HM Treasury and Bank of England Consultation Response
Bim Afolami Excerpts(9 months, 2 weeks ago)
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The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
The Government have today laid the response to the Bank of England and HM Treasury’s consultation paper, “The digital pound: a new form of money for households and businesses?”—(CP 970).
The Bank of England and HM Treasury have been exploring the concept of a UK retail central bank digital currency (CBDC), or “digital pound”, issued by the Bank of England. A digital pound would be a new form of digital money for use by households and businesses for their everyday payment needs, and a complement to physical cash and other means of payment. However, it is important to stress that no decision has yet been made to build or issue a digital pound, either for corporates or for the public.
Alongside cash, a digital pound would help to ensure that central bank money remains widely available and useful in an ever more digital economy, continuing to support UK monetary and financial stability. It would also provide a public platform for private sector innovation, promoting further competition, efficiency and choice in payments. Many other countries are also exploring the issuance of CBDCs.
No decision has yet been made to build or issue a digital pound, but given changes in money and payments, as well as developments in other countries, we believe there is merit in further preparatory work. This work will allow us to build the necessary skills and put in place the technical capability to introduce a digital pound in a timely manner, were the decision made to do so in the future.
The consultation paper sought feedback from the public on a set of design proposals for the digital pound. The Government and the Bank of England are grateful to everyone who provided their feedback, which will be carefully considered during the ongoing design phase. Respondents from a range of industries and organisations were supportive of the design proposition set out in the consultation paper, while many other respondents raised concerns about the implications of a digital pound for access to cash, users’ privacy, and control of their money. The Government and the Bank of England recognise the critical importance of building the public’s trust in a digital pound.
The consultation response sets out commitments that the Government and the Bank of England are making in response to the feedback received in the consultation, including that primary legislation would be introduced before any launch of a digital pound. Today, the Government and the Bank of England are committing that this legislation would include measures to guarantee users’ privacy and control over how to spend their money. The response also reiterates the Government and the Bank of England’s commitment to protect access to cash. The digital pound, issued by the Bank of England, would be a complement to cash and not a replacement for it.
This consultation response sets outs the steps we are taking to reinforce public trust in the design of a digital pound before any decision is made:
Before any launch of a digital pound, the Government have committed to introducing primary legislation. This means that the digital pound would only be introduced once Parliament had passed the relevant legislation. A further consultation exercise would be held prior to the introduction of legislation.
Privacy, and preventing Government programmability, would be a core design feature of the digital pound issued by the Bank of England.
The Government and the Bank of England would not access users’ personal data, and legislation introduced by the Government for a digital pound would guarantee users’ privacy. Today, the Bank of England is committing to exploring technological options that would prevent the Bank from accessing any personal data through the Bank’s core infra- structure.
The Government and the Bank of England would not program a digital pound, and legislation introduced by the Government for a digital pound would guarantee this.
The Government have already legislated to safeguard access to cash, ensuring that it would remain available even if a digital pound was introduced.
The feedback to date will help to inform our work on the design of the digital pound. We will continue to engage with parliamentarians, the private sector, civil society, academia and the public to develop our proposals for a digital pound, so that we are prepared, should a decision to build a digital pound be taken in the future.
The document is published online at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-digital-pound-a-new-form-of-money-for-households-and-businesses.
Copies of the document are also available in the Vote Office.
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Draft Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2023
Draft Securitisation Regulations 2023
Draft Financial Services Act 2021 (Overseas Funds Regime and Recognition of Parts of Schemes) (Amendment and Modification) Regulations 2024
Draft Data Reporting Services Regulations 2023
Bim Afolami Excerpts(9 months, 3 weeks ago)
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The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Data Reporting Services Regulations 2023.
The Chair
With this, it will be convenient to consider the draft Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2023, the draft Securitisation Regulations 2023 and the draft Financial Services Act 2021 (Overseas Funds Regime and Recognition of Parts of Schemes) (Amendment and Modification) Regulations 2024.
Bim Afolami
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers.
The draft Securitisation Regulations 2023, the draft Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2023, and the draft Financial Services Act 2021 (Overseas Funds Regime and Recognition of Parts of Schemes) (Amendment and Modification) Regulations 2024 are made under powers in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, which I shall refer to as FSMA. They form part of the Government’s ambitious programme to deliver a smarter regulatory framework for financial services by replacing assimilated law, formerly known as retained EU law, with an approach to regulation that is tailored to the United Kingdom. As the House will know, they are a key part of the Edinburgh reforms, which are a key part of the programme of the Treasury, the Chancellor and my office. The third of those instruments makes technical changes across the statute book to support the effective implementation of the overseas funds regime and functioning of fund recognition.
The draft Data Reporting Services Regulations 2023 establish a new legislative framework for the regulation of data reporting service providers, or DRSPs, replacing the framework inherited from the European Union. DRSPs report trade data—that is, data relating to trades that happen on financial markets—to either the public or the Financial Conduct Authority. That is essential to ensure that markets are supervised effectively and for them to operate and function properly.
Sir Greg Knight (East Yorkshire) (Con)
The explanatory memorandum states that the FCA will need to make new rules under the new regime, and that the new regime will not come into force until the FCA has consulted on changes to its rules as part of the rule-making process. Can the Minister give us some idea of the timescale involved here?
Bim Afolami
I thank my right hon. Friend for that point, and I shall respond in the following way. Under the smarter regulatory framework, the broad approach is that Parliament—in this instance, this Committee—passes secondary legislation under the auspices of FSMA. Then, the detailed rulebook—which is, believe it or not, more detailed than this statutory instrument—comes in through the operation of the FCA. My right hon. Friend made a point about the consultation process. The consultation process can be long or short. I would expect that, as with various other measures under the Edinburgh reforms, the consultation process for statutory instruments as detailed as these will be quite short. We are looking for it to happen this calendar year. I do not want to be more precise than that, but I expect it to happen this calendar year.
Richard Fuller (North East Bedfordshire) (Con)
I want to follow up on the comment from my right hon. Friend the Member for East Yorkshire on the role of the FCA. The Minister will be aware of the concerns of Members on the Government Back Benches about the speed with which regulators perform their duties, how much we pass on to them, and how much we trust them to fulfil the will not just of Parliament but of our representatives. That applies to the FCA. I do not expect the Minister to comment on that directly, but can he assure the Committee that he will use his position to ensure that the FCA is kept on track in implementing the reforms at pace?
Bim Afolami
I will surprise my hon. Friend by commenting directly on what he has said. Like him, I have spent a long time thinking carefully about the role of the FCA and other regulators and the speed with which they discharge their duties. We give them a lot of work to do, but we also hope that that work is conducted as quickly as possible. The FCA has made improvements in that regard, but it is my job to ensure that it works as quickly as possible. When it comes to the Edinburgh reforms, under which these reforms sit, the Chancellor has been very clear that one of my key jobs is to deliver: not just to say that we are doing things, but to ensure that those things come into practice. I am very focused on that.
There are three types of DRSPs: first, approved reporting mechanisms, which report details about transactions in financial markets to the FCA on behalf of investment firms; secondly, approved publication arrangements, which publish trade reports to the public; and, thirdly, consolidated tape providers, which collate trading data from a variety of sources and publish it in a single live data stream. The draft regulations establish a new framework for the regulation of DRSPs, under which the FCA will make the detailed requirements in its rulebook, as we have discussed.
The instrument also delivers the Edinburgh reforms’ commitment to establish a regulatory framework for a UK consolidated tape. Currently, there are no consolidated tapes in this country, which means that market participants must go to various sources to get a cross-market view of trade data. That makes it expensive, burdensome and difficult for investors to access the data they need to make informed investment decisions in the UK. That is why, as part of the wholesale markets review, the Government consulted on legislative changes to facilitate the emergence of a consolidated tape in this country. There was broad support for the Government’s proposals, which this instrument delivers. A tape that collates data from multiple sources into one continuous live stream will make it easier for market participants to meet best execution requirements and manage risk. That will make UK markets more attractive and competitive.
