Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her department has made an assessment of the benefits of tokenised financial infrastructure.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Using distributed ledger technology to tokenise assets could deliver a step change in financial market efficiency, particularly by enabling more efficient, real-time data sharing which could lower operational costs and enhance resilience.
It is important that the government works with the financial services regulators and the sector to understand and deliver these benefits. That is why the government has published its Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy and why it has taken forward the Digital Securities Sandbox which will facilitate the issuance, trading and settlement of tokenised securities in the UK on distributed ledgers. It is also taking forward other initiatives such as the Digital Gilt Instrument, or ‘DIGIT’, which will help demonstrate the benefits of these new technologies.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it will be a formal requirement for the Digital Markets Champion to have a strong proficiency in (a) blockchain and (b) digital assets.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
On July 15th the government published the Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy. The strategy announced that the government will appointing an industry expert as Digital Markets Champion, who will provide leadership from, and for, the sector on wholesale market digitalisation. The government is working at pace to identify and appoint a suitable candidate for the role and will provide an update in due course.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Justice Act 1999, what steps she is taking to ensure court proceedings in sexual cases are not repeatedly adjourned.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice’s 2025 impact evaluation of section 28 found that, between January 2019 and September 2022, victims were able to give evidence around five months before the trial. Although trials began one month later on average, the analysis was unable to examine the specific factors causing this delay. While section 28 hearings can occasionally affect scheduling – such as requiring a barrister to leave another trial – the evaluation found no discernible effect on the number of trials that are cancelled or rescheduled as a result of the measure.
The progression of a case through the courts is a matter for the judiciary. Listing and case management decisions are made by the judiciary in collaboration with court listing officers, who prioritise cases involving vulnerable witnesses, including those involving serious sexual offences. To support this, HMCTS has introduced measures such as a national forum for listing officers to share best practice.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to Section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, what steps she is taking to ensure that (a) victims and (b) witnesses are supported following their pre-recorded evidence.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Following the recording of section 28 evidence, victims and witnesses are supported through ongoing contact from Witness Care Units. They are offered access to specialist emotional and practical support services, including counselling where appropriate, to help them manage the impact of their experience. In line with their rights under the Victims’ Code, they also receive clear and timely updates on case progress and outcomes.
The Ministry of Justice provides funding for victim and witness support services, including ringfenced funding for sexual violence and domestic abuse services.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to section 28 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Justice Act 1999, whether she has had discussions with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women and Safeguarding on the use of pre-recorded evidence in cases of (a) sexual assault and (b) rape.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Minister for Victims and Violence Against Women and Girls regularly meets with the Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls to discuss shared priorities. These discussions ensure close collaboration across portfolios and a continued focus on improving support for victims throughout the criminal justice process.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of extending pensions automatic enrolment to jobholders under the age of 22 on those people.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are committed to ensuring people achieve financial security in later life.
That is why we prioritised the Pensions Investment Review and reforms in the Pension Schemes Bill – so that we can be confident savers automatically enrolled into workplace pension schemes can rightly enjoy the best possible outcomes.
Our assessment of the pensions system is that the job is only half finished. In August we published a detailed report with our analysis, including on Automatic Enrolment and those groups not benefitting from pensions or undersaving. Furthermore, we have revived the Pensions Commission to address these very matters of adequacy, fairness and sustainability, especially for lower earners.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are committed to ensuring people achieve financial security in later life.
That is why we prioritised the Pensions Investment Review and reforms in the Pension Schemes Bill – so that we can be confident savers automatically enrolled into workplace pension schemes can rightly enjoy the best possible outcomes.
Our assessment of the pensions system is that the job is only half finished. In August we published a detailed report with our analysis, including on Automatic Enrolment and those groups not benefitting from pensions or undersaving. Furthermore, we have revived the Pensions Commission to address these very matters of adequacy, fairness and sustainability, especially for lower earners.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to implement the Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are committed to ensuring people achieve financial security in later life.
That is why we prioritised the Pensions Investment Review and reforms in the Pension Schemes Bill – so that we can be confident savers automatically enrolled into workplace pension schemes can rightly enjoy the best possible outcomes.
Our assessment of the pensions system is that the job is only half finished. In August we published a detailed report with our analysis, including on Automatic Enrolment and those groups not benefitting from pensions or undersaving. Furthermore, we have revived the Pensions Commission to address these very matters of adequacy, fairness and sustainability, especially for lower earners.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that stablecoin issuers maintain sufficient backing assets to protect consumers and financial stability.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for the future financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets.
The draft legislation includes a new regulated activity for stablecoin issuance in the UK, meaning firms carrying on this activity will need to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The Government is seeking to bring forward final legislation before the end of this year.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an estimate of the number of individuals who intend to leave the UK following the ending of Business Asset Disposal Relief.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
No estimate of the number of individuals who would leave the UK if Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) were to be abolished has been made.
The government recognises the important role that small businesses and entrepreneurs will play in boosting Britain’s growth. That’s why BADR has been maintained with a generous lifetime limit of £1 million, and BADR rates increases have been phased in over 18 months to give business owners time to adjust.
You can find statistics on the number of claimants, amounts of qualifying gains and tax charged at the BADR rate in table 4 of the Capital Gains Tax accredited official statistics.
Capital Gains Tax statistics - GOV.UK
You can also find an estimate for the cost of BADR in the cost of non-structural tax reliefs statistics:
Tax relief statistics - GOV.UK