Asked by: Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment that have made of the ways in which retail vehicle sales are financed, in the light of the increasing levels of debt incurred by new rental and lease purchase schemes and current pressures on the retail motor industry.
Answered by Lord Bates
The Government works closely with the UK automotive industry to understand the issues and opportunities the sector faces. The Government will continue its longstanding programme of support for the sector’s competitiveness.
The Government has fundamentally reformed regulation of the consumer credit market, transferring regulatory responsibility from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 1 April 2014. This more robust regulatory system is helping to deliver the Government’s vision for a well-functioning and sustainable consumer credit market which can meet consumers’ needs.
Car finance companies are required to meet the standards that the FCA expects of lenders, including making affordability checks and providing adequate pre-contractual explanations to consumers. FCA rules are binding, and the FCA has a wide enforcement toolkit to take action wherever these rules are breached.
The FCA is committed to tackling sources of consumer detriment, and is looking at the car finance market to ensure that it works well and to assess whether consumers are at risk of harm. The FCA is carrying out supervisory work with lenders, and is carefully scrutinising firms’ sales practices and processes, to decide what further interventions may be necessary. This work includes assessing how well firms are managing the risk that asset valuations could fall, and how they ensure that they adequately price risk. The FCA will publish an update on this work in Q1 2018.
Asked by: Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will include, within their leasehold review, a review of institutions such as the National Trust and other large property-owning organisations.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government’s consultation, Tackling Unfair Practices in the Leasehold Market, considered a number of issues within the leasehold sector including the sale of new built leasehold houses, and onerous ground rents. The consultation also sought views on what further areas of leasehold reform should be prioritised and why.
The public consultation, which closed on 19 September, received around 6,000 replies. We are carefully analysing the responses, and will issue the Government response in shortly.
Asked by: Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what protections are in place to avoid conflicts of interest in the negotiating process between local authorities and trade unions in relation to the terms and conditions of public sector workers.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Employment matters for local authorities are devolved. It is for local authorities in negotiation with their recognised local government unions to make decisions on pay, terms and conditions for local government workforce in line with general good conduct principles. DCLG ministers do not have a role in these negotiations.
Asked by: Lord Kirkhope of Harrogate (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to preserve, maintain and develop free schools
Answered by Lord Nash
This Government wants to create a country that works for everyone and education is at the heart of that ambition. As a result of our reforms, there are 1.8 million more children in good or outstanding schools than in 2010 and free schools have played an important part in that success.
Since 2010, we have opened more than 400 new free schools, which will provide over 234,000 places when at capacity. A further 350 free schools have been approved to open in the next few years, with around 50 opening this September.
29 per cent of free schools inspected by Ofsted have been rated outstanding. We will build on this success by continuing to approve new free schools in areas where there is a clear need for more good school places.