Asked by: George Kerevan (Scottish National Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to investigate reports of misconduct by Royal Bank of Scotland relating to small business finance.
Answered by Simon Kirby
HM Treasury has no plans to investigate these reports. This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority, which is undertaking a review.
Asked by: George Kerevan (Scottish National Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the next national audit register.
Answered by David Gauke
We assume that the Hon Member is referring to the National Asset Register. HM Treasury have no plans to publish a National Asset Register. The decision to stop publication of a National Asset Register was made before the first publication of the Whole of Government Accounts for 2009-10. The latest version of the Whole of Government Accounts for 2014-15 was published on 26 May 2016.
Asked by: George Kerevan (Scottish National Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his most recent assessment is of the effect of the Help to Buy scheme on house prices.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) assess the impact of the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme on an annual basis. The most recent review was carried out by the FPC in September 2015. The FPC’s view was that the scheme has not been a material driver of house price growth.
Asked by: George Kerevan (Scottish National Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will assess the potential effects of the Japanese deflation on the UK economy.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Treasury continuously monitors global economic developments, including Japanese inflation developments, and their impact on the UK as part of the normal process of policy development.
Asked by: George Kerevan (Scottish National Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Governor of the Bank of England on the exchange rate of sterling.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has frequent discussions with the Governor of the Bank of England on a wide range of issues relating to the UK economy.
Asked by: George Kerevan (Scottish National Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of where the compensating permanent deficit or deficits will appear in the national income accounts as a result of his Department sustaining a permanent budget surplus.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
In the UK National Accounts, the income and expenditure of different sectors (household, corporate, public sector, and the rest of the world) imply paths for each sector’s net lending or borrowing. By identity, these must sum to zero as for each borrower there must be a lender.
If the public sector were to run a budget surplus, there would be an offsetting change in the net lending position of one of the household, corporate and the rest of the world sectors. More information is available in the latest OBR Economic and Fiscal Forecast (July 2015). A link to the information is provided below:
http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/economic-fiscal-outlook-july-2015/
Asked by: George Kerevan (Scottish National Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of allegations of unusual volumes of short selling of RBS shares in the period immediately before the August 2015 share offering by UKFI.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Chancellor and UK Financial Investments (UKFI) take the allegations of unusual volumes of short selling of RBS shares very seriously. UKFI have analysed the volume of shares on loan in the period immediately before the August 2015 share offering.They have concluded that the increase in the volume of shares on loan ahead of the sale was not material, and did not impact on the final price achieved.
Asked by: George Kerevan (Scottish National Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.152 of Budget 2015, HC1093, what progress his Department has made on introducing a new Horserace Betting Right.
Answered by Damian Hinds
The Government remains committed to replacing the current levy system to create a level playing field for British based and offshore gambling operators. Responsibility for implementing this policy rests with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
It has always been recognised that more work will be needed on the detailed design of a Horserace Betting Right. This work is now under way and DCMS expect it to be completed later this year. A target date for introducing a bill has not been set as this will depend on both the completion of the detailed design work and the availability of Parliamentary time.
Asked by: George Kerevan (Scottish National Party - East Lothian)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate his Department has made of the level of spare capacity in the economy; and on what analysis that estimate is based.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) produces the UK’s official economic forecasts. The Bank of England Inflation Reports also publish an estimate of spare capacity in the UK economy.