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1702003

	registered interest
	date	17/04/2024
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	New Businesses: Capital Investment
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports of a decline in venture capital investment in UK start-ups in the first quarter of 2024; and what steps they are taking to support the growth of the UK's innovation ecosystem.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL3918
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 30/04/2024 answer text <p>The government notes that while there have been reports of a decline in venture capital (VC) investment in UK start-ups, this has been broad based and global in nature. We also note that because of the nature of private markets, there is a lag in data reporting for VC deals, meaning that final data on investments made in Q1 2024 will not be available until later in the year.</p><p> </p><p>The BBB’s Small Business Finance Monitor 2024, which covers data up to the end of Q3 2023, found that there has been a “slowdown in activity that has occurred in the market since Q2 2022” and that the market decline over the past 18 months is not unique to the UK and can be seen across other global regions.</p><p> </p><p>However, we also note that VC funding in the UK has reduced from record levels in 2021/2022, and that despite this slowdown, early stage/seed funding has remained robust, indicating that there is a pipeline of future investment opportunities still being created.</p><p> </p><p>The government recognises that VC funding is an important source of finance for innovative companies and is proud of the fact that the UK has the third largest VC market in the world, behind only the US and China. The government is backing British business by tackling barriers to investment, cutting taxes and rewarding work, and by supporting the priority growth sectors, including digital technology, which are helping to turn the UK into the world’s next Silicon Valley.</p><p> </p><p>This includes making over £3.5 billion of public investment in the AI ecosystem since 2014, extending the sunset clause for the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the Venture Capital Trust scheme to 6 April 2035, making changes to simplify and improve R&amp;D tax reliefs, extending the British Business Bank’s Future Fund: Breakthrough investment programme, and implementing the measures the Chancellor announced at last year’s Mansion House speech to reform the pensions market to unlock investment into high growth sectors and generate increased returns for savers.</p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 30/04/2024 10:37:03 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1701980

	registered interest
	date	17/04/2024
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Health Insurance: Private Sector
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to assess and mitigate the impact of private medical insurance fees on the quality and suitability of care provided to patients with private medical insurance.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Merron
	uin	HL3895
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government is determined that all insurers, including private medical insurers, treat consumers fairly and firms are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority’s rules.</p><p> </p><p>The FCA requires insurers to ensure their products offer fair value, meaning the price a consumer pays for a product or service must be reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive. The FCA has been clear that it will be monitoring firms to make sure they comply with this rule and will take action where necessary.</p><p> </p><p>All providers of healthcare are regulated by the Care Quality Commission and follow a set of fundamental standards of safety and quality below which care should never fall, while the General Medical Council is responsible for regulating doctors in the United Kingdom.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 24/04/2024 11:43:25 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
	tabling member	347 label Biography information for Baroness Merron

1701992

	registered interest
	date	17/04/2024
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Advance Pricing Agreements
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many advance transfer pricing agreements have been signed by HM Revenue and Customs in each of the past five years.
	tabling member printed	Lord Sikka
	uin	HL3907
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2024 answer text <p>HM Revenue and Customs has entered into the following number of advance pricing agreements in the past five tax years:</p><ul><li>2018 to 2019: 30</li><li>2019 to 2020: 26</li><li>2020 to 2021: 24</li><li>2021 to 2022: 20</li><li>2022 to 2023: 15</li></ul><p>This information is included in the Transfer Pricing and Diverted Profits Tax Statistics 2022 to 2023 which are publicly available and published on gov.uk[1].</p><p> </p><p>[1] <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transfer-pricing-and-diverted-profits-tax-statistics-2022-to-2023/transfer-pricing-and-diverted-profits-tax-statistics-2022-to-2023" target="_blank">Transfer Pricing and Diverted Profits Tax statistics 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 25/04/2024 11:17:19 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
	tabling member	4885 label Biography information for Lord Sikka

1701639

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Economic Situation
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to sustain the momentum of the economic recovery following indications that GDP increased in January and February.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL3870
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>To sustain economic growth momentum, the government is continuing to pursue an ambitious policy agenda to increase growth and productivity across the economy. The OBR expects that policies announced at the previous three fiscal events will increase the size of the economy by 0.7% by 2028-29.</p><p> </p><p>In addition to making full expensing permanent, a tax cut to companies of over £10 billion a year, the government has announced measures to boost labour supply, which the OBR predicts will increase the number of hours worked by the equivalent of over 300,000 full-time workers by the end of the forecast period.</p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 24/04/2024 11:42:00 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1701638

