Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) resident trusts (including trusts categorised as ‘Type A'), and (2) non-UK resident trusts (including trusts categorised as ‘Type B’ or ‘Type C’), have acquired a direct interest in land or property in Scotland since the Trust Registration Service was expanded in May 2021.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Although the Trust Registration Service does record information on trusts that have acquired a direct interest in land or property in the UK, in most cases the register only records limited information on where within the UK these lands or properties are located. As such, I cannot provide a complete answer to this question with respect to Scotland.
I can however answer this question with respect to the UK overall. From May 2021 (when the Trust Registration Service was expanded to accept registrations from non-taxable trusts) to 5 April 2025 (the end of the last tax year), c.77,000 trusts notified the Trust Registration Service that the trustees had acquired a direct interest in UK land or property on or after 6 October 2020. Of this figure, c.76,000 are UK resident trusts (including trusts categorised as ‘Type A') and c.1000 are non-UK resident trusts (including trusts categorised as ‘Type B’ or ‘Type C’).
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether Switzerland’s regulatory and supervisory framework offers protections equivalent to UK standards, particularly regarding (1) market integrity, (2) financial stability, and (3) consumer protection, so that UK markets are not exposed to additional or undue risk under the Berne Financial Services Agreement.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Berne Financial Services Agreement is an outcomes-based mutual recognition agreement. The Agreement will enhance cross-border trade in wholesale financial services between the UK and Switzerland. Specifically, the BFSA provides new cross-border market access for investment services from Switzerland into the UK and for (re)insurance from the UK into Switzerland.
The Agreement is underpinned by assessments, with the UK and Switzerland each assessing each other’s regulatory and supervisory regimes. The Treasury, Financial Conduct Authority, Bank of England, and Prudential Regulation Authority undertook an assessment of the Swiss regime between 2022 and 2023. Recognition was given on the basis that both regimes achieved equivalent outcomes in terms of consumer protection, market integrity and financial stability.
The Agreement is also supported by a Memorandum of Understanding between the Financial Conduct Authority, Bank of England, Prudential Regulation Authority, and Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority signed on 22 September 2025, which sets out arrangements for supervisory cooperation and information sharing. These arrangements will facilitate ongoing dialogue, support the functioning of the Agreement, and ensure both sides can address risks or supervisory developments promptly.
Lastly, the Agreement provides safeguards for the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority to manage any residual risk as a result of new market access under the Agreement with regards to protecting financial stability, consumer protection, market integrity and compliance with the Agreement. The Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority have been provided these powers through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Mutual Recognition Agreement) Switzerland Regulations 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to reporting by The Guardian on 30 October that HMRC had sent more than 23,000 letters about stopping child benefit following overseas travel, what data sources they used; what checks they made about the legality of this use; and whether a sudden rise in the stopping of child benefit led to any internal assessment of procedures.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Child Benefit is paid to over 6.9 million families, supporting 11.9 million children. It is one of the most widely accessed benefits in the UK.
As part of ongoing efforts to reduce error and fraud in the Child Benefit system, HMRC ran a pilot from March 2024 to December 2024 using international travel data, provided by the Home Office, to identify Child Benefit claimants who may no longer satisfy residency-related eligibility criteria. This pilot saw thousands of people who had left the UK but carried on claiming Child Benefit removed from the system, preventing around £17m in incorrect payments.
This led to the expansion of the measure and investment in an additional 180 counter-fraud staff, announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. This is expected to save £350 million over the next five years.
The legal basis for disclosing information between HMRC and the Home Office for the purpose of tackling fraud is in Chapter 4 of the Digital Economy Act (“DEA”) 2017. HMRC has robust governance processes in place to assess its legal use of these powers to disclose and receive information from other public bodies.
In expanding the process over the past few months, a check of HMRC PAYE systems to look for continuing UK employment was excluded on around 23,500 enquiries. HMRC has now reinstated the employment check, conducted the check on all open cases, reinstated payments automatically without any need for claimant contact and backdated those payments.
HMRC is asking claimants under enquiry who believe they are still eligible to call the number in the letter they received. HMRC has set up a dedicated team to handle cases swiftly. Where eligibility is confirmed, payments will resume and HMRC will make backdated payments, so there will be no loss of entitlement. By the end of November, HMRC will have written to all claimants who have not yet made contact to provide them with a further 4 weeks to make contact.
