Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled 2025 UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue: fact sheet, published on 11 January 2025, what steps the Government plans to take to help implement new (a) commercial licences and (b) quota allocations for UK firms in China.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the Chancellor’s Statement to the House on 14th January set out, the dialogue has delivered a set of tangible benefits to ensure that British firms have greater access to the world’s second largest economy, while safeguarding our national security and securing commitments to enhance financial regulatory and supervisory cooperation.
The total value of what was agreed is worth £600 million over the next five years for the UK economy and sets us on course to deliver up to £1 billion of value for the UK economy.
In particular, the agreement secured: new licences and quota allocations for UK asset managers, which will immediately improve their operating access and competitiveness in China; the launch a feasibility study into a UK-China Wealth Connect; the launch of UK-China over-the-counter bond business, which allows international investors to trade and settle RMB bonds more easily through the UK; and a commitment for the issuance of Sovereign and Corporate green bonds in the UK solidifying the City’s role as a Global Financial Centre and benefitting UK firms through increased fees for delivering this business.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government plans to take to help asset management firms access the Chinese market.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the Chancellor’s Statement to the House on 14th January set out, the dialogue has delivered a set of tangible benefits to ensure that British firms have greater access to the world’s second largest economy, while safeguarding our national security and securing commitments to enhance financial regulatory and supervisory cooperation.
The total value of what was agreed is worth £600 million over the next five years for the UK economy and sets us on course to deliver up to £1 billion of value for the UK economy.
In particular, the agreement secured: new licences and quota allocations for UK asset managers, which will immediately improve their operating access and competitiveness in China; the launch a feasibility study into a UK-China Wealth Connect; the launch of UK-China over-the-counter bond business, which allows international investors to trade and settle RMB bonds more easily through the UK; and a commitment for the issuance of Sovereign and Corporate green bonds in the UK solidifying the City’s role as a Global Financial Centre and benefitting UK firms through increased fees for delivering this business.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of new UK-China over-the-counter bond trading on future trends in the UK's economic growth rate.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the Chancellor’s Statement to the House on 14th January set out, the dialogue has delivered a set of tangible benefits to ensure that British firms have greater access to the world’s second largest economy, while safeguarding our national security and securing commitments to enhance financial regulatory and supervisory cooperation.
The total value of what was agreed is worth £600 million over the next five years for the UK economy and sets us on course to deliver up to £1 billion of value for the UK economy.
In particular, the agreement secured: new licences and quota allocations for UK asset managers, which will immediately improve their operating access and competitiveness in China; the launch a feasibility study into a UK-China Wealth Connect; the launch of UK-China over-the-counter bond business, which allows international investors to trade and settle RMB bonds more easily through the UK; and a commitment for the issuance of Sovereign and Corporate green bonds in the UK solidifying the City’s role as a Global Financial Centre and benefitting UK firms through increased fees for delivering this business.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to take steps to support greater supervisory data sharing between UK and Chinese financial regulators.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the Chancellor’s Statement to the House on 14th January set out, the dialogue has delivered a set of tangible benefits to ensure that British firms have greater access to the world’s second largest economy, while safeguarding our national security and securing commitments to enhance financial regulatory and supervisory cooperation.
The total value of what was agreed is worth £600 million over the next five years for the UK economy and sets us on course to deliver up to £1 billion of value for the UK economy.
In particular, the agreement secured: new licences and quota allocations for UK asset managers, which will immediately improve their operating access and competitiveness in China; the launch a feasibility study into a UK-China Wealth Connect; the launch of UK-China over-the-counter bond business, which allows international investors to trade and settle RMB bonds more easily through the UK; and a commitment for the issuance of Sovereign and Corporate green bonds in the UK solidifying the City’s role as a Global Financial Centre and benefitting UK firms through increased fees for delivering this business.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of China's commitment to issue an inaugural offshore sovereign green bond on the competitiveness of the domestic financial sector.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the Chancellor’s Statement to the House on 14th January set out, the dialogue has delivered a set of tangible benefits to ensure that British firms have greater access to the world’s second largest economy, while safeguarding our national security and securing commitments to enhance financial regulatory and supervisory cooperation.
