Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what amount of interest has been paid to commercial banks on central bank reserves in each of the last ten years; and whether they have considered ending such payments.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Data on the interest paid on central bank reserves backed by bonds held in the Asset Purchase Facility is made publicly available by the Office for National Statistics in its monthly Public Sector Finances publication.
Time period | Interest payable |
Dataset identifier code | MDD7 |
2015 | 1,872 |
2016 | 1,515 |
2017 | 1,501 |
2018 | 3,434 |
2019 | 3,374 |
2020 | 1,078 |
2021 | 941 |
2022 | 13,394 |
2023 | 38,233 |
2024 | 36,335 |
2025 | 25,910 |
These data refer to reserves backed only by bonds held in the Asset Purchase Facility. While data on total interest paid is not available, the Bank of England does publish the aggregate level of outstanding reserves and the Bank Rate.
Paying interest on reserves is an important part of the transmission of monetary policy to the real economy and there are no plans to change the way reserves are remunerated at the Bank of England.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what amounts associated with the Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility are included in the cumulative government debt; and whether they plan to exclude them from the total.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Information on the contribution to debt from the Bank of England and Asset Purchase Facility are routinely published in the monthly Public Sector Finances statistical release. The latest release, published by the Office for National Statistics on 20th March, showed that the impact on government debt from Asset Purchase Facility gilt holdings was £85.1 billion at the end of February 2026.
The Government's fiscal rules target net financial debt (Public sector net financial liabilities), to prioritise investment to drive long-term growth while getting debt falling as a share of the economy. Net financial debt includes the Bank of England’s balance sheet activities, including the Asset Purchase Facility.
Asked by: Lord Black of Brentwood (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether building societies exercise their powers to terminate membership of their members fairly and proportionately.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is keen to ensure that regulation is proportionate and gives building societies the flexibility to choose what works best for them within the mutual model. It would be inappropriate for the Government to comment on specific governance decisions taken by a building society within the legal framework.
A building society's membership policy is set out in the society's rulebook. If an individual feels procedure has not been followed, they can raise a formal complaint with the building society directly.
Where termination of membership also results in loss of access to a payment service, further protections may also apply. In June 2025, the Government legislated to require payment service providers to give customers at least 90 days’ notice before closing their account or terminating a payment service and provide a sufficiently detailed and specific explanation so the customer can understand why it is being terminated. These rules come into force for relevant new contracts from April 2026 and will ensure more transparent and predictable access to payment services, giving customers the time and information they need to challenge decisions or find alternative arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Sikka (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to revise regulation of shadow banks following the collapse of Market Financial Solutions.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury continues to work closely with the Bank of England and the regulators to monitor and respond to developments in the non-bank financial sector. The Treasury keeps the regulatory framework under review and is closely engaged in international work to understand and mitigate financial stability risks in respect of non-banks, including at the Financial Stability Board and G7.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the value and volume of steel imported into the UK in each of the last three calendar years, broken down by country of origin; and what percentage of total steel imports each country accounted for in each year.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The data on imports of steel is given in the attached tables in Annex A (volume) and Annex B (value).
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as an Accredited National Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com ).
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have, pending implementation of the review of the Financial Ombudsman Service, to issue interim guidance for cases where Financial Ombudsman Service decisions raise questions about the interpretation of regulatory responsibilities across the financial services sector; or to encourage the Financial Conduct Authority to do so.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
On Monday 16 March, the Government published a response to its consultation on reforming the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), confirming that the government will legislate to stop the FOS acting as a quasi-regulator and provide greater regulatory coherence with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The FOS was not intended to create binding precedents or new rules through its determinations, which are made based on all the individual circumstances of the case. The Government’s review concluded that there was not always coherence between the regulatory approach set by the FCA and the approach used by the FOS in determining individual complaints and, in a small but significant minority of cases, this had led to the FOS acting as a quasi-regulator. The Government’s reforms will ensure that FOS determinations are fully aligned with the regulatory standards set by the FCA.
The Government will bring forward legislation to deliver the reforms when parliamentary time allows. Alongside the Government’s response, the FCA and the FOS published a paper seeking views on a number of changes they can make in advance of legislation, including updates to the fair and reasonable test and initial implementation of the new referral mechanism.
