Tag: Treasury

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 5 June 2023.

Schemes offering people shares in their employer are set for a shake up as the government explores changes that will help boost business growth, supporting the Prime Minister’s priority to grow the economy.

• Simplified schemes offering people shares in their employer set to support business growth
• Comes as new figures show 81% of scheme users confirm they have helped retain staff and boosted business
• Changes also aim to boost participation among low earners

In a call for evidence launched today (5 June 2023), the government wants to hear views on Save As You Earn (SAYE) and the Share Incentive Plan (SIP), as it seeks to improve the schemes and expand their use by making it easier for businesses to set them up and offer them out to staff.

This comes as a HMRC evaluation report, also released today, shows that 81% of businesses say these schemes help boost their business, with almost three quarters of these saying it has helped them retain and recruit staff. 31% of businesses which are unaware of these schemes say they are too complicated to set up.

Victoria Atkins, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said:

Employee share schemes are an effective way to boost motivation in workforces by giving people an extra stake in what they do – and they offer a boost for business.

Growing the economy is a priority for this government and one way to make this happen is by making these schemes as easy as possible to set up.

The two schemes up for review are:

• Save As You Earn (SAYE): this allows employees to buy discounted shares in their company if they save money each month for three to five years.
• Share Incentive Plan (SIP): this allows companies to help their employees to purchase shares directly in their company or offer them as awards, tax free.

These schemes are one of the tools the government has to drive economic growth, and today’s call for evidence is designed to gather feedback on participation in both schemes and find out how they can be improved and simplified, including how to make sure more people on lower incomes are able to take advantage of them.

HMRC evaluation published today shows 50% of companies which have set up a share scheme have done so to create a feeling of ownership among their staff, with other common reasons being to help retain staff and skilled employees, attract skilled employees and improve staff morale.

The call for evidence comes after venture capital firm Index Ventures praised government reforms to a separate scheme, the Company Share Option Plan, placing the UK as joint top among G7 countries in share option policy.

These reforms saw a doubling of the amount of share options employees can be granted and removed restrictions on which kind of shares could be included. Index said the moves the government took were “helping scale ups attract and retain the talent they need”.

The government is looking to replicate this success through similar reforms for SAYE and SIP and is particularly interested in understanding whether the schemes are attractive to lower income earners.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 26 May 2023.

A £650 million war-chest to fire up the UK’s life sciences sector and drive forward the government’s priority to grow the economy has been unveiled by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt today 25 May 2023.

• Ambitious life sciences package to support economic growth with new commitments and funding for manufacturing, skills and infrastructure
• Announcements help to cut NHS waiting times with changes to improve commercial clinical trials to bring new medicines to patients faster
• Significant investment follows an already improved IMF growth outlook for the UK

The multi-faceted ‘Life Sci for Growth’ package brings together 10 different policies including £121 million to improve commercial clinical trials to bring new medicines to patients faster, up to £48 million of new money for scientific innovation to prepare for any future health emergencies, £154 million to increase the capacity of the UK’s biological data bank further aiding scientific discoveries that help human health, and up to £250 million to incentivise pension schemes to invest in our most promising science and tech firms.

The Chancellor’s £650 million package also includes plans to relaunch the Academic Health Science Network as Health Innovation Networks to boost innovation by bringing together the NHS, local communities, charities, academia and industry to share best practice. It also lays out changes to planning rules to free-up lab space and updates a route for East West Rail (EWR), the new railway line, to improve connections between UK science powerhouses Oxford and Cambridge, bringing more investment to the region.

Life Sciences is one of the UK’s most successful sectors, worth over £94 billion to the UK economy in 2021, a 9% increase on the year before. As a key industry driving UK growth the Chancellor has identified it as a focus for government, ensuring regulation aids innovation, government funding is targeted at vital projects and investment is diverse. This also helps to deliver the Science and Technology framework through reforming regulation, boosting investment and driving up talent and skills.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said:

Our Life Sciences sector employs over 280,000 people, makes £94 billion for the UK each year and produced the world’s first covid vaccine.

These are businesses that are growing our economy while having much wider benefits for our health – and this multi-million pound investment will help them go even further.

The package was first revealed to the UK’s Life Science Council this morning by the Chancellor at a meeting at No10 Downing Street, where it was welcomed by the CEOs of global life sciences companies and industry representatives.

The package follows the Treasury’s Life Sciences Connect conference which the Chancellor hosted on 29 March where he heard first-hand from senior industry representatives about the opportunities and challenges they are facing.