The draft Securitisation Regulations 2023 establish a new legislative framework that replaces inherited EU law on securitisation. The introduction of the securitisation regulation in 2019 directly addressed financial stability deficiencies that arose after the global financial crisis. The Treasury conducted a review of the securitisation regulation in 2021. The review aimed to bolster securitisation standards, to increase investor protections, and to develop securitisation markets to facilitate real economy lending. The new framework established by the draft regulations will allow the financial services regulators—the FCA and the Prudential Regulation Authority—to make and further reform the firm-facing rules for securitisation with more agility and proportionality. The regulators will consider taking forward reforms in line with the outcomes of their own consultations and the 2021 Treasury securitisation review, which were received positively by industry.
The instrument also takes forward other reforms identified by the 2021 review. Those reforms include boosting the UK securitisation market’s competitiveness by no longer subjecting certain overseas firms to UK requirements when investing in UK securitisation. That will make overseas firms’ requirements more proportionate and increase their incentives to invest in UK securitisations, while also removing extraterritorial supervision issues for the regulators. I want the Committee to be clear on that point. The instrument also facilitates UK firms’ participation in international securitisation markets, which should benefit our industry.
The draft Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2023 deliver a key recommendation—perhaps the key recommendation—from Lord Hill’s listings review to fundamentally overhaul the prospectus regime, and they mark a significant step in the Government’s reforms to make our capital markets more competitive. The current prospectus regulation, as outlined by Lord Hill and industry at length in his review, is inflexible and slows the raising of capital, which is the purpose of our capital markets. The instrument creates a new framework that requires companies raising capital to publish information that is relevant and useful for investors, while removing unnecessary barriers to such information. The new regime will mean that companies raising capital are required to publish a prospectus, except where they meet a series of exceptions—for example, where a security is traded on an exchange, or where the offer of securities is fewer than 150 investors. That means that, in practice, we are removing the need for a prospectus to be published in many situations. Just so that colleagues appreciate this, the purpose of that is absolutely not to reduce information for investors but to ensure that the right level of information is appropriate for the right type of investors for the right businesses.
The instrument also establishes a new regime for securities “admitted to trading’” on a regulated market or a multilateral trading facility, and creates a new regulated activity of operating an electronic system for public offers of certain securities that are above £5 million. By removing the €8 million threshold for a prospectus, which effectively acted as a blockage for certain private-capital raising, firms can raise larger amounts of capital more easily and more quickly.
That will allow firms raising money outside of capital markets—for example, through crowdfunding platforms, which has grown in popularity over recent years—to continue to do so, but do so in a more targeted way. The FCA will be given new rule-making responsibilities to set rules that apply directly to firms, such as when a prospectus is required. That will create a simpler and more effective regime.
I will now turn to the final instrument, the draft Financial Services Act 2021 (Overseas Funds Regime and Recognition of Parts of Schemes) (Amendment and Modification) Regulations 2024—I will take away from this the need to perhaps shorten the length of the names of such regulations.
This instrument amends the statute book to support the implementation of the overseas funds regime, which is a new route allowing overseas funds from equivalent countries or territories to be recognised for the purposes of marketing participation in such funds to UK retail investors. This instrument ensures that, where appropriate, funds recognised under the overseas funds regime are treated in the same way as other recognised funds. These changes are technical, but they are necessary to allow the overseas funds regime to operate as policy intends, ahead of the first funds being recognised under it. This will be critical to continue to support a competitive funds sector for UK investors.
In closing, the first three of these SIs replace key parts of assimilated EU law, putting in place new frameworks tailored to the UK as the Government deliver a smarter regulatory framework in financial services. The final instrument, as I have outlined, makes technical changes across the statute book to support the effective implementation of the overseas funds regime and the functioning of fund recognition. I hope that the Committee will join me in supporting these regulations, and I commend them to the House.
Bim Afolami
It will be a pleasure to answer the questions of the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn. I will take them in turn, but before I get to them I will say that I have very much noted the comments of the hon. Lady and those of my right hon. and hon. Friends about the speed of implementation and that being key to what the House and the Committee want to see so that we get the changes we all need.
On the prospectus rules coming into force in 2025, the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn will appreciate that this is a complicated set of changes. The Treasury and industry needed to ensure that what we are doing, when that is such a comprehensive piece of work, was the right thing and had the broad support of industry. We have got that, but I repeat that I will be working very hard to make sure that we implement these as quickly as possible. We are closely engaging with the FCA while it is beginning the complex process of reviewing its rules and changing them. The FCA is committed to completing this by the first half of 2025—not just completing the work but actually having new rules published. I will increase the speed of that if humanly possible.
On the point from the hon. Member for Hampstead and Kilburn about securitisation, I am always keen to talk with European Union friends and colleagues across a range of matters. Indeed, I will be visiting Brussels soon in order to discuss these issues and a range of others. I am happy to continue to do that. She also mentioned the legacy transactions point that was brought up by the Association for Financial Markets. We are confident that the regulations are appropriate, but I am very happy to meet with the Association if it would like to discuss any of its concerns.
On the OFR and the equivalence judgments, the answer is: very soon, I hope. I will be updating the hon. Lady and the House as soon as I possibly can, because I recognise that this is important. In relation to the consolidated tape, lots of different competitor jurisdictions are trying to do this work, which is part of the evidence that we are doing the right thing. I am confident that we are going to do this faster and more effectively than our competitors.
Tulip Siddiq
I appreciate the Minister’s responses, but the EU does not recognise the UK STS securitisations. Has the Minister made an assessment of that? He says that he is going to Brussels to speak to them, but has he not already started speaking to them, or is this the first time? That is quite an oversight, considering that they do not recognise those securitisations.
Bim Afolami
The hon. Lady will appreciate that across a range of different issues there are often political reasons why the European Union may or may not do things. We are committed to making sure that it operates in a sensible way when it comes to the UK, because we know that the UK’s financial services ecosystem, regulatory regime and market make it the leading financial services centre. But I will continue to engage with the EU on that basis. To her precise point, there are a range of different issues we are talking to the European Union about at all levels of Government. Financial services is included in that, and I will continue to have those conversations.
Tulip Siddiq
Can I ask the Minister to write to me after his visit to Brussels?
Bim Afolami
Of course.
Question put and agreed to.
DRAFT SECURITISATION REGULATIONS 2023
Resolved,
That the Committee has considered the draft Securitisation Regulations 2023.—(Bim Afolami.)
DRAFT FINANCIAL SERVICES ACT 2021 (OVERSEAS FUNDS REGIME AND RECOGNITION OF PARTS OF SCHEMES) (AMENDMENT AND MODIFICATION) REGULATIONS 2024
Resolved,
That the Committee has considered the draft Financial Services Act 2021 (Overseas Funds Regime and Recognition of Parts of Schemes) (Amendment and Modification) Regulations 2024.—(Bim Afolami.)
dRAFT DATA REPORTING SERVICES REGULATIONS 2023
Resolved,
That the Committee has considered the draft Data Reporting Services Regulations 2023.—(Bim Afolami)
Public Sector Pay 2024-25
Bim Afolami Excerpts(9 months, 3 weeks ago)
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The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
I thank the hon. Member for Cynon Valley (Beth Winter) for securing this debate and for her opening remarks. I echo her comments and those of many others about a dear friend of the House, Tony Lloyd, and his passing. As was evidently the case with so many other Members, ever since I came to the House, he was unfailingly kind to me. But he was not just kind; he was also knowledgeable and thoughtful, and he knew a huge amount about governance, about Manchester, and about this House and how it works. He will be sorely missed, particularly by Opposition Members.
I am grateful for this opportunity to set out the Government’s appreciation of our public sector workforces and the spirit of public service that lies behind the vital work that they do up and down the country.
Before I get to the meat of my remarks, let me say that many comments have been made in this debate about how, as a result of inflation, the real spending power of wages decreases. That is completely correct; it is true. That is why halving inflation has been the Prime Minister’s No.1 priority since he took office, and we have focused so strongly on doing that. Having more than halved inflation—although we have not yet finished the job—we are now able to pay our public sector workers more. I will explain that a bit further.
As Members know, pay for most frontline workers is set through an independent pay review body process. These independent bodies consider a range of evidence when forming their recommendations. It is important to note that the process is independent of the Government, but Members should be in no doubt that this Government wholeheartedly appreciate the public sector workers who play a vital role in delivering our world-class public services.
Richard Burgon
I am listening very carefully to what the Minister is saying. Why does he think that nursing staff are leaving the profession in droves? Does he agree that it is because they are underpaid and overworked, or does he think there is some other reason? If he thinks there is some other reason, could he enlighten the House on that now?
