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  • Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2016-02-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for financial system resilience of the Prudential Regulation Authority’s proposed rules on ringfencing; and if he will make a statement.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government is confident that the Prudential Regulation Authority’s proposed rules on ring-fencing are beneficial for financial system resilience. These are fully consistent with the Banking Reform Act (2013), and are necessary to ensure the full and timely implementation of the legislation.

  • Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2016-02-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had on the implementation of the ring-fence between retail and investment banking since May 2015.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Since May 2015, in order to ensure the smooth implementation of ring-fencing, ministers and HMT officials have met with regulators, banks, banking organisations, trustees of bank pension funds and HMRC.

  • Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Richard Burgon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burgon on 2016-02-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the implications for the effectiveness of the ring-fence between retail and investment banking of the Prudential Regulation Authority’s proposal to allow ring-fenced bodies to pay dividends to other entities in the parent group.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Prudential Regulation Authority’s (PRA) proposed rules allowing ring-fenced bodies to pay dividends to other entities in the parent group are entirely consistent with the ring-fencing legislation and the Independent Commission on Banking’s recommendations. The PRA has the power to prevent these payments if they deem that they would negatively impact on the viability of the ring-fenced bank.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she has made an assessment of the potential effect on UK GDP of the National Grid using its demand side balancing reserve powers; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    Demand Side Balancing Response (DSBR) is part of National Grid’s Contingency Balancing Reserve. Under the DSBR, firms bid for contracts to reduce their demand from the grid when instructed by National Grid in return for an agreed utilisation fee.

    DECC has not made an assessment of the impact of DSBR on GDP; DSBR is small (133 MW in 15/16), runs infrequently and is entirely voluntary.

    Since the service commenced in winter 14/15, National Grid has only instructed on one occasion, instructing a total of 42.9MW, for which participants were paid a pre-contracted utilisation fee.

  • Tom Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Tom Elliott – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tom Elliott on 2016-02-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he plans to take to ensure that all UK-registered companies are subject to the same tax provisions as their UK competitors providing the same services to the same customer base regardless of the official locations of the European subsidiaries of such companies.

    Mr David Gauke

    Along with most major economies in the world, the UK has a territorial tax system that charges corporation tax on profits earned from economic activity carried out here.

    The UK cannot tax profits arising from sales in the UK to the extent that those profits are generated by activities carried on outside the UK.

    Multinational companies’ profits are taxed in accordance with internationally agreed principles. The current international tax rules were first developed in the 1920s and the UK is playing a leading role in updating them so they are fit for purpose in today’s modern globalising economy.

    Tax avoidance and aggressive tax planning by multinationals requires a coordinated approach to come up with effective solutions.

    The UK will continue to be at the forefront of multilateral action through the G20, the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and the EU to reform the international tax standards to prevent aggressive tax planning by multinationals.

  • Meg Hillier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Meg Hillier – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Meg Hillier on 2016-02-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that there is full market participation in real-time data-sharing in the short-term credit market.

    Harriett Baldwin

    The Government agrees that market-wide credit data sharing is key to effective affordability assessments in the high-cost, short-term credit market. In February 2014 the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) asked the payday lending industry to identify and remove any blockages to real-time data sharing as a matter of urgency. The FCA reports that there has been substantial recent progress made by the industry in this area. Over 90% of high-cost, short-term lenders by market share are meeting the FCA’s expectations to share data in real-time.

    The FCA expects that the proportion of firms using real-time data sharing to further increase by the time the authorisation process is complete for most high-cost short-term credit firms. The FCA will continue to monitor progress to keep this momentum, and ensure that there continues to be improvement in this area.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Rachel Reeves – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Rachel Reeves on 2016-02-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many migrants residing in the UK claim benefits on behalf of children living abroad; and what the value is of such claims by country of residence of the child.

    Damian Hinds

    The information is not available in the form requested.

    The Government’s new settlement means that EU nationals whose children live abroad will ultimately receive Child Benefit at a rate that reflects the conditions – including the standard of living and child benefit paid – of the country where their child lives. This will restore fairness to the system. Meanwhile, Child Tax Credit is being phased out, and we do not have to pay the new Universal Credit for children living in other countries. That means as Universal Credit is fully rolled out, the only benefit we will pay for children living in other Member States will be the indexed rate of Child Benefit.

  • Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    Roger Godsiff – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Roger Godsiff on 2016-02-19.

    To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2016 to Question 26025, for what reason Thea Rogers’ salary increased from £69,250 in 2014 to £98,000 in 2015.

    Harriett Baldwin

    Like any employer HM Treasury does not comment on individual personnel matters. Special Advisor salaries are determined accurately to the responsibilities and seniority of each individual role.

  • Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Energy and Climate Change

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she has made an assessment of the potential effect on UK GDP of the National Grid issuing Notification of Inadequate System Margin notices; and if she will make a statement.

    Andrea Leadsom

    A NISM is a notification issued to the electricity market to ask power stations to make more generation available for a short, specified, period of time. It doesn’t mean demand is about to outstrip supply, only that National Grid would like a larger cushion of spare capacity in the short term.

    DECC has not made an assessment of the impact of NISMS on GDP. There have been 2 NISMs since 2010 and these have only lasted a few hours on each occasion and have had virtually no impact on consumer bills.

  • Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    Catherine West – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Cabinet Office

    The below Parliamentary question was asked by Catherine West on 2016-02-19.

    To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the rate of pay is for cleaners in his Department.

    Matthew Hancock

    The pay range for directly employed London cleaning staff is £19,988 – £24,430 per annum.

    The rates of pay for cleaning staff employed by our Facilities Management contractors around the country range from £6.70 per hour to £7.62 per hour, depending on the contract.

    The pay of contracted cleaners will increase to the National Living Wage when that is introduced in April. As the living wage increases the minimum paid to cleaners will also increase.