The total value of what was agreed is worth £600 million over the next five years for the UK economy and sets us on course to deliver up to £1 billion of value for the UK economy.
In particular, the agreement secured: new licences and quota allocations for UK asset managers, which will immediately improve their operating access and competitiveness in China; the launch a feasibility study into a UK-China Wealth Connect; the launch of UK-China over-the-counter bond business, which allows international investors to trade and settle RMB bonds more easily through the UK; and a commitment for the issuance of Sovereign and Corporate green bonds in the UK solidifying the City’s role as a Global Financial Centre and benefitting UK firms through increased fees for delivering this business.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent trends in the level of retail investment on economic (a) growth and (b) resilience.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government wants to see more consumers participate in capital markets and benefit from the long-term financial security and returns that investing can provide.
The Financial Services Growth & Competitiveness Strategy call for evidence, which closed on 12 December, identified that increasing retail participation in capital markets could support long-term sustainable growth within the sector and the wider economy. The call for evidence welcomed further evidence on how to improve consumer engagement with investing, and the Government is considering the feedback provided.
The Government is already taking forward work to improve the information available to retail investors to help with their decision-making. This includes reforms to the UK’s retail disclosure regime and exploring options to expand the availability of support through the joint Government and FCA review of the boundary between financial advice and guidance.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information her Department holds on the total value of investments in (a) cash, (b) stocks and shares, (c) innovative finance and (d) lifetime ISAs in each of the past five tax years, broken down by investors' income bracket.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq
Information on the total value of ISA subscriptions, the total market value of ISAs, and the number of ISA holders and subscribers broken down by income bands is available in HMRC’s Annual Savings Statistics.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/annual-savings-statistics
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information her Department holds on the total market value of (a) cash and (b) stocks and shares ISA holdings in each of the past five tax years, broken down by investor income bracket.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq
Information on the total value of ISA subscriptions, the total market value of ISAs, and the number of ISA holders and subscribers broken down by income bands is available in HMRC’s Annual Savings Statistics.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/annual-savings-statistics
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the change in (a) core spending power and (b) settlement funding for (i) Aylesbury Vale District Council in each financial year between 2010-11 and 2019-20, (ii) Buckinghamshire County Council in each financial year between 2010-11 and 2019-20 and (iii) Buckinghamshire Council in each financial year since 2020-21.
Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Detailed information on core spending power and settlement funding for Aylesbury Vale District Council, Buckinghamshire County Council and Buckinghamshire Council for each year from 2015/16 to 2020/21 can be viewed here.
Due to changes in the function and financing of local government, comparable data on Core Spending Power is not available prior to 2015/16.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the role of the (a) Bank of England and (b) Financial Conduct Authority will be in regulatory oversight of the digital gilt instrument pilot.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq
This pilot would allow us to make more informed decisions on Distributed Ledger Technology’s (DLT) potential future application to wider government debt issuance. Demonstrating feasibility on a government bond issuance will also support the private sector by providing a use case that will assist their own use and investment in the technology. The pilot puts the UK at the forefront of capital markets innovation. This experimental issuance is separate from the government’s normal operations and overall debt issuance programme. The pilot will utilise the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS), which opened for applications in September 2024. The DSS utilises temporary modifications to legislation to provide an environment where firms can use developing technology, in particular DLT, to create, trade, and manage securities, under the supervision of the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This enables activity to happen in a controlled and monitored setting, ensuring that potential risks are managed while fostering innovation. I set out in a Written Ministerial Statement on 18 November 2024, that the government will engage with the financial sector in the new year to explore what the issuance could look like and the technology options available to facilitate it.