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Written Question
Mortgages
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) mortgage term extensions, (b) interest-only payment switches and (c) repossessions in relation to a mortgaged property since the publication of the Mortgage Charter on 26 June 2023.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government’s Mortgage Charter - in addition to the significant safeguards already in place - is providing support to vulnerable households, and mortgage arrears and repossessions remain low.

On 22 March the Financial Conduct Authority published data on the uptake of the Mortgage Charter since July 2023. (https://www.fca.org.uk/data/mortgage-charter-uptake).

More broadly, 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).


Written Question
Mortgages
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the Mortgage Charter on levels of (a) forbearance, (b) arrears and (c) repossessions.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government’s Mortgage Charter - in addition to the significant safeguards already in place - is providing support to vulnerable households, and mortgage arrears and repossessions remain low.

On 22 March the Financial Conduct Authority published data on the uptake of the Mortgage Charter since July 2023. (https://www.fca.org.uk/data/mortgage-charter-uptake).

More broadly, 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).


Written Question
Payment Methods
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the National Payments Vision.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Payments are essential to the UK’s economy, both for individuals and for businesses, and are a cornerstone of growth and competitiveness. The government is committed to maintaining the UK’s reputation for a world-leading payments ecosystem and will publish the National Payments Vision as soon as possible later this year.


Written Question
Economic Growth
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports that the economy returned to growth in January after entering a recession in the second half of 2023, what steps they are taking to (1) support, and (2) sustain positive momentum in, sectors of the economy which have shown signs of growth in 2024.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government is pursuing an ambitious policy agenda to increase growth and productivity across the economy. This includes making full expensing permanent, a tax cut to companies of over £10 billion a year, to ensure the UK has one of the most generous capital allowances regimes in the world and backing the UK’s priority growth sectors. At Spring Budget 2024, the government set out the next steps in delivering a £4.5 billion funding package for strategic manufacturing sectors over the five years to 2030 and announced over £1 billion of new tax reliefs for creative industries.

The IMF forecasts that the UK will have the third fastest cumulative growth in the G7 over the 2024-2028 period and the OBR expects that policies announced in the previous three fiscal events will increase the size of the economy by 0.7% by 2028-29.


Written Question
Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Dodds of Duncairn (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the UK can apply any duty rate on alcoholic beverages in Northern Ireland which are below the EU minimum rate.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The same alcohol duty rates apply across the whole UK. The new alcohol duty system was implemented on 1 August 2023 and moves all alcohol to taxation by strength for the first time. The rates were set at the right level to support businesses and meet public health objectives.

We have implemented these broad reforms across the whole of the UK: taxation by strength, Draught Relief, and Small Producer Relief. This was impossible in Northern Ireland under the original Protocol. The Windsor Framework secured substantive, legally binding changes to ensure that Northern Ireland benefits from the same VAT and alcohol taxes as apply in the rest of the United Kingdom.


Written Question
Financial Services: Compensation
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the systemic impact from the Financial Conduct Authority’s crackdown on wealth management services under the Consumer Duty; what estimate they have made of the likely total compensation that will need to be paid by wealth management firms; and what other areas of the financial sector they expect to be impacted by the Consumer Duty.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Requirements regarding financial adviser ongoing services started in 2013 following the Retail Distribution Review, with additional requirements resulting from the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive in 2018.

In February, the FCA wrote to a number of financial adviser firms requesting information about their delivery of ongoing services, for which their clients continue to be charged. The FCA is collecting this information to assess what, if any, further regulatory work it may undertake in this area.

The FCA’s new Consumer Duty seeks to set a higher and clearer standard of care that firms owe their customers. The FCA is an independent non-governmental body and is responsible for determining the application of the relevant rules. The Government will continue to monitor the effectiveness of Consumer Duty rules, as they bed in and as industry becomes more familiar with them.


Written Question
State Retirement Pensions: British National (Overseas)
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will allow British National (Overseas) visa holders to voluntarily pay up to 15 years' worth of Class 3 national insurance contributions towards a state pension, in cases where such visa holders have been denied access to their Mandatory Provident Fund pension savings by HSBC.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

British National Overseas individuals who live or work abroad (or have previously) are usually able to make backdated voluntary National Insurance contributions payments for the previous six tax years where they have either previously lived in the UK for three years in a row or paid at least three years of contributions.

For the tax years 2016 to 2017 and 2017 to 2018 the government has extended the deadline for paying voluntary contributions to 5 April 2025.

The deadline has also been extended to 5 April 2025 for eligible customers to pay voluntary contributions for the tax years 6 April 2006 to 5 April 2016. Further guidance on the eligibility and deadlines for making voluntary contributions, including for those living or working abroad is published online at https://www.gov.uk/voluntary-national-insurance-contributions(opens in a new tab).

The Government keeps all taxes under review.


Written Question
Tax Avoidance
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2024 to Question 19192 on Tax Avoidance, whether it is his Department's policy to cease recovery of any liabilities incurred before December 2010 in cases where a taxpayer has not received an update for a period of 12 months or more from the initial date of an open enquiry or assessment.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

In the 2019 Independent Loan Charge Review, Lord Morse recommended that the Loan Charge should only apply to loans made on or after 9 December 2010. The Government accepted this recommendation.

Lord Morse was also clear that, for years before this date, where there is an open enquiry or assessment under appeal, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) should still have the ability to pursue the tax due under the existing rules. HMRC has proceeded on this basis and it is its policy to collect tax where it has the ability to do so.

As part of its overall compliance processes and its commitment to update taxpayers at least annually, all of these taxpayers should have received correspondence from HMRC in the last 12 months.

When HMRC opens an enquiry, the information sheet provided includes information about a taxpayer’s right to apply to the First Tier Tribunal for the enquiry to be closed. One of the grounds for making such an application is where there has been an excessive delay during which a taxpayer has not received any communication from HMRC.


Written Question
Inflation: Employment and Pay
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following reports that public expectations for inflation have fallen to the lowest level in over two years, what assessment they have made of the impact of falling expectations on (1) wage growth trends, and (2) employment dynamics; and what steps they are taking to address any potential challenges in sustaining wage growth while maintaining price stability.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Inflation has more than halved, falling from its peak of 11.1% in October 2022 to 3.4% in February 2024 and nominal whole economy total pay has fallen from a peak of 8.9% in the three months to June to 5.6% in the three months to January 2024.

In the three months to January 2024 the unemployment rate was 3.9%, up by 0.1ppt on the year but low by historical standards. The OBR forecast that there will be a moderate rise in unemployment to a peak of 4.5% in Q4 2024 before declining to 4.1% by 2028.

Whilst inflation has fallen it still remains above the 2% target. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) continues to have the government’s full support as it takes action to sustainably return it to target.


Written Question
Foreign Investment in UK
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 2 March concerning the requirement by 2027 for pension funds to disclose how much they invest in British businesses, what steps they are taking to assess the potential consequences on overall competitiveness and attractiveness of the UK as an investment destination.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Chancellor announced at Spring Budget that the government will introduce new requirements for Defined Contribution pension funds to disclose publicly their level of UK equity investments, working closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) who share responsibility for setting requirements for the market. The FCA will consult in the Spring. The government will introduce equivalent requirements for Local Government Pension Scheme funds in England & Wales. The government will review what further action should be taken if the data does not demonstrate that UK equity allocations are increasing.

This complements the wider reforms that the Government and regulators are already undertaking to boost UK markets.