Bim Afolami
Although this a debate about public sector pay, I will say this in relation to nurses: we have more nurses now than we had at the beginning of the Parliament. There are problems with the retention and recruitment of nurses, which we are addressing, but those problems are receding and those who leave do so for a range of reasons. We are working with the Health Secretary and across Government to ensure that we retain high-quality staff across our public services. Pay is of course part of that consideration, as it is for us all.
The Government strongly believe that dedication to public service should be appropriately rewarded, which is why for the 2023-24 pay round we accepted the headline pay recommendations of the public sector review bodies in full—for the armed forces, teachers, prison officers, the police, the judiciary, medical workforces and senior civil servants. What precisely does that mean for those professions? To answer, I will give three clear examples.
First, it means that policemen and policewomen received a 7% uplift that rightly recognises the risk that those brave men and women take at work. Secondly, teachers, who have been mentioned today, have received a 6.5% uplift and an increase in starting salary for newly qualified teachers to £30,000—significantly above the median wage in this country—which helps to ensure that we can continue to attract the brightest and best to safeguard our children’s education. Thirdly, NHS consultants, doctors, dentists and GPs have received uplifts of 6%, with junior doctors receiving an enhanced pay increase that averaged 8.8%.
Alongside those headline pay awards, we have since agreed offers with the unions representing senior medical workforces, including consultants, which covered reforms to their pay structures. The junior doctors strike has come up in this debate, as one would expect. We were in talks with the British Medical Association’s junior doctors committee, but they unfortunately chose to walk away. I am saddened by the strike because, frankly, it is having an impact on all our constituents. Nobody in this House should want the strike to continue. We urge the junior doctors committee to reconsider its decision, call off the strikes and come back to the table so that we can make further progress. Its demand of a 35% salary increase is unreasonable, and I hope the committee is reflecting on that and will come back to the table as soon as possible.
The pay settlements I mentioned appropriately reward the key role that staff play in safeguarding public health and the health of our NHS.
Beth Winter
The Minister has spoken a lot about the pay increase, but in preparation for the debate we received a number of submissions from trade unions, including the RCN, Unison and the NEU, which made two points that the Minister has not addressed and on which I will table questions. The first was regarding the independent review bodies’ concerns about terms of appointments and reference terms for multi-year deals. I did raise that specific question, but the Minister failed to respond.
The unions’ second point was the pay restoration argument. The figures are staggering, but I will just pick out a couple: nurses have seen a 27% decline in the value of their pay since 2009; social workers have seen a decline of 28%; and all that the junior doctors—who the Minister just mentioned—are asking for is pay restoration back to those 2010 pay award levels. Surely they are entitled to that, and it is not too much to ask. The strikers I was with on the frontline on Monday were having to cut heating and food; they were struggling. They do not want to be on the picket line. All they want is pay restoration. I really hope the Minister addresses that issue.
Bim Afolami
Median pay in the public sector in 2023 was 9% greater than in the private sector, which is broadly in line with the gap between the two sectors over the past decade, so I do not fully accept the situation described by the hon. Lady. To repeat the point I made at the beginning of my remarks: inflation does erode the spending power of wages, which is why it is so important to focus on bringing down inflation.
Let me address another point that the hon. Lady made—as did the hon. Member for Liverpool, West Derby—about health in Wales. As everybody in the House knows, health is fully devolved in Wales; the Welsh Government set health worker pay in Wales, just as the Scottish Government do in Scotland.
Let me answer the question about when the devolved Governments will know their final budgets, which was asked by either the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Chris Stephens) or the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon): they will do so following the conclusion of the supplementary documents process, which I believe is published after the Budget. That information will come.
Dr Poulter
The Minister might also remind the Chamber that the Welsh Parliament has had its own income tax-raising powers since 2019. I do not think that is on dividends or savings, but there are other mechanisms available in Wales to meet funding commitments that the Welsh Government may wish to make. Indeed, they may wish to make commitments with the unions to end the strikes in Wales.
I have one question for the Minister. I believe in the importance of the pay review body process, which, as he has rightly said, is independent. If the pay review bodies make a recommendation this year for public sector pay, will the Government adhere to that recommendation?
Bim Afolami
What I can say at the moment is that the Treasury will look at and seriously consider it. We hope to accept it in full, but I cannot make a commitment now. Obviously, I have not seen the recommendation.
Hywel Williams
I will be very brief on a slightly tangential point. The Tories here have already spent the extra income tax that Wales could raise many, many times over—this time on junior doctors’ pay.
Bim Afolami
I thank the hon. Member for his point.
Having described the commitments we have already undertaken on public sector pay, I will outline the next steps we plan to take on this important issue. The Government have now asked the independent pay review bodies to consider and make recommendations on the pay of the workforces for the 2024-25 financial year. The Government hope to strike a balance on pay awards this year. On one hand, those awards should provide a fair, reasonable and proportionate offer for our public sector workers. At the same time, it is paramount that they deliver value for the taxpayer, particularly given the wider economic situation and the implications for the public finances.
Members will be eager to know what the pay award is going to be. Additionally, I know that for many people beyond this Chamber, particularly public servants and those who work for unions, the decision is important and keenly anticipated. I hear them, as do the Government and the Treasury. Given the recent economic picture, we understand that the outcome of the pay review process is not just academic or intellectual; it has real-world impacts on real people, including through mortgage payments, rents, schooling and healthcare. It is about how people plan their lives and how they take care of their loved ones. We hear their concerns and are considering the pay award carefully. The pay review process is independent and will take time. At this early stage, I hope people grant us their patience while we allow the process to take its course.
In conclusion, I thank the hon. Member for Cynon Valley and all Members who have spoken for playing their part in this valuable, interesting and important exchange of views.
Cost of Living Support: Carshalton and Wallington
Bim Afolami Excerpts(10 months ago)
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The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Elliot Colburn) on securing this debate. He is an asset to his constituents, who I am sure are pleased to be represented by him in the admirable way he has done so this evening. He is decent and has a clever mind, but most importantly he has a good heart, and that heart is in Carshalton and Wallington.
I think all of us in this place recognise the difficult times through which the people of this country, and indeed people around the world, have lived over the past couple of years. We have had the covid pandemic, Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine, and long-gathering inflationary clouds that have created a perfect storm for us all, but particularly for vulnerable people. However, this Government and this country have consistently fought back—against the virus, alongside our Ukrainian friends and, critically, from the perspective of the Treasury Benches, against the economic headwinds. As my hon. Friend outlined, this Government have provided one of the largest support packages in Europe over the past two years, in contrast to the damaging actions taken in his area by the London Mayor and my hon. Friend’s local Liberal Democrat council.
Some 11,300 households in Carshalton and Wallington were eligible for means-tested cost of living payments this financial year, and 8,500 individuals were eligible for the disability cost of living payment. Those households —my hon. Friend mentioned 30,500 properties in his constituency—along with all their neighbours, would have been eligible for the energy price guarantee, the £400 energy bills support scheme and the £150 council tax rebate, along with fuel and alcohol duty cuts. Energy support alone has paid for almost half of the typical family’s energy bill from October 2022 to June 2023 through both the energy price guarantee and the energy bill support scheme.
It is in part thanks to those measures that growth and real incomes have been stronger than expected this year—not just stronger than expected by the Office for Budget Responsibility, but stronger than expected by international economic forecasters. Inflation has also come down significantly to less than half its 2022 peak, and in November it fell to 3.9%, which is the lowest rate in over two years. Again, that was not forecast by the OBR or international forecasters. I do not deny that the outlook for real incomes remains challenging—it remains very challenging for many people, particularly vulnerable people in my hon. Friend’s constituency and across the country—as does inflation, but that is why we announced further support in the autumn statement in November to support the most vulnerable.
The Government will raise local housing allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents in April 2024. In plain English, what does that mean? It means that 1.6 million low-income households will be better off to the tune of about £800 on average in 2024-25. Some, particularly Opposition Members, often say that that is not a lot of money, but I can tell the House that, for those 1.6 million low-income households, it is considerable support that they will welcome, as they will in my hon. Friend’s constituency.
