Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what incentives are available to encourage growth strategies among UK tech firms; and whether he plans to take steps to help increase the number of high-value tech companies based in the UK.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is backing British business to drive long-term economic growth by tackling barriers to investment, cutting taxes and rewarding work, and by supporting the priority growth sectors, including digital technology, which are helping to turn the UK into the world’s next Silicon Valley. The UK has Europe’s leading tech ecosystem, valued at over $1trillion, and the government is acting to create the best environment for our most innovative tech companies to start, scale and stay in the UK. This includes making over £3.5 billion of public investment in the AI ecosystem since 2014, extending the sunset clause for the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Venture Capital Trust scheme to 6 April 2035, making changes to simplify and improve R&D tax reliefs, extending the British Business Bank’s Future Fund: Breakthrough investment programme, and implementing the measures the Chancellor announced at last year’s Mansion House speech to reform the pensions market to unlock investment into high growth sectors and generate increased returns for savers.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2024 to Question 21846 on Oil: Imports, what volume of oil has been identified as being from Russia in cases where investigations have been concluded.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Pursuant to the answer provided on 18 April 2024 to Question 21846, HM Revenue and Customs is responsible for enforcing and investigating export controls on strategic goods and sanctions and investigating potential breaches of those controls. HM Revenue and Customs does not comment on operational enforcement matters pertaining to specific import or export scenarios.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2024 to Question 21846 on Oil: Imports, in how many cases action has (a) been and (b) not been taken where investigations have concluded.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Pursuant to the answer provided on 18 April 2024 to Question 21846, HM Revenue and Customs is responsible for enforcing and investigating export controls on strategic goods and sanctions and investigating potential breaches of those controls. HM Revenue and Customs does not comment on operational enforcement matters pertaining to specific import or export scenarios.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the effectiveness of the (a) Enterprise Investment Scheme and (b) Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme for attracting investment in the screen sector.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government recognises the importance of the film and TV sector to the UK and is committed to making the UK the best place to invest through our generous and reliable fiscal support, as well as wider business support through our funded bodies like the British Film Commission.
The government keeps all tax-advantaged venture capital schemes under review to ensure they continue to meet their policy objectives in a way that is fair and effective. Information on the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme is published annually by HM Revenue and Customs. The data published relates to overall scheme statistics and not sector specific performance.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the findings of the Financial Conduct Authority survey indicating a decrease in savings and investing among UK adults, what steps they are taking to help individuals and families save and invest.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to incentivising greater saving and investment, to help hard working people save for their future goals and build greater financial resilience.
The Help to Save scheme was launched in September 2018 and is intended to promote financial resilience among working households on low incomes by supporting them to kickstart a regular, long-term savings habit and build a financial buffer for a rainy day.
Individuals can also save up to £20,000 into an Individual Savings Account (ISA) each year, and any savings income received within an ISA is tax free. This, along with the Personal Savings Allowance of up to £1,000 for basic rate taxpayers means that around 85% of people with savings income pay no tax on that income.
However, the Government also recognises that people need support to make effective investment decisions. This is why the Government and FCA are working on a joint review of the boundary between financial advice and guidance to ensure people can access appropriate support with their financial decision-making.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the levels of private investment in independent UK film production companies through the (a) Enterprise Investment Scheme and (b) Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme between (i) 2012 and 2017 and (ii) 2018 and 2023.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government recognises the importance of the film and TV sector to the UK and is committed to making the UK the best place to invest through our generous and reliable fiscal support, as well as wider business support through our funded bodies like the British Film Commission.
The government keeps all tax-advantaged venture capital schemes under review to ensure they continue to meet their policy objectives in a way that is fair and effective. Information on the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme is published annually by HM Revenue and Customs. The data published relates to overall scheme statistics and not sector specific performance.
Asked by: Chris Bryant (Labour - Rhondda)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the of the impact of changes made to the (a) Enterprise Investment Scheme and (b) Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme on levels of investment in the UK screen sector since 2018.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government recognises the importance of the film and TV sector to the UK and is committed to making the UK the best place to invest through our generous and reliable fiscal support, as well as wider business support through our funded bodies like the British Film Commission.
The government keeps all tax-advantaged venture capital schemes under review to ensure they continue to meet their policy objectives in a way that is fair and effective. Information on the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme is published annually by HM Revenue and Customs. The data published relates to overall scheme statistics and not sector specific performance.
Asked by: Baroness Merron (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assess and mitigate the impact of private medical insurance fees on the quality and suitability of care provided to patients with private medical insurance.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is determined that all insurers, including private medical insurers, treat consumers fairly and firms are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority’s rules.
The FCA requires insurers to ensure their products offer fair value, meaning the price a consumer pays for a product or service must be reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive. The FCA has been clear that it will be monitoring firms to make sure they comply with this rule and will take action where necessary.
All providers of healthcare are regulated by the Care Quality Commission and follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fall, while the General Medical Council is responsible for regulating doctors in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the Financial Conduct Authority survey indicating an increase in adults across the UK struggling to pay bills due to the high cost of living, and what steps they are taking to help individuals and families facing financial difficulties.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The FCA’s 2024 Cost of Living survey found a reduction in the number of people finding it hard to manage higher costs of living since January 2023.
The government has already provided support to help with the cost of living totalling £96 billion from 2022-23 to 2023-2024 – an average of £3400 per UK household.
Further actions taken by the government in 2024-25 include: a rise in the National Living Wage (NLW) by 9.8% - ending low hourly pay for workers on the NLW, raising Local Housing Allowance to the 30th percentile of market rents, uprating working-age benefits by 6.7%, freezing fuel duty, removing Debt Relief Order fees, and doubling the Budgeting Advance Loan repayment period.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to sustain the momentum of the economic recovery following indications that GDP increased in January and February.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
To sustain economic growth momentum, the government is continuing to pursue an ambitious policy agenda to increase growth and productivity across the economy. The OBR expects that policies announced at the previous three fiscal events will increase the size of the economy by 0.7% by 2028-29.
In addition to making full expensing permanent, a tax cut to companies of over £10 billion a year, the government has announced measures to boost labour supply, which the OBR predicts will increase the number of hours worked by the equivalent of over 300,000 full-time workers by the end of the forecast period.