Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to allow landlords of rented properties to claim (1) adding insulation where there was none before, and (2) upgrading a central heating boiler from an older, less efficient model, as expenses.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government continues to support both owner-occupier and private rented sector households to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. Landlords are therefore eligible to claim support to install low-carbon heating or energy efficiency upgrades in their properties under schemes like the Boiler Upgrade Scheme and Energy Company Obligation (ECO) 4.
The Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review and any decisions on future changes will be taken in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the analysis by Goldman Sachs which found that the economy is five per cent smaller than it would have been if the UK had remained within the European Union.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is for the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to provide independent and authoritative analysis and forecasting for the UK public finances. The Government makes no assessment of analysis conducted by banks or other independent organisations.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to assess the effectiveness of financial regulation in the UK following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
As the Bank of England Governor has said: “The sale of SVB UK highlights the workings of the regime to protect the UK financial markets and financial stability.” However government will, as expected, consider what learnings, there are from this case as we would with all cases of this significance.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the effectiveness of the provision of high street banking facilities and services (1) for all holders of bank accounts, (2) for those with disabilities, and (3) for those without access to the internet.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government believes that everyone, wherever they live, should have appropriate access to banking services. Nonetheless, decisions on opening and closing high street banking facilities are a commercial issue for banks and building societies.
Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to close their branches or free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on the everyday banking and cash access needs of their customers and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This ensures that the implementation of closure decisions is undertaken in a way that treats customers fairly.
UK banks’ and building societies’ treatment of their customers is governed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in its Principles for Businesses. This includes a general requirement for firms to provide a prompt, efficient and fair service to all of their customers. The FCA’s Handbook requires firms to identify particularly vulnerable customers, and to deal with such customers appropriately. This includes older or disabled people, and those who may lack the capacity to manage their account on their own. In addition, like all service providers, banks and building societies are bound under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, where necessary, in the way they deliver their services.
Those without access to the internet can access banking services via telephone banking, and the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows 99% of personal banking and 95% of business banking customers to deposit cheques, check their balance and withdraw and deposit cash at 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK. New shared bank hubs are also being piloted, providing basic banking services and dedicated space where community bankers from major banks can meet customers of that bank.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what has been the average annual rate of GDP growth since 2008 of (1) the UK, and (2) other G7 economies.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The UK’s average annual GDP growth rate between 2008-2021 was the fourth highest in the G7 at 0.8%, below the US (1.6%), Canada (1.3%) and Germany (0.9%). It was above France (0.7%), Japan (0.2%) and Italy (-0.4%).
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the main reasons for the long-term decline of the value of the pound against the US dollar.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Financial market movements are determined by a wide range of domestic and international factors. It is not appropriate for the government to comment on specific currency market movements. The UK does not have an exchange rate target and the Government does not have a desired level for sterling – the price is determined by the market. The UK's macroeconomic framework is based on an inflation target, and it is for the independent Monetary Policy Committee to set monetary policy to meet this target.Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to require currency exchange services for consumers to display both (1) the live interbank exchange rate, and (2) the commission charged, following the UK’s departure from the EU.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
Where currency conversion is provided as part of a payment transaction, the Payment Services Regulations 2017 make requirements on UK payment service providers regarding disclosure of fees and charges to the payer, for example, the exchange rate used for a currency conversion transaction. Provisions under the Cross Border Payments Regulation, which continue to apply in the UK as part of retained EU law, also contribute to price transparency, with further requirements regarding how foreign exchange costs are communicated before a payment is made. The Government has no plans at this time to amend the requirements on firms, but keeps all policy under review.The Government recognises the importance of transparency of fees and charges in ensuring effective competition between payment service providers. These regulations, amongst other things, are intended to enable consumers to make informed decisions when making use of payment services including where currency conversion is offered as part of a payment transaction.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the carbon footprint of the operation of cyber currencies.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The government is committed to positioning the UK at the forefront of green finance and recognises the issue of rising energy consumption from certain cryptoassets.
The government’s consultation later this year on regulating a wider set of cryptoasset activities will reflect green commitments and ensure that the approach is aligned to environmental objectives including the UK’s net zero target.
In this context, the government notes that some cryptoassets may be based on ‘proof of stake’ blockchain systems and may not face energy-consumption issues which typically relate to the ‘mining’ or proof-of-work process underpinning certain cryptoassets.
The government welcomes the efforts of some cryptoassets to move to more energy efficient ‘proof of stake’ processes. The government takes concerns about the environmental impacts of cryptoassets seriously and is closely monitoring developments within the cryptoasset industry, including rising energy usage associated with certain cryptoassets.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to assess (1) whether the market for savers is working effectively, and (2) why the interest rates offered to savers by the major banks are not rising in line with the Bank of England base rate.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government recognises that over recent years low interest rates have made it challenging for people’s savings to grow. This is why the Government remains committed to supporting savers of all income levels and at all stages of life to save and has introduced a range of measures to support this.
The amount of money that individuals can save into their ISAs each year has been increased to a record £20,000 and a Personal Savings Allowance of up to £1,000 for basic rate taxpayers and up to £500 for higher rate taxpayers has been introduced. These measures mean that around 95% of people with savings income pay no tax on that income, giving consumers more flexibility to shop around when choosing the best savings product for them.
Alongside these measures, the Lifetime ISA allows younger people to benefit from a 25% government bonus on up to £4,000 of savings each year towards a first home, or later life. While the Help to Save scheme supports working families on low incomes to build up a rainy-day fund by offering a 50% bonus on up to £50 of monthly saving.
However, the pricing of financial products, including the interest rates offered on savings accounts, is a commercial decision for firms and the Government does not plan to intervene in, or make assessments of, such decisions.
The independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England makes monetary policy decisions independently of the Government. The MPC sets the base rate of interest, which is known as the Bank Rate. This is the rate of interest the Bank of England will pay on reserves held with them by commercial banks. MPC decisions over Bank Rate guide commercial banks’ decisions over retail interest rates, i.e. interest rates they charge on loans and pay on deposits. However, commercial banks also make commercial judgements that influence the degree of pass‐through from changes in Bank Rate into retail interest rates, with conditions in financial markets and in the banking sector also influencing interest rates paid on deposits or charged for lending.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government who will be the recipient of the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
Financial sanctions do not change the ownership of frozen assets, so it will be for Chelsea FC and the buyers to determine the terms of any sale. Given the asset freeze a sale would require a Treasury licence to take place. The Treasury will consider any licence application made by the Club on the merits of that application.
Any licence issued under the Russia Regulations will be in line with the purposes of the Russia Regulations. The key purpose is to encourage Russia to cease destabilising Ukraine, and cease undermining and threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine.