Tag: Lord Myners

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have reviewed the implementation of the recommendations on public sector procurement made by Sir Philip Green; and whether they will ask Sir Philip to conduct a further review on policy options to reduce government borrowing.

Lord Bridges of Headley

Sir Phillip’s report contributed enormously to the development of the Coalition Government’s policies in respect of common goods and services. Many of the recommendations have been taken forward, including the creation of the Crown Commercial Service. The Crown Commercial Service brings together policy, advice and direct buying, providing commercial services to the public sector and saving money for the taxpayer.

The 2016 Budget announced that The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, with the support of the Minister for the Cabinet Office, will lead an efficiency review, reporting in 2018. We will set out details of this in due course.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish an independent analysis of the economic forecasting record of the Office for Budget Responsibility, including an assessment of the accuracy of forecasting against free consensus expectations.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) already publish an assessment of the accuracy of their forecasts in their annual Forecast Evaluation Report (FER). This compares the latest outturn data for the economy and public finances with the OBR’s earlier forecasts, and aims to explain the differences. This assessment is required by the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act (BRNAA); this provides self-discipline for the OBR, and maintains transparency and accountability around their forecasting.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether the new holding company to be created to give effect to the proposed takeover of the London Stock Exchange by Deutsche Bourse will have to make its whole capital available to support a default by one of the two central clearing houses it will control, and which of those two clearing houses will receive capital priority in the event of a simultaneous or proximate failure of them both.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

I refer the noble Lord to my written answer of 26 April (HL7583, HL7584, HL7585, and HL7586).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-05-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of reports that the London Stock Exchange estimates that its acquisition by Deutsche Bourse will lead to a reduction of £7 billion in the margin capital available to protect the financial system from the consequences of counterparty failure, and of whether such a reduction in collateral represents an unacceptable increase in systemic risk.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

Central Counterparties (CCPs) play a central role in modern financial markets. As the Prime Minster has made clear, the UK’s new settlement with the EU ensures UK firms, including CCPs, will never face any discrimination for being outside the Eurozone.

I refer the noble Lord also to my written answer of 1 April (HL7153).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-06-08.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have asked the Serious Fraud Office to investigate matters related to the sale and purchase of BHS.

Lord Keen of Elie

In all cases decisions to investigate are made by the Director of the Serious Fraud Office, who acts independently. In respect of BHS, the SFO has confirmed that it is reviewing material in its possession. If the Director considers there are reasonable grounds to suspect serious or complex fraud which meets his Statement of Principle, he will open a formal criminal investigation.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-10-18.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they (1) have confidence in the economic forecasting capability of HM Treasury, (2) have evaluated the performance of HM Treasury forecasters, and (3) have considered the case for outsourcing some or all of HM Treasury’s forecasting functions to another organisation.

Lord Young of Cookham

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing forecasts for the UK economy and public finances. It publishes regular Forecast Evaluation Reports (FERs) in which it compares its forecasts to subsequent outturns and explains any forecast errors.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether central clearing houses in financial markets are required to prepare living wills; and what measures have been put in place to manage a capital failure.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

UK legislation requires central counterparties (CCPs) to develop recovery plans and to have ‘loss allocation’ rules, in order to allocate any losses sustained by the CCP either following the default of a clearing member or due to certain non-default events, so that the CCP can continue to provide its critical functions.

The Government has also broadened the scope of the UK’s Special Resolution Regime to cover CCPs. When certain conditions are met, this allows the Bank of England to intervene by transferring all or some of the business of a CCP to either a private sector purchaser or to a bridge CCP owned by the Bank of England, or to transfer ownership of the CCP to any person.

Qualifying changes of control of CCPs are assessed by the Bank of England and I refer the noble Lord to my written answer HL7153 of 1 April 2016.

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government to what extent their fiscal strategy is influenced by Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was established to introduce independence, greater transparency and credibility to the economic and fiscal forecasts on which the government’s fiscal policy is based. Since 2010, the government has used the OBR’s economic and fiscal forecasts as the official forecasts. The government sets its fiscal strategy independently of the OBR but the forecasts are used to inform decisions on fiscal policy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-04-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government which regulator will be responsible for overseeing the correlation algorithms used in cross margining positions held with LCH Clearnet and Euronext.

Lord O’Neill of Gatley

I refer the noble Lord to my written answer of 26 April (HL7583, HL7584, HL7585, and HL7586).

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Myners on 2016-05-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they, the Pensions Regulator, or the Pension Protection Fund have in the last three years had discussions with BHS, Lady Green or Sir Philip Green concerning the deficit in the BHS pension fund and a scheme to reduce that deficit.

Baroness Altmann

The Pensions Regulator and the Pension Protection Fund are independent bodies and in carrying out their functions they may meet individuals involved with pension schemes.

Ministers have engaged with a range of sponsoring employers of Defined Benefit pensions schemes as a matter of routine, including Sir Philip Green, as part of their normal considerations of the pensions landscape but oversight of the scheme funding regime for Defined Benefit schemes is a matter for the Pensions Regulator. It would not be appropriate for Ministers to intervene in individual cases or to discuss with the Regulator, the Pension Protection Fund or the scheme sponsor how a particular scheme’s pension deficit should be mitigated.