Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress the Republic of Ireland has made in its repayment of bailout loans issued by the UK.
Answered by John Glen
I refer the Hon Member to the most recent statutory report which the Treasury provided to Parliament as required by Section 2 of the Loans to Ireland Act 2010. The report was laid in Parliament on 24 April 2018 and is available in the Vote Office.
This report shows that principal repayments are due in tranches from 15 April 2019 until 26 March 2021. The UK has received interest payments since the disbursement of the loan. The timetable for repayment set out in the report remains unchanged, and the government continues to expect the loan to be repaid on time and in full.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals for a duty of care in relation to the Financial Guidance and Claims Act 2018.
Answered by John Glen
The government believes that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the UK’s independent conduct regulator for the financial services industry, is best placed to lead the discussion on the merits of a duty of care for financial services providers.
The FCA have committed to issuing a Discussion Paper on a duty of care later this year. The Paper will invite contributions from all interested parties on the case for and against a duty of care, what form such a provision might take, and consequential issues arising from adopting it. This will be an open process designed to gather views.
In this context, the government welcomes the FCA’s continued commitment to this debate, and we do not think a legislative change would be appropriate at this time.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the introduction of the duty of care; and what the process and timescale for that introduction will be.
Answered by John Glen
The government believes that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the UK’s independent conduct regulator for the financial services industry, is best placed to lead the discussion on the merits of a duty of care for financial services providers.
The FCA have committed to issuing a Discussion Paper on a duty of care later this year. The Paper will invite contributions from all interested parties on the case for and against a duty of care, what form such a provision might take, and consequential issues arising from adopting it. This will be an open process designed to gather views.
In this context, the government welcomes the FCA’s continued commitment to this debate, and we do not think a legislative change would be appropriate at this time.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a rent recognition database to be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Answered by John Glen
The Government believes that it is right that a history of paying rent should be recorded and recognised in tenants’ credit scores and in affordability assessments.
At Autumn Budget 2017, the Government announced the Rent Recognition Challenge, a £2m competition challenging the UK’s world-leading FinTech firms to develop innovative solutions to enable rental tenants to share their rental payment data with lenders and Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs). CRAs maintain a database on consumers’ credit history, and this information is used to help lenders make an assessment of how likely the individual is to repay any credit that is offered.
The 6 successful applicants selected to receive an initial round of grant funding were announced in March.
Asked by: Paul Girvan (Democratic Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will made an assessment of the potential merits of a lower rate tax-band for the hospitality industry in Northern Ireland to better compete with the tax system for the hospitality industry in the Irish Republic.
Answered by Mel Stride - Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer
At Autumn Budget 2017, the government announced to a call for evidence on the impact of VAT and APD on tourism in Northern Ireland, to report at the next Budget.
The call for evidence was published at Spring Statement, and is open to responses until 5 June 2018.