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Written Question
Credit: Legal Opinion
Thursday 7th July 2022

Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answers of 4 July 2022 to Questions 27553 and 27554 on Credit and with reference to Sponsor Designated legal advice, whether his Department, when issuing its debt, provides for its legal advice to be funded by the counter-parties buying that debt.

Answered by Simon Clarke

HM Treasury, when issuing debt through the UK Debt Management Office, does not provide for its legal advice to be funded by the counterparties buying that debt. Each party selects and pays for its own legal advisers as it deems appropriate.


Written Question
Credit
Monday 4th July 2022

Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has raised concerns about the use of Sponsor Designated legal advice in the UK debt market with the (a) Financial Conduct Authority and (b) Solicitors Regulation Authority during the last five years; and if he will make statement.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The UK is well known internationally as a hub for high quality capital markets backed by strong and effective regulation. The Treasury is committed to ensuring the proper functioning of capital markets, including working with the Financial Conduct Authority to monitor any potential risks to UK markets.

The Treasury is not aware of any concerns that Sponsor Designation of legal advice poses a risk to UK debt markets, and as such has not raised this matter with the Financial Conduct Authority or the Solicitors Regulation Authority.


Written Question
Credit
Monday 4th July 2022

Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the total value of transactions in the UK debt market where the legal advice has been provided under Sponsor Designation by the borrower to the lender over the last 10 years; what assessment his Department has made of the potential risk that Sponsor Designation of legal advice poses to the debt market; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The UK is well known internationally as a hub for high quality capital markets backed by strong and effective regulation. The Treasury is committed to ensuring the proper functioning of capital markets, including working with the Financial Conduct Authority to monitor any potential risks to UK markets.

The Treasury is not aware of any concerns that Sponsor Designation of legal advice poses a risk to UK debt markets, and as such has not raised this matter with the Financial Conduct Authority or the Solicitors Regulation Authority.


Written Question
Tax Avoidance
Monday 21st February 2022

Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has plans to revisit its policy on the Loan Charge; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

An independent review of the Loan Charge, which was conducted by Lord Morse in 2019, concluded that it was right for the Loan Charge to remain in force and for the Government to collect the tax due.

The Government accepted all but one of the 20 recommendations in the review and the Government has no plans to revisit the policy.

The charge on disguised remuneration loans is targeted at contrived tax avoidance schemes which seek to avoid Income Tax and National Insurance contributions by paying users their income in the form of loans, usually via an offshore trust. This kind of tax avoidance deprives the Exchequer of funds to deliver vital public services.


Written Question
Money
Monday 5th July 2021

Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Government's policy is on the continued use of physical currency in the form of notes and coins; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The Government recognises that cash is important to the daily lives of millions of individuals and businesses across the UK, particularly to those who may be in vulnerable groups.

Therefore, the Government has committed to protecting access to cash for those who need it and ensuring that the UK's cash infrastructure is sustainable for the long term.

The Government made legislative changes via the Financial Services Act 2021 to support the widespread offering of cashback without a purchase, which will allow shops and other businesses to offer a new form of cash withdrawal service to local communities.

On 1 July the Government published a consultation on broader legislative proposals to protect access to cash. These proposals seek to ensure that people only need to travel reasonable distances to pay in or take out cash, and that the right regulatory oversight for cash access is in place for the future. The consultation is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/access-to-cash-consultation.


Written Question
Self-employment Income Support Scheme
Tuesday 13th April 2021

Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it his policy to bring forward the date of payment of the next Self-Employment Income Support Scheme grant; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The fourth Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) grant will be available to claim from late April.

Grants are now based on 2019-20 tax returns which is the most up to date information HMRC hold for self-employed individuals. As the deadline for 2019-20 tax returns has now passed, HMRC will use these tax returns for the fourth and fifth grants, provided they were submitted by 2 March.

The 2 March cut-off point comes after HMRC gave until 28 February for individuals to file these returns without incurring a late filing penalty. The effect of this is that the Government is now in a position to provide support to hundreds of thousands of newly eligible self-employed individuals.

Using these returns requires time to deliver, due to the increased population and new data. The Government publishes guidance on how to claim the SEISS grants on GOV.UK.


