Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress she has made through (a) the G7, (b) the G20 and (c) other international forums on developing global standards for crypto and digital asset regulation.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for the future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets. The Government intends to bring forward final legislation before the end of the year.
In developing the regime, the Government has sought to strike the right balance between attracting business to the UK while facilitating the UK’s access to global markets (and vice versa).
The UK – through representation from HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) – has played an active role in the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) workstreams on cryptoassets and will continue to engage with the FSB’s future cryptoasset workstreams.
The Government remains committed to working closely with international partners, and through global fora, on our response to developments in the cryptoasset sector as they emerge.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Mitie is eligible for additional funding through Government contracts for the increase in employers' National Insurance contributions.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Allocation of employers’ National Insurance contributions support funding is administrated in line with the method used under the Health and Social Care levy.
This funding has been allocated to departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way. It is down to individual departments on how to use that support funding in mitigating their increased employers’ National Insurance contributions costs.
The Government plans to publish individual departments’ allocations as part of Mains estimates.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the expected return on investment for investments in the National Wealth Fund.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The National Wealth Fund will seek to make positive returns for the Exchequer across its whole portfolio, covering at least the government’s cost of borrowing and institutional overheads, in line with its Financial Framework.
This will take time to achieve and should be balanced with the National Wealth Fund’s increased risk appetite.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that regulation of the (a) crypto and (b) digital asset sector helps to (i) protect consumers and (ii) foster innovation in the sector.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for the future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets. The Government intends to bring forward final legislation before the end of the year.
The Government’s approach seeks to strike the right balance between protecting consumers and giving firms regulatory certainty, while ensuring the sector has the space and flexibility to innovate.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals on (a) crypto and (b) digital assets.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for the future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets. The Government intends to bring forward final legislation before the end of the year.
The Government’s approach seeks to strike the right balance between protecting consumers and giving firms regulatory certainty, while ensuring the sector has the space and flexibility to innovate.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 41839 on Ukraine: Overseas Loans, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the loan to Ukraine.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government is providing £2.26bn as part of the G7 Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) Loans to Ukraine scheme. This will be repaid using profits from immobilised Russian sovereign assets in the EU.
The G7 has assessed and agreed that the ERA can support $50bn of support to Ukraine – the entirety of which has been pledged. Any amendment to the ERA scheme would need to be agreed by the G7.
The UK has committed £15bn in support to Ukraine to date, including £10bn in military support (including our £2.26 billion ERA Loan contribution) and £5bn in non-military support.
Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on (a) public and (b) school library funding.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of internal discussions are not normally disclosed.
Local government is responsible for running or commissioning public library services. The Government has delivered a Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) that begins to fix the foundations of local government by providing significant investment and redirecting funding towards the services and places that need it most. The Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase in councils’ Core Spending Power on 2024-25.
The Government provides funding to schools and academies through the Dedicated Schools Grant. Schools and academies are best placed to make decisions on how to prioritise this funding, including on school library provision.
Asked by: Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat - Torbay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to include sustainable funding for domestic abuse perpetrator intervention programmes in the Comprehensive Spending Review.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Home Office is the lead department responsible for domestic abuse funding. The allocation of funding across departmental budgetary responsibilities will be confirmed through the upcoming Spending Review.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of (a) trends in the level of financial literacy in the UK and (b) the potential impact of improving young people's financial literacy on economic growth.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to ensuring that individuals have the financial capability to manage their money well. While the Government does not hold specific data quantifying the economic benefits of this, we recognise the importance of financial literacy in people’s economic participation and have taken a number of steps to promote this, including among young people.
Financial education is currently incorporated into the national curriculum in England through mathematics at key stages 1 to 4 and citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, which together cover personal budgeting, saving for the future, managing credit and debt and calculating interest. The Government has established an independent, expert-led Curriculum and Assessment Review to ensure it is fit for purpose and meeting the needs of children and young people.
In addition, the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) is supported by the Government to provide comprehensive guidance for each stage of consumers’ financial lives. It’s MoneyHelper website offers a range of tools and calculators to help consumers with issues around benefits, everyday money, family and care, home finance, money troubles, pensions and retirement, savings and work (https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/tools-and-calculators).
The Government recognises that there is still more that can be done to further improve financial literacy. That is why Financial Education and Capability has been made an area of focus within the Financial Inclusion Strategy. The strategy will aim to tackle barriers to individual and households’ ability to access affordable and appropriate financial products and services, including financial literacy.
The Financial Conduct Authority’s nationally representative Financial Lives Survey gathers insights into the financial behaviour, attitudes and experiences of adults aged 18 and over across the UK. The survey covers a wide range of topics, including financial capability.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her polices of recent trends in levels of capital provision by US venture capital firms in (a) UK and (b) other markets.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Venture capital (VC) investment from around the world is important to the UK economy, and US investors continue to play a significant role. In Q1 2025, UK innovation businesses raised over £3bn – this is an 8% increase on the same period last year and the highest Q1 total since 2022. The UK ranks third globally for VC investment and has raised more than France, Germany, and Spain combined so far this year.
The Government is taking action to continue attracting international VC investment, including from the US, through the investor relationship work of the Office for Investment and by partnering with industry on international capital roadshows. We are also reviewing how to accelerate the growth of the UK’s domestic VC ecosystem through the public finance institution landscape review.
In addition, the Government recognises the value in growing the UK’s domestic VC investment market and it is taking steps to support this, including through the British Growth Partnership (BGP). This is a commercially driven investment vehicle designed to attract UK pension fund and other institutional capital into venture capital funds and innovative businesses. Last September, the Chancellor also announced an extension of the UK’s generous venture capital tax reliefs, the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Venture Capital Trust scheme which - alongside the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme - offer generous tax reliefs in return for investing in UK business.