The reforms will improve cooperation between the FOS and the FCA, including through introducing a referral mechanism, which will require the FOS to seek a view from the FCA where the FOS considers there may be ambiguity in what FCA rules require, or where it considers an issue raised may have wider implications across the financial services industry, which the FCA will be required to respond to. The FOS and the FCA have implemented an initial version of this mechanism through their updated Memorandum of Understanding.
The reforms will also require the FCA and the FOS to publish regular thematic reports, which will explain the FOS’s approach to types of complaints that it receives. This will provide greater certainty on the approach used by the FOS to resolve disputes, and which demonstrates how that approach is aligned with the regulatory standards set by the FCA. In their joint paper, the FOS and the FCA set out that they will work with the Government to consider how greater clarity could be provided ahead of any legislative change.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the Financial Ombudsman Service fully utilises established consultation mechanisms, including the Wider Implications Framework between the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Conduct Authority in cases with potential market-wide impact.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
On Monday 16 March, the Government published a response to its consultation on reforming the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), confirming that the government will legislate to stop the FOS acting as a quasi-regulator and provide greater regulatory coherence with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The FOS was not intended to create binding precedents or new rules through its determinations, which are made based on all the individual circumstances of the case. The Government’s review concluded that there was not always coherence between the regulatory approach set by the FCA and the approach used by the FOS in determining individual complaints and, in a small but significant minority of cases, this had led to the FOS acting as a quasi-regulator. The Government’s reforms will ensure that FOS determinations are fully aligned with the regulatory standards set by the FCA.
The Government will bring forward legislation to deliver the reforms when parliamentary time allows. Alongside the Government’s response, the FCA and the FOS published a paper seeking views on a number of changes they can make in advance of legislation, including updates to the fair and reasonable test and initial implementation of the new referral mechanism.
The reforms will improve cooperation between the FOS and the FCA, including through introducing a referral mechanism, which will require the FOS to seek a view from the FCA where the FOS considers there may be ambiguity in what FCA rules require, or where it considers an issue raised may have wider implications across the financial services industry, which the FCA will be required to respond to. The FOS and the FCA have implemented an initial version of this mechanism through their updated Memorandum of Understanding.
The reforms will also require the FCA and the FOS to publish regular thematic reports, which will explain the FOS’s approach to types of complaints that it receives. This will provide greater certainty on the approach used by the FOS to resolve disputes, and which demonstrates how that approach is aligned with the regulatory standards set by the FCA. In their joint paper, the FOS and the FCA set out that they will work with the Government to consider how greater clarity could be provided ahead of any legislative change.
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Financial Ombudsman Service's ability to set precedents that create new rules and thereby bypass the Financial Conduct Authority and established regulatory processes.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
On Monday 16 March, the Government published a response to its consultation on reforming the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), confirming that the government will legislate to stop the FOS acting as a quasi-regulator and provide greater regulatory coherence with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The FOS was not intended to create binding precedents or new rules through its determinations, which are made based on all the individual circumstances of the case. The Government’s review concluded that there was not always coherence between the regulatory approach set by the FCA and the approach used by the FOS in determining individual complaints and, in a small but significant minority of cases, this had led to the FOS acting as a quasi-regulator. The Government’s reforms will ensure that FOS determinations are fully aligned with the regulatory standards set by the FCA.
The Government will bring forward legislation to deliver the reforms when parliamentary time allows. Alongside the Government’s response, the FCA and the FOS published a paper seeking views on a number of changes they can make in advance of legislation, including updates to the fair and reasonable test and initial implementation of the new referral mechanism.
The reforms will improve cooperation between the FOS and the FCA, including through introducing a referral mechanism, which will require the FOS to seek a view from the FCA where the FOS considers there may be ambiguity in what FCA rules require, or where it considers an issue raised may have wider implications across the financial services industry, which the FCA will be required to respond to. The FOS and the FCA have implemented an initial version of this mechanism through their updated Memorandum of Understanding.
The reforms will also require the FCA and the FOS to publish regular thematic reports, which will explain the FOS’s approach to types of complaints that it receives. This will provide greater certainty on the approach used by the FOS to resolve disputes, and which demonstrates how that approach is aligned with the regulatory standards set by the FCA. In their joint paper, the FOS and the FCA set out that they will work with the Government to consider how greater clarity could be provided ahead of any legislative change.
