Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an assessment of potential merits of introducing a fixed national standing charge for consumers.
Answered by Amanda Solloway
Ofgem launched a call for input on standing charges, which closed on Friday 19 January 2024, looking at how it is applied to energy bills and what alternatives could be considered.
Ofgem is currently analysing the responses and will publish its response in due course.
On 30 March, my Rt hon Friend the Secretary of State and I wrote to the Chief Executive of Ofgem, highlighting the importance of keeping standing charges as low as possible.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of Somaliland joining the Commonwealth.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent and equal sovereign states. It is for the Commonwealth Secretary-General and Commonwealth Secretariat to take forward expressions of interest and to assess whether an aspirant member meets the eligibility criteria for membership. The UK, alongside others in the international community, does not recognise Somaliland's unilateral declaration of independence. We believe that the settlement of Somaliland's status is an issue for Somalia and Somaliland to decide through a consultative process and dialogue.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of Somaliland joining the Commonwealth.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent and equal sovereign states. It is for the Commonwealth Secretary-General and Commonwealth Secretariat to take forward expressions of interest and to assess whether an aspirant member meets the eligibility criteria for membership. The UK, alongside others in the international community, does not recognise Somaliland's unilateral declaration of independence. We believe that the settlement of Somaliland's status is an issue for Somalia and Somaliland to decide through a consultative process and dialogue.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of whether Somaliland meets the criteria for joining the Commonwealth.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent and equal sovereign states. It is for the Commonwealth Secretary-General and Commonwealth Secretariat to take forward expressions of interest and to assess whether an aspirant member meets the eligibility criteria for membership. The UK, alongside others in the international community, does not recognise Somaliland's unilateral declaration of independence. We believe that the settlement of Somaliland's status is an issue for Somalia and Somaliland to decide through a consultative process and dialogue.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will support the application by Somaliland to join the Commonwealth.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of independent and equal sovereign states. It is for the Commonwealth Secretary-General and Commonwealth Secretariat to take forward expressions of interest and to assess whether an aspirant member meets the eligibility criteria for membership. The UK, alongside others in the international community, does not recognise Somaliland's unilateral declaration of independence. We believe that the settlement of Somaliland's status is an issue for Somalia and Somaliland to decide through a consultative process and dialogue.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority on including fractional shares in ISAs.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The government is committed to ensuring people have the opportunity to invest in a diverse range of investment types through their ISAs. As announced at Autumn Statement 2023 and confirmed at Spring Budget 2024, this includes certain fractional share contracts.
The government is working as quickly as possible to bring forward legislation to include certain fractional share contracts in ISAs by the end of the summer following detailed engagement with industry and the FCA.
The government is also consulting on the design and implementation of the UK ISA, including eligible investments, and welcomes responses from stakeholders before the deadline of 6th June.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing investors to invest in fractional shares.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The government is committed to ensuring people have the opportunity to invest in a diverse range of investment types through their ISAs. As announced at Autumn Statement 2023 and confirmed at Spring Budget 2024, this includes certain fractional share contracts.
The government is working as quickly as possible to bring forward legislation to include certain fractional share contracts in ISAs by the end of the summer following detailed engagement with industry and the FCA.
The government is also consulting on the design and implementation of the UK ISA, including eligible investments, and welcomes responses from stakeholders before the deadline of 6th June.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to allow fractional shares to be included in the new British ISA.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The government is committed to ensuring people have the opportunity to invest in a diverse range of investment types through their ISAs. As announced at Autumn Statement 2023 and confirmed at Spring Budget 2024, this includes certain fractional share contracts.
The government is working as quickly as possible to bring forward legislation to include certain fractional share contracts in ISAs by the end of the summer following detailed engagement with industry and the FCA.
The government is also consulting on the design and implementation of the UK ISA, including eligible investments, and welcomes responses from stakeholders before the deadline of 6th June.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will allow fractional shares to be included in ISAs.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The government is committed to ensuring people have the opportunity to invest in a diverse range of investment types through their ISAs. As announced at Autumn Statement 2023 and confirmed at Spring Budget 2024, this includes certain fractional share contracts.
The government is working as quickly as possible to bring forward legislation to include certain fractional share contracts in ISAs by the end of the summer following detailed engagement with industry and the FCA.
The government is also consulting on the design and implementation of the UK ISA, including eligible investments, and welcomes responses from stakeholders before the deadline of 6th June.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Green Finance Strategy's target of raising £500m in private finance every year by 2027, how much private finance to support his Department's work has been raised in the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
As set out in ‘Mobilising Green Investment: 2023 Green Finance Strategy’, we are committed to monitoring annual private finance flows into nature’s recovery in England against our target.
The Government has not produced an official annual estimate of private finance into nature’s recovery, as no reliable measures are yet in place. Defra is developing a methodology for tracking this private finance. We will publish our first annual estimate, using this methodology, once data is available.