Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assets of (a) President Assad and (b) the Syrian government have been frozen in the UK; and what the value is of those assets.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
In view of the situation in Syria, Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 of 18 January 2012 imposed an asset freeze against listed Syrian individuals and entities. The EU Regulation, which has direct effect in the UK, requires that all funds and economic resources belonging to, owned, held or controlled by listed persons are frozen.
Those listed under this regime include natural and legal persons, entities and bodies who have been identified as being responsible for the violent repression against the civilian population in Syria, persons and entities benefiting from or supporting the regime, and natural or legal persons associated with them. These persons and entities include, but are not limited to, President Assad and several members and agencies of the Syrian government.
The approximate aggregate value of funds frozen in UK jurisdiction under EU Regulation 36/2012 is £151,080,000 (based on an annual audit in September 2014). These funds continue to belong to the individuals and entities listed under the Regulation and are not seized or otherwise held by HM Government.
The Regulation states that HM Treasury can use this information only for the purpose for which it was provided. In order to comply with this requirement, and to comply with UK data protection law, the figure is provided on an aggregate basis so as not to disclose data relating to funds held by particular individuals or entities.
HM Treasury publishes the names of those subject to EU financial sanctions on the Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK, which can be found on the gov.uk website.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many buildings his Department sold in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Treasury has not sold any buildings in any of these years.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many telephone lines with the prefix (a) 0845, (b) 0844 and (c) 0843 his Department (i) operates and (ii) sponsors; how many calls each such number has received in the last 12 months; and whether alternative numbers charged at BT local rates are available in each such case.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
HM Treasury do not use 0845, 0844 or 0830 telephone numbers.
Asked by: Valerie Vaz (Labour - Walsall South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the prevalence of allowances being paid to senior bank executives to enable them to avoid the EU bonus cap.
Answered by Andrea Leadsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK is at the forefront of global efforts to tackle excessive pay in the financial sector and ensure that pay is aligned with performance; our tough Remuneration Code requires deferral of at least 60% of bonuses of senior bankers and limits the amounts that can be paid in cash. Bonuses are down significantly since their peak under the last Government, and are now largely deferred and paid in shares.
In contrast, the EU's bonus cap is a poorly thought through measure that undermines rather than reinforces our efforts by pushing up fixed pay. It was introduced without any proper impact assessment and has serious issues around its compatibility with the EU Treaty, and for these reasons we are challenging it in the European Court of Justice. However, pending the outcome, the Government is fully implementing the cap in the UK.
The Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority have responsibility for ensuring that remuneration practices in the banking sector are compliant with the new rules.