Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support exporters affected by delays and higher shipping costs as a result of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.
Answered by Lord Offord of Garvel - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Department of Business and Trade is closely monitoring the Red Sea situation and we are proactively engaging with key businesses to identify trade issues, offer support on the crisis and updating businesses on the latest supply chain information. More broadly, our membership in Operation Prosperity Guardian demonstrates the Government's commitment to ensuring the Red Sea is safe for seafarers and traders to use. Our Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy will help UK business build the secure and reliable supply chains vital to the UK’s economic prosperity, national security and essential services.
UK businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises a digital self-serve offer and our wider network of support, including trade advisors, export champions, the Export Academy, International Markets network, and UK Export Finance.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the National Housing Federation report The economic impact of building social housing, published in February, what assessment they have made of the economic benefits gained by investing in social housing.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Government’s £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme (AHP) for 2021-26 funds the construction of tens of thousands of homes across the country. These include homes for rent, for low-cost home ownership, and specialist and supported housing. It offers strong value for money. The National Audit Offices estimates that for every £1 the programme spent, the programme provides £2.70 in economic and societal benefits.
Since 2010, Government has delivered over 696,100 new affordable homes, including over 482,000 affordable homes for rent, of which over 172,600 were homes for social rent.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the Migration Advisory Committee's report Rapid review of the Immigration Salary List, published in February, what assessment they have made of the impact of the increased salary threshold for the Skilled Workers Visa on the ability of UK employers to fill jobs in key shortage areas.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Analytical work has been undertaken across Government to support decision making on the increases to the salary threshold for Skilled Workers, and an Impact Assessment will be developed in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the recent survey conducted by Boston Consulting Group, what steps they are taking to address the chief concerns identified by businesses, such as (1) high energy prices, and (2) taxation.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is backing British business, pursuing an ambitious policy agenda to boost growth and productivity. The OBR expects that policies announced at Spring Budget 2024 and in the previous two fiscal events will increase the size of the economy by 0.7% by 2028-29. This is through increasing total hours worked by the equivalent of more than 300,000 full-time workers and boosting business investment by £14 billion.
The Government provided an unprecedented package of support for businesses with energy costs through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) and the Energy Bill Discount Scheme. Together these schemes have provided around £7.5 billion to businesses for energy costs. In addition, the British Industry Supercharger, announced in February 2023, will significantly reduce electricity costs for key energy intensive industries such as steel, mining, batteries, and critical minerals.
On taxation, at Autumn Statement 2023 the Government made full expensing permanent, representing a tax cut to companies of over £10bn a year, and ensuring the UK has one of the most generous capital allowances regimes in the world. The Government also abolished the obligation to pay Class 2 self-employed NICs. Both announcements demonstrate the Government’s ongoing commitment to tax simplification.
In addition, the Government recognises that accounting for VAT can be a burden on small businesses. This is why we announced at Spring Budget 2024 that the VAT threshold will be raised from £85,000 to £90,000 from 1 April 2024. At £90,000, the UK has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU Member State and the joint highest in the OECD. This keeps the majority UK businesses out of VAT altogether.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support consumers facing financial difficulty due to high credit card interest rates and increasing levels of debt.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to helping people in problem debt. This is why the Government continues to maintain record levels of debt advice funding for the provision of debt advice in England through the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), with a budget of £92.7 million for 2023-24. Government also launched the Breathing Space scheme in May 2021, providing individuals in problem debt who seek debt advice, with a period of protection from creditor enforcement action.
At Spring Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced changes to make it easier to access a Debt Relief Order (DRO) in England and Wales. This included removing the administration fee and widening the eligibility criteria.
The Government also aims to ensure that people, regardless of their background or income, have access to useful and affordable financial products and services. Since 2019, the Government has allocated £145 million of dormant assets funding to Fair4All Finance to support the financially excluded.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support prospective homebuyers amidst recent increases in house prices.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to making the aspiration of homeownership a reality for as many households as possible and consequently operates a range of schemes that aim to increase the supply of low-deposit mortgages for credit-worthy households, including first-time buyers, increase the availability of new housing, and stimulate economic growth. These include the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, which is open until the end of June 2025. We also help first-time buyers to save for a deposit through the Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy: ISA.
Over 876,000 households have been helped to purchase a home since spring 2010 through government-backed schemes.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support property owners facing challenges in refinancing against lower property values.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The most comprehensive measure of average house prices in the UK is published by the Office for National Statistics.
The vast majority of mortgage lenders have signed a voluntary industry agreement that allows their borrowers to secure a new fixed-rate deal without the need to undertake another affordability assessment.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent reduction in grocery price inflation on overall inflationary pressures in the economy.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In January 2024, food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation fell from 8.0% to 6.9%. This contributed -0.11percentage points to the change in headline inflation in January. Food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation has fallen from a peak of 19.1% in March 2023. The fall in the inflation rate over this period has contributed -1.25 to the change in the headline inflation rate.
The OBR are the government’s official forecaster and published an updated forecast on March 6th. The OBR forecasts that headline inflation will return to the 2% target next quarter, a year earlier than forecast in November.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports of the shrinkage of the non-prime lending market, what steps they are taking to ensure that vulnerable customers have access to fair and regulated credit products.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to taking steps to widen access to affordable credit, and is overseeing a number of initiatives to support this goal.
Since 2019, the government has made £100 million of dormant assets funding available to Fair4All Finance to support their work on financial inclusion, and an additional £45 million for initiatives to tackle the elevated cost of living. The government has also provided Fair4AllFinance with £3.8m of funding to pilot a No-interest Loans Scheme, designed for consumers in vulnerable circumstances who would benefit from affordable rather than high-cost credit.
As part of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, the government has amended the Credit Unions Act 1979 so that credit unions in Great Britain can offer a wider range of products and services.