Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with insurers on the potential impact of the cost of monthly insurance payments on levels of financial inclusion.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, including insurers, on an ongoing basis.
Insurers make commercial decisions about pricing and the terms of cover they offer based on their assessment on the likelihood of a claim being made and the cost of those claims. The Government does not set the terms, conditions, or prices for insurance policies. However, the Government is determined that insurers treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules.
Last October, the FCA launched a market study on premium finance – a form of credit that allows insurance customers to spread the upfront annual cost of their premium. The FCA noted their concern that premium finance may not represent fair value for some customers. The FCA will publish an update on its work in due course.
The Government has also convened a committee of consumer and industry representatives to inform the development of a Financial Inclusion Strategy which will be published later this year. As part of this, the committee is considering barriers consumers face to accessing insurance products.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of hypothecating revenues from the zero emission vehicle mandate for decarbonising transport.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury expects to receive no income from the ZEV mandate, due to the mandate design framework.
The Chancellor provided over £300m for EV uptake and £2bn to support domestic manufacturing at the Autumn Budget.
Asked by: Perran Moon (Labour - Camborne and Redruth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of re-allocating a proportion of the National Wealth Fund for a new mineral exploration fund.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
The National Wealth Fund (NWF) is a publicly owned investor which provides a range of financing tools across the capital structure, including loans, guarantees and equity investments for projects which align with its mandate.
The NWF’s investment decisions are based on the Investment Principles set out in its Framework Document. Investments from the NWF focus on areas where an undersupply of private finance exists. It targets opportunities to crowd-in three times as much private capital as its own investment committed across its portfolio. Allocating grants is not within the remit of the NWF.
Earmarking investment amounts for certain sectors is not within the remit of the NWF either. Maintaining a broad balance sheet, allows the NWF to remain flexible and adapt to market requirements.
The critical minerals sector is a key market for the NWF, as seen with its equity investments in Cornish Lithium, and in Cornish Metals.