Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether there is any evidence of social investment vehicles mis-selling to charities and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Social investment funds are independently regulated, and subject to their own respective due diligence processes, target market and risk and return objectives. Any losses are assessed and accounted for within their own governance, reporting and risk management processes. The government has made no independent assessment of the number of competing funds and the gains/losses made.
Big Society Capital operates independently from government and sets what it considers to be an appropriate interest rate.
Government has not been made aware of any evidence of mis selling to charities and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Individual social investment vehicles measure and publish their own impact assessments based on the specific geography and nature of investments made.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Big Society Capital charging 5.5 per cent interest to social investment intermediaries.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Social investment funds are independently regulated, and subject to their own respective due diligence processes, target market and risk and return objectives. Any losses are assessed and accounted for within their own governance, reporting and risk management processes. The government has made no independent assessment of the number of competing funds and the gains/losses made.
Big Society Capital operates independently from government and sets what it considers to be an appropriate interest rate.
Government has not been made aware of any evidence of mis selling to charities and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Individual social investment vehicles measure and publish their own impact assessments based on the specific geography and nature of investments made.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the loan losses social investment intermediaries have made in the last three years.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Social investment funds are independently regulated, and subject to their own respective due diligence processes, target market and risk and return objectives. Any losses are assessed and accounted for within their own governance, reporting and risk management processes. The government has made no independent assessment of the number of competing funds and the gains/losses made.
Big Society Capital operates independently from government and sets what it considers to be an appropriate interest rate.
Government has not been made aware of any evidence of mis selling to charities and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Individual social investment vehicles measure and publish their own impact assessments based on the specific geography and nature of investments made.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate, if any, they have made of the number of social investment vehicles which compete to lend to the same charities and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
Social investment funds are independently regulated, and subject to their own respective due diligence processes, target market and risk and return objectives. Any losses are assessed and accounted for within their own governance, reporting and risk management processes. The government has made no independent assessment of the number of competing funds and the gains/losses made.
Big Society Capital operates independently from government and sets what it considers to be an appropriate interest rate.
Government has not been made aware of any evidence of mis selling to charities and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Individual social investment vehicles measure and publish their own impact assessments based on the specific geography and nature of investments made.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any evidence of social investment funds vehicles encouraging small charities and social enterprises to take out high interest loans.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The government collects no systematic evidence of the different rates of interest offered by social and commercial lenders. Interest rates cannot be compared in isolation. Interest rates applied by all investors, including independent social investment funds, are calculated based on credit assessments and reflect the risk presented by the individual organisations seeking investment and the costs of providing finance.
We have received no complaints that recipients of social investment are being obligated to accept any investment offer they feel is not beneficial to them. Social investors in the financial and philanthropic sectors are regulated by the respective regulatory bodies to ensure compliance to standards.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any evidence of social investment funds vehicles offering loans at higher interest rates than those offered by the commercial market.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The government collects no systematic evidence of the different rates of interest offered by social and commercial lenders. Interest rates cannot be compared in isolation. Interest rates applied by all investors, including independent social investment funds, are calculated based on credit assessments and reflect the risk presented by the individual organisations seeking investment and the costs of providing finance.
We have received no complaints that recipients of social investment are being obligated to accept any investment offer they feel is not beneficial to them. Social investors in the financial and philanthropic sectors are regulated by the respective regulatory bodies to ensure compliance to standards.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their role in monitoring the effectiveness of systems and processes relating to spending money from dormant bank accounts belonging to members of the public.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Big Lottery Fund is named in the Act as the distributor of dormant account money for meeting expenditure that has a social or environmental purpose in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each devolved administration makes decisions on how these funds are used.
In England, all monies so far made available from dormant bank accounts have been allocated to Big Society Capital, the world’s first social investment wholesaler. The Government established Big Society Trust to provide oversight of Big Society Capital and to ensure that this funding is spent effectively. In the devolved administrations, Big Lottery Fund plays this monitoring role.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 29 November 2018 (HL11578, HL11579, HL11580, and HL11581), whether it is HM Treasury’s responsibility to monitor the use of funds from dormant bank accounts belonging to members of the public; and if not, whose responsibility it is.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
The Big Lottery Fund is named in the Act as the distributor of dormant account money for meeting expenditure that has a social or environmental purpose in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Each devolved administration makes decisions on how these funds are used.
In England, all monies so far made available from dormant bank accounts have been allocated to Big Society Capital, the world’s first social investment wholesaler. The Government established Big Society Trust to provide oversight of Big Society Capital and to ensure that this funding is spent effectively. In the devolved administrations, Big Lottery Fund plays this monitoring role.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the level of demand for social investment funds, and (2) the amount those funds supply.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
There are many independent social investment funds across the UK offering a broad range of products and services to civil society and private sector organisations. Social investment funds which operate independently are regulated by the relevant regulatory bodies, and subject to their own due diligence processes.
The government has made no assessment of the demand for social investment funds.
Asked by: Lord Mawson (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Ashton of Hyde on 29 November 2018 (HL11578, HL11579, HL11580, and HL11581), why they have made no assessment across those varied funds.
Answered by Lord Ashton of Hyde
There are many independent social investment funds across the UK offering a broad range of products and services to civil society and private sector organisations. Social investment funds which operate independently are regulated by the relevant regulatory bodies, and subject to their own due diligence processes.
The government has made no assessment of the demand for social investment funds.