Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish their proposals to reform the regulation of the actuarial profession.
Answered by Baroness Penn
HM Government consulted publicly on its proposals to reform the regulation of the actuarial profession in chapter 11.2 of its White Paper ‘Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance’. As part of the consultation process, the Government has held discussions with a range of actuarial stakeholders.
The Government is considering the responses to its consultation and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the proposed alcohol duty system will impact on their ability to cover the costs of alcohol to (1) the NHS, and (2) on society.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The Government intends to move to a new system that taxes all products in reference to their alcohol content for the first time. This will help to target problem drinking by taxing higher-strength products associated with alcohol-related harm a higher rate of duty.
The Government is continuing to engage with interested stakeholders, including public health professionals, on these reforms. A consultation was launched in October and stakeholders are encouraged to respond before the deadline of 30 January 2022. A tax information and impact note will be published following the consultation when the policy is final, or near final, in the usual way.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for increasing alcohol duty to raise additional revenue to support the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government keeps alcohol duties under review and the impact of changes to alcohol duty is considered carefully at each fiscal event, including its effects on society, the economy and wider needs.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for setting alcohol duty rates at a level where revenue from alcohol duty will match the costs of alcohol to society.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government keeps alcohol duties under review and the impact of changes to alcohol duty is considered carefully at each fiscal event, including its effects on society, the economy and wider needs.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Office for National Statistics release Quarterly alcohol-specific deaths in England and Wales: 2001 to 2019 registrations and Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) to Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2020 provisional registrations, published on 2 February; and what assessment they have made of the case for increasing alcohol duty to save lives.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Alcohol duties are kept under review and the impact of a change to alcohol duty is considered at each fiscal event. This takes a variety of data sources into account, including those relating to public health as well as the financial implications of any change.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential financial benefit of increasing alcohol duty to reduce the cost of alcohol-related illness and harms to the NHS.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
All taxes are kept under review and the impact of a change to alcohol duty is considered at each fiscal event, including its effect on health.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the new alcohol duty system (1) protects public health, and (2) helps to reduce alcohol harm.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Treasury is conducting a review of the alcohol duty system. As part of this it is engaging with public health groups along with other interested stakeholders. However, while public health is an important factor, it is not the sole consideration, as the Government will also need to take account of the wider fiscal and economic implications of reform.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the health impacts of freezing alcohol duty in the 2020 Budget.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
All taxes are kept under review and the impact of a change to alcohol duty is considered at each fiscal event, including its effect on health. As a freeze in duties involves no changes to rates, the Government expects there to be no direct impact on public health.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether the Financial Conduct Authority has sufficient powers to regulate claims management companies, particularly in relation to cold calling.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government is confident that the FCA has a broad suite of authorisation, supervision and enforcement powers to regulate the conduct of claims management companies (CMCs). The Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018 transferred responsibility for the regulation of CMCs from the Claims Management Regulator, a unit of the Ministry of Justice, to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as of 1 April 2019.
This transfer was intended to enable the application of the FCA’s Senior Managers Regime to CMCs, allow for the creation of more detailed conduct rules to address issues that were causing consumer detriment, and effectively facilitate tougher regulation. The Act also provided for a ban on cold calling, unless prior consent has been given, by amending the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.
Following the transfer, the FCA is currently carrying out a process of re-authorisation, whereby all CMCs must re-apply for permission to operate in the sectors regulated by the FCA. Once this process of re-authorisation has progressed further, HM Treasury will be able to make any necessary assessments of whether the current model for CMC regulation is operating effectively.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of raising alcohol duty on Her Majesty's Treasury’s income.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Opposition Deputy Chief Whip (Lords)
All taxes are kept under review and the impact of a change to alcohol duty is considered at each fiscal event, including its effect on jobs and the wider economy. HMRC publishes a Tax Information Impact Note explaining the impact of the change, each time a duty rate is amended.