Asked by: Lord Sharpe of Epsom (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what volume of iron ore imports into the UK there was in each of the last three calendar years, broken down by (1) fines, (2) pellets, (3) lump ore and (4) other iron-bearing feedstocks, and by country of origin.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The data on imports of ferrous scrap is given in table 1.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as an Accredited National Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com ).
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Table 1: UK import volumes (kg) of Iron ore per year, from 2023 to 2025 | |||
Country | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
Sweden | 944,860,000 | 650,899,243 | 909,881,920 |
Brazil | 1,293,175,122 | 524,445,534 | 598,107,272 |
Canada | 1,290,465,000 | 496,900,000 | 565,870,677 |
Norway | 1,187,212,714 | 368,949,807 | 27,807,184 |
United States | 596,604,115 | 492,035,282 | 215,978,363 |
South Africa | 745,243,000 | 16,017,200 | 188,157,000 |
Mauritania | 315,269,000 | 248,684,000 | 356,403,000 |
Liberia | 379,172,000 | 243,407,200 |
|
India | 127,150,000 | 71,500,000 |
|
Vatican City | 158,257,000 |
|
|
Egypt | 92,702,000 | 46,135,000 |
|
Uruguay | 47,868,000 | 82,184,000 |
|
Libya | 49,597,000 | 47,248,000 |
|
Netherlands | 329,102 | 78,165,633 | 278,805 |
Trinidad:Tobago |
| 43,061,000 |
|
Australia | 35,718,811 |
|
|
Turkey | 117,089 | 258,720 | 282,240 |
France | 27,193 |
| 1,920 |
Germany | 23,086 |
|
|
Spain |
| 3,018 | 6,178 |
UK | 2,397 | 3,560 | 1,550 |
Chile | 450 |
|
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Sierra Leone |
|
| 233 |
Ukraine |
| 203 |
|
Italy |
|
| 95 |
Ireland | 14 |
|
|
China |
| 2 |
|
Grand Total | 7,263,793,093 | 3,409,897,402 | 2,862,776,437 |
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| Source: HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics / UK TradeInfo.com |
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Notes |
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• Data for 2023-2025 are for calendar years |
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• HS8 26011100, 260112000, 26012000 |
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• Import trade is on a country of origin basis |
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• 2025 is an open year and is therefore provisional and is subject to change | |||
• Country of origin is not required on trade declared through the Intrastat system | |||
Asked by: Lord Cromwell (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that Financial Ombudsman Service determinations do not impose new regulatory expectations on firms operating investment platforms or providing custody and administration services for Self-Invested Personal Pensions outside the Financial Conduct Authority framework; and what safeguards are in place to ensure that the Financial Ombudsman Service does not apply rules, standards or guidance retrospectively in its determinations.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recently carried out a review of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), and consulted on proposed changes to the statutory framework in which it operates. On 16 March, the Government published a response to its consultation on reforming the FOS, confirming it will legislate to stop the FOS acting as a quasi-regulator and provide greater regulatory coherence with the FCA.
The FOS was not intended to create binding precedents or new rules through its determinations, which are made based on all the individual circumstances of the case. The Government’s review concluded that there was not always coherence between the regulatory approach set by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the approach used by the FOS in determining individual complaints and, in a small but significant minority of cases, this led to the FOS acting as a quasi-regulator.
The Government’s reforms will amend the ‘Fair and Reasonable’ test to require that, where firms have met their obligations under relevant FCA Rules, the FOS will be required to find that a firm has acted fairly and reasonably. They will also make clear that the FOS can only consider rules that were in force at the time of the act or omission giving rise to a complaint. These reforms require primary legislation, which the government will take forward when Parliamentary time allows.
Alongside the Government’s planned legislative changes, the FCA and FOS are currently consulting on changes to the Dispute Resolution (DISP) rules in the FCA’s Handbook, which also proposes changes to address industry concerns about the potential for retrospective interpretation of FCA rules and standards.
All FCA authorised firms are subject to the same core regulatory requirements. The FCA communicates to firms, for example through their “Approach to Supervision” publication, that different business models including investment platforms and SIPP providers create different risk and therefore there are different expectations of the firms. The FCA expects firms to understand these risks and mitigate against them. Where appropriate, the FCA will clarify their expectations of different firms. Firms must also meet additional requirements, either rules or guidance, set out by the FCA depending on the specific regulated activities and permissions a firm undertakes and holds.