Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what are the losses by the Bank of England on holding its bond portfolio that the Treasury has had to reimburse so far in the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Data on these quarterly cash transfers between HM Treasury and the Bank of England are made publicly available by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in their monthly Public Sector Finances publication. The data is available at the following link under the ONS series ID MF7A in worksheet PSA9B:
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department's forecast is for the cost of indexation of the index linked debt on the debt interest charge for the 2024-25 financial year.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office for Budget Responsibility is the UK’s official forecaster, a breakdown of debt interest costs including the interest payable on index-linked gilts is available in the OBR’s detailed aggregates table 6.16 which is published alongside their March 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to increase public sector productivity.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The government has a relentless focus on getting the most out of every pound spent by boosting public sector productivity and by focusing spending on the government’s priorities.
In June, the Chancellor announced the Public Sector Productivity Programme as a means of assessing how productivity can be improved and to ensure the long-term sustainability of our public services.
The programme has focused on embracing the opportunities presented by Artificial Intelligence, reducing the amount of time our key frontline workers spend on administrative tasks and strengthening preventive action to reduce demand on public services.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of trends in public sector productivity since 2019.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
ONS publish annual National Statistics on public service productivity up to 2020. The next annual statistic for 2021 will be published on 26 March. ONS also publish estimates of public service productivity which currently include annual estimates for 2021 and 2022 and quarterly estimates up to 2023 Q3. These are official statistics in development.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what ministerial involvement there is in (a) setting budgets, (b) preparing annual reports and (c) approving annual reports for arms length public bodies.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
How budgets are set and the process for preparing and approving annual reports for arm’s length bodies (ALBs) are dependent on their classification status and their source of income.Further information on the reporting requirements for ALBs can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/657b04390467eb001355f84d/MASTER_FINAL_DRAFT_2024-25_FReM___1_.pdf Further information on the accounting process for each type of ALB can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a74d700e5274a59fa715592/Classification-of-Public_Bodies-Guidance-for-Departments.pdf
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what UK Government Investments Ltd.'s targets are for (a) rates of return, (b) dividends and (c) capital investment.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
UK Government Investments (UKGI) provides governance and corporate finance expertise to UK Government departments in support of their policy objectives.
UKGI performs the shareholder function for a portfolio of arm’s length bodies (ALBs) on behalf of government departments.
The targets and objectives for the individual ALBs within UKGI’s portfolio are set by the relevant department.
Whilst some of these bodies return dividends, others exist to deliver public services such as National Highways.
For example, the UK Infrastructure Bank (UKIB) is an ALB within UKGI’s portfolio. HM Treasury (HMT) are the sponsor department for UKIB and own the shares in UKIB. UKGI advise HMT on corporate governance and act as HMT’s representative on the Board. HMT set relevant targets for UKIB, including a return on equity target of 2.5% - 4% by the end of the financial year 2025-26 (Link here).
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what was the balance of UK Government Investment Ltd. holdings in (a) 2023 and (b) 2024 to date.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
UK Government Investments (UKGI) provides governance and corporate finance expertise to government departments in support of their policy objectives.
The shareholdings of the arm’s length bodies in UKGI’s portfolio are held by the government department that own each organisation rather than held on the UKGI balance sheet.
Details on the UKGI balance sheet can be found in their Annual Report and Accounts (Link here)
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative estimate he has made of the cost of delivering public services due to changes in productivity levels in the 2019-20 and 2023-24 financial years.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Efficiency and productivity are at the heart of the government’s approach to public spending. In June, the Chancellor announced1 a major public sector productivity programme across all government departments, and set out that if productivity growth in the public sector increased by 0.5% a year, we would stabilise the proportion of GDP consumed by the state by closing the gap between anticipated growth and anticipated spending up to 2050.
No comparative estimate has been made of the cost of delivering public services based on historic changes in productivity.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money his Department has sent the Bank of England to cover its losses on bonds in the 2023-24 financial year to date.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
So far in financial year 2023-24, HM Treasury has transferred £33,196 million to the Bank of England to cover losses arising from the Asset Purchase Facility in line with the indemnity provided by HM Treasury. This covers losses incurred from net interest costs and the sale and redemption of bonds.
Data on these quarterly cash transfers between HM Treasury and the Bank of England are made publicly available by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in their monthly Public Sector Finances publication. The data is available at the following link under the ONS series ID MF7A in worksheet PSA9B:
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to raise public sector productivity.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Efficiency and productivity are important priorities for this government.
In June, the Chancellor announced the Public Sector Productivity Programme, as a means of assessing how productivity can be improved. An update on the programme was provided in the Autumn Statement, which includes the finding that frontline workers can spend up to 8 hours a week on administrative tasks. The programme is exploring ways to reduce this number so they can continue doing what they do best, keeping us safe and treating us when we are sick. I will continue leading on boosting productivity in the public sector, with work continuing through to the next Spending Review.