The Government will also uprate all working-age benefits in full by the September 2023 consumer prices index rate of 6.7%, which is considerably higher than inflation, to make sure that working-age people on benefits are supported properly. That is 3 percentage points higher than forecast earnings for 2024-25 and, again, it will help support the most vulnerable while inflation continues to fall, with 5.5 million households on universal credit gaining £470 on average in the 2024-25 financial year.
My hon. Friend mentioned in his speech that 15,000 of his constituents are over 65, and we are maintaining the triple lock in support of those people and pensioners across this country, who have helped to build this country and have worked hard over years gone by. The basic state pension, new state pension and pension credit standard minimum guarantee will be uprated in April 2024 in line with wage growth of 8.5% in the usual reference period. In 2024-25, the full yearly amount of the basic state pension will be £3,750 higher in cash terms than in 2010 or, to put it more simply, £995 more —almost £1,000 more—than if it had been uprated by prices alone.
That comes on top of cost of living payments this year that are helping more than 8 million households on eligible means-tested benefits, 8 million pensioner households and 6 million people across the UK on eligible disability benefits. For individuals needing further support, local authorities in England continue to provide support through the household support fund, which is backed by £1 billion of funding. This allows local authorities up and down England to provide crisis support for the vulnerable households that need it the most, such as through supermarket or food bank vouchers. This means that, from 2022 to 2025, total support to help households with the cost of living will be over £100 billion—£104 billion—at an average of £3,700 per UK household.
However, I and the Government know that relatively short-term help is not enough. The only sustainable way to help vulnerable people in this country, including in my hon. Friend’s constituency, and to improve the living standards is to build a more prosperous future while remaining fiscally responsible. The best way to do that is to grow the economy and get more people into better paid jobs.
On growing the economy, this is not the time for more statistics, but I will say this: taken together, the measures in the autumn statement and the 2023 Budget represented the biggest upgrade in the GDP forecast that the Office for Budget Responsibility has ever scored. That shows the Government’s commitment to and delivery of a growing economy, which gives us all a better future.
When it comes to getting people into better paid jobs, from 1 April 2024, the Government are increasing the national living wage by 9.8% to £11.44 an hour for eligible workers aged 21 or over. That represents an increase of more than £1,800 in the earnings of a full-time worker on the national living wage and will benefit over 2.7 million low-paid workers. Just this month, employees’ main national insurance contribution rate has been cut by about 17%—that is, cut from 12% to 10%—and from April the main rate of class 4 national insurance for self-employed people will be reduced similarly, from 9% to 8%. That tax cut is worth £9 billion a year and is the largest ever cut to employee and self-employed national insurance.
The OBR expects that the measures announced at the spring Budget and autumn statement, taken together, will support nearly 200,000 additional people into work by the end of the forecast period. We do not do this for academic reasons or for fun; we do this because we know that giving people more of their own money—allowing them to keep more of their own money—improves their living standards, and we can do this while increasing funding for public services. Despite the difficulties of the last couple of years, over the course of this Parliament public services will benefit from the public purse by an increase above inflation of over 3%. We are doing this while supporting public services, while bringing down the deficit and bringing down the debt, and we can do all of it because of our careful management of the economy. That will benefit the vulnerable people in my hon. Friend’s constituency of Carshalton and Wallington and people across the country.
These measures underscore the Government’s unwavering commitment to supporting households up and down the country. We firmly believe that the key to a prosperous future lies in creating opportunities for everyone. The boost to the national living wage and the historic reductions in national insurance contributions are powerful tools in driving employment. Getting more people into work is not just good for them; it is good for our economy and for improving living standards, and it is clear evidence of a Government who have been willing to act to the tune of over £100 billion over the last three years. By putting more money into the pockets of hardworking people, we are not only bolstering their financial wellbeing but fuelling economic growth.
As always, we need to balance support for households with fiscal sustainability. The economic position remains challenging. We continue to keep options under review as we take tough decisions to drive down debt, drive down inflation and increase prosperity in every part of the United Kingdom. These are complex issues that affect all our constituents, wherever we call home.
I thank all hon. Members, but particularly you, Mr Deputy Speaker, because you are very kind, and my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington. He cares deeply for his constituents for whom he is a brilliant advocate in this place, and it is an honour to respond to him today.
Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)
Thank you for your kind words.
Question put and agreed to.
Financial Advice and Guidance: Consumer Market
Bim Afolami Excerpts(10 months ago)
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The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for West Worcestershire (Harriett Baldwin) for securing today’s debate. I recognise her long-standing commitment to the issue that she has outlined to the House. I am mindful that, as one of my predecessors and Chair of the Treasury Committee, she is watching me keenly to make sure that I do the right thing. I am very glad that she broadly supports the proposals and strongly supports the Edinburgh reform. I want to make it clear that I, as Economic Secretary, share her ambition to ensure that consumers can access the support they need to make good financial decisions. I welcome the opportunity provided by this debate to outline how I intend to achieve that.
My hon. Friend mentioned the importance of the timing of this debate and the proposals. This has never been more important. Too often, people in this country, particularly younger people, feel as though they do not have enough of a stake in our economy and society. They want to make their money work hard, but they do not know where to start.
On the changes to our pension system, she mentioned the success of auto-enrolment. Advances in technology and the cost of living instabilities abroad are just two of the reasons why we increasingly need a financially savvy population. She also mentioned pension freedoms for older people, which give them a lot of economic freedom to make these financially important decisions.
Before I get on to the changes, it is worth recognising the support that current guidance and advice services can offer consumers; those should not be ignored. The Government established the Money and Pensions Service in 2019 to simplify the financial guidance landscape and provide support to consumers on important issues such as benefits, budgeting and pensions. The Government work closely with the FCA to ensure that the financial advice market works well for both firms and consumers. There is always more to do, but I believe that we have made significant progress.
In 2012, the retail distribution review drove up the quality of financial advice, and in 2016, when my hon. Friend was the Minister, the financial advice market review helped firms to support more consumers. However, she is right that further action is needed. Despite the progress made, I share her concern that many consumers still struggle to make critical decisions about saving and investing or accessing their pensions, and to access the right help and support. That is why, in 2022, the Chancellor announced that the Government and the FCA would commence a joint review to examine the regulatory boundary between financial advice and guidance. The review provides a key opportunity—probably the greatest opportunity in the last decade—to rethink the way support is delivered for consumers and to help close the advice gap.
In December, as part of the review, I was pleased to announce that the Government and the FCA had published a joint policy paper setting out the three initial proposals, which it is worth saying can be taken either alone or together. We are still thinking about these proposals. We are developing them and we hope to get them delivered as best we can. They represent real regulatory reform, and we need to act.
First, the paper considers whether changes to the FCA’s regulatory guidance or new rules would allow regulated firms to move closer to the boundary and provide more support for their consumers. One difficulty is that we need to be able to, within the existing rules, give firms more confidence that they can move closer to this boundary and give advice and support in ways that do not require legal changes; they just need to be given the confidence to do that. For example, we need to give greater certainty to firms that want to contact a customer holding savings in cash to warn them of the detriment of inflation, and to pension providers that want to proactively warn customers at risk of receiving an inadequate income in retirement. We need to help firms to give better support to customers in such ways.
Secondly, the paper explores a new and innovative type of support that would allow firms to suggest a product or course of action to their customers. That suggestion would be tailored to targeted group of customers and would be presented as appropriate for “people like you”. Take again, for example, a customer who is saving into a pension at a low rate that could lead to an inadequate income in retirement. Under the second proposal in the paper, based on simple and limited data points such as age and size of the individual pot, the pension provider could offer a straightforward piece of advice that the customer could increase their contributions to a specific rate, depending on their personal circumstances. I am glad that my hon. Friend said that this second proposal was a key proposal.
The final option explores a simplified advice regime that would allow consumers with a specific need to access low-cost financial advice. It is worth saying again that the cost of advice is prohibitive for a lot of people. What we are proposing is not just a regulatory change; we need to make sure that all the options are commercially viable for more people. This final option would provide consumers with a recommendation personalised to their individual circumstances, based on a more limited approach to fact-finding than full holistic advice.
Harriett Baldwin
I thank the Minister for summarising the three proposals again. Could he clarify which of them would need a vote in Parliament, and will he commit to bringing forward any necessary legislation with urgency?
