Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether a separate assessment has been made of the (1) proportionality, and (2) cost, of proposed reforms to actuarial regulation, distinct from the audit profession, in the transition from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to the Auditing, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA).
Answered by Baroness Penn
HM Government consulted publicly on its proposals to reform the regulation of the actuarial profession in chapter 11.2 of its White Paper ‘Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance’. As part of the consultation process, the Government has held discussions with a range of actuarial stakeholders.
The Government is considering the responses to its consultation and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with stakeholders to ensure the future governance of the proposed model for the Auditing, Reporting and Governance Authority (ARGA) takes account of the distinctness of the actuarial professional from the audit and accountancy profession.
Answered by Baroness Penn
HM Government consulted publicly on its proposals to reform the regulation of the actuarial profession in chapter 11.2 of its White Paper ‘Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance’. As part of the consultation process, the Government has held discussions with a range of actuarial stakeholders.
The Government is considering the responses to its consultation and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish their proposals to reform the regulation of the actuarial profession.
Answered by Baroness Penn
HM Government consulted publicly on its proposals to reform the regulation of the actuarial profession in chapter 11.2 of its White Paper ‘Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance’. As part of the consultation process, the Government has held discussions with a range of actuarial stakeholders.
The Government is considering the responses to its consultation and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the proposed alcohol duty system will impact on their ability to cover the costs of alcohol to (1) the NHS, and (2) on society.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
The Government intends to move to a new system that taxes all products in reference to their alcohol content for the first time. This will help to target problem drinking by taxing higher-strength products associated with alcohol-related harm a higher rate of duty.
The Government is continuing to engage with interested stakeholders, including public health professionals, on these reforms. A consultation was launched in October and stakeholders are encouraged to respond before the deadline of 30 January 2022. A tax information and impact note will be published following the consultation when the policy is final, or near final, in the usual way.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for increasing alcohol duty to raise additional revenue to support the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government keeps alcohol duties under review and the impact of changes to alcohol duty is considered carefully at each fiscal event, including its effects on society, the economy and wider needs.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for setting alcohol duty rates at a level where revenue from alcohol duty will match the costs of alcohol to society.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Government keeps alcohol duties under review and the impact of changes to alcohol duty is considered carefully at each fiscal event, including its effects on society, the economy and wider needs.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Office for National Statistics release Quarterly alcohol-specific deaths in England and Wales: 2001 to 2019 registrations and Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) to Quarter 3 (July to Sept) 2020 provisional registrations, published on 2 February; and what assessment they have made of the case for increasing alcohol duty to save lives.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Alcohol duties are kept under review and the impact of a change to alcohol duty is considered at each fiscal event. This takes a variety of data sources into account, including those relating to public health as well as the financial implications of any change.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential financial benefit of increasing alcohol duty to reduce the cost of alcohol-related illness and harms to the NHS.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
All taxes are kept under review and the impact of a change to alcohol duty is considered at each fiscal event, including its effect on health.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the new alcohol duty system (1) protects public health, and (2) helps to reduce alcohol harm.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The Treasury is conducting a review of the alcohol duty system. As part of this it is engaging with public health groups along with other interested stakeholders. However, while public health is an important factor, it is not the sole consideration, as the Government will also need to take account of the wider fiscal and economic implications of reform.
Asked by: Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the health impacts of freezing alcohol duty in the 2020 Budget.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
All taxes are kept under review and the impact of a change to alcohol duty is considered at each fiscal event, including its effect on health. As a freeze in duties involves no changes to rates, the Government expects there to be no direct impact on public health.