Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to reply to the letter from Lord Balfe to the Treasury sent on 18 September.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
I apologise to the Noble Lord for the delay in responding to his letter of 18 September. A reply has now been sent.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Stedman-Scott on 29 November (HL3471), which said that the outturn for winter fuel payments for the year 2020/21 was £1,958 million in nominal terms, whether they have considered making winter fuel payments a taxable benefit; and if so, what estimate they have made of the tax yield that would result.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Government has no plans to make Winter Fuel Payments taxable, and as such no analysis has been undertaken to estimate how much this would raise.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to maintain their decision to increase alcohol duty this year, and (2) to devise a strategy to bring the tax back in line to the level it was in 2010.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Government keeps the duty rates under review during its yearly budget process and aims to balance the impact on businesses with its public health objectives.
On 17 October, the Chancellor announced a reversal of almost all of the tax measures set out in the Growth Plan that have not been legislated for in Parliament. This included the freeze of alcohol duty rates from 1 February 2023.
The alcohol duty uprating decision and interactions with the wider reforms to alcohol duties under the Alcohol Duty Review will be considered in due course.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the way in which Lloyds Bank have introduced changes to the structure of charges for unplanned overdrafts; what assessment they have made of the appropriateness of the timing of those changes; and what assessment they have made of the impact of those changes on customers.
Answered by Lord Bates
Overdraft pricing is a commercial decision for firms, therefore HM Treasury does not make assessments of individual firms’ prices, the strategies for announcing those prices or the impact of those changes on customers.
In December 2018 the Financial Conduct Authority published a consultation on interventions in the overdraft market. This consultation has now closed and the final remedies are due to be published in June this year.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the UK's exit from the EU, whether the UK will cease to be a full member of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development; and if so, when the Bank will relocate away from the UK.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international organisation and not an EU institution. The UK’s exit from the EU should not therefore impact on our membership of the EBRD, nor should it have any bearing on the Bank’s headquarters being located in London, which is enshrined in the EBRD’s Articles of Agreement.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the UK's exit from the EU, whether the UK will leave the European Banking Authority; and if so, when the Banking Authority will relocate away from the UK.
Answered by Baroness Neville-Rolfe - Shadow Minister (Treasury)
The future structure of UK and European Union regulatory frameworks for the financial sector are a matter for the withdrawal negotiations and future policy development.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect the application for EU state aid clearance for an enlarged social investment tax relief scheme, announced in the Autumn Statement in 2014, to be given clearance from the European Commission; and why there has been a delay of over two years.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
At Autumn Statement 2016 the Government announced the enlargement of Social Investment Tax Relief. From 6 April 2017 the investment limit will increase to £1.5 million for enterprises aged up to seven years old. Other changes will ensure the scheme is well targeted, and the relief will be reviewed within two years of its enlargement. The scheme is the first of its kind in Europe and therefore discussions with the European Commission on the nature of the State aid issues have taken some time to conclude.