Bim Afolami
I thank my hon. Friend for that point. I will need to come back to her on whether a specific vote on primary legislation is required. I think secondary legislation would be needed to deal with certain aspects of the proposals, but I will follow up and write to her on the detail, and I commit to moving forward as quickly as I can. With a year left of this Parliament, I want to get this moved forward as far as possible. I am passionate about doing that.
Under the third proposal, for example—it is important to get these examples on the record—a consumer who has just inherited a small lump sum of, say, £10,000 or £20,000, and wants to invest it but does not know where to start, could receive simplified advice that includes a suitability assessment and a personal recommendation as to how they should invest that sort of inheritance.
The paper will allow us to receive input from stakeholders to inform the details of each proposal as we progress this year. Other things are going on in this area—for example, the NatWest share sale that the Chancellor announced in the autumn statement, which will hopefully be taken forward later this year. With that sort of retail offer to the public, it is very important that we have as good a provision for support, guidance and advice for ordinary people as possible.
I am committed to using my time in office to build the skills and trust of UK consumers to bring back the confidence in our financial system that so many people lost following the financial crash. I am confident that with further input from industry, the hon. Lady, Members of this House and consumer representatives, this paper can help to lay the groundwork for a new regulatory framework that will help firms manage risk, help consumers make good decisions and ultimately build a thriving and healthy financial services sector for us all.
Question put and agreed to.
Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (High-Risk Countries) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023
Bim Afolami Excerpts(10 months ago)
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The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (High-Risk Countries) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2023 (S.I., 2023, No. 1306).
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Fovargue. The Government recognise the threat that economic crime poses to the UK and to our international partners, and we are committed to combating money laundering and terrorist financing, which undermine the integrity and stability of our financial sector and reduce opportunities for economic growth and legitimate business in our great country. This Government are bearing down on kleptocrats, criminals and terrorists who abuse our leading financial and services sectors. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 built on the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022, to ensure that the UK has robust, effective defences against illicit finance. The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, which from now on I shall refer to as the money laundering regulations, support our overall efforts. As the UK’s core legislative framework for tackling money laundering and terrorist financing, they set out various measures that businesses must take to protect the UK from illicit financial flows. Under the regulations, businesses are required to conduct enhanced checks on business relationships and transactions with high-risk third countries—countries that are identified as having strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regimes. These checks help to protect the UK financial system from the threat of overseas illicit financial flows.
The statutory instrument before the Committee amends the money laundering regulations to update the UK’s list of high-risk third countries. It removes Albania, the Cayman Islands, Jordan and Panama from the list and adds Bulgaria, Cameroon, Croatia, Nigeria, South Africa and Vietnam. Thus, the UK high-risk third countries list will be aligned with the decisions of the Financial Action Task Force—the global standard setter for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. The UK plays a leading part in the Financial Action Task Force, with an excellent team of officials in the Treasury including people such as Karishma Navsaria. The FATF methodology ensures that countries around the world are subject to expert, robust evaluations of their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regimes. Where countries are found to have strategic deficiencies, the task force members can agree to add them to one of two lists: jurisdictions under increased monitoring and jurisdictions subject to a call to action. By aligning our own high-risk third countries list under our own legislation with the FATF’s, we ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of global standards on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing.
The Cayman Islands are a very good example of the progress that can be made by engaging with the FATF. The Cayman Islands was listed in February 2021; since then it has made significant progress to reform its regime and strengthen its anti-money laundering defences and competent authorities. It is now one of a very small number of countries around the world to be compliant or largely compliant with all 40 of the task force’s recommendations. I am delighted that it is being removed from the UK’s high-risk countries list as a result of that progress.
This is the eighth SI amending the UK’s list of high-risk third countries in response to evolving risks from third countries. In June last year, schedule 3ZA to the money laundering regulations was amended to remove Cambodia and Morocco after they were delisted, but otherwise updates to the list have been paused since November 2022.
Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)
May I ask the Minister a couple of questions? He started by saying that the UK is committed to tackling kleptocrats, so I am a bit surprised that Russia and Belarus are not on the list of countries for which we expect some higher precautions to be taken. Secondly, will he comment on why we have had to add two EU countries—Bulgaria and Croatia—to the list? That is a bit surprising, because I thought the EU had quite a robust anti-money laundering regime. Are we saying that they are not complying with their own laws? I think they are the first two such countries to appear on the list.
Bim Afolami
I will take my hon. Friend’s questions in turn. Russia has been suspended from the Financial Action Task Force; it has not attended meetings or played a part in deliberations since the war in Ukraine began. As my hon. Friend and the House know, we are taking a series of measures to counter certain actions of the Russian regime. In relation to the EU countries that he mentioned, I cannot comment on the EU’s decision making in relation to its own rules. The task force has, I believe, about 40 countries in it, so it is a global body, and broader than the EU. This is the collective decision of those countries. It is up to the EU to conduct its own deliberations in relation to its member states.
As I said, this is the eighth SI amending schedule 3ZA. I am aware that many noble Lords have expressed frustration at parliamentary time being taken up in the other place by such relatively routine matters to keep our high-risk third countries list aligned to the task force’s. That is the other place, but it is worth mentioning in this Committee. However, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act enables the Government to amend the money laundering regulations to create an ambulatory reference to the task force list. That will result in the same legal effect, with regulated businesses being required to apply enhanced due diligence to relevant business relationships and transactions with these countries, but without the need for secondary legislation after every change to the list. The Government will bring forward an SI to implement that provision in the money laundering regulations shortly. In notifying the House of this, I emphasise two things: first, the Government retain the authority and autonomy to deviate from the FATF at any time if the Government so decide; and secondly, that deviating would require further secondary legislation and a debate in both Houses of Parliament.
The instrument will enable the money laundering regulations to continue to work as effectively as possible to protect the UK financial system. It is crucial to protecting UK businesses and the financial system from money launderers and terrorist financers, so I hope that colleagues will join me in supporting it.
Bim Afolami
I thank the shadow Minister for supporting the regulations. It is incumbent on me to make two key points to address her question about the Cayman Islands. First, a country’s being taken off the list reflects that it has now satisfied what the Financial Action Task Force has set out for it, that it has worked hard and has evidenced how it is doing that. The point about ownership lists and whether a legitimate interest is required is a fair and interesting one, but it has not triggered the Financial Action Task Force to say that the Cayman Islands is not largely compliant. That is the first point. The second is that this is always evolving and no country in the world is perfect. Illicit activity is a scourge that we are trying to remove from our financial system, so we continue to work with the Cayman Islands to make sure it does everything it can.
Tulip Siddiq
I draw the Minister’s attention to Transparency International’s warning that the requirement to demonstrate a legitimate interest could limit access for civil society organisations and journalists, who in recent years have been key in uncovering corruption and money laundering. That is my point when I ask about access to the registers. Does he share my concerns about that?
Bim Afolami
I am happy to look into that. The UK and various overseas territories, not just one in particular but across the whole landscape, have been working at official level technically to improve access and visibility in terms of beneficial ownership. The UK, when Lord Cameron was Prime Minister, was a leader in doing that internationally, and we will continue that work. I am happy to continue discussing with the hon. Lady what more we can do in respect of the Cayman Islands.
I listened carefully to the hon. Lady’s speech, and it is the Government’s view that the amendment will ensure that UK legislation remains up to date and in line with international standards. It is clear that money obtained through corruption or criminality is not welcome in the UK and should not be welcome anywhere. That is why we are playing such a leading part in the Financial Action Task Force.
The new procedure for dealing with the problem will enable regulations to allow the UK to automatically reflect changes agreed by the Financial Action Task Force in our own list. In the event that the Government choose to deviate from the list, such updates will need to proceed through a draft affirmative SI.
Nigel Mills
We all remember the Panama papers leaks of a few years ago and the light that they shone on financial crime, so I am intrigued that we are removing Panama from the list. The impact assessment sets out that in a survey of 1,900 respondents in the industry, 19.7% thought Panama was high risk, whereas only 2.2% felt Bulgaria was and for Croatia it was only 1.9%. Is not taking Panama off the list and adding Croatia and Bulgaria a slightly perverse thing to do?
Bim Afolami
I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. Everyone in the House knows about his long-standing interest in these matters and his knowledge and understanding of them. The Financial Action Task Force operates on objective measures that are worked out by experts in their field. They look at this as objectively as they can. The views of certain participants are relevant, but are not determinative. However, the points he makes are good ones and I am happy to discuss them with him separately.
