Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of their fiscal policies on the United Kingdom's economic growth potential.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for preparing forecasts for the UK economy and public finances. This includes an assessment of the impact of the Government’s policies.
The OBR publish their judgements in their Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO). The OBR’s latest EFO can be found here: Economic and fiscal outlook – March 2025 - Office for Budget Responsibility. This includes the OBR’s assessment of government policies announced at Spring Statement 2025.
The OBR’s assessment of the Government’s policies at the Budget in October can be found here: Economic and fiscal outlook – October 2024 - Office for Budget Responsibility.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the latest consumer price index figures; and what plans they have to address these figures.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The OBR, in their Spring forecast, expect inflation to fall back towards the Bank of England's 2% target in 2026.
The Bank of England has the responsibility of controlling inflation and the Government fully supports them as they take action to sustainably return inflation to the 2% target. The independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at the Bank of England has cut Bank Rate four times since August as underlying inflationary pressure has eased.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the decline in total factor productivity on the United Kingdom's economic growth potential; and what steps they plan to take to address this.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Like many advanced economies, the UK has experienced a slowdown in productivity growth rates since the global financial crisis, but this has been sharper than our peers. UK productivity growth fell to the second slowest in the G7 under the previous government at an average of 0.6 per cent a year - lower than France, Germany and the US. Low investment and falling growth in total factor productivity (TFP) were key factors in this slowdown.
Increasing productivity is vital in driving economic growth. That is why growth is the priority mission of this Government and why we continue to take steps to boost productivity, including through boosting TFP.
This includes increasing the capital envelope by over £100 billion at the Budget in October and a further £13 billion at Spring Statement 2025 compared to the plans set out at Spring Budget 2024. We are also catalysing over £70 billion in private investment through the creation of the National Wealth Fund, removing barriers to investment through ambitious planning reforms, and championing growth-enhancing sectors through our modern Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the unemployment rate and its impact on economic growth.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In their Spring forecast, the OBR expect the unemployment rate will remain broadly flat for the rest of the year, falling to 4.1% by the end of 2027 and remaining at that rate for the rest of the forecast.
A key part of the Government’s growth mission is our commitment to get more people into work. That is why the Government has set a long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to reduce public sector borrowing, following the release of the latest Office for National Statistics figures for public sector net borrowing.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government’s approach to borrowing is set out in its fiscal rules – to move the current budget into balance so day-to-day spending is met by revenues, meaning the Government will only borrow for investment, and to reduce net financial debt as a share of the economy.
At the Budget in October, the Government took tough but necessary decisions on tax to put the public finances on a sustainable path. This is the responsible choice to reduce our levels of borrowing in the years ahead, so we can spend more on the priorities of working people and less on servicing debt.
The Chancellor has always been clear the fiscal rules are non-negotiable and the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has confirmed the Government is on track to meet them. In its Spring forecast, the OBR forecast borrowing to fall in every year of the forecast – from 4.8% GDP in 2024-25 to 2.1% in 2029-30. By 2027-2028, the Government is funding day-to-day spending with revenues and only borrowing for investment.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to find departing members of (1) NHS England, and (2) the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), roles elsewhere in the public sector; and what plans they have to prevent departing members from these organisations from taking retirement packages and then gaining re-employment in NHS England or DHSC.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the pension arrangements for departing workers from (1) NHS England, and (2) the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); and what plans they have to limit the cost of such pensions in any restructuring of NHS England or DHSC.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Employees have different pension arrangements depending on the length of service and the terms and conditions of employment. Ministers will work with the new transformation team at the top of NHS England, led by Sir Jim Mackey, to lead this transformation. As we work to return many of NHS England’s current functions to the Department, we will ensure that we continue to evaluate impacts of all kinds.
There may be some short-term upfront costs as we undertake these changes, but these costs and more will be recouped in future years because of a smaller, leaner centre.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answers by Lord Livermore on 13 March (HL Deb cols 813–14), who sits on the British Infrastructure Taskforce; and what are its terms of reference.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Meetings of the British Infrastructure Taskforce are convened by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to help boost investment in infrastructure and drive growth nationwide. The Taskforce is attended by some of the UK’s largest financial services companies.
The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) is the government’s centre of expertise for infrastructure and major projects. The IPA leads the project delivery and project finance professions across government. The IPA supports the successful delivery of all types of major projects; ranging from railways, schools, hospitals and housing, to defence, IT and major transformation programmes. These functions, along with those of the National Infrastructure Commission, will move to the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) on 1 April 2025.
NISTA will bring oversight of strategy and delivery into one organisation, developing and implementing our ten-year infrastructure strategy in conjunction with industry, while driving more effective delivery of infrastructure across the country. Alongside existing assurance mechanisms, NISTA will have an enhanced role in supporting major projects, including validating business cases prior to HM Treasury funding approval.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the British Infrastructure Taskforce and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority interact and ensure that government infrastructure projects (1) are delivered on time, and (2) provide value for money.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Meetings of the British Infrastructure Taskforce are convened by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to help boost investment in infrastructure and drive growth nationwide. The Taskforce is attended by some of the UK’s largest financial services companies.
The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) is the government’s centre of expertise for infrastructure and major projects. The IPA leads the project delivery and project finance professions across government. The IPA supports the successful delivery of all types of major projects; ranging from railways, schools, hospitals and housing, to defence, IT and major transformation programmes. These functions, along with those of the National Infrastructure Commission, will move to the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) on 1 April 2025.
NISTA will bring oversight of strategy and delivery into one organisation, developing and implementing our ten-year infrastructure strategy in conjunction with industry, while driving more effective delivery of infrastructure across the country. Alongside existing assurance mechanisms, NISTA will have an enhanced role in supporting major projects, including validating business cases prior to HM Treasury funding approval.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answers by Lord Livermore on 13 March (HL Deb cols 812–13), who leads the Infrastructure and Projects Authority; and what is its remit.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) is currently led by Nick Smallwood. Nick Smallwood will be stepping down at the end of March 2025.
The IPA works across Government to support the successful delivery of all types of major projects, ranging from railways, roads, schools, hospitals and housing, to energy, telecommunications, defence, IT and major transformation programmes. The IPA’s Mandate can be found on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infrastructure-and-projects-authority-mandate.
On the 1 April 2025, the functions of the IPA will be taken over by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA), which will combine the functions of the IPA and the National Infrastructure Commission. NISTA will be led by Jean-Christophe Gray until a permanent CEO is appointed.