Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of recent fluctuations in the exchange rate of the pound sterling on the price of imports and exports.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Many factors have been relevant in driving movements in aggregate trade prices.
While movements in the exchange rate would likely have influenced these changes in trade prices, movements in broader global prices (such as energy and other tradable commodities) have been a far bigger factor in driving movements in aggregate trade prices.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to accelerate progress towards gender equality in the financial services industry.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has a wide programme of work aimed at tackling gender inequality and supporting women in the workplace.
Since 2017, organisations with 250 or more employees have been required to publish specific data on their gender pay gaps annually, ensuring they are aware of their gender pay gaps and are taking steps to improve gender equality in their organisation.
The Government has taken action to ensure that working parents can balance work and care by expanding childcare entitlements, making flexible working simpler to access, and introducing carer's leave.
Regarding the financial services industry specifically, the Government has taken action to ensure the sector remains world-class, and as productive, innovative and competitive as it can be. In 2016, the Government launched the Women in Finance Charter, which aims to ensure that the right talent is being attracted to the sector and that the best and brightest can continue to rise to the top, regardless of their gender.
The Charter’s Annual Reviews have consistently shown that the Charter has stimulated positive progress across the sector. Participation in the Charter is voluntary, and the first wave of signatories to the Charter started out with an average level of senior female representation of 27%. The signatory base has grown since then and average representation now stands at 35%.
The Treasury Committee’s Sexism in the City inquiry recently made a number of recommendations to the industry, the regulators and Government to consider in order to accelerate progress. The Government will respond to the report and its recommendations in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Budget statement announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 6 March, what assessment they have made of the long-term implications of abolishing tax relief for holiday lets and ending multiple dwelling relief from stamp duty land tax on the housing market and local economies.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
By abolishing the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime, the government will remove the current incentive for landlords to offer short‑term holiday lets rather than longer-term homes. This will level the playing field between short-term holiday lets and long-term lets and support people to live in their local area.
An external evaluation exploring the use of Multiple Dwellings Relief showed no strong evidence the relief is meeting its original objectives of supporting investment in the private rented sector.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to reports that retail sales and consumer spending rose at the slowest pace in February since 2022, what steps they are taking to address any challenges resulting from slow growth.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is delivering its plan for growth and is backing British businesses.
The IMF forecasts that the UK will have the third fastest cumulative growth in the G7 during 2024-2028.Therefore, with the economy beginning to turn a corner, we are now able to make responsible tax cuts to boost growth while meeting the fiscal rules to ensure sustainable public finances. This includes cutting the employee main rate of National Insurance to 8% which, will make an average worker on £35,400 over £900 a year better off than before. This means more money in people’s pockets, helping to increase disposable income and consumer confidence.
Government continues to back retailers. At Autumn Statement 2023 we extended Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief for 2024-5, a tax cut worth £2.4 billion, and froze the small business multiplier for a fourth consecutive year. At Spring Budget 2024, the government went further still by supporting small retailers by increasing the VAT registration threshold to £90,000 and extending the Recovery Loan Scheme, now the Growth Guarantee Scheme.
Combined, these measures will place more money in people’s pockets, boost consumer confidence, and help strengthen the UK’s retail sector.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the recent survey conducted by Boston Consulting Group, what steps they are taking to address the chief concerns identified by businesses, such as (1) high energy prices, and (2) taxation.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is backing British business, pursuing an ambitious policy agenda to boost growth and productivity. The OBR expects that policies announced at Spring Budget 2024 and in the previous two fiscal events will increase the size of the economy by 0.7% by 2028-29. This is through increasing total hours worked by the equivalent of more than 300,000 full-time workers and boosting business investment by £14 billion.
The Government provided an unprecedented package of support for businesses with energy costs through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) and the Energy Bill Discount Scheme. Together these schemes have provided around £7.5 billion to businesses for energy costs. In addition, the British Industry Supercharger, announced in February 2023, will significantly reduce electricity costs for key energy intensive industries such as steel, mining, batteries, and critical minerals.
On taxation, at Autumn Statement 2023 the Government made full expensing permanent, representing a tax cut to companies of over £10bn a year, and ensuring the UK has one of the most generous capital allowances regimes in the world. The Government also abolished the obligation to pay Class 2 self-employed NICs. Both announcements demonstrate the Government’s ongoing commitment to tax simplification.
In addition, the Government recognises that accounting for VAT can be a burden on small businesses. This is why we announced at Spring Budget 2024 that the VAT threshold will be raised from £85,000 to £90,000 from 1 April 2024. At £90,000, the UK has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU Member State and the joint highest in the OECD. This keeps the majority UK businesses out of VAT altogether.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support consumers facing financial difficulty due to high credit card interest rates and increasing levels of debt.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to helping people in problem debt. This is why the Government continues to maintain record levels of debt advice funding for the provision of debt advice in England through the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), with a budget of £92.7 million for 2023-24. Government also launched the Breathing Space scheme in May 2021, providing individuals in problem debt who seek debt advice, with a period of protection from creditor enforcement action.
At Spring Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced changes to make it easier to access a Debt Relief Order (DRO) in England and Wales. This included removing the administration fee and widening the eligibility criteria.
The Government also aims to ensure that people, regardless of their background or income, have access to useful and affordable financial products and services. Since 2019, the Government has allocated £145 million of dormant assets funding to Fair4All Finance to support the financially excluded.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support prospective homebuyers amidst recent increases in house prices.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to making the aspiration of homeownership a reality for as many households as possible and consequently operates a range of schemes that aim to increase the supply of low-deposit mortgages for credit-worthy households, including first-time buyers, increase the availability of new housing, and stimulate economic growth. These include the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, which is open until the end of June 2025. We also help first-time buyers to save for a deposit through the Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy: ISA.
Over 876,000 households have been helped to purchase a home since spring 2010 through government-backed schemes.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support property owners facing challenges in refinancing against lower property values.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The most comprehensive measure of average house prices in the UK is published by the Office for National Statistics.
The vast majority of mortgage lenders have signed a voluntary industry agreement that allows their borrowers to secure a new fixed-rate deal without the need to undertake another affordability assessment.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent reduction in grocery price inflation on overall inflationary pressures in the economy.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
In January 2024, food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation fell from 8.0% to 6.9%. This contributed -0.11percentage points to the change in headline inflation in January. Food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation has fallen from a peak of 19.1% in March 2023. The fall in the inflation rate over this period has contributed -1.25 to the change in the headline inflation rate.
The OBR are the government’s official forecaster and published an updated forecast on March 6th. The OBR forecasts that headline inflation will return to the 2% target next quarter, a year earlier than forecast in November.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports of the shrinkage of the non-prime lending market, what steps they are taking to ensure that vulnerable customers have access to fair and regulated credit products.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to taking steps to widen access to affordable credit, and is overseeing a number of initiatives to support this goal.
Since 2019, the government has made £100 million of dormant assets funding available to Fair4All Finance to support their work on financial inclusion, and an additional £45 million for initiatives to tackle the elevated cost of living. The government has also provided Fair4AllFinance with £3.8m of funding to pilot a No-interest Loans Scheme, designed for consumers in vulnerable circumstances who would benefit from affordable rather than high-cost credit.
As part of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, the government has amended the Credit Unions Act 1979 so that credit unions in Great Britain can offer a wider range of products and services.