I hope that hon. Members have found today’s sitting informative and that they will join me in supporting the regulations.
Question put and agreed to.
Oral Answers to Questions
Bim Afolami Excerpts(10 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Jeff Smith (Manchester, Withington) (Lab)
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
The Government believe that all customers should have appropriate access to banking services, which is why we have legislated to protect access to cash. We also support the FCA’s bank branch closure guidance as well as industry initiatives to provide in-person access, including shared banking hubs at post offices, and access via digital means.
Jeff Smith
More than 5,000 bank branches have closed since 2015. Sadly, the Lloyds bank in Withington village will join the many more branches closing in the coming months and leave Withington without a bank branch, but by the end of the year the industry will have delivered only 30 shared banking hubs. Does the Minister think that the pace and scale of that roll-out is good enough?
Bim Afolami
First, it is worth stating that, as the hon. Gentleman knows, the decisions on whether to open or close branches are commercial ones, and the Government do not interfere with that. However, we have legislated to protect access for cash. The banks need to abide by the Financial Conduct Authority’s guidance, with the latest guidance published only last week. In relation to shared banking hubs, we should indeed increase the pace at which they are rolled out, and I am talking with the industry about how to do that.
Philip Davies (Shipley) (Con)
It is pretty clear that most legacy banks do not give a stuff about their customers and just want to screw as much money out of people as possible. After the scandal of Coutts’s debanking of Nigel Farage, the Government acted swiftly to try to make that much more difficult for other customers, but many businesses face the same problem. What will the Government do to stop businesses being debanked in the same way as individuals?
Bim Afolami
I am not sure that I quite accept my hon. Friend’s characterisation of the banking industry, but I am happy to meet him and discuss the problems he outlined in relation to specific businesses and access to bank accounts.
Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Kilburn) (Lab)
Before I ask my question, I want to convey the apologies of the shadow Chancellor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Leeds West (Rachel Reeves). She is delivering the eulogy at Alistair Darling’s funeral today.
I want to say a few words about Alistair Darling—I am sure you will agree, Mr Speaker—a dedicated public servant, who was respected across both Houses. He led the country’s economic response to the global financial crisis with integrity, honesty and sound judgment, and we will all miss him. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear!”]
As my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Withington (Jeff Smith) just said, nearly 6,000 bank branches have closed since 2015, and only 30 banking hubs are up and fully running. That has left countless people financially excluded and affected lots of small businesses. I ask the Minister once again: will he accelerate the roll-out of banking hubs properly? Why are his Government not doing anything to reverse the decline of the great British high street?
Bim Afolami
I agree with the hon. Lady’s words about Lord Darling and echo the words of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor.
On bank branches, I will repeat my position: it is important that the Government do not decide when a branch opens and when it closes, but it is a concern when communities are left without appropriate access to cash. That is why we were the first Government to legislate for access to cash, as we did earlier this year, and that is why I believe we should speed up the roll-out of banking hubs. I am working with the industry on ways in which we can do that.
Tulip Siddiq
If the Minister is serious about protecting the future of the great British high street, will he back Labour’s pledge, which has been welcomed by Cash Access UK and the wider sector, to guarantee face-to-face banking in every community and give the FCA the powers it needs to roll out hundreds of banking hubs across the country?
Bim Afolami
As the hon. Lady knows, the industry leads the roll-out of banking hubs. We are supporting it—I say this again—to speed that up as much as possible. I have not seen the Labour pledge—I suspect that I will not support it—but it is important that the industry hears the views of constituents and Members from across the House and that we speed up the roll-out of banking hubs in communities that need them.
Mrs Flick Drummond (Meon Valley) (Con)
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
At the autumn statement, we set out a series of measures to improve pension saver returns, increase opportunities for investment and boost the UK’s capital markets and high-growth companies.
Mrs Drummond
Merry Christmas, Mr Speaker, and to all those in the House. The UK’s pension funds lag behind their counterparts in the USA, Scandinavia and Australia for investing in technology firms. Can my hon. Friend continue his work on reforms and ensure that more pension fund investment stays in the UK, to boost our tech sector?
Bim Afolami
Under the industry-led Mansion House compact, 11 of the UK’s largest defined contribution pension schemes have signed up to the objective of allocating at least 5% of their funds to unlisted equities by 2030. We believe that could unlock £50 billion of investment in high-growth companies and should help increase returns to savers.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
The Minister will appreciate that the greatest investment that anyone can make is in themselves and their own country—Northern Ireland and all the United Kingdom. What steps can be taken to ensure UK-wide investment by pensions schemes in cutting edge businesses such as Wrightbus and Thales?
Bim Afolami
There are a couple of things that we need to do. We need to ensure that the industry abides by its commitment to the 5% target. Working with the Exchequer Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Grantham and Stamford (Gareth Davies), we must present the right investment opportunities so that the capital goes into the UK in the right way.
Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)
Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
I was pleased to speak at the launch of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute’s report on this subject last week, alongside the FCA. It is worth saying that I used to be on the advisory board of that institute. The Government and the FCA will continue to work closely to ensure that consumer protections are fit for purpose, including through our upcoming reform of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
Jessica Morden
A constituent who was a victim of domestic abuse and whose ex-husband fraudulently took out a loan in her name was constantly harassed by creditors as she tried to clear the debt, and, according to a recent report by the organisation that the Minister mentioned, that is an experience shared by others. Will Ministers discuss with the FCA imposing legal limits on arrears communications in cases such as this, as other countries have done?
Bim Afolami
Let me say two things. First, I pay tribute to the former Financial Secretary, now the Health Secretary—my right hon. Friend the Member for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins)—who did a great deal of work in relation to economic abuse. I am committed to continuing that work with the Treasury to ensure that we limit the circumstances in which the incidents described by the hon. Lady can occur. As for the broader question of what the regulator does in such cases, we have put a record level of funding, to the tune of some £93 million, into working with regulators on debt advice. I shall be happy to discuss with the hon. Lady the details of how we can help her constituents in the way that she suggested.
Rachel Hopkins (Luton South) (Lab)
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
As the hon. Lady knows, the path to lower interest rates is through low inflation, and the independent Bank of England has the Government’s full support as it takes action to return inflation to target. The Government’s mortgage charter, brokered by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor earlier in the year, is available to 90% of borrowers. Real disposable income per person is about £800 higher than the Office for Budget Responsibility predicted in its March forecast.
Rachel Hopkins
The expiry of 1.5 million fixed-rate mortgage deals next year will mean even more people paying sky high-costs. It comes at a time when many are suffering increased financial hardship and personal debt, which is having an impact on their mental and physical health. Does the Minister think it fair that families are paying hundreds of pounds more each month to cover the costs of the Government’s mini-Budget disaster?
Bim Afolami
Mortgage costs and interest rates have gone up throughout the world, and we are in more or less the middle of the pack—they are higher in the United States, for example—but what will definitely make things harder for the hon. Lady’s constituents, and indeed all our constituents, is borrowing an extra £28 billion that will only serve to increase inflation and keep rates higher for longer.
Kerry McCarthy (Bristol East) (Lab)
Dr Thérèse Coffey (Suffolk Coastal) (Con)
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
This Government have been one of the largest donors to the global market-led taskforce on nature-related financial disclosures—TNFD—initiative. We will consider how best the TNFD’s recommendations should be incorporated into policy and legislative architecture in a manner that is coherent with global sustainability reporting.
Dr Coffey
Merry Christmas to you, Mr Speaker, and to the officers, Clerks and staff of the House. I am encouraged by my hon. Friend’s answer. It was a year ago today that the global biodiversity framework was agreed in Montreal, and it was absolutely necessary to restore biodiversity loss. The TNFD initiative was launched by the UK G7 presidency in 2021 and it featured in the green finance strategy that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor and I did the ministerial foreword to earlier this year. He will be aware of the recommendations that were launched in September. I am conscious that there was a lot of support from the Treasury previously and that we should try to accelerate the International Sustainability Standards Board standards so that we can bring in this initiative just as successfully as we have done for the TCFD—the taskforce on climate-related financial disclosures.
Bim Afolami
I thank my right hon. Friend for her question. She mentions the Treasury’s green finance strategy, which contains plans to bring forward the sustainability disclosure requirements, building on the global commitments. We have already implemented the climate-related financial disclosures, and we are looking very carefully at the nature-related financial disclosures. We hope to update the House in due course.
