Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government why grandparents cannot manage the online investment of existing junior independent savings accounts, and whether they plan to review this.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
To ensure that the Junior Individual Savings Accounts (JISA) regime remains simple and sustainable, HMRC restrict who can open and manage an account to prevent more than one JISA of each type (cash or stocks and shares) being opened in error. It also ensures that there is a single point of contact for the giving of instructions. Given the nature of the role, the ISA rules require this to be someone with parental responsibility for the child. A grandparent who does not have parental responsibility is therefore unable to open or manage a Junior ISA on behalf of their grandchild but can add funds to the account, up to the value of £9,000 a year.
The Government continues to keep all aspects of savings policy under review.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what progress has been made in addressing alleged hidden commission payments in the vehicle trade.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
This is a complicated issue and the government is working closely with the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority. The government is pleased that the Supreme Court will hear an appeal from 1-3 April and hopes that its judgment will provide clarity for firms and consumers
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the historic vehicle tax exemption by altering the 40-year rule to 30 years.
Answered by Baroness Penn
At Budget 2014 the Government announced that it would introduce a rolling 40-year Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) exemption for classic cars in recognition of their important contribution to UK heritage and culture.
The Government has set 40 years as being a fair cut-off date to distinguish classic cars from those that are simply older vehicles and there are no current plans to reduce the tax exemption age to 30 years.
As with all taxes, VED is kept under review and any changes are considered and announced by the Chancellor.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to recent meetings between Treasury ministers, food suppliers and retailers and the Competition and Markets Authority, what assessment they have made of the existing benefits to consumers of price competition between major supermarkets.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury spoke to supermarket representatives on 11 May 2023, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer met with food manufacturers on 23 May 2023 about the cost of food in the UK.
The Competition and Markets Authority announced on 15 May 2023 that it would conduct further work in the grocery sector to understand whether any failure in competition is contributing to grocery prices being higher than they would be in a well-functioning market. Once published, the Government will consider the Competition and Markets Authority’s findings.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure all illegal crypto ATMs are removed from retailers.
Answered by Baroness Penn
Cryptoasset exchange providers, which includes Crypto ATM operators, in the UK must be registered with the FCA and comply with the UK Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs). None of the cryptoasset firms registered with the FCA have been approved to offer crypto ATM services, meaning that any of them operating in the UK are doing so illegally.
The FCA has previously warned operators of crypto ATMs in the UK to shut their machines down or face enforcement action. Additionally, the FCA publishes a list of cryptoasset businesses that it suspects are operating without registration to help firms and customers make sure they only deal with registered firms.
The FCA works with the National Economic Crime Centre to plan and coordinate action with law enforcement partners in relation to operators of illegal crypto ATMs. Recently it has used its powers to inspect sites in Exeter, Nottingham and Sheffield suspected of hosting illegally operated crypto ATMs. This action follows the FCA’s inspection of several sites in East London and Leeds that were suspected of hosting unregistered crypto ATMs and is part of a continued crackdown on this illicit sector.
The FCA contact centre is the point of contact for people wishing to report Crypto ATMs. Contact details can be found on the FCA website in the ‘Contact Us’ section.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow savers to use Lifetime ISA (LISA) monies without penalty to buy a home of a value that would otherwise incur a penalty when the money was withdrawn.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Government is committed to supporting people of all incomes and at all stages of life to save, and to making the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible.
The Lifetime ISA is intended to support younger people saving for their first home or for later life by offering a generous government bonus of 25% on up to £4,000 of savings each year. These funds, including the government bonus, can be used to purchase a first home up to the value of £450,000.
The Government keeps all elements of the Lifetime ISA under review, as it does all aspects of the tax system.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to raise the £410,000 Lifetime ISA (LISA) limit to £607,500 to reflect average house price growth in the UK since 2017.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Government is committed to supporting people of all incomes and at all stages of life to save, and to making the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible.
The Lifetime ISA is intended to support younger people saving for their first home or for later life by offering a generous government bonus of 25% on up to £4,000 of savings each year. These funds, including the government bonus, can be used to purchase a first home up to the value of £450,000.
The Government keeps all elements of the Lifetime ISA under review, as it does all aspects of the tax system.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the quality of service provided to politically exposed persons by HM Revenue and Customs; and in particular of its responsiveness to telephone calls from such persons.
Answered by Baroness Penn
HMRC constantly reviews the quality of the service provided to this helpline in real time, with resources redeployed when necessary.
Currently, the part of HMRC that deals with politically exposed customers has a service response rate of almost 50 per cent faster than the national average.
In the week ending 20 March 2022, less than 2 per cent of calls to this line were abandoned and/or received busy messages.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they propose to uplift the maximum property allowance for Lifetime ISAs from the current cap of £450,000, set in April 2017.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Lifetime ISA is intended to support younger people saving for their first home or for later life by offering a generous government bonus of 25% on up to £4,000 of savings each year. These funds, including the government bonus, can be used to purchase a first home up to the value of £450,000.
The Government considers that the £450,000 price cap remains suitable to support the majority of first-time buyers across the UK who typically purchase less expensive properties than other buyers.
The most recent Office for Budget Responsibility forecast stated that bonus payments will have an exchequer cost of £3.7 billion between 2021 and 2027. The price cap ensures that this significant investment of public money is more precisely targeted towards households that may find it more difficult to get onto the property ladder.
First-time buyers who can purchase a home valued over £450,000 are likely to have an income significantly above that of the average household in the UK and are therefore more likely to be able to purchase a first home without the support of this scheme.
The Government continues to keep all aspects of savings policy under review.
Asked by: Lord Naseby (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether (1) they, or (2) the Financial Conduct Authority, approved the use by the Financial Ombudsman Service of 'mass claims' to deal with claims against consumer credit companies.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Treasury is in regular dialogue with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) including on matters relating to consumer credit affordability and redress claims.
To help alleviate the pressure on firms, the FOS currently sets the number of free cases at 25. From the 26th complaint onwards, businesses are currently charged a £650 case fee to cover the cost of subsequent complaints brought against them, regardless of outcome. It is estimated that nine in ten businesses whose customers bring complaints to the FOS won’t pay any case fees.
It is important to note that the FOS is an independent non-governmental body which makes decisions within the statutory framework agreed by Parliament. The Government is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the FOS.
The independence of the FOS is vital to its role. Its credibility, authority and value to consumers would be undermined if it were possible for the Government to intervene in its decision making.