Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that investors in pension funds have the right (a) for complaints to be determined by the Financial Ombudsman Service and (b) to receive redress from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) can consider complaints about businesses regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which includes firms that provide self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs). The jurisdiction of the FOS, including which complaints it can deal with, is determined by the FCA and set out in the FCA Handbook. Whether a complaint is eligible or not is a matter for the FOS to consider.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme limit to £500,000 for eligible companies.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government recently expanded the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) to help more UK start-ups to raise higher levels of finance. In April 2023, the amount of SEIS funding that companies can raise was increased from £150,000 to £250,000 and the annual investor limit was increased from £100,000 to £200,000. The eligibility of the SEIS was also expanded as the limit on the age of a company’s trade was increased from 2 years to 3 years and the company gross asset limit was increased from £200,000 to £350,000. These changes increase the generosity and availability of the SEIS whilst ensuring it remains appropriately targeted at those very early-stage companies that investors view as the highest risk. Companies that outgrow the SEIS can utilise the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) to raise further finance.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme on (a) small businesses, (b) investment and (c) job creation.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Autumn Statement 2023, the Government published the report of an independent evaluation of the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), conducted in 2022. The full report can be found on the GOV.UK Website here: Evaluation of Venture Capital Schemes - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on what the average monthly mortgage payment was in Warwick and Leamington constituency in each year since 2010.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
There is a wide variety of data and statistics about the mortgage market in the UK available from the Bank of England (https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics), the Financial Conduct Authority (https://www.fca.org.uk/data) and UK Finance (https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/data-and-research/data).
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the impact of trends in the level of interest rates on homeowners in Warwick and Leamington constituency.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The pricing and availability of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. However, the Government recognises this is a concerning time for mortgage borrowers.
Rising interest rates are in part driven by Bank Rate. Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England. The MPC continues to have the Government’s full support as it takes action to return inflation to target through its independent monetary policy decisions.
The average offered mortgage rates on 2-year and 5-year fixed rates have now fallen from their peak in the Summer.
The Government has taken steps to limit the impact of rising interest rates on mortgage holders, through the Mortgage Charter. This Charter sets out the standards that signatory lenders – who represent over 90% of the UK mortgage market – will adopt when helping their customers.
We have also taken a number of measures aimed at helping people to avoid repossession, including protection in the courts through the Pre-Action Protocol, the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS), and Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans. Accordingly, arrears and repossessions remain low by historical standards, despite the rise in interest costs.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of how many gaming companies in (a) the UK and (b) Warwick and Leamington constituency have benefited from Video Games Tax Relief in the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
While HMRC does not hold information at a constituency level, the number of companies benefiting from the Video games tax relief can be found in Table 4.1 of:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/creative-industries-statistics-august-2023
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many flights the then Chancellor of the Exchequer made to California between 13 February 2020 and 5 July 2022.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Information on HM Treasury Ministerial overseas travel is published regularly on https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance his Department issues on the liability to corporation tax of the video games expenditure credit.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The government will set out the detail of the Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC) alongside draft legislation in Summer 2023 and welcomes feedback. After this is published, the government will provide thorough guidance and education about how VGEC will work.
It was announced at Spring Budget 2023 that VGEC will be introduced from 1 January 2024. VGEC will be calculated directly from qualifying expenditure and have a credit rate of 34%, which will provide a greater benefit than the current Video Games Tax Relief. The expenditure credit model will also provide businesses with greater clarity about the amount of credit they can expect to receive and greater flexibility over production decisions. In addition, this reform will ensure video games tax relief continues to work as intended following the implementation of the OECD ‘Pillar 2’ rules in the UK and elsewhere.
VGEC will be modelled after the R&D Expenditure Credit (RDEC). The credit will be liable to Corporation Tax, like RDEC, and this was taken into account when the credit rate was set at 34%.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many photographers were employed by the Treasury to accompany the Prime Minister while he was in post as Chancellor of the Exchequer; and what was the cost of their salary to his Department.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Photographs of the Chancellor were taken by members of the Communications team alongside other duties, as is common across Government Departments. These photographs were then used to communicate Departmental policy aims.
Asked by: Matt Western (Labour - Warwick and Leamington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the number of non-UK passport holders employed in hospitality in the UK in (a) 2019, (b) 2020, (c) 2021 and (d) 2022.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold information on the passports held by individuals.