Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that Teesside is not disadvantaged by the withdrawal of EU funding when the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by David Gauke
To ensure stability and certainty in the period leading up to our departure from the EU, the Chancellor has announced that structural and investment fund projects in the UK that are signed before the Autumn Statement will be guaranteed. In addition, projects where UK organisations bid directly and competitively for EU funding, such as Horizon 2020 funded projects, will be guaranteed by the UK Government if the bids are won before our departure.
Leaving the EU means we will want to take our own decisions about how to deliver the policy objectives previously targeted by EU funding. Over the coming months, we will consult closely with stakeholders to review all EU funding schemes in the round, to ensure that any ongoing funding commitments best serve the UK‘s national interest, while ensuring appropriate investor certainty.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Enterprise Investment Scheme, Venture Capital Trust, tax relief or Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme have offered low-risk investment opportunities in energy generation; and what his Department's definition of low-risk is in this context.
Answered by David Gauke
The purpose of the tax-advantaged venture capital schemes is to provide funding to smaller, higher-risk companies that would otherwise struggle to access finance to develop and grow. To target the schemes at these companies, and to ensure investment is not crowded out by low-risk investment opportunities, the schemes exclude certain activities from qualifying for investment under the schemes.
The list of excluded activities is updated as necessary to exclude activities that are able to access finance from the market and which may therefore be regarded as lower risk. These include asset-backed activities, such as property dealing and development, leasing of assets or exploiting acquired copyrights, general financial and professional services, and financing activities that can divert the tax reliefs to non-qualifying activities. For these activities, a lack of proven track record is unlikely to affect the company’s ability to access finance. In addition, such activities are likely to have collateral against which loans can be secured.
In recent years, the Government has been concerned about the disproportionate amount of tax-advantaged investment in certain energy generation activities. Their asset-backed nature makes it easier for these activities to access mainstream finance. Therefore the Government has taken several steps to exclude certain types of energy generation from the schemes, including in 2012, 2014 and 2015.
The Government keeps all tax-advantaged venture capital schemes under review, and makes changes where necessary to ensure the schemes remain well-targeted and effective.
Asked by: Anna Turley (Labour (Co-op) - Redcar)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the interest rate hedging products redress scheme operated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The information requested is available on the Financial Conduct Authority’s website:
http://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/financial-services-products/banking/interest-rate-hedging-products.