Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policy of the recommendations of the First Comprehensive Report by the Network for Greening the Financial System, co-authored by the Bank of England, published on 17 April 2019.
Answered by John Glen
The government welcomes the report from the Network for Greening the Financial System and recognises that climate change is a source of financial risks. The government will publish a Green Finance Strategy this year that will set-out its approach to greening financial systems. The government has considered recommendations from the report as part of this process and is working closely with the Bank of England and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Asked by: David Drew (Labour (Co-op) - Stroud)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the Government plans to increase VAT on domestic solar panels and batteries from 5 per cent to 20 per cent in Autumn 2019.
Answered by Jesse Norman - Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
The Government is currently amending VAT rules regarding the installation of certain energy saving materials in order to comply with a ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union while maintaining as much of the relief as possible. The VAT treatment of the vast majority of solar panel installations is expected to be unaffected by the changes.
Under UK law, battery storage systems have always been subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20%.