Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans her Department has to introduce (a) semi-transparent and (b) non-transparent Exchange Traded Funds.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to supporting the UK’s world-leading asset management sector.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are often domiciled outside of the UK to benefit from increased marketing access, and existing pockets of administrative expertise. However, many of these funds are still managed here - 49% of all assets managed in the UK are managed on behalf of overseas clients.
Semi-transparent and non-transparent ETFs which are domiciled in Europe can list in the UK and market to retail investors, following the UK’s recognition of certain retail funds from the EEA states, under the Overseas Funds Regime.
At present no non-transparent or semi-transparent ETFs have sought to be established in the UK. The Financial Conduct Authority, as the relevant regulator, would deal with any such applications on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she is considering steps to incentivise domicile Exchange Traded Funds in the UK if they have a significant corporate footprint in country.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is home to the world’s second largest investment management sector, with over £10.9 trillion of assets under management (11% of global assets). The UK has historic expertise in portfolio management, a crucial part of the Financial Services ecosystem. The UK Government is committed to supporting this important sector and in the recently published Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy committed to be one of the most competitive places globally to manage investments.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are often domiciled outside of the UK for a range of reasons including marketing access, and existing pockets of administrative expertise. However, many of these funds are still managed here - 49% of all assets managed in the UK are managed on behalf of overseas clients.
The Government has undertaken a wealth of work to enhance the UK’s fund domicile offering, including as part of the recent review of the UK funds regime. This has led to the introduction of new UK fund structures focused on enhancing real-economy investment including the Reserved Investor Fund, the Long-Term Asset Fund and Qualifying Asset Holding Companies.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she is taking steps to establish an Exchange Traded Fund.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK is home to the world’s second largest investment management sector, with over £10.9 trillion of assets under management (11% of global assets). The UK has historic expertise in portfolio management, a crucial part of the Financial Services ecosystem. The UK Government is committed to supporting this important sector and in the recently published Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy committed to be one of the most competitive places globally to manage investments.
Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are often domiciled outside of the UK for a range of reasons including marketing access, and existing pockets of administrative expertise. However, many of these funds are still managed here - 49% of all assets managed in the UK are managed on behalf of overseas clients.
The Government has undertaken a wealth of work to enhance the UK’s fund domicile offering, including as part of the recent review of the UK funds regime. This has led to the introduction of new UK fund structures focused on enhancing real-economy investment including the Reserved Investor Fund, the Long-Term Asset Fund and Qualifying Asset Holding Companies.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to review the definition of recycled in Section 49 of the Finance Act 2021 to recognize organic recycling through food waste schemes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Plastic Packaging Tax provides a clear economic incentive for businesses to use recycled plastic in the manufacture of plastic packaging, thereby stimulating the collection and recycling of plastic waste and diverting it away from landfill or incineration. The government has no plans to review the definition of recycled plastic that is used for the tax.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy to review the level of the Video Games Expenditure Credit for projects with a budget of £10m or less.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government recognises the importance of the UK’s video games sector and the key role it plays in driving economic growth. As part of our modern Industrial Strategy, we are developing a creative industries sector plan with business, local leaders, and sector experts.
The Government supports the video games sector through the tax system and through funding. Video games companies already benefit from the Video Games Expenditure Credit (VGEC), which provides a generous tax credit of 34 per cent on UK video games development costs.
In addition, companies may benefit from the £5.5 million UK Games Fund for 2025/26, which helps high-potential start-ups scale-up.
When considering new tax reliefs, the Government has to balance a wide range of factors, including the fiscal position and complexity of the tax system.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a similar scheme to the Small Business Investment Company in the USA.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The government is committed to supporting small businesses, recognising their vital role in driving economic growth and innovation. The government continually reviews its support for small businesses to ensure it remains effective and responsive to their needs.
The government will publish its Small Business Strategy in 2025 after the Phase 2 Spending Review. This will set out the government’s vision for supporting small businesses, from boosting scale-ups to growing the co-operative economy and across key policy areas.
The government already has schemes in place that deliver outcomes similar to the US’s SBIC scheme: providing finance to small businesses.
Currently, the UK offers a range of support mechanisms for small businesses, including the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS), the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), and the Venture Capital Trust (VCT) scheme which provide tax reliefs to investors who make new equity investments in high risk, early stage Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), in order to help them grow and develop.
Additionally, the British Business Bank plays a crucial role in improving access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through various programmes, helping them to grow and succeed. These include programmes which provide funding to professional equity and debt fund managers, as well as guarantees to enable high street lenders provide additional finance to SMEs.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what her planned timetable is for the proposed consultation on e-invoicing.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At Budget 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a public consultation on e-invoicing to promote its wider use across UK businesses and government departments.
HMRC and Department for Business and Trade will be publishing a joint consultation with an expected publication date of early 2025. The consultation will run for 12 weeks and will be open to all business sizes and sectors, individuals, and software providers.
Asked by: Tristan Osborne (Labour - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to HMRC's policy paper on making tax digital, updated on 19 December 2022, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a digital tax system for managing duty on vaping.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The government is committed to modernising tax administration to enhance efficiency and compliance.
HMRC operates on a ‘digital by default’ basis and will look to mandate digital channels by which all businesses within the scope of the Vaping Products Duty (VPD) must register, report and pay online, with exceptions only for those who are digitally excluded by virtue of protected characteristics. This was set out in VPD consultation response document: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/672263b43ce5634f5f6ef582/Vaping_Products_Duty_consultation_response.pdf