Policy Announcements

The announcements improve the regulatory environment for Life Sciences companies and our approach to UK commercial clinical trials. As part of this, the Chancellor has committed to make it easier for revolutionary healthcare products to get to NHS patients by cutting the regulatory burden of approving clinical trials, and committed £121 million, made up of new and existing funding, to speed up clinical trials and improve access to real-time data via new Clinical Trial Acceleration Networks. This comes in response to publications of the Lord O’Shaughnessy review on commercial clinical trials and Dame Angela McLean’s review on the life science regulatory system.

‘Life Sci For Growth’ commits to invest £154 million from UK Research and Innovation to upgrade the UK Biobank capabilities, the biomedical database containing the in-depth genetic information of half a million UK citizens, something greatly valued by the global scientific community helping drive forward new medical treatments in the sector. The money will go towards a new facility at Manchester Science Park, a new Hub to help SMEs collaborate with industry and academia and better IT to accommodate multi-disciplinary data.

A call for proposals has been released on the government’s Long-Term Investment for Technology and Science (LIFTS) initiative, which will offer £250 million of government support to spur the creation of new vehicles for pension schemes to invest in the UK’s high-growth science and technology businesses, benefitting the retirement incomes of UK pension savers and driving the growth of critical sectors like Life Sciences.

Science and Technology Secretary Chloe Smith said:

Backing our life sciences sector is a double win for the UK. The package we are announcing today won’t just help this £94 billion industry drive more economic growth and create more high skill jobs. It will support advances in public health which will mean we can all have happier, healthier, more productive lives, delivering a virtuous circle of benefits to society and the economy.

From our pioneering medics trialling new therapies, to our medicine and vaccine manufacturers, and the world-leading population health studies underway at UK Biobank, we have a life sciences industry the rest of the world is rightly envious of. Today we are delivering on the plan we set out in our Science and Technology Framework by going even further in our efforts to back this burgeoning sector, ensuring that it can stay right at the front of the global race for new investment and talent.

The government has also signalled its ongoing commitment to the transformational new East West Rail line between Oxford and Cambridge. This region is a globally renowned hub of science, research and innovation, and the railway will support job creation and growth at towns and cities along the route. Today it announced its preferred route alignment for the third section of the railway between Bedford and Cambridge, including a direct link to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, marking a significant step towards delivering the scheme.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said:

The cities of Oxford and Cambridge are renowned across the globe for their academic excellence – East West Rail will be vital in allowing them to thrive for generations to come and help to grow the economy.

With the potential to unlock £103 billion of growth through new homes, businesses and job opportunities, this crucial line will also serve as a catalyst for development in one of Europe’s most vibrant local economies while making travel quicker, cheaper and easier across the region.

The manufacturing arm of the UK’s life sciences sector is also set for a funding boost thanks to three new pots to bolster the country’s health resilience. A Biomanufacturing Fund worth up to £38 million in new funding has been announced to incentivise investment and improve the UK’s resilience to any future pandemics, via a competitive process to distribute grants. This comes on top of a further £6.5 million made up of new funding and funding from Innovate UK, to ensure that the Life Sciences sector continues to have the right people it needs to deliver its high skilled work. £10 million new cash has also been announced to fund projects to drive innovation in cutting edge medicine manufacturing that can bolster the UK’s health resilience, such as those which use nucleic acid technology and intracellular drug delivery to help improve vaccines, as part of Innovate UK’s ‘Transforming Medicines Manufacturing Programme’.

Today the government announced that Sterling Pharma Solutions are the latest recipient of funding through the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund. This announcement follows the first tranche of four grants from the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund in March 2023 and the Medicines and Diagnostics Manufacturing Transformation Fund (MDMTF).

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:

This investment is another significant step in harnessing UK innovation to help cut waiting lists – one of the government’s five priorities – and build a stronger NHS.

We will take forward Lord O’Shaughnessy’s recommendations to speed up the delivery of clinical trials and boost patient involvement in research, so people getting NHS care can benefit from cutting-edge treatments faster, supported by £121 million in government funding.

We’re also accelerating research into mental health, backed by over £42 million of investment in clinical research centres across the UK – including in Birmingham and Liverpool – to improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis and increase the use of technology for treatment.

Jeremy Hunt also committed to increasing lab space today through pledging to reform planning rules to help scientists. Proposals including local authorities taking greater account of R&D needs in their planning decisions.

In addition, £42.7 million for the Mental Health Mission will go towards delivering treatments to patients, setting up a new centre in Liverpool to understand how mental, physical and social conditions interlink, and a site in Birmingham to support research and novel treatments for early intervention in psychosis, depression and children. £10 million for the Addiction Mission will go to support UK organisations and researchers to create novel pharmaceuticals, MedTech, and digital tools to improve treatment and aid recovery for people with opioid and cocaine addictions.

The Chancellor has hosted four similar events to the Treasury’s Life Sciences Connect conference throughout 2023, each one focused on his key growth industries; digital tech, green industries, creative industries and advanced manufacturing.

Stakeholder quotes

Steve Bates OBE, CEO of Bioindustry Association, said:

Today’s package of support for the UK life sciences sector will help address fundamental challenges large and small companies in our industry face as they look to invest and grow in the UK.

We welcome today’s initiatives, including those that will improve access to finance for start-ups and scale-ups, and to create a pro-innovation regulatory environment. These positive steps will put us on the front-foot in the global race to develop and manufacture the next generation of medicines and technologies,  underpinning our economic growth and better health for years to come.

Richard Torbett, Chief Executive, Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), said:

Today’s announcements show that the government recognises the huge opportunity waiting to be grasped if the UK can unlock the economic potential of its life science industry – already worth £94.2 billion in 2021. These measures demonstrate the government has listened to industry and will help put the UK on track to meeting its life science vision.

Lord O’Shaughnessy is right that making the UK an attractive destination for industry clinical trials requires regulatory reform, speedier study set-up and approvals, and improved access to data. Implementing his proposals, alongside these other announcements, can be a springboard to delivering on the UK’s ambition to be a science superpower, and we now must press forward with delivery at pace.

However, improving research is only one part of the equation. To get innovative medicines to patients and fully capture the growth opportunity, we must also fix the commercial environment, and for that, we also look forward to agreeing with Government to a new and improved Voluntary Scheme as soon as possible.

Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) CEO, Peter Ellingworth said:

Today’s range of announcements and their emphasis on HealthTech are very welcome. I am pleased to see that the contribution of our industry has been acknowledged in each of them.

Critical for the continued supply of technology to NHS patients and the competitiveness of our country, will be the approach taken to the regulation of medical devices and diagnostics. This was recognised last year by the Life Sciences Council and led to the creation of an Advisory Group. Today builds on that group’s aligned proposals published in March, and the Chancellor’s ambition for the recognition of approvals from other, trusted jurisdictions.

Collectively, this package represents significant progress to create a system that values innovation and affords our citizens safe, timely access to life saving and enhancing technology.

We look forward to continuing to support the work of the LSC Advisory Group, and helping to deliver the recommendations of the Pro-Innovation Regulation of Technologies Review, through initiatives such as secondments to a Regulator with an enhanced and welcome focus on HealthTech.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 23 May 2023.

The Chancellor met food manufacturers and the CMA to discuss public concerns over food inflation.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, spoke to food manufacturers today (23 May) about the cost of food in the UK.

The Chancellor highlighted the widespread concern among the British public about the current level of food prices and their impact on household budgets, particularly for the most vulnerable. He listened to the views of manufacturers about the causes of food inflation, reiterated the support announced by the Prime Minister last week for the UK food sector, and agreed that food manufacturers would continue to engage with senior government ministers about potential measures that government and industry can take to ease the pressure on consumers.

The Chancellor also met with the independent Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and heard more about the scope of their investigations into road fuel and their stepping up of work on groceries prices, including the possible action that could be taken by the CMA. The Chancellor confirmed that the government stands ready to update pricing rules and guidance on the back of the CMA’s review of unit pricing.

With food inflation at 19.2%, the Chancellor emphasised that the government’s current focus is on measures which will help tackle increasing costs in the food sector. Prices are coming down across other parts of the economy, with energy bills also expected to fall as Ofgem announces the new cap on Thursday (25 May).

Further information

• A readout of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury’s meeting with supermarket representatives can be found here.
• The package of measures to support the food supply chain at the UK Farm to Fork Summit can be found here.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 23 May 2023.

Help to Save is open to people receiving benefits including Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and Universal Credit and offers a generous savings bonus.

Help to Save – the government savings scheme for low-income earners, which offers a 50% bonus payment worth up to £1,200 over 4 years – has been extended to April 2025, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has confirmed.

More than 359,200 customers have opened savings accounts since its launch in September 2018 and an additional 3 million individuals could still benefit from the savings scheme as a result of the extension.

Help to Save is a savings scheme for low-income earners. Savers can deposit between £1 and £50 a month into their account and will receive a government bonus– even if money has been withdrawn.

Savers will earn a 50 pence bonus for every £1 saved and the bonus payments are paid in the second and fourth years. This means that someone saving £2,400 – the maximum amount they could deposit over four years – would receive a £1,200 bonus from the government, paid directly into their bank account.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 22 May 2023.

Sir Ron Kalifa and Frances O’Grady have been reappointed by His Majesty the King as Non-Executive Directors of the Court of the Bank of England. They have been reappointed for second terms of four years, to 31 May 2027.

The Bank’s Court acts as a unitary board, and as Non-Executives of the Court, Sir Ron and Frances O’Grady will help determine the Bank’s objectives and strategy, and advise on how to ensure the effective discharge of the Bank’s functions and the most efficient use of the Bank’s resources.

Court is not responsible for the matters reserved to the Bank’s main policy committees, the Monetary Policy Committee, the Financial Policy Committee, and the Prudential Regulation Committee.

As Non-Executive Directors, Sir Ron is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee; and Frances O’Grady is a member of the Remuneration Committee.

The Chair of the Court of Directors, David Roberts, said:

I am delighted that both Sir Ron Kalifa and Frances O’Grady have been reappointed to the Court of Directors at the Bank of England. Their experience and expertise provide Court with key insights and challenge. I look forward to continuing to work with Sir Ron and Frances during their second terms.

About the appointments

The Bank of England is the central bank of the UK. It is governed by a board of directors known as the Court of Directors. Further information can be found at the Bank of England website.

Members of Court are appointed by HM The King on the recommendation of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Sir Ron and Frances O’Grady have both served as Non-Executive Directors of Court since 1 June 2019.

All appointments to the Court are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process.

These appointments are regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments, who provides independent assurance that appointments are made in accordance with the Government’s Principles of Public Appointments and Governance Code. In accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if any is declared) to be made public.

Sir Ron has confirmed that he has not engaged in any political activity in the last five years. Sir Ron is Chairman of Network International, a leading payments firm, and a Trustee of the Royal Foundation. He is also a Non-Executive Director for the England & Wales Cricket Board and sits on the Council of Imperial College London. He was knighted in Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee Birthday 2022 Honours List for services to financial services, technology, and public service.

Frances O’Grady has declared that she served as General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) from 2013 until the end of 2022, and received a life peerage in 2022, sitting in the House of Lords as a working (Labour) peer. Frances O’Grady first joined the TUC in 1994 as a campaigns officer, and launched the Organising Academy in 1997. She took over as head of the TUC’s organisation department in 1999 and became deputy general secretary in 2003.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 22 May 2023.

NatWest is a step closer to being returned to full private ownership as the government sells c. £1.26billion in shares back to NatWest via a Directed Buyback.

• Government sells c. £1.26 billion of NatWest shares to NatWest as stake reduced to c. 38.6%
• Announcement marks a further major milestone in returning the bank to private ownership
• Sixth block sale of NatWest shares since the government intervened in NatWest to protect financial and economic stability during the global financial crisis in 2008

NatWest is a step closer to being returned to full private ownership as the government sells c. £1.26 billion in shares back to NatWest via a Directed Buyback.

The sale reduces the government’s shareholding to c. 38.6% – down from around 84% at its peak – delivering significant progress against the government’s intention as announced at Spring Budget to fully exit the shareholding by 2025-2026, subject to market conditions and achieving value for money for taxpayers.

The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Griffith said:

Today’s sale is another major milestone in returning NatWest to full private ownership as promised. The government has now sold well over half of its shareholding.

The government intervened in NatWest (formerly the Royal Bank of Scotland, RBS) with the objective of protecting financial and economic stability during the 2008 global financial crisis.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has been clear that – without the government’s interventions in the financial sector – the cost of the 2008 global financial crisis would almost certainly have been far greater.

The government will only dispose of its NatWest shareholding when it represents value for money to do so and market conditions allow.

Alongside progress being made by the ongoing trading plan, HMT and UK Government Investments continue to keep all options under active consideration for future sales, including via accelerated bookbuilds if conditions permit.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 18 May 2023.

Sir Peter Bazalgette has been appointed to support work investigating the pro-innovation regulation of the creative industries, one of the Chancellor’s five key growth areas.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 11 May 2023.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, spoke to supermarket representatives this afternoon (11 May) regarding food prices in the UK. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury listened to the views of the sector about the drivers of food inflation and agreed that industry will continue to engage with senior government ministers on the matter and its impact on consumers.

