Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of private jet flights paid the higher rate of Air Passenger Duty in the last ten years; if he will make it his policy to levy the higher rate of Air Passenger Duty on all private jet flights; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Air Passenger Duty (APD) is the UK's principal tax on the aviation sector. There are different rates according to a passenger's class of travel and the distance of their journey. The tax raised £3.18 billion in 2022/23 and its primary objective is to ensure that airlines make a fair contribution to the public finances.
The APD Higher rate applies to larger and more luxurious private and business jets, which are 20 tonnes or more and equipped to carry fewer than 19 passengers. Data on the number of passengers liable for different rates of APD can be found in the APD bulletin on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/air-passenger-duty-bulletin
Since APD applies on a per-passenger basis, HMRC does not collect information on the number of flights by private and business jets.
As with all taxes, the government keeps APD under review and any changes are announced by the Chancellor at fiscal events.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using pension funds to finance Government investment in green projects.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
At Mansion House on 10th July, the Chancellor set out the Government’s plans to reform the pensions market to secure better outcomes for pension savers and unlock an additional £75 billion of financing for growth by 2030.
Although pension funds must make their own investment decisions, the Government expects these reforms will benefit the UK’s most promising businesses across a variety of sectors.
More broadly the Government has provided significant support for green projects. Spending Review 2021 confirmed that since March 2021 the Government has committed a total of £30 billion of domestic investment for the green industrial revolution. Since then, the Government has made new announcements that provide long-term certainty on our investment plans, including £6 billion for energy efficiency and up to £20 billion for early deployment of Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage.
In addition, the Green Financing Programme raises cash which is earmarked towards eligible green expenditures, as set out in the Green Financing Framework, which is available at the link below:
UK Government Green Financing - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Every year the list of projects, funded by the issuance of green gilts and the National Savings and Investment Green Savings Bond, is published in the Allocation Report. The environmental impacts of these projects is then published in the Impact Report biennially, the first of which is due later in 2023.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the green financing programme, what factors will determine the issuing of (a) sovereign green gilts and (b) green savings bonds.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Green Financing Programme raises financing which is earmarked towards eligible green expenditures, as set out in the Green Financing Framework, which is available at the link below:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-government-green-financing
The amount of eligible green expenditures determines the total green financing that is needed, and therefore the size of the Green Financing Programme each year.
The amount of financing raised through Green Savings Bonds issued by National Savings and Investments is influenced by wider market conditions and how competitive the Green Savings Bond is relative to comparable retail savings products at the time. As at 31 March 2023, the total amount invested in Green Savings Bonds was £915.7 million.
The majority of green financing that is needed is raised via issuance of green gilts through the Debt Management Office.
The overall planned amount of financing to be raised via issuance of green gilts is set out before the start of the financial year in the Debt Management Report. The 2023-24 Debt Management Report states that the government plans to issue £10bn of green gilts this financial year, subject to demand and market conditions., The Report is available at the link below:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/debt-management-report-2023-24
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of National Savings and Investments green savings bonds at raising capital for green projects.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
National Savings and Investments’ (NS&I’s) core purpose is to raise cost effective financing for the Government. Green Savings Bonds are currently offered at a 4.20% interest rate to UK savers. As with all products NS&I keeps these interest rates under review and will continue to align with its operational framework, which is to ensure that NS&I remains cost-effective for the government whilst balancing the interests of its savers, tax payers and the market.
Every year the list of projects funded by the Green Savings Bond is published in the Allocation Report, the environmental impacts of these projects is then published in the Impact Report biennially, the first of which is due later in 2023. Previous reports are available here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-government-green-financing
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with the Bank of England on ensuring financial services sector support for the delivery of the UK’s nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to delivering the UK’s Nationally Determined Contribution and transforming the economy in line with its target to reach net zero by 2050.
Recognising the importance of the financial services sector in the transition, we have published the 2023 Green Finance Strategy – Mobilising Green Investment, where we set out a framework for the UK’s ambition to become the world’s first Net-Zero-aligned Financial Centre. Through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, the Government has also added the UK's net zero target and environmental targets into the regulatory principles of the financial services regulators, including embedding the consideration of these across the full breadth of the Prudential Regulation Authority’s general functions and the Bank of England’s functions as a regulator of certain financial market infrastructure.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing new rules for ISAs requiring that savings be invested in Government-backed green bonds to be eligible for tax relief.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government plans to issue £10.0 billion of green gilts in 2023-24, subject to demand and market conditions. This is alongside the NS&I’s retail Green Savings Bonds which retail investors can purchase to contribute to financing the fight against climate change and other environmental challenges.
The Government recognises the popularity of ISAs, which provides savers a generous tax-free allowance of up to £20,000 per annum. Around 11.8 million Adult ISA accounts were subscribed to in 2021 to 2022. ISAs form part of the Governemnt’s commitment to support all people at all stages of life to save, and it is important that ISAs continue to be a core savings and investment product that incentivises greater saving.
The government has no plans to restrict ISAs to government backed green bonds.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the Whole of Government Accounts for the financial years (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22 have not been published; and when he plans to publish those accounts.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
As set out to the Public Accounts Committee in December 2022, delays to the publication of the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) have been caused by IT system performance issues and delays to the timeliness of data returns.
The letter to PAC also set out a future delivery timetable for WGA that was formed in collaboration with the National Audit Office (NAO). This set out the plan to publish the 2020-21 WGA in quarter 3 of 2023 and the 2021-22 WGA published in spring 2024.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of the Green Financing Programme on (a) the net zero target and (b) the sixth carbon budget.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Green Financing Programme has raised more than £29bn since its launch in 2021. Financing raised from the programme is earmarked towards eligible green expenditures.
The expenditures earmarked to the Green Financing Programme in the 2021-22 financial year are listed in the Government’s ‘UK Green Financing Allocation Report’, published in September 2022. The environmental impact of these expenditures is being evaluated and will be presented in the Impact Report due for publication in September 2023.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money was invested in National Savings and Investments green savings bonds in the financial year 2022-23.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
During the 2022-23 Financial Year, £622,660,000 was invested in NS&I’s Green Savings Bonds.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to The Financial Conduct Authority’s response to the Complaints Commissioner’s Annual Report 2021/2022 what steps he is taking to ensure the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) meets its target of resolving 75% of cases within 8 weeks; how long it is taking to resolve the cases not resolved within 16 weeks; if he will ask the FCA to publish data on the number of complaints that were not resolved within (a) 8, (b)16 and (c) more than 16 weeks that were subsequently withdrawn; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is clear that the regulators should deal with all complaints in a timely manner, recognising that some cases will be more complex than others and therefore take more time to resolve.
The FCA is operationally independent but I have asked them to respond to you directly on your specific questions about the time taken by the FCA to resolve complaints submitted through the Complaints Scheme.
Anyone who is directly affected by the way in which the regulators have carried out their functions can raise a complaint through the regulators’ complaints scheme. This scheme is overseen by the Complaints Commissioner, who provides independent scrutiny of the regulators and is responsible for reviewing the effectiveness of the regulators’ complaints processes.