Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will (a) list the spending programmes his Department devolves for administration to local government in England and other local spending bodies and (b) specify the value for each programme for every year for which budgets are agreed.
Answered by Simon Clarke
HM Treasury does not devolve any spending programmes directly to local government in England. The Treasury supports other government departments to deliver their programmes, in conjunction with local government partners.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will set out the (a) number of civil servants and (b) budget devoted to (i) developing targets of individuals and companies for sanctions under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, (ii) designating individuals and companies under that Act, and (iii) implementing enforcement and global application of designations made under that Act in (A) each of the last three years and (B) as at 28 February 2022.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, is the competent authority for financial sanctions in the UK. The staff in post in OFSI was 37.8 FTE as at 31 March 2021. This information can be found in HM Treasury’s Outcome Delivery Plan 2021 to 2022, available at:
The number of staff has since increased and is now increasing again, in light of recent developments in Ukraine. Releasing further details of OFSI’s budget and headcount by function could prejudice its operational effectiveness.
Sanctions policy, and the making of designations, is an FCDO competence.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of rechannelling (a) 10, (b) 25, (c) 50 and (d) 100 per cent of Special Drawing Rights received this year on (i) public sector current spending and (ii) public sector net debt aggregates.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The recent $650bn allocation of IMF SDRs has provided much needed liquidity for vulnerable countries, freeing up resources to pay for crucial needs such as vaccines and food imports. The UK, together with other G20 countries, have called on the IMF to work quickly with the membership to explore options for countries with strong external positions to voluntarily channel a portion of their allocated SDRs, to magnify the impact of the allocation and further support resilient and sustainable recoveries in vulnerable countries.
SDR channelling does not directly affect public sector current spending or public sector net debt.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the appropriate fraction of Special Drawing Rights received this year to re-channel into support for poorer countries.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
A general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) equivalent to about $650bn became effective in August. The Chancellor has committed to channelling up to SDR 4bn to support vulnerable countries, representing circa 20% of the UK’s allocation, starting with an additional loan of SDR 1bn to the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust which provides zero interest loans to low-income countries.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the appropriate fraction of UK Special Drawing Rights received this year to re-channel via Multilateral Development Banks.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
At their October meeting, G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors welcomed progress made by the IMF to provide options for members with strong external positions to channel a share of their allocated Special Drawing Rights (SDR), including considering viable options to voluntarily channel SDR to Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs).
The Chancellor has committed to channelling up to SDR 4bn to support vulnerable countries, starting with an additional loan of SDR 1bn to the IMF’s Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, which provides zero interest loans to low-income countries.
The IMF and MDB partners are developing further channelling options, and we will continue to consider these for UK support.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the context of the termination of the 12 year programme to increase assets in the Exchange Equalisation Account, whether the financing provided via the National Loans Fund increased Net Public Sector Debt in the year funds were transferred.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The additional financing programme of the Official Reserves, which ended in 2019-20, increased both the government’s liquid assets and its liabilities from gilt issuance equally at the point of issuance. Therefore, it had no net impact on public sector net debt.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of a transfer of excess reserves from the Exchange Equalisation Account to the National Loans Fund on public sector debt.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Government considers the current size of the reserves to be appropriate for meeting the objectives outlined in the Exchange Equalisation Account (EEA) Act 1979. Therefore, there has been no assessment made of the potential effect of a transfer of so-called excess reserves from the EEA to the National Loans Fund on public sector debt.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of whether the assets of the Exchange Equalisation Account are in excess of what is required after the issue of IMF Special Drawing Rights in 2021.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The reserves have a clearly defined function as set out in the Exchange Equalisation Account (EEA) Act 1979. The purpose of the reserves includes managing undue fluctuations in the exchange rate, providing foreign exchange services for government departments and to meet the UK’s financial commitment to the IMF. The reserves are available to be able to meet any potential calls as set out in the legislation and are held on a precautionary basis in the event of any unexpected shocks.
The government considers the current size of the reserves to be appropriate for meeting the above objectives.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish an assessment of the impact of re-channelling Special Drawing Rights via the IMF on public sector net debt.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The historic $650bn allocation of IMF SDRs has provided much needed liquidity for vulnerable countries, freeing up resources to pay for crucial needs such as vaccines and food imports. The UK, together with other G20 countries, have called on the IMF to work quickly with the membership to explore options for countries with strong external positions to voluntarily channel a portion of their allocated SDRs, to magnify the impact of the allocation and further support resilient and sustainable recoveries in vulnerable countries.
The OBR reported the fiscal impact of the SDR allocation in its October 2021 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. This noted that the SDR allocation results in an equal increase in both the UK's assets and liabilities and has no effect on wider balance sheet aggregates.
The channeling of SDRs through lending to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) does not directly affect public sector net debt.
Asked by: Liam Byrne (Labour - Birmingham, Hodge Hill)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish an assessment of the impact of his receipt of IMF Special Drawing Rights on public sector net debt.
Answered by John Glen - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The historic $650bn allocation of IMF SDRs has provided much needed liquidity for vulnerable countries, freeing up resources to pay for crucial needs such as vaccines and food imports. The UK, together with other G20 countries, have called on the IMF to work quickly with the membership to explore options for countries with strong external positions to voluntarily channel a portion of their allocated SDRs, to magnify the impact of the allocation and further support resilient and sustainable recoveries in vulnerable countries.
The OBR reported the fiscal impact of the SDR allocation in its October 2021 Economic and Fiscal Outlook. This noted that the SDR allocation results in an equal increase in both the UK's assets and liabilities and has no effect on wider balance sheet aggregates.
The channeling of SDRs through lending to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) does not directly affect public sector net debt.