Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to the recommendations of the Treasury Committee's report, Conduct and competition in SME lending, published on 16 March 2015.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Parliament, and its then Treasury Select Committee, dissolved shortly after this report was published and HM Treasury was not able to prepare a response before dissolution.
HM Treasury is considering the Committee’s recommendations and will be responding to the new Committee in due course.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on SMEs of a move from the flat rate scheme for VAT to the general rate.
Answered by David Gauke
HMRC estimates that, on average, businesses moving from the flat rate scheme to standard VAT accounting incur extra administrative costs of £45 per year.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential benefits of increasing the turnover threshold at which it becomes necessary to adopt the general rate for VAT for the tourism industry.
Answered by David Gauke
No such assessment has been made. The Government has chosen to maintain the highest VAT registration threshold in the EU. EU law allows us to increase the threshold in line with inflation, and it has therefore increased to £82,000 with effect from 1 April 2015.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Financial Conduct Authority made an estimate of the potential liability of (a) Lloyds and (b) RBS under the interest rate hedging products redress scheme during the development of that scheme.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Whether the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) made an estimate of the potential liability of any banks is a matter for the FCA. However, it is reasonable to assume that for any conduct issue that arises, the FCA would seek to understand the potential financial impact.
Several meetings took place between Treasury Ministers and the FCA in January 2012 (then the Financial Services Authority), although I understand that FCA’s interest rate hedging products redress scheme was not on the agenda for any of these meetings.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Ministers in his Department met representatives of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to discuss the FCA interest rate hedging products redress scheme in January 2013.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
Whether the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) made an estimate of the potential liability of any banks is a matter for the FCA. However, it is reasonable to assume that for any conduct issue that arises, the FCA would seek to understand the potential financial impact.
Several meetings took place between Treasury Ministers and the FCA in January 2012 (then the Financial Services Authority), although I understand that FCA’s interest rate hedging products redress scheme was not on the agenda for any of these meetings.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of increasing the VAT threshold so that small businesses complying with the new national minimum wage can continue to operate below the VAT threshold.
Answered by David Gauke
The Government has chosen to maintain the highest VAT registration threshold in the EU (set at £82,000 from 1 April 2015). The Government may not increase this threshold further, aside from maintaining its value in line with inflation, without the consent of the European Commission and the unanimous agreement of all EU Member States.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what provision his Department has made in the sales prospectus for RBS shares for the cost of litigation (a) that has commenced and (b) that complainants have given notice of their plans to commence in respect of interest rate swap mis-selling.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
As detailed by the Chancellor in his speech to the Mansion House, the Government has decided to begin a sale of its shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
The Government’s shareholding in RBS is managed at arm’s length from HM Treasury by UK Financial Investments (UKFI). UKFI will be responsible for the design and execution of any future sale.
Provision for the potential impact of regulatory fines or penalties is regularly published by RBS as part of the bank’s accounts process. This information is available to any prospective investor.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what provision his Department has made in the sales prospectus for RBS for consequential losses arising from the FCA interest rate hedging product mis-selling redress scheme.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
As detailed by the Chancellor in his speech to the Mansion House, the Government has decided to begin a sale of its shares in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
The Government’s shareholding in RBS is managed at arm’s length from HM Treasury by UK Financial Investments (UKFI). UKFI will be responsible for the design and execution of any future sale.
Provision for the potential impact of regulatory fines or penalties is regularly published by RBS as part of the bank’s accounts process. This information is available to any prospective investor.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the Connaught Income Fund Series 1 settlement negotiations.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I was very sorry to hear about the difficulties faced by investors in the Connaught Income Fund Series 1 and hope that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are able to finalise their investigation promptly.
On 10 March, the FCA provided an update on proceedings which can be found here:
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-statement-on-connaught
The FCA is operationally independent from Government and carries out its functions within the framework of statutory objectives and duties agreed by Parliament. In view of the FCA’s independence it would not be appropriate for the Treasury to comment further on this ongoing investigation.
Asked by: Guto Bebb (Independent - Aberconwy)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will request the Financial Conduct Authority to ensure that its investigation into the Connaught Income Fund Series 1 will result in adequate compensation for investors in that fund; and if he will request a timescale for the payment of such compensation.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I was very sorry to hear about the difficulties faced by investors in the Connaught Income Fund Series 1 and hope that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are able to finalise their investigation promptly.
On 10 March, the FCA provided an update on proceedings which can be found here:
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-statement-on-connaught
The FCA is operationally independent from Government and carries out its functions within the framework of statutory objectives and duties agreed by Parliament. In view of the FCA’s independence it would not be appropriate for the Treasury to comment further on this ongoing investigation.