The Government understands the concern among the British public about the current level of food prices and their impact on household budgets, which is why halving inflation this year is a top priority. To support households with the impact of rising prices, we are delivering one of the most generous cost-of-living packages in Europe – worth £3,300 per household on average over this year and last. This includes targeted support for the most vulnerable worth £900 for people on means-tested benefits, support with energy bills and uprating benefits by over 10%.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 10 May 2023.

Sam Beckett has been appointed as the new Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury, replacing Clare Lombardelli.

The Cabinet Secretary, with the approval of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, has announced the appointment of Sam Beckett as the new Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury. She replaces Clare Lombardelli, who was recently appointed as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Chief Economist.

Sam will become the sole head of the Government Economic Service, a role she previously led jointly. Sam joins the Treasury from her current role as Second Permanent Secretary at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Deputy Chief Executive at the UK Statistics Authority. Sam is well-equipped with over 25 years’ experience at Treasury, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and the Cabinet Office in roles spanning macro and micro-economics, fiscal policy, and strategy.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said:

“I am thrilled to congratulate Sam on her well-deserved appointment and welcome her back to the Treasury. Her economic expertise and leadership in a range of government departments will be indispensable as we focus on our priorities of growing the economy, reducing debt and halving inflation.”

Permanent Secretary to the Treasury James Bowler said:

“Sam has extensive macro and microeconomic experience leading across the economic landscape and is an expert policy maker. I look forward to working with her as we tackle the economic challenges and opportunities ahead.”

Sam Beckett said:

“I am incredibly honoured to be chosen for a role at the heart of the UK economy. I look forward to joining a strong team of officials as we further bolster economic prosperity for the whole of the UK.”

Further information

Sam will be the head of the Government Economic Service having been the joint head alongside Clare Lombardelli, former Chief Economic Adviser to the Treasury. She will also be appointed Second Permanent Secretary to the Treasury. Sam became Second Permanent Secretary at the ONS and the Deputy Chief Executive at the UK Statistics Authority in September 2020.

As acting Permanent Secretary at BEIS, she oversaw the COVID-19 response and prior to that she was the Director General at BEIS responsible for the Department’s EU-exit preparations. At the Treasury, she was Director of Fiscal Group where she led the fiscal policy response to the financial crisis.

Sam studied PPE at New College, Oxford and has an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics. She was made a Companion of the Bath (CB) in 2020 and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 2021.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 28 April 2023.

A London businessman has been sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months, after pleading guilty to fraud by abusing the Bounce Back Loan scheme.

Rajesh Dhirajlal Vaghela, 46, from Stanmore, received a £25,000 loan before closing his business in an effort to avoid repaying the taxpayer loan.

Vaghela was also ordered to pay £2150 court costs. He had repaid the loan in full before being sentenced.

The sentence follows six other criminal prosecutions of company directors for Covid loan abuse by the Insolvency Service in the last year, all of which resulted in convictions, including one immediate imprisonment.

Peter Fulham, Chief Investigator of the Insolvency Service’s Criminal Investigation Team, said:
Directors who abused the Covid-19 financial support schemes, which were provided by the government to support genuine businesses in need of help during the pandemic, have exploited taxpayers.

This sentence reflects the thoroughly dishonest conduct of Rajesh Vaghela and should serve as a warning to others who engaged in this behaviour that they are at risk of criminal prosecutions and could potentially end up in prison.

Vaghela was caught through new powers granted to the Insolvency Service in December 2021, which allow it to investigate directors of dissolved companies who are suspected of closing their business to avoid repaying Covid-19 support loans.

Vaghela, who was a director of RKV Consultancy Ltd, which had traded as a consulting firm from Stanmore since its incorporation in March 2019, applied for a £25,000 Bounce Back Loan from his bank on behalf of the consultancy in May 2020.

The loan was paid into the company’s bank account but within a week of receiving the money, Vaghela filed paperwork with Companies House to have the business dissolved, and later transferred all the loan money to personal bank accounts.

The striking-off application to dissolve a company makes clear that creditors, such as a bank with an outstanding loan, should be notified within seven days of applying to close the business and that failure to notify interested parties is a criminal offence.

After RKV Consultancy Ltd was dissolved, in October 2020, the Insolvency Service and cross-government counter-fraud systems identified its closure as probable Bounce Back Loan fraud.

Investigators found that Vaghela had not informed his bank of his application to dissolve the consultancy – a breach of the law.

He pleaded guilty to charges under the Companies Act 2006 and Fraud Act 2006 at Willesden Magistrates Court in February 2023 and was sentenced by His Honour Judge Donne KC, on 13 April 2023 at Harrow Crown Court.