Jack Brereton (Stoke-on-Trent South) (Con)
Dave Doogan (Angus) (SNP)
UK capital requirement regulations mandate a 50% level of capitalisation to be held by lenders for longer terms as opposed to 20% for shorter terms. Car manufacturer banks, such as Renault’s RCI Financial Services, underpin every franchise car dealer across these islands and operate on a seven-day notice period to terminate in order to minimise their capital requirements at 20%. The problem arises when a bank such as RCI maladministers a serious activity report, panics over its obligations under the regulations and terminates an award-winning Renault, Nissan and Dacia dealer such as Mackie Motors in my constituency with seven days’ notice. Will the Chancellor or one of his Ministers meet me to discuss this crisis?
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. Indeed, I will meet him to discuss the matter to make sure that this regulation does not have the adverse effects that he has outlined.
Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con)
Since the Prime Minister’s speech on net zero in September, Nissan has announced a £2 billion investment in Sunderland, which comes hot on the heels of Tata’s £4 billion investment in batteries. EDF Masdar has announced an £11 billion investment in offshore wind in Dogger Bank. In his autumn statement, the Chancellor announced a tripling of tidal energy contracts for difference. We had 11 hydrogen projects announced last week. There are six companies bidding for small modular reactors. [Interruption.] Is it not the case that, hot on the heels of yesterday’s announcement of a £6 billion allocation of energy efficiency funding and the carbon border adjustment mechanism—
Money Laundering Regulations: Politically Exposed Persons
Bim Afolami Excerpts(11 months ago)
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The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
My noble Friend Baroness Vere of Norbiton, the Treasury Minister in the House of Lords, has today made the following written ministerial statement.
Today the Government have laid the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (SI 2023/1371), a statutory instrument to amend the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (“the regulations”) in relation to the treatment of politically exposed persons (PEPs) who are entrusted with prominent public functions by the UK (known as “domestic PEPs”).
The amendment makes clear that under the regulations the starting point for banks and other regulated firms in their treatment of domestic PEPs, or a family member or known close associate of a domestic PEP, must be to treat them as inherently lower risk than non-domestic PEPs. Accordingly, regulated firms must apply a lower level of enhanced due diligence to domestic PEPs compared to non-domestic PEPs, unless other risk factors are present.
The Government are making this change in order to ensure that banks and other regulated firms take a proportionate and risk-based approach to the treatment of domestic PEPs, in line with the Government’s broader approach to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) controls. While the new requirements have featured for some time in Financial Conduct Authority guidance on the treatment of PEPs, legitimate concerns continue to be raised that a number of holders of prominent public positions have encountered problems accessing financial services due to their status as politically exposed persons under the regulations, as have their family members. Often, this takes the form of potentially disproportionate or overly frequent requests for information about personal financial matters and affects both PEPs themselves and family members or close associates. The Government are fully committed to tackling money laundering, terrorist financing and corruption, but they will always work to ensure this is done in a proportionate, risk-based way that avoids undue burdens on law-abiding citizens.
SI 2023/1371 fulfils the Government’s commitment set out in section 77 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (“the Act”) to amend the regulations to make it clear that the starting point for AML/CTF-regulated firms when considering their treatment of domestic PEPs and their relations and close associates should be to treat them as inherently lower-risk than non-domestic PEPs.
Section 78 of the Act also committed the Financial Conduct Authority to conduct, and publish the conclusions of, a review into how financial institutions are following its guidance. This review will consider whether the FCA’s guidance on PEPs remains appropriate, and the FCA will be required to amend its guidance if the review finds it necessary to do so. If the FCA finds that the guidance is no longer appropriate, it will publish draft revised guidance for consultation, taking into account the Treasury’s amendment to the regulations, within the 12-month timeframe given for the review (i.e. by 29 June 2024). Given the strength of concern on this issue, the Government expect that the FCA will prioritise this important review over the coming months.
The Government would like to thank again those who have taken the time to raise these issues, and those who have engaged with the FCA’s review.
[HCWS134]
Bank Profits: Windfall Tax
Bim Afolami Excerpts(11 months, 1 week ago)
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The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
I congratulate the hon. Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon) on securing this debate. He is an assiduous attender in the House, he cares a lot about these issues and I respect him deeply. In particular, I love his conversion, like that of his very good friend the Leader of the Opposition, to quoting and loving Margaret Thatcher. I cannot wait to hear the reports of how that goes down when he visits his local Labour party at the end of the week.
I am pleased that this debate provides me with an opportunity to set out the measures that the Government have already taken to ensure that banks make a fair and sustainable tax contribution, but before I get on to that, I cannot resist dealing with some of the points that the hon. Gentleman made about the economic context in which this country finds itself. He mentioned economic growth. It is important that he recognises that when they assessed the autumn statement that the Chancellor recently delivered to the House, the Office for Budget Responsibility and independent forecasters said that the pro-growth measures it contained represented the largest boost to economic growth over the forecast period of any fiscal event in a generation.
I think the hon. Gentleman said that austerity and public sector cuts were somehow inevitable, and that somehow the Treasury, Chancellor and Government felt that that was a good thing. We completely reject that characterisation. All I would say is that borrowing an extra £28 billion, as proposed by his Front-Bench team and the shadow Chancellor—I do not know whether it is the hon. Gentleman’s idea or proposal—will end up raising inflation and raising interest rates, which is what makes austerity and cuts more likely.
Let me deal with the real substance of the hon. Gentleman’s remarks on the banks and a windfall tax. First, it is important to highlight that financial and related professional services are a vital part of the UK economy. They employ nearly 2.5 million people, two thirds of them outside London. Indeed, I am sure that the hon. Gentleman has many members of Leeds’ thriving financial and professional services sector in his constituency.
As I laid out to TheCityUK’s national conference earlier this month, I am committed to delivering the Chancellor’s vision for a financial services sector that is open, sustainable, innovative and competitive, while also acting—this is very important—in the interests of communities, people and citizens all across our four nations. I urge the hon. Gentleman to consider my view and the Government’s view that such ambitions do not contradict each other; rather, it is the UK’s globally competitive financial services sector that supports jobs throughout this country and underpins access to finance—for individuals if they want to buy a home, for households, for businesses that need to borrow to expand and invest, and for consumers throughout the country.
Before we consider the potential merits of a bank windfall tax, I want to reflect on some of the bigger picture in respect of the health of the UK banking sector as a whole. We should be encouraged to see a strong, well-capitalised and competitive banking sector in the UK, in no small part owing to the significant regulatory and market reforms that have been implemented since the global financial crisis. Banks are the most important source of credit, providing individuals and businesses with the financial resources to succeed. For example, in 2022 banks lent a total of £65.1 billion to small and medium-sized businesses, which make up the majority of businesses in our country, and helped 370,000 first-time buyers on to the property ladder. That illustrates that these institutions are not in the pockets of fat cats; they serve the nation. They serve ordinary working people and early-stage entrepreneurs and businesspeople.
In addition, the retail savings market currently offers a range of competitive options to savers, who can now access the highest rates in recent years on a variety of instant-access and fixed-term products. The hon. Members for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and for Leeds East brought up the issue of bank branches, and I share their view that we need to maintain access to cash for rural communities. Indeed, the hon. Member for Leeds East will see from me and this Government that we believe we should speed up and spread banking hubs throughout as many of our communities as possible.
Richard Foord
I opened one of those banking hubs a fortnight ago in Axminster. I agree with the Minister that it is fantastic to see those facilities and I know my constituents are very grateful. When will we see the opening of the next tranche, such as a banking hub for Sidmouth?
Bim Afolami
This is a rolling programme. We are trying to speed it up and in due course there will, of course, be changes and updates to it.
It is equally important that banks make an equitable and sustainable tax contribution, and the Government have taken significant steps since 2010 to ensure that. First, as the hon. Member for Leeds East knows, we introduced the bank levy in the wake of the financial crisis. It was designed to encourage banks to move away from risky funding models and ensure that they make a fair contribution. The levy has raised vital revenue to help fund the public services we all rely on—over £28 billion so far—and, long after the financial crisis, it continues to bring in over £1 billion a year.