Written Question
Self-employment Income Support Scheme
Wednesday 3rd February 2021

Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish details on the level of the next Self-Employment Income Support Scheme; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Jesse Norman

The Government recognises the importance of supporting the self-employed during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) provides generous support to self-employed people who meet the eligibility criteria.

There will be a fourth SEISS grant covering February to April 2021. Further details on the SEISS, including the fourth grant, will be announced on 3 March.


Written Question
Government Securities: Coronavirus
Tuesday 26th January 2021

Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the (a) potential merits of the issuance of a 50 year coronavirus recovery bond to cover the debt generated by Government borrowing in the last 12 months and (b) size of the attached interest coupon that would be required to make that product attractive to institutional and retail investors; and if he will a make a statement.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Throughout the past year, the Government had announced an extensive package of measures in order to provide the critical support needed by individuals, families, and businesses facing disruption caused by COVID-19. This has significantly increased the Government’s financing requirement in the near term and, as previously announced by the Chancellor, this additional financing will be fully funded via additional borrowing through the Government’s normal debt management operations.

Our core gilt financing programme is the most stable and cost-effective way of raising finance to fund the day-to-day activities of the Government. This includes the significant funding increase required specifically to address the period of economic disruption arising from COVID-19 and the Government’s policy response. The gilt market is deep and liquid, with a good track record in responding smoothly to increases in gilt supply.

At present, the UK Government does not have any plans to introduce coronavirus recovery bonds to help fund the response to COVID-19. The Government remains open to the introduction of new debt instruments but would need to be satisfied that any new instrument would meet value-for-money criteria, enjoy strong and sustained demand in the long term, and be consistent with wider fiscal objectives. The Government recently announced its intention to issue a first sovereign Green Bond in 2021, for example. We keep the introduction of new debt financing instruments under regular review.

The UK already has comfortably the longest average duration to maturity in its debt stock across the G7, at around 15 years. This compares to around 8 years for our closest G7 peer and helps to reduce refinancing risk in the UK. The conventional and index-linked yield curves stretch out to 2071 and 2068, respectively. When setting gilt issuance plans – including on the average duration of issuance – for the year ahead in the spring, HM Treasury and the Debt Management Office (DMO) seek to minimise, over the long term, the costs of meeting the Government’s financing needs, taking into account risk.

Regarding interest rates, the Government is ultimately a price-taker, with the price of government debt determined by the market. The Treasury and DMO do not have target levels for the yields at which debt is issued. When new instruments are issued, the coupon rate is set with reference to prevailing market rates for bonds of the equivalent maturity.


Written Question
Bus Services: Coronavirus
Friday 11th September 2020

Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of supporting commercial coach hire companies in (a) relation to their fuel costs and (b) extending the furlough scheme beyond October 2020 to assist with the payment of drivers' wages for those periods outside the morning and afternoon school runs; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade

The Government has delivered on its promise to stand by businesses and workers throughout the pandemic and has provided one of the most comprehensive and generous packages of support globally. This support has included billions of pounds for businesses through loans and grants, support for millions of jobs through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

Coach companies, along with other businesses, continue to have access to a range of support measures including, but not limited to:

• A Discretionary Grant Fund for Local Authorities in England

•The Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)

• The Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBL) for small and micro enterprises

• VAT deferral for up to 12 months (for the period 20 March – 30 June 2020)

• The Time To Pay scheme, through which businesses in financial distress, and with outstanding tax liabilities, can receive support with their tax affairs

• Protection for commercial leaseholders against automatic forfeiture for non-payment until September 30, 2020.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme opened to all employers on 20th April.


Written Question
Mortgages: Coronavirus
Friday 11th September 2020

Asked by: Charles Walker (Conservative - Broxbourne)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will make an assessment of the effect of using the three month mortgage holiday during the covid-19 outbreak on people's (a) credit ratings and (b) ability to access new mortgage finance deals and other financial services; and if he will make a statement.

Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

The FCA requires that there should be no worsening of arrears status on a consumer’s credit file as a result of taking out a payment holiday. This was reconfirmed in the FCA’s updated guidance published in June and continues to be the case for any borrower taking a payment holiday until 31 October 2020.

However, it is important to remember that when borrowers apply for new credit, lenders will continue to carry out affordability assessments which uses a range of information beyond a credit file. This will include an analysis of income and expenditure, to assess future ability to make repayments, which may have been affected by COVID-19.