Alcohol Duty Bands
Debate between Baroness Penn and Lord Harris of Haringey(1 year, 3 months ago)
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Baroness Penn (Con)
Through making higher-strength drinks subject to higher duty, we are making alcohol more expensive in that way.
Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)
My Lords, surely it is about the proportion of the cost. I am not clear that the noble Baroness has answered the Question. She has repeatedly said that this is to allow businesses time to adjust. I remember the days when the most eagerly awaited bit of any Budget Statement was the announcement of duties on alcohol. As I understand it, it was always then rushed through the House of Commons that day so that the increases could come in overnight. What is this period for businesses to adjust all about?
Baroness Penn (Con)
My Lords, in addition to the annual level of the duties paid by businesses, we are introducing the biggest reform to alcohol duties in 140 years—for example, as I have said, by reducing the number of bands operating by linking very clearly the level of duty to the level of alcohol in a product. That is a significant reform, and one that businesses need time to adjust to. That is why we have aligned the introduction of the new duty rates with the new system.
Money Laundering Regulations: Politically Exposed Persons
Debate between Baroness Penn and Lord Harris of Haringey
Baroness Penn (Con)
My Lords, anti-money regulations play an important role in tackling economic crime, which I know is a subject that this House cares strongly about. We recently concluded a review of our anti-money laundering regulations and their effectiveness. We are committed to a piece of work on politically exposed persons, but the main conclusions from that review were about how we regulate professional services, and we will consult on our proposals for reform there to consider how we can improve our anti-money laundering regulations. I think everyone would agree that they are essential to protect against financial crime.
Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)
My Lords, this has been going on for at least a decade, to my knowledge, so the Government are moving with extraordinary sloth. First, can we have a guarantee that this review will be published so that everyone can see it? Secondly, will the Minister examine the implications for voluntary organisations led by or are involved with politically exposed persons?
I have a personal experience: Metro Bank decided that an organisation that I chair and which has a board consisting of three politically exposed persons and one other—who is, incidentally, an emeritus professor of engineering and a former Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government—was somehow beyond its risk appetite. The rule is being applied in a blanket way without the sort of assessment that the Minister and her many predecessors have stood at that Dispatch Box to assure us will be the case.
Baroness Penn (Con)
My Lords, my understanding is that the original measures on PEPs were put into UK law in 2017, so the timescale is slightly different from that set out by the noble Lord, but I absolutely take his point on action that needs to be taken. That is why we have continued to follow up with banks about taking proportionate action under the current regulations and are looking at whether they can be amended, but we need a strong evidence base to take that action.
Public Health Restrictions: Government Economic Support
Debate between Baroness Penn and Lord Harris of Haringey
Baroness Penn (Con)
My Lords, that is exactly what the Government are trying to do with the new Job Support Scheme. Where people are unable to work due to their workplace being closed or need to work reduced hours due to a reduced level of demand, the Government are there to step in with support for those workers’ wages.
Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)
My Lords, yesterday the Leader of the House misspoke, no doubt unintentionally, when she told us that the level of wage support being offered was in line with that of most other European countries, including Germany. Germany has lower rates of infection and its economy has not been hit as hard as ours has. As the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, just said, Germany offers up to 80% in wage subsidy. For the public health measures to work, people must be able to comply. If people cannot pay their rent and cannot put food on the table, are the Government not setting up these new local lockdowns to fail?
Baroness Penn (Con)
My Lords, as I explained to the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, the support to people’s incomes does not come only from the Job Support Scheme; for those on low incomes, universal credit is designed to go up in value as people’s incomes come down, meaning that those on the lowest incomes can expect to receive about 88% of their incomes. On the international comparisons, the figures that the noble Lord quoted for Germany are correct. I am happy to write to him with some other comparisons, so that he can see how we are doing compared with other countries.
Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) (No. 3) Regulations 2020
Debate between Baroness Penn and Lord Harris of Haringey(3 years, 8 months ago)
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Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)
My Lords, as ever, we are grateful to the Minister for introducing these regulations. They are, of course, an urgent measure and I do not disagree with their urgency, but what is deeply regrettable is that, in the name of urgency, so little that the Government and in particular the Minister’s department does is properly considered and scrutinised by either this House or the other Place.
I therefore make no apology for raising another group of issues where the Government have acted in the name of urgency, evading proper scrutiny. I refer to the fast-track procurement processes. Some of the contracts that have been awarded seem strange to say the least. Can the Minister explain why, in April, two contracts worth £8.4 million were awarded to Taeg Energy Ltd for hand sanitiser? Taeg Energy is listed as a dormant electricity production company, owned by a Mr Matthew Gowing. How and why was it selected? Who did it know in the Department of Health and Social Care to come to be awarded these contracts?
Why, in the same month, was another contract worth £692,000 for the supply of PPE gowns awarded to Kau Media Group Ltd, which is based in Hammersmith? How was a company specialising in social media, search engine optimisation and online advertising even considered by the department for such a contract? Who did it know?
Finally, how was Ayanda Capital, a company specialising in currency trading, offshore property and private equity, selected for a contract to supply £252 million-worth of face masks? How did this happen? Is it true that about £150 million-worth of these were not fit for use in the NHS? Again, who did it know?
The Minister must understand that these contracts, all rushed through without going through normal procurement policies—I do not argue with the need to get PPE—create the impression that something fishy is going on.
Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab)
I would have finished in the time you took to make that intervention. If we saw this in some other jurisdiction we would say that it reeks of corruption, stinks of cronyism or, at the very best, demonstrates rank incompetence and naivety. Can the Minister reassure us?
Banks: Internet Transfers of Cash
Debate between Baroness Penn and Lord Harris of Haringey
Baroness Penn
My Lords, I am aware of “politically exposed persons”. Under the money laundering regulations 2017, firms must assess the risks posed by those customers on a case-by-case basis and tailor their enhanced due diligence measures accordingly. The FCA has published guidance explaining what these obligations look like in practice. Furthermore, the guidance is that UK politically exposed persons should be treated as low risk, unless other factors apply.
Lord Harris of Haringey (Lab) [V]
My Lords, I declare my interests as chair of the independent reference group of the National Crime Agency. Suspicious activity reports are an essential tool in combating financial crime, fraud and the funding of terrorism, but is the Minister satisfied that the NCA has sufficient resources to deal with the volume of such reports? Given that banks are assiduous submitters of SARs, with nearly 400,000 last year, is she satisfied that building societies, with only 22,000 submissions, and solicitors, with fewer than 3,000, are pulling their weight?
Baroness Penn
My Lords, the National Crime Agency was set up to tackle crimes that take place at a national rather than a local level. I am confident that they have adequate resources to carry out the task at hand.