Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's contingent liability approval framework guidance, updated on 20 April 2023, how many applications for contingent liability approval his Department has (a) received and (b) approved have fallen in the average cost per crystallisation category of (i) less than £10 million, (ii) £10 million to £50 million, (iii) £50 million to £100 million, (iv) £100 million to £500 million, (v) £500 million to £1 billion and (vi) more than £1 billion in each financial year from (a) 2017-18 to (B) 2023-24 to date.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The contingent liability approval framework sets out government’s policy framework for new contingent liabilities and a delegation approach.
The government is committed to transparency on its contingent liability portfolio. For that reason, at the 2023 Autumn Statement UKGI published a comprehensive assessment of government exposure to contingent liabilities, the “Annual Report on the UK Government’s Contingent Liabilities, November 2023”.
Government also reports individual liabilities to parliament, as set out in Managing Public Money.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's contingent liability approval framework guidance, updated on 20 April 2023, how many applications for contingent liability approval his Department has (a) received and (b) approved have fallen in the reasonable worst case exposure category of (i) less than £10 million, (ii) £10 million to £50 million, (iii) £50 million to £100 million, (iv) £100 million to £500 million, (v) £500 million to £1 billion and (vi) more than £1 billion in each financial year from (A) 2017-18 to (B) 2023-24 to date.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The contingent liability approval framework sets out government’s policy framework for new contingent liabilities and a delegation approach.
The government is committed to transparency on its contingent liability portfolio. For that reason, at the 2023 Autumn Statement UKGI published a comprehensive assessment of government exposure to contingent liabilities, the “Annual Report on the UK Government’s Contingent Liabilities, November 2023”.
Government also reports individual liabilities to parliament, as set out in Managing Public Money.
Asked by: Emily Thornberry (Labour - Islington South and Finsbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's contingent liability approval framework guidance, updated on 20 April 2023, what the total lifetime expected net cost was of all the applications for contingent liability approved by his Department in each financial year from (a) 2017-18 to (b) 2023-24 to date.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The contingent liability approval framework sets out government’s policy framework for new contingent liabilities and a delegation approach.
The government is committed to transparency on its contingent liability portfolio. For that reason, at the 2023 Autumn Statement UKGI published a comprehensive assessment of government exposure to contingent liabilities, the “Annual Report on the UK Government’s Contingent Liabilities, November 2023”.
Government also reports individual liabilities to parliament, as set out in Managing Public Money.
Asked by: James Heappey (Conservative - Wells)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what (a) fiscal and (b) economic conditions have to be met for defence spending to be raised to 2.5% of Gross Domestic Product.
Answered by Laura Trott - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The government’s aspiration is to invest 2.5% of GDP on defence, when the fiscal and economic circumstances allow. The Prime Minister has been clear that the target and path towards 2.5% will be set out at the next Spending Review.
The government has consistently prioritised defence spending. The Ministry of Defence was the first department to get certainty on its budgets in this Parliament. This settlement was the largest sustained spending increase in defence since the end of the Cold War, with a £24 billion uplift in cash terms over the four-year period. In March 2023, we also provided an extra £11 billion for defence and national security priorities over the next five years, with £4.95 billion over the next two years.
Asked by: Drew Hendry (Scottish National Party - Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the use of different economic forecasts by (a) the Bank of England and (b) the OBR on (i) monetary and (ii) fiscal decisions.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Monetary policy is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England, so the government rightly does not comment on the conduct of monetary policy. The MPC publishes its forecasts on a quarterly basis to inform its monetary policy decisions.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the UK government’s independent official forecaster and publishes economic and fiscal forecasts at least twice per year alongside fiscal events. The OBR provides independence, transparency and credibility via its assessment of the economic and fiscal position and as the official forecaster it is right that it is the basis for government fiscal policy decisions.
The MPC and the OBR have different responsibilities, so it is right that they produce their own forecasts. The MPC’s forecasts reflect policy announced by the government and fiscal assumptions from the OBR and HM Treasury.
Asked by: Chris Law (Scottish National Party - Dundee West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department considered instructing the Financial Conduct Authority to investigate Safe Hands Funeral Plans in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury and FCA have worked closely throughout the process of bringing the funeral plans sector into regulation, as well as during the implementation and onset of the new regulatory framework.
However, the FCA is one of the independent regulators responsible for supervising the financial services industry. Although the Treasury sets the legal framework for the regulation of financial services, it has strictly limited powers in relation to the FCA.
In particular, the Treasury has no general power of direction over the FCA and cannot intervene in individual cases.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what funding the UK has committed to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank since becoming a member.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Details on UK funding committed to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) can be found in the AIIB Capital Order 2015 and in the published guidance relating to the AIIB Project Preparation Special Fund.
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the recommendations of Debt Justice's Together Against Debt Manifesto, published in March 2024.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to supporting people in problem debt. This is why at Spring Budget 2024 the Chancellor announced changes to make it easier to access a Debt Relief Order (DRO) in England and Wales.
In May 2021, the Government launched the Breathing Space scheme, providing a period of protections from creditor enforcement action for individuals in problem debt. The Government Debt Management Function (GDMF) have also recently developed and published a toolkit to help public sector creditors identity and support vulnerable individuals.
The Government provides a range of debt advice services through the Money and Pensions Service to meet the needs of individuals in problem debt, including national and community-based services.
Asked by: Alistair Strathern (Labour - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on improving the effectiveness of money laundering regulations.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Officials and Ministers regularly meet the Financial Conduct Authority in its capacity as the supervisor of financial institutions for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing purposes.
On 11 March 2024 HM Treasury launched a consultation on improving the effectiveness of the Money Laundering Regulations (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/improving-the-effectiveness-of-the-money-laundering-regulations).
HM Treasury officials will be engaging with key stakeholders, including among others the FCA, throughout the consultation process.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of re-introducing tax-free shopping for international visitors on retail businesses.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government published its next steps on tax-free shopping in the Spring Budget 2024 which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2024/spring-budget-2024-html.
The OBR published a review of the original 2020 costing of the withdrawal of tax-free shopping in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 6 March, with a follow up supplementary document published on 11 March, which is available here: https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/VAT-RES-costing-review.pdf.
The government welcomes further submissions in response to the OBR’s findings.