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Written Question
Mortgages
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the number of (a) mortgage term extensions, (b) interest-only payment switches and (c) repossessions in relation to a mortgaged property since the publication of the Mortgage Charter on 26 June 2023.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government’s Mortgage Charter - in addition to the significant safeguards already in place - is providing support to vulnerable households, and mortgage arrears and repossessions remain low.

On 22 March the Financial Conduct Authority published data on the uptake of the Mortgage Charter since July 2023. (https://www.fca.org.uk/data/mortgage-charter-uptake).

More broadly, there is a wide variety of data and statistics about the mortgage market in the UK available from the Bank of England (https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics), the Financial Conduct Authority (https://www.fca.org.uk/data) and UK Finance (https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/data-and-research/data).


Written Question
Mortgages
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Beth Winter (Labour - Cynon Valley)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the Mortgage Charter on levels of (a) forbearance, (b) arrears and (c) repossessions.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government’s Mortgage Charter - in addition to the significant safeguards already in place - is providing support to vulnerable households, and mortgage arrears and repossessions remain low.

On 22 March the Financial Conduct Authority published data on the uptake of the Mortgage Charter since July 2023. (https://www.fca.org.uk/data/mortgage-charter-uptake).

More broadly, there is a wide variety of data and statistics about the mortgage market in the UK available from the Bank of England (https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/statistics), the Financial Conduct Authority (https://www.fca.org.uk/data) and UK Finance (https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/data-and-research/data).


Written Question
Economic Growth
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Simon Jupp (Conservative - East Devon)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the evidential basis is for his Department's tweet of 29 September 2023 that the UK was the fastest growing European G7 country since 2010.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The calculations underlying this statistic were based on public information available on the 29 September 2023, including quarterly GDP data published by the Office for National Statistics for the UK and OECD data for the remaining G7 European economies.

The data showed that cumulative GDP growth in the UK from the beginning of 2010 (change on 2009 Q4) through to 2023 Q2 of 24.2% was greater than that of France (16.4%), Italy (3.5%) and Germany (21.2%).


Written Question
Payment Methods
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure the National Payments Vision results in meaningful competition in retail payments.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Payments are essential to the UK’s economy, both for individuals and for businesses, and are a cornerstone of growth and competitiveness. The government is committed to maintaining the UK’s reputation for a world-leading payments ecosystem and will publish the National Payments Vision as soon as possible later this year.


Written Question
Payment Methods
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which stakeholders he is consulting on the National Payments Vision.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Payments are essential to the UK’s economy, both for individuals and for businesses, and are a cornerstone of growth and competitiveness. The government is committed to maintaining the UK’s reputation for a world-leading payments ecosystem and will publish the National Payments Vision as soon as possible later this year.


Written Question
Payment Methods
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Adam Afriyie (Conservative - Windsor)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to publish the National Payments Vision.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Payments are essential to the UK’s economy, both for individuals and for businesses, and are a cornerstone of growth and competitiveness. The government is committed to maintaining the UK’s reputation for a world-leading payments ecosystem and will publish the National Payments Vision as soon as possible later this year.


Written Question
Foreign Investment in UK
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 2 March concerning the requirement by 2027 for pension funds to disclose how much they invest in British businesses, what steps they are taking to assess the potential consequences on overall competitiveness and attractiveness of the UK as an investment destination.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Chancellor announced at Spring Budget that the government will introduce new requirements for Defined Contribution pension funds to disclose publicly their level of UK equity investments, working closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) who share responsibility for setting requirements for the market. The FCA will consult in the Spring. The government will introduce equivalent requirements for Local Government Pension Scheme funds in England & Wales. The government will review what further action should be taken if the data does not demonstrate that UK equity allocations are increasing.

This complements the wider reforms that the Government and regulators are already undertaking to boost UK markets.


Written Question
Pay: Inflation
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are considering to mitigate the potential inflationary effects of the increase in the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

In March 2020 the Office for Budget Responsibility estimated that meeting the National Living Wage target of 2/3rds of median earnings by 2024 would increase the level of consumer price inflation by less than 0.1 per cent across that period. Evidence shows employers respond to minimum wage increases in a variety of ways, most commonly by absorbing the additional cost and accepting lower profits.

Inflation reduces real incomes, creates uncertainty, and slows economic growth. It’s essential that the government continues with its efforts to keep inflation down. Inflation has more than halved, falling from its peak of 11.1% in October 2022 to 3.4% in February. The OBR forecasts that inflation will return to the 2% target in the second quarter of this year, a year earlier than forecast in November.


Written Question
Individual Savings Accounts
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the timetable for the launch of the British ISA announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget Statement on 6 March.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

At Spring Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced the creation of a UK ISA. Alongside this, the Government published a consultation seeking responses on the policy design and implementation. The consultation closes on 6th June 2024, after which we will consider responses and next steps.


Written Question
Treasury: Visits Abroad
Thursday 28th March 2024

Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Sunderland West)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's publication entitled HMT ministers’ overseas travel, published on 21 March 2024, how much of the £15,991 spent on his visit to the USA from 20 to 22 October 2023 was spent on air travel.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government publishes details of Ministerial travel on GOV.UK. As has been the case under successive administrations, the Government does not publish granular detail on Ministers' travel either at home or abroad.