Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Harriett Baldwin and John Pugh

Tuesday 1st March 2016 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

The Chancellor has done more than anyone else to tackle the regulatory failure of the 1990s with regard to Equitable Life. For example, with-profits annuitants will receive full compensation for the life of the annuity, pre-1992 annuitants have received ex gratia payments of up to £10,000, and £775 million has been paid out tax-free to others, despite the constrained public finances. Those on pensions credit got a doubling of their payment just before Christmas.

[John Pugh (Southport) (LD)]

Will the Minister clarify how much of the £1.5 billion promised by the Government has been delivered and handed over?

[Harriett Baldwin]

I regularly update Parliament on the precise figures. So far, we are at almost £1 billion. Of course, the payments for the annuitants will continue for the rest of their lives.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Harriett Baldwin and John Pugh

Tuesday 27th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

Of course, the Government remain as committed as ever to implementing a robust ring-fencing regime, as recommended by the Independent Commission on Banking. Obviously, I am not going to comment on speculation about how individual banks would like to implement their ring-fencing rules, because that is a commercial decision for banks, as long as they remain compliant with the considerable restrictions imposed by the legislation. Their deadline is the start of 2019.

[John Pugh (Southport) (LD)]

There is a lot of crying wolf and worried bleating from the banks on this subject of ring-fencing. Is the Minister aware of any banks that have decamped to foreign parts because of it?

[Harriett Baldwin]

The Government are delighted that the UK recently, once again, topped the poll as the No. 1 location for a global financial centre. We believe that our legal system, language, geographical location and brilliant skilled workforce, and many other factors, contribute to this being an excellent place to locate a global financial services firm.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Harriett Baldwin and John Pugh

Tuesday 21st July 2015 Commons Chamber

[Harriett Baldwin]

I am glad that the hon. Gentleman shares my view that it is very important for us to help British businesses to export more. We have some fantastic British businesses, and many of them have started to export. UKTI has doubled the number of companies that it has helped in the past five years. He is absolutely right that we should aim to be very ambitious in this area. I would like to point out that export volumes outside the EU have actually grown by 24% since the first quarter of 2008.

[John Pugh (Southport) (LD)]

14. What steps he is taking to rebalance the economy away from London and the south-east.

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Harriett Baldwin)]

The Government are committed to rebalancing the economy and strengthening every part of the UK. The summer Budget announced new commitments to rebalance the economy, including devolving further powers to city regions, inviting a new round of bids for enterprise zones and launching an ambitious transport package for the north of England.

[John Pugh]

I thank the Minister for that response. Currently, northern cities with elected Mayors have below-average economic performance in their region, whereas northern cities with above-average performances do not yet have elected Mayors. Why are the Government making a fetish of elected Mayors?

[Harriett Baldwin]

I know the hon. Gentleman has a long-standing point of view in this regard. The important point is that we want to empower local economic areas to grow as fast as London and the south-east. Among the important measures in the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill are the strong and accountable governance arrangements for, for example, Mayors.