Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has a planned timeline for the implementation of digital gilts; and when she expects to lay legislation before the House.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
On 18 March 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer launched the procurement process for the pilot Digital Gilt Instrument (DIGIT) issuance.
Following the announcement, HMT and UK Debt Management Office published the first step in the process, which seeks views from industry to inform the development and delivery of the pilot DIGIT issuance. HMT issued a Preliminary Market Engagement Notice through the contract finder service. These publications provide further information on the scope of the pilot and seek views from potential suppliers and the financial services sector, to inform the development and delivery of DIGIT. This includes information on the current landscape of services available or in development in the UK and what potential investors want to see from a DIGIT issuance.
The market engagement exercise is the first step in our process. A formal tendering process is expected to be launched in late Spring 2025, with DLT suppliers being appointed by late Summer 2025.
The government bought forward secondary legislation at the end of the last year that will enable changes to be made to existing regulations relevant to issuing Government debt within the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS). The current regulations may be unsuitable for a digital issuance and need to be temporarily modified to enable an issuance. Our market engagement is also intended to assist with understanding what elements of these laws need to be changed. Any necessary amendments will require HMT to lay a Statutory Instrument.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to require (a) technology and (b) telecommunication firms to contribute to the cost of (i) fraud prevention and (ii) the reimbursement of victims of fraud on their platforms.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Fraud is a costly crime for citizens, consumers, and businesses.
I welcome existing pledges to prevent fraud made by tech and telecoms firms.
At Mansion House, the Chancellor announced this government would work with tech and telecoms companies to stop their platforms and networks being exploited by criminals.
We are monitoring progress, including work on the second Telecommunications Fraud Sector Charter and implementation of the Online Safety Act.
To balance the requirement on Financial Services to reimburse victims of fraud, Section 72 of the Financial Services and Markets Act enables the sector to manage risk through due diligence checks before releasing payments.
The department will continue to work with the Home Office and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to unlock further prevention efforts across all sectors in the forthcoming update to the fraud strategy.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the Bank of England on the Financial Services Compensation Scheme's compensation limit for (a) consumer and (b) business accounts.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Eligible deposits held by UK banks, building societies and credit unions that are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000, with joint accounts protected up to £170,000. This limit is set by the PRA and applies to both retail and business accounts.
The PRA is required to independently review the limit every five years and will be publishing a consultation on the outcome of its most recent review shortly. Any changes to the limit must be approved by the Treasury and the Government would carefully consider any changes proposed by the PRA.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of merging the Financial Conduct Authority and the Payment Systems Regulator on costs to the Exchequer.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has carried out important work to support the UK’s world leading payments sector. However, moving forward, the Government wishes to see a more streamlined regulatory environment with minimal overlap between regulators’ responsibilities. That is why the Government has announced its intentions to consolidate the PSR and its functions primarily within the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Government will consult on the detail of this proposal in the summer and legislate as soon as possible.
The Payment Systems Regulator is funded by fees levied on industry.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the cost of merging the Financial Conduct Authority and the Payment Systems Regulator.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has carried out important work to support the UK’s world leading payments sector. However, moving forward, the Government wishes to see a more streamlined regulatory environment with minimal overlap between regulators’ responsibilities. That is why the Government has announced its intentions to consolidate the PSR and its functions primarily within the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Government will consult on the detail of this proposal in the summer and legislate as soon as possible.
The Payment Systems Regulator is funded by fees levied on industry.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when her Department plans to lay the Statutory Instrument for the introduction of the PISCES Sandbox.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
As the Chancellor announced at Mansion House in November 2024, the government intends to lay the statutory instrument which will provide the legal framework for the PISCES Sandbox before Parliament by May 2025.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Bank of England on increasing the proposed eligibility threshold in its consultation on minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) to £50bn.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is continuing to engage closely with the Bank of England on its recent consultation on its approach to setting a minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL), which closed on 24 January. The Bank of England sets MREL policy, including the thresholds for MREL, independently in its capacity as resolution authority.
The Government recognises the varied feedback raised by industry, including on the asset-based threshold. The Government’s engagement with the Bank of England has included and will continue to include consideration of this feedback as well as the impacts on economic growth.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money has been raised from stamp duty charged to UK listed equity transactions in each financial year since 2010.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Revenue and Customs does not hold the necessary information on its statistical data systems to separate transactions of UK listed equity and the resulting Stamp Tax on Shares charge from other sources of Stamp Tax on Shares revenue.
However, the majority of Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT) receipts likely relate to UK listed equity transactions. A timeseries of SDRT receipts is included in Table 1 of the UK Stamp Tax statistics publication available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-stamp-tax-statistics
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of (a) reducing the cash ISA limit to £4,000 and (b) creating incentives to put money into stocks and shares ISAs on the amount of money that will be put into stocks and shares ISAs in each of the next three years.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government is committed to incentivising greater saving and investment. Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) help people save for their future goals and build greater financial resilience.
The Government recognises the important role that cash savings play in helping households build a financial buffer for a rainy day. The Government also wants to see more consumers participate in capital markets and benefit from the long-term financial security and returns that investing can provide.
The Government continues to keep all aspects of savings policy under review.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of removing stamp duty from UK listed equity transactions on economic growth.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Collectively, Stamp Duty and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax are currently forecast to raise up to £5bn per year, providing vital revenue which helps to fund key public services.
The existing framework contains multiple reliefs and exemptions which are designed to boost liquidity and growth.
The government keeps all taxes under review.