Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they have in place to encourage banks to pass on higher interest rates to savers.

The Government is committed to ensuring people are supported to save, and that they can access a wide range of competitive savings products. The retail savings market currently offers a range of competitive options to savers, who can now access the highest rates in recent years on a variety of instant access and fixed-term products.

The Government launched the Help to Save scheme in September 2018 to directly encourage those on lower incomes to save. This encourages saving for those on Working Tax Credit or receiving Universal Credit. These savings accounts provide a bonus of 50p for every £1 saved over 4 years.

The Government has also introduced other measures in recent years to encourage saving. Individuals can save up to £20,000 into their ISA each year and coupled with the Personal Savings Allowance of up to £1,000 for basic rate taxpayers and up to £500 for higher rate taxpayers, around 95% of people with savings income pay no tax on that income.

The Lifetime ISA is a long-term savings product to encourage younger people to save for their first home or for later life. The government provides a 25% bonus on savings of up to £4,000 each year, provided the savings are kept for the long-term.