Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of report by the Asset Management Taskforce’s entitled Investing with Purpose: placing stewardship at the heart of sustainable growth, published in November 2020.

The UK is a world leader in stewardship standards and the report produced by the Economic Secretary’s Asset Management Taskforce, Investing with Purpose, builds on that existing leadership.

The report endorses the Financial Reporting Council’s internationally respected UK Stewardship Code as best in class, and recommends to UK government, regulators and industry how to further embed and improve stewardship standards and the consideration of environmental, social and governance factors.

The UK Government has already taken actions which speak to recommendations made in the report. In November 2020, the Chancellor announced the UK’s intention to make disclosures aligned with the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) fully mandatory in the UK across the economy by 2025, with a significant portion of mandatory requirements in place by 2023. The UK has also taken on board the recommendation to support international efforts to enhance and harmonise sustainability reporting standards, playing an instrumental role in securing important G7 commitments to move towards making climate disclosures mandatory across G7 economies.

The clear recommendations in the report apply across the investment chain and will continue to further enhance the UK’s stewardship regime, ensuring that asset managers are focused on delivering long-term, sustainable benefits for investors, the economy, the environment and society.