Asked by: Lord Sharkey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the disparities between conventional and Sharia-compliant mortgage products in respect of the imposition of capital gains tax.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is aware of a difference in tax treatment when a commercial or residential property is refinanced using alternative rather than conventional finance methods. In these situations, a capital gains liability may arise for those using alternative financing, when this would not have been the case for those using conventional financing. The refinancing of main homes is unaffected as Private Residence Relief (PRR) applies.
On 16 January 2024, the government published the Tax Simplification for Alternative Finance consultation to seek views on reforms that would address the capital gains issue. The consultation closed on 9 April 2024 and all responses will be carefully considered and a summary of responses will be published in due course together with details of the next steps.
Asked by: Lord Sharkey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of recent data by Enroly published on 27 March which showed that issuance of certificates of Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies has significantly reduced, with overall deposits down by more than a third on the same point in 2023.
Answered by Baroness Barran - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government seeks to ensure that there is a fair and robust migration policy, whilst maintaining the UK’s place as a top destination for the best and brightest students from around the world. The department remains committed to the ambitions set out in the government’s International Education Strategy to host 600,000 international students per year and to increase the value of our education exports to £35 billion per year, both by 2030.
The department expects the UK to remain a highly attractive study destination. The UK has four universities in the top 10, and 17 in the top 100. The UK has a highly sought after higher education (HE) experience, which is respected by students across the globe. The department is hugely proud to have met its international student recruitment ambition two years running.
However, the level of legal migration remains too high. As a result, on 4 December 2023, the government announced a new package of measures to reduce net migration and curb abuse and exploitation of the country’s immigration system. The department continues to work closely with the Home Office, Department for Business and Trade, and other governmental departments to assess the impact of these changes on HE providers.
HE providers are autonomous bodies, independent from government. As such, they are responsible for their own admissions decisions. The government takes a close interest in ensuring that the HE admissions system is fair and works closely with HE providers and sector bodies to make sure the system works well for students.
Asked by: Lord Sharkey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what, if any, statutory powers the Bank of England has to issue binding directions to (1) the Prudential Regulation Authority, (2) the Financial Conduct Authority, and (3) the Payment Systems Regulator; and on how many occasions in each year since 2007 they have been exercised.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury has statutory powers to issue directions to the Bank of England, which can only be used under specific conditions or circumstances. None of the powers outlined below have ever been used.
The Bank of England also has powers to direct the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR).
Asked by: Lord Sharkey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what, if any, statutory powers they have to issue binding directions to the Bank of England; and on how many occasions in each year since 2007 they have been exercised.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury has statutory powers to issue directions to the Bank of England, which can only be used under specific conditions or circumstances. None of the powers outlined below have ever been used.
The Bank of England also has powers to direct the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Payment Systems Regulator (PSR).
Asked by: Lord Sharkey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what, if any, statutory powers they have to issue binding directions to (1) the Financial Conduct Authority, and (2) the Prudential Regulation Authority; and on how many occasions in each year since 2010 they have been exercised.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury has a limited number of powers to direct the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
It has a power to direct the regulators to take an action if doing so is necessary to fulfil international obligations, or to refrain from action which appears incompatible with international obligations.
The Treasury also has powers of direction which are designed to promote the accountability and transparency of the FCA and PRA. These include the power to direct the regulators to:
These powers have not been used.
The Treasury has a power to direct the FCA and PRA to undertake an investigation of relevant events, where it is in the public interest, in certain circumstances. This power has been used twice: in 2018, to direct the PRA to review the events relating to the supervision of the Co-operative Bank, and in 2019, to direct the FCA to review the events relating to the failure of London Capital and Finance.
The Treasury does not have direction-making powers in relation to the FCA or the PRA regarding the content of their rules, or their approach to supervision and enforcement.
Asked by: Lord Sharkey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the announcement of the Mansion House Reforms on 10 July, what progress they have made in recruiting further UK based defined-contribution pension schemes to the Mansion House Compact, beyond the initial nine members.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Mansion House Compact is a voluntary and industry-led agreement that has been led by the Lord Mayor and the City of London Corporation. Updates on the Compact and signatories are provided by The City of London Corporation on their website (https://www.theglobalcity.uk/insights/mansion-house-compact). There are currently 9 signatories to the Compact.
Asked by: Lord Sharkey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the publication of the National Semiconductor Strategy on 19 May, when they expect to make a decision on the level of financial support that will be offered to underpin the competitiveness of the semiconductor manufacturing sector; and what discussions they have had to inform this decision and with whom.
Answered by Viscount Camrose - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The National Semiconductor Strategy sets out the government’s plan to build on the UK’s strengths to grow our sector, increase our resilience and protect our security.
We will announce plans in the autumn to further support the competitiveness of the semiconductor manufacturing sector that is critical to the UK tech ecosystem or our national security.
The Government’s new Semiconductor Advisory Panel met on 14 September and informed the Government’s approach. The panel is representative of the UK’s semiconductor industry, and the ecosystem that supports it. In an independent capacity, experts from British titans such as ARM, IQE and PragmatIC sit on the panel, as well as representation from venture capital, academia and the RaspberryPi Foundation.
Asked by: Lord Sharkey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask His Majesty's Government what difficulties have been reported in honouring the pension entitlements of Turkish Cypriot former employees of the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus, or the widows of those employees, now living in Northern Cyprus.
Answered by Baroness Goldie
There are currently no outstanding issues reported in honoring the occupational pension entitlements of Turkish Cypriot former employees of the Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus, or the widows of those employees, now living in the north of Cyprus.
Asked by: Lord Sharkey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions on the intervention by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus in the construction of the road from Pile/Pyla to Yigitler/Arsos in Northern Cyprus they have had with (1) the United Nations, (2) the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, (3) the government of the Republic of Cyprus, (4) the government of Türkiye, and (5) the Turkish Cypriot authorities in Northern Cyprus; and what assessment they have made of this intervention.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has engaged with all parties referenced about recent events in the UN Buffer Zone to encourage de-escalation and support a diplomatic resolution. This included Ministerial-level engagement with counterparts in the Republic of Cyprus, Greece and Turkey. On 21 August, the UN Security Council issued a Press Statement that condemned the assaults on UN Peacekeepers, expressed concern at the unauthorised construction of the road and reiterated Council support for the United Nations' Peacekeeping mandate. The UK, US and French Embassies in Nicosia issued a similar statement. We have welcomed the subsequent de-escalation, but note that the injuries sustained by three British UN peacekeepers undermines the UN's ability to fulfil its peacekeeping mandate. It is also a reminder that our armed forces regularly put themselves in harm's way to support peace and stability across the globe.
Asked by: Lord Sharkey (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the announcement on 4 April 2022 that the Royal Mint has been asked to create a Non-Fungible Token (NFT) in the summer of 2022, how many public or civil servants, expressed as full-time equivalents (1) are, and (2) have, been working on this project; what costs have so far been incurred; what the projected total cost of this project is; and what value for money assessment has been carried out on this project.
Answered by Baroness Penn - Minister on Leave (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State)
The Government announced in April 2022 that the Royal Mint intended to create and issue a non-fungible token. The Royal Mint operates as a commercial business and the cost of designing and offering an NFT would be met entirely out of its own revenues. An update on this work will be provided in due course.