The Government has announced £10 billion investment in housing supply since the start of this Parliament, with housing supply interventions due ultimately to unlock over 1 million new homes over the Spending Review 2021 period and beyond.

At the same time, the Government recognises that a better choice of accommodation to suit changing needs can help older people remain living independently for longer and feel more connected to their communities.

The Government has established an independent Older People’s Housing Taskforce to look at how a greater choice of housing might be provided for older people, including for those who wish to move from their home, releasing family homes into the market.

The year-long Taskforce launched in May 2023 and the Government is looking forward to receiving its final recommendations in 2024.

The government has recently legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to establish a new legislative framework to protect access to cash. The Act establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities. As part of this responsibility, the FCA must also seek to ensure that there is reasonable provision of free withdrawal and deposit facilities in relation to personal current accounts.

The FCA will be responsible for determining what constitutes “reasonable provision”. In doing so, the regulator must have regard to a Cash Access Policy Statement that will be published by the government in due course, any local deficiencies in cash access services that the regulator has identified and considers to be significant, and other factors that it considers to be relevant.

ATMs play an important role in the availability of cash withdrawal facilities. Decisions regarding the operation and funding arrangements of an ATM network are taken by the parties involved. LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has made commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. LINK publishes information on the number of protected ATMs monthly, and ATMs can be suggested for protected status via LINK’s website: https://www.link.co.uk/consumers/request-access-to-cash/suggest-an-atm-for-protected-status/

According to LINK data for March 2023, there were around 39,000 free-to-use ATMs across the UK. Further information is available at: https://www.link.co.uk/initiatives/financial-inclusion-monthly-report/

The government has recently legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to establish a new legislative framework to protect access to cash. The Act establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities. As part of this responsibility, the FCA must also seek to ensure that there is reasonable provision of free withdrawal and deposit facilities in relation to personal current accounts.

The FCA will be responsible for determining what constitutes “reasonable provision”. In doing so, the regulator must have regard to a Cash Access Policy Statement that will be published by the government in due course, any local deficiencies in cash access services that the regulator has identified and considers to be significant, and other factors that it considers to be relevant.

ATMs play an important role in the availability of cash withdrawal facilities. Decisions regarding the operation and funding arrangements of an ATM network are taken by the parties involved. LINK (the scheme that runs the UK's largest ATM network) has made commitments to protect the broad geographic spread of free-to-use ATMs and is held to account against these commitments by the Payment Systems Regulator. LINK publishes information on the number of protected ATMs monthly, and ATMs can be suggested for protected status via LINK’s website: https://www.link.co.uk/consumers/request-access-to-cash/suggest-an-atm-for-protected-status/

According to LINK data for March 2023, there were around 39,000 free-to-use ATMs across the UK. Further information is available at: https://www.link.co.uk/initiatives/financial-inclusion-monthly-report/

HM Treasury is regularly in contact with mortgage lenders on all aspects of their mortgage business to understand their position and current lending conditions, including at a roundtable hosted by the Chancellor on this topic in December.

Mortgage arrears and repossessions remain below pre-pandemic levels. However, where mortgage borrowers do fall in financial difficulty, Financial Conduct Authority guidance requires firms to offer tailored support. This could include a range of measures depending on individual circumstances.

The Government has also taken a number of measures aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans for those in receipt of an income-related benefit, and protection in the courts through the Pre Action Protocol, which makes it clear that repossession must always be the last resort for lenders.

The Government has been clear that it expects those in the supply chain to have passed the fuel duty cut through to consumers, and to ensure that drivers across the country are getting a fair deal.

The Competition and Markets Authority has been engaged about the issue and stands ready to take action, should there be evidence that competition or consumer protection law has been broken in the fuel retail market.

HM Treasury regularly monitors developments in the consumer credit market, including the use of Buy-Now Pay-Later (BNPL) credit products, as part of its normal process of policy development.

However, it does not hold information regarding the number of people using BNPL or other types of credit to pay their energy bills. Instead, HMT draws on the research of various stakeholders, including consumer groups and the wider financial services industry, to inform policy development.

As an interest free product, the government does not consider BNPL to be high-cost credit.

However, the government recognises that BNPL products do pose several potential risks of consumer detriment, as set out in The Woolard Review into the unsecured credit market. That is why on 2 February 2021, the Government announced its intention to regulate BNPL products in a proportionate manner.

The Government published a consultation on policy proposals for the regulation of BNPL on 21 October 2021, which closed on 6 January 2022. The Government is now reviewing responses to this consultation and considering next steps and intends to publish a consultation response in the coming weeks.

The government has already prioritised support for SMEs by cutting business rates by 50% for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, providing a 95% subsidy for apprenticeships, and supporting them to invest and grow by increasing the Annual Investment Allowance to £1 million. The Help to Grow scheme provides eligible SMEs with a 90% subsidy for world class management training and subsidises the cost of new software up to £5,000.

The Spring Statement 2022 went further and cuts the cost of employment for half a million small businesses, by increasing the Employment Allowance from £4,000 to £5,000. This means that from April, 670,000 businesses will not pay NICs and the Health and Social Care Levy. In addition, to help businesses and consumers, the main rates of petrol and diesel duty will be cut by 5 pence per litre, the largest cash terms cut that has ever been applied to fuel duty rates at once.