Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consultations they have had with UK mortgage lenders regarding their assessment procedures, including the use of algorithms, for creditworthiness; and what steps they will take to ensure that first-time-buyers who have been renting from more than one landlord immediately prior to their mortgage application will not be disadvantaged during credit record checks.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The Treasury are in regular contact with mortgage lenders on all aspects of their business, including lending to first-time buyers. However, the pricing and availability of loans is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. Likewise, beyond what is set out in regulation, the factors that lenders take into consideration when assessing mortgage applications is a commercial decision for individual lenders to make.
Nevertheless, this Government remains committed to making the aspiration of homeownership a reality for as many households as possible. Indeed, we are investing £11.5 billion to build more of the affordable, quality homes this country needs, and operate a range of schemes that aim to: increase the supply of low-deposit mortgages for credit-worthy households, increase the availability of new housing, and stimulate economic growth. These include First Homes, Shared Ownership through the Affordable Homes Programme and the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme. The Government also helps first-time buyers to save for a deposit through the Lifetime ISA and Help to Buy: ISA. Over 800,000 households have been helped to purchase a home since spring 2010 through these Government-backed schemes, with the annual number of first-time buyers at a 20-year high in 2021.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what level of economic growth was achieved in the UK in each of the last 25 financial years.
Answered by Viscount Younger of Leckie - Shadow Minister (Work and Pensions)
Data on GDP growth for the last 25 financial years can be found online at the following link and is provided in the attached. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/datasets/uksecondestimateofgdpdatatables
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consultation they have undertaken with banking and finance industry bodies about the new requirements for two factor authentication for online payments, in particular relating to (1) potential disruption to business continuity, (2) consumer confidence, and (3) the cost of additional time incurred.
Answered by Baroness Penn
Regulatory technical standards relating to Strong Customer Authentication have been introduced across retail banking and payment services. These set industry requirements regarding two-factor authentication, for which the Financial Conduct Authority is the responsible authority.
The FCA consulted ahead of making regulatory technical standards for strong customer authentication, and have taken steps to ensure that as far as possible retailers are ready, including working though UK Finance and engaging with retailer trade bodies. Recognising concerns about industry readiness, and to account for impacts of COVID-19, implementation for card-based e-commerce transactions was postponed in several stages, from September 2019 to March 2022.
The rules aim to ensure that the person requesting access to your account, or trying to make a payment, is either you or someone to whom you have given consent. This is in order to enhance consumer protection and improve security.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Penn on 21 February (HL6023 and HL6024), what impact analysis was undertaken by HM Treasury on the impact of the UK's departure from the EU on income tax and national insurance receipts prior to the enactment of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020.
Answered by Baroness Penn
HMRC did not undertake any analysis of the impact of the enactment of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 on Income Tax and National Insurance contribution receipts.
The Withdrawal Agreement has no effect on the arrangements to protect individuals and businesses from double taxation where the same income or gains are taxable in both countries. The UK has bilateral double taxation agreements with all EU Member States, which continue to apply now that the UK has left the EU.
The Withdrawal Agreement applies the EU Regulations on social security coordination to individuals in a ‘cross-border situation’ involving the UK and the EU at the end of the transition period, ensuring that they continue to pay social security contributions into one country’s scheme at a time.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the loss to the Treasury in (1) tax, and (2) National Insurance, from jobs previously undertaken in the UK that were outsourced to other parts of the world in (a) 2015, and (b) 2021.
Answered by Baroness Penn
HMRC has not made any assessment of the loss to the Treasury of tax or National Insurance from:
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the loss to the Treasury of (1) tax, and (2) National Insurance, from individuals from Europe who have returned to the EU since the UK's departure from the EU.
Answered by Baroness Penn
HMRC has not made any assessment of the loss to the Treasury of tax or National Insurance from:
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the calculation for the increased passenger duty on long-haul flights will be made on the shortest distance between the UK and the intended destination, or the route to be taken by the airline concerned.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Distance bands within Air Passenger Duty are based on the distance from London to the destination country’s capital city.
Distance to a country's capital city is used as a straightforward proxy for distance to that country, making it as easy as possible to administer the tax – as well as improving transparency for the end consumer.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the changes to alcohol duty announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 27 October, what the situation will be for wines which are laid down en primeur, prior to 31 March 2023.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The changes announced at the Budget will take effect on 1 February 2023. Any wine which is released for consumption after this date will incur the new duty rates, in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the financial capability of UK citizens; whether it is affected by (1) age group, (2) gender, or (3) region; and what plans they have to review the provision of financial education in secondary schools.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The government is committed to ensuring that people are able to use, and maximise their use of, products and services made available by the financial services industry. Government policy on financial capability and education focuses on ensuring that people can access the guidance they need and have the confidence and skills to successfully engage with their finances. That is why the government established the Money and Pension Service (MaPS) in January 2019, merging the three former organisations providing free-to-use financial guidance (the Money Advice Service, The Pensions Advisory Service, and Pension Wise) to simplify the existing public financial guidance landscape and offer more holistic support to consumers.
MaPS’s 2018 Adult Financial Capability Survey identified and measured the key components of financial capability through a large, nationally representative sample. This data can be broken down across a range of sociodemographic factors including age, gender and region. The full dataset is publicly available and will be updated later this year.
In 2020, MaPS published the UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing, which sets out five national goals to improve the UK’s financial wellbeing by 2030. These include 2 million more children and young people getting a meaningful financial education, and 5 million more people understanding enough to plan for, and in, later life. The Strategy also includes three cross-cutting lenses focusing on gender, mental health, and wellbeing in the workplace. MaPS are working closely with a range of stakeholders from different sectors to deliver the Strategy, including to develop delivery plans for each of the four UK nations.
The government has no plans to review the provision of financial education. In 2014, for the first time, financial literacy was made statutory within the National Curriculum in England, as part of the curriculum for citizenship education for 11 to 16 year olds. At the same time, the government also introduced a rigorous mathematics curriculum, which provides pupils with the knowledge and skills to make important financial decisions. The Department for Education trusts schools to use their professional judgement and understanding of their pupils to develop the right teaching approach for their school.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many children in receipt of (1) Disability Living Allowance, and (2) personal independence payment, received an additional Child Trust Fund (CTF) payment in each year since 2005; and what estimate they have made of the number of such children who have been able to access savings held in a CTF (a) with, and (b) without, a court order.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Estimates of the number of children in receipt of Disability Living Allowance and/or personal independence payments who received additional Child Trust Fund payments would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
HMRC has created a simple online tool to help young people find out where their account is held. If someone does not know where the CTF is held, they can use this service at any time. This will provide the details of the account. For those who do not have the identifying information required to access the tool, HMRC will provide alternative, non-digital routes to finding a CTF provider upon request. HMRC and The Share Foundation are also working together to help children in need of further support. Further information can be found - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/teenagers-to-get-access-to-child-trust-funds-for-first-time.
Data is not available for those that have accessed CTFs with or without a court order. However, On 1 December the Government made an announcement regarding the clarification of guidance on court fees and CTFs.