Secondly, in 2016 we introduced the bank corporation tax surcharge. Banks currently pay an additional 3% rate of tax on their profits, which, when combined with standard corporation tax, means that banks pay more tax on their profits—we would not know it from the hon. Gentleman’s speech—than most other businesses, and a higher overall rate than when the surcharge was at 8%. The surcharge has raised over £13 billion and continues to bring in over £1.3 billion a year. We have also taken action to prevent banks from claiming tax relief on losses incurred during the financial crisis or on compensation payments for payment protection insurance and other cases of misconduct.
This money is the public’s money. These measures help to support the needs and ambitions of our country’s citizens when it is appropriate for the state to do so. I know that that is why the hon. Gentleman is so keen to see a windfall tax introduced. I share his concern for supporting the interests of his fellow citizens, but the measures I have outlined demonstrate how the Government already ensure that banks make a fair and sustainable tax contribution.
Having outlined how our current approach has generated significant tax revenue for the UK, I want to conclude by turning to how deviating from the approach I have set out—for example, by adopting a windfall tax as the hon. Gentleman suggests—would carry significant risk for the health and competitiveness of our banking sector, which in and of itself would be a significant risk for the health and competitiveness of our economy.
A jurisdiction’s overall tax burden clearly informs decisions made by internationally active banks about where to operate. It is also clear that other international financial centres, which are our competitors, recognise that too. I want to be very clear that a higher level of bank taxation in the UK would significantly worsen our competitive position in relation to key global financial hubs in the US, Asia and Europe. It would have a threefold negative impact. First, it would put existing jobs at risk. Secondly, it would damage the chances of future jobs being created through new activity being set up. Finally, rather than raising significant yield for the Exchequer, I fear that it would have the opposite effect; it would jeopardise the considerable tax revenue that is already generated by the banking sector.
The banking sector’s contribution to the UK’s economy should not be underestimated. The amount of tax paid by banks is rightly proportionate to that contribution. Let me be clear: the Government still maintain that the sector should continue to make a fair and sustainable tax contribution. We have taken steps since 2010 to ensure that. It is no contradiction to say that we need a strong and competitive banking sector that supports individuals, households and businesses, because that has foundational importance to our economy.
Question put and agreed to.
Draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2023
Draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Benchmarks and Capital Requirements) (Amendment) Regulations 2023
Draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2023
Bim Afolami Excerpts(11 months, 1 week ago)
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The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Bim Afolami)
I beg to move,
That the Committee has considered the draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2023.
The Chair
With this it will be convenient to consider the draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Benchmarks and Capital Requirements) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 and the draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2023.
Bim Afolami
In addition to being snappily names, each of these three statutory instruments makes updates to financial services regulation to ensure that it remains effective. Let me first turn to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2023. This instrument amends the exemptions from the financial promotion regime for both high net-worth individuals and self-certified sophisticated investors. The purpose of these exemptions is to help small and medium-sized businesses to raise finance from high net-worth individuals and sophisticated private investors—often known as business angels—without the cost of having to comply with the financial promotion regime. This is a long-standing way we have operated in respect of financial services. The exemptions were last substantively updated in 2005, even before I ever dealt with this in the City, before I came to this House, so it was a very long time ago.
Economic, social and technological changes since then mean that many more consumers now fall within the eligibility criteria to use the exemptions. In addition, there have been concerns about misuse of the exemptions, including the risk of businesses using them to market investments inappropriately to less sophisticated ordinary retail investors because of the drift, since 2005, of the thresholds.
The Treasury Committee therefore recommended that the Government re-evaluate the exemptions, and this instrument raises the monetary thresholds to qualify for the exemptions to £170,000 for income and £430,000 for net assets, which takes account of inflation over the past two decades. The instrument also amends other eligibility criteria to reduce the risk of capturing ordinary consumers. This should all ensure a better understanding of the protections that individuals lose when receiving financial promotions under these exemptions.
Furthermore, the instrument amends separate exemptions to the financial promotions gateway, ensuring that those exemptions apply as intended. To sum up, the changes being made by this instrument should reduce the risk of consumer detriment, while ensuring that small and medium-sized businesses can continue to raise capital as a result of financial promotions made under these exemptions.
I will move on to the other two instruments, both of which are made under powers in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, which, to avoid the risk of garbling it, I will now refer to as FSMA 2023. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Benchmarks and Capital Requirements) (Amendment) Regulations 2023, which I will now refer to as the benchmarks and capital requirements SI, make two targeted changes to financial services retained EU law. As you know, Mr Dowd, FSMA 2023 repeals retained EU law in respect of financial services, allowing the Government to deliver a smarter regulatory framework for the United Kingdom. The repeal of each individual piece of retained EU law will commence once the Government and the regulators have made appropriate arrangements to replace it with our own rules or, indeed, determined that no regulation is necessary. While that process is under way, FSMA 2023 ensures that retained EU law can be kept up to date and effective.
I said that there were two changes. The first change made by this instrument reintroduces a discount factor into the UK capital requirements regulation. “What is the purpose of the discount factor?”, I can hear you thinking, Mr Dowd. I can tell you: the discount factor reduces the amount of capital that small and medium-sized financial services firms are required to hold for certain derivatives activity. Derivatives activity might include, for example, a foreign exchange product. The Government removed the discount factor in April 2021 through the Financial Services Act 2021. The EU also removed the discount factor from its own version of the capital requirements regulation.
After industry raised concerns with the Government about the discount factor not being in UK law, the Government acted to address the issue through this instrument. This will align UK legislation with best practice globally and reduce uncertainty for our firms. The instrument also amends article 51(5) of the benchmarks regulation, extending the transitional period for the third-country benchmarks regime to the end of 2030. It is currently 2025 and will be extended to 2030.
UK users currently have continued access to non-UK benchmarks—continued since we were in the European Union—without administrators of the benchmarks having to pass through one of the three access routes, broadly summarised as: equivalence, recognition or endorsement. There is a variety of issues with the current third-country regime. Indeed, the European Union itself has not yet brought its equivalent regime into force in its own jurisdiction.
If the transitional period were to end with the third-country regime in its current form, many administrators might be unable or unwilling to use the regime for continued UK market access. That is something that we are trying to avoid. It would risk reducing the number and variety of important benchmarks available in the UK that are used by many of our businesses. Losing access to third-country benchmarks could undermine the UK’s position as a centre for global foreign exchange and derivatives markets, and have further repercussions, so we are extending the transitional period, as I said, from 2025 to 2030.
The final SI, the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2023, makes a number of consequential amendments arising from FSMA 2023. When I say “consequential”, I do not mean of huge import, but in terms of following on from the consequences of FSMA 2023. These are provisions that do a series of relatively small tidying-up things. They make consequential changes that are needed as a result of the repeal of a number of pieces of retained EU law. Secondly, they update a particular cross-reference in FSMA 2023—an oversight—to align the Bank of England’s reporting requirements with its remit and responsibilities.
Thirdly, this instrument amends the Payment Card Interchange Fee Regulations 2015 to apply certain sections of the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 to a new direction-making power, which was given to the Payment Systems Regulator. These are consequential changes, as I have said, resulting from the passage of FSMA 2023.
To sum up, the SIs deliver important changes to ensure that the financial services regulatory framework continues to function effectively for consumers and businesses alike. I hope the Committee and my wonderful shadow Minister will join me in supporting the regulations, which I commend to the Committee.
Bim Afolami
I thank the hon. Lady for her questions and for her support.
In essence, what we are doing here is completely separate to what is going on in Basel 3.1, which is due to be implemented in July 2025. These are separate matters, and I confirm that this measure is not intended to be superseded. The draft regulations are not something that the PRA will supersede. As I say, there is a legitimate debate about Basel, but that is separate from the SI changes. I am happy, as I always am, to talk to the hon. Lady about such issues, but I reassure her and the Committee that the changes are separate to those under Basel 3.1.
The three draft SIs bring forward important changes to ensure that financial services regulation continues to operate effectively. I am glad that the Opposition support them, and I hope that the whole Committee will do so as well.
Question put and agreed to.
Draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Benchmarks and Capital Requirements) (Amendment) Regulations 2023
Resolved,
That the Committee has considered the draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Benchmarks and Capital Requirements) (Amendment) Regulations 2023.—(Bim Afolami.)
Draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2023
Resolved,
That the Committee has considered the draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2023.—(Bim Afolami.)