HMRC is taking further steps to strengthen the process for this exercise and will no longer suspend payments at the outset of an enquiry. HMRC will give all claimants at least one month to evidence their entitlement first. Claimants will then be given a further month to respond before a decision to terminate their award is considered. HMRC has also introduced an upfront check to identify claimants from Northern Ireland whose exit from the UK was to the Republic of Ireland and will not issue enquiries on these claimants as part of this exercise. HMRC will streamline what is asked of claimants during these enquiries to confirm their ongoing eligibility for Child Benefit, and will continue to iterate the process where its monitoring and learning suggests that it should make further changes.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for covering property developers under money-laundering regulations; and what plans they have to ensure that property developers are regulated for such purposes.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government published its most recent National Risk Assessment for money laundering and terrorist financing in July 2025, which included an assessment of risks for property developers.
While property developers more generally are not in scope of the Money Laundering Regulations, the regulations do apply to estate agencies, and to property developers that make their sales via a separate legal entity. Other property developers fall in scope of the regulations via their financial services and products. The scope of the Money Laundering Regulations is set to ensure that those sectors most at risk of being abused to facilitate money laundering have appropriate, risk-based controls in place to protect themselves, while avoiding undue burdens on businesses and customers.
The Government intends to develop a new public-private strategy focused on anti-money laundering and asset recovery in the coming months. This will respond to the risks identified in the National Risk Assessment, including consideration of whether any further measures are needed to address vulnerabilities in higher risk sectors.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the Financial Conduct Authority's Consumer Duty obligations are being enforced in ways that address risks to patient safety and informed consent in private medical insurance contracts, particularly in relation to the treatment of pre-existing conditions and service exclusions.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government requires all insurers, including those providing private medical insurance, to treat customers fairly. This is enforced under the rules of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the independent body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry, including insurance firms.
The FCA has a statutory objective to protect consumers. The government holds the FCA to account for how it advances its objectives, including through the FCA’s Annual Report which is laid before Parliament.
The FCA’s Consumer Duty sets high standards of consumer protection across regulated financial services firms, including a requirement for firms to put their customers’ needs first. The FCA monitors firms to ensure they meet these standards and has robust powers to take action where necessary.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they are taking to support negotiations on the United Nations framework convention on international tax co-operation.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure inclusive and effective international tax cooperation, and has been actively engaging in negotiations at the UN over a future Framework Convention.
The UK believes that a UN Tax Framework Convention has the potential to further advance international tax cooperation, but to be successful, it needs to be clear in its aims, avoid duplicating initiatives, and seek to secure the broad support and participation of members.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the possibility of, and (2) dangers from, a 'liquidity mirage' in foreign exchange markets.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee is responsible for identifying, monitoring and addressing any risks that threaten the resilience of the UK financial system, including foreign exchange markets.
UK regulators, and the Bank of England, in conjunction with their counterparts in other jurisdictions, monitor markets, including foreign exchange markets so as to ensure that they support the UK financial system and economy.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of an international charge on fossil fuel extraction as a means of raising revenue under the New Collective Quantified Goal agreed at COP29.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are committed to helping deliver global climate finance, including the New Collective Quantified Goal agreed at COP29 of at least $300bn per year to developing countries by 2035, and responding to the wider call on all actors to increase climate finance to developing countries to £1.3trn per year.
As part of that effort, we are pressing for faster and more ambitious reforms to the global financial system to deliver much more and higher quality climate and development finance. Alongside this, we are supportive of exploring revenue raising mechanisms for climate action, but we will need to consider specific proposals on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the quality of private medical insurance, including the degree to which pre-existing and chronic conditions are covered, and whether they consider the regulation of such insurance to be adequate.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the independent body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry, including firms providing private medical insurance.
The Government is determined that all insurers should treat consumers fairly and provide products that offer fair value, and firms are required to do so under FCA rules. Fair value means that 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 robust powers to act against firms that fail to comply with its rules.
Consumers who do not feel they have been treated fairly may be able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service, an independent body set up to provide arbitration in such cases.
Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of removing VAT liability from general further education colleges, given that sixth form colleges are not liable.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 29 July, the Government announced that, as of 1 January 2025, all education services and vocational training provided by a private school in the UK for a charge will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent. This will include sixth form colleges which provide these services for a charge.
Education and vocational training provided by further education colleges will not be subject to VAT as they do not charge fees for full time education for 16–19-year-olds.