employees in Wales, The Valuation Office Agency has 280 and the Government Internal Audit Agency has 20. HM Treasury does however have a team dedicated to devolved issues which has strong working relationships with all three of the devolved administrations. In the case of Wales, this was...
Simon Kirby: The Government believes that widespread free access to cash remains extremely important to the day-to-day lives of many consumers in the UK. To this end, the Government is engaging with LINK and its members, including banks and Independent ATM Deployers, to ensure that widespread free access to cash is maintained. The Government is encouraged to hear that LINK’s members have committed to...
Simon Kirby: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-competitive activities. The Payment Systems Regulator, which the Government set up in 2015, is responsible for promoting competition and innovation within the payments market, and ensuring that payment systems are operated and developed in a way that considers and...
Simon Kirby: The Office for National Statistics publish annually Mean and Median salary for each Civil Service organization as part of the Civil Service Statistics. This information can be found on the Office for National Statistics website: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwor k/publicsectorpersonnel/datasets/civilservicestatistics ...
Simon Kirby: The Treasury, with other departments, is working closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union on all aspects of the UK’s exit from the EU. We continue to make progress in preparing for the withdrawal process and getting the best deal for the UK.
Simon Kirby: I can confirm that the Treasury operates a ban the box employment policy in respect of ex-offender job applicants with unspent convictions. Although the Treasury does hold information of unspent convictions, the information requested could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
Simon Kirby: After making payments of over £1.1billion to more than 900,000 policyholders, the Payment Scheme has now closed. There are no plans to reopen the Payment Scheme.
Simon Kirby: I refer the Honourable Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Chancellor to the House in October 2016 concerning the Government’s shareholding in Lloyds which he may find useful. (https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2016-10-10/debates/16 10102000012/LloydsBankingGroupGovernmentShares?highlight=llo yds%20bank#contribution-3A623DFD-7653-4A00-B93C-3F8E9A05CAB9 ) I should...
Simon Kirby: The Treasury has made no such estimate. However, independent estimates, such as those reported in the University of Birmingham’s Financial Inclusion Annual Monitoring Report 2016, indicate that approximately 1.71 million adults in the UK do not have access to a bank account in their own name. The Government is committed to improving access to financial services. Access to a transactional...
Simon Kirby: Since 2010, the department has routinely published contract information on Contracts Finder. The requested information is available via: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive for contracts published between 2010 and February 2015. https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder for contracts published since February 2015. The information maintained on the value of pro bono engagements and...
Simon Kirby: After making payments of over £1.1billion to more than 900,000 policyholders, the Payment Scheme has now closed. There are no plans to reopen the Payment Scheme.
Simon Kirby: It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Owen. I congratulate the hon. Member for East Lothian (George Kerevan) on securing this debate. I will give way if the hon. Member for South Antrim (Danny Kinahan) if he wishes to contribute.
Simon Kirby: It is the long-standing policy of this Government to unwind the interventions made in the financial sector during the banking crisis of 2007-09 and return the assets acquired then to the private sector. That is a key part of restoring normality to the financial system, but in that we need to ensure value for money in getting back taxpayers’ money. We are making good progress in that. UK...
Simon Kirby: The hon. Gentleman raises a fair point. I will answer it shortly, if he bears with me. Not only were customers’ mortgage terms and conditions unchanged by the sale, but they continued to be served by the same mortgage company with the same skilled and dedicated staff. In the contract with Cerberus, UKAR went further to ensure that specific additional protections were in place, including a...
Simon Kirby: It is important that the Government attract good competition and secure a good price, but at the same time safeguard the rights of existing customers. It is not just our assessment that that happened but the conclusion of the independent National Audit Office. The Public Accounts Committee also concluded that the sale had been well executed. There is still work to be done in returning to the...
Simon Kirby: The government is committed to increasing competition in banking and welcomes the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) final report on its retail banking market investigation as an important step towards the goal of a highly competitive banking system. The CMA proposed a series of remedies in its final report to improve overdraft transparency. This includes requiring all personal...
Simon Kirby: It is a pleasure to be back under your chairmanship, Mr Hollobone. I was talking about the shareholding of the company. The board of directors of the merged group will be drawn from both sides of the group and chaired by the current LSE chair, Donald Brydon. The deal on the terms has now been approved by both sets of shareholders, but official scrutiny of the merger remains outstanding. Let...
Simon Kirby: Thank you, Mr Hollobone. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stone (Sir William Cash) on securing this important and topical debate. He has made many thoughtful and detailed points, and I will do my very best to answer them in the brief time I have. The hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds) also raised some...
Simon Kirby: People who have saved responsibly should be able to access their pensions fairly; they should not face prohibitive charges that block them from exiting their current deal. That is why the government placed a duty on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to cap excessive early exit charges and the Department for Work and Pensions is taking similar steps for occupational pension schemes. The...