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Cost of Living
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the Financial Conduct Authority survey indicating an increase in adults across the UK struggling to pay bills due to the high cost of living, and what steps they are taking to help individuals and families facing financial difficulties.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL3869
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The FCA’s 2024 Cost of Living survey found a reduction in the number of people finding it hard to manage higher costs of living since January 2023.</p><p> </p><p>The government has already provided support to help with the cost of living totalling £96 billion from 2022-23 to 2023-2024 – an average of £3400 per UK household.</p><p> </p><p>Further actions taken by the government in 2024-25 include: a rise in the National Living Wage (NLW) by 9.8% - ending low hourly pay for workers on the NLW, raising Local Housing Allowance to the 30<sup>th</sup> percentile of market rents, uprating working-age benefits by 6.7%, freezing fuel duty, removing Debt Relief Order fees, and doubling the Budgeting Advance Loan repayment period.</p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 24/04/2024 11:42:45 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1701603

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Bank of England: Forecasts
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the review of Bank of England forecasting led by Ben Bernanke.
	tabling member printed	Lord Allen of Kensington
	uin	HL3834
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The Bank of England has operational independence from the government to carry out its statutory responsibilities for monetary policy and financial stability. The government’s commitment to this independence remains absolute.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 24/04/2024 11:40:35 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
	tabling member	4304 label Biography information for Lord Allen of Kensington

1700697

	registered interest
	date	15/04/2024
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to remarks by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 21 February (HL Deb col 666) with regard to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement in the context of engaging with the EU for approval for extending the enterprise investment scheme (EIS) and venture capital trust (VCT) scheme, whether the subsidy control provisions of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement apply to EIS and VCT relief, in particular the requirement under Article 363 of that agreement that a subsidy must be selective.
	tabling member printed	Lord Leigh of Hurley
	uin	HL3766
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2024 answer text <p>The government is extending the sunset clause for the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the Venture Capital Trust (VCT) scheme to 2035.</p><p>The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement is now the primary framework governing subsidy control between the UK and EU. As such, EU State aid rules no longer apply to the UK, save for the limited circumstances covered by the Windsor Framework.</p><p>For the EIS and VCT schemes, the government is engaging with the EU, under the Windsor Framework, due to Northern Ireland’s unique access to the EU Single Market.</p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 25/04/2024 10:33:32 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
	tabling member	4295 label Biography information for Lord Leigh of Hurley

1700718

	registered interest
	date	15/04/2024
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Premium Bonds
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate for each of the past three years of their returns from retaining the proceeds of cashed-in Premium Bonds for up to six days before they are transferred to the holder’s bank account.
	tabling member printed	Lord Wills
	uin	HL3827
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/04/2024 answer text <p>NS&amp;I raises cost effective finance for government from the retail savings market. It does this through offering savings products to consumers, including Premium Bonds. Funds raised by NS&amp;I from these products, including Premium Bonds, flow to the National Loans Fund (NLF). The NLF is the government’s main borrowing and lending account, and to this end, it undertakes borrowing (primarily by issuing gilts via the Debt Management Office) and uses proceeds and other central government surplus balances, including funds from NS&amp;I’s Premium Bonds, to manage its cash needs day-to-day.</p><p> </p><p>The Exchequer’s cash needs are managed on an aggregate basis, meaning funds raised from Premium Bonds are not held in a separate account and do not receive a separate rate of return (which in any case is determined by the market as the government is ultimately a price taker). Therefore, there is not a single rate of return on NS&amp;I proceeds and it would not be possible to provide an estimate of returns from retaining the proceeds of Premium Bonds.</p><p> </p><p>When a customer divests their holdings of Premium Bonds, these repayments are also funded via the NLF’s activities and are typically processed within three working days. However, in exceptional circumstances, such as Bank Holidays, this may take longer. This process allows HM Treasury to manage Exchequer cashflows in a cost effective manner.</p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 29/04/2024 14:32:57 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
	tabling member	260 label Biography information for Lord Wills

1700761

	registered interest
	date	15/04/2024
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	Personal Savings
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, following the findings of the Financial Conduct Authority survey indicating a decrease in savings and investing among UK adults, what steps they are taking to help individuals and families save and invest.
	tabling member printed	Lord Taylor of Warwick
	uin	HL3813
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 24/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government is committed to incentivising greater saving and investment, to help hard working people save for their future goals and build greater financial resilience.</p><p> </p><p>The Help to Save scheme was launched in September 2018 and is intended to promote financial resilience among working households on low incomes by supporting them to kickstart a regular, long-term savings habit and build a financial buffer for a rainy day.</p><p>Individuals can also save up to £20,000 into an Individual Savings Account (ISA) each year, and any savings income received within an ISA is tax free. This, along with the Personal Savings Allowance of up to £1,000 for basic rate taxpayers means that around 85% of people with savings income pay no tax on that income.</p><p> </p><p>However, the Government also recognises that people need support to make effective investment decisions. This is why the Government and FCA are working on a joint review of the boundary between financial advice and guidance to ensure people can access appropriate support with their financial decision-making.</p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 24/04/2024 14:44:04 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
	tabling member	1796 label Biography information for Lord Taylor of Warwick

1700735

	registered interest
	date	15/04/2024
	answering body	Treasury
	answering dept id	14
	answering dept short name	Treasury
	answering dept sort name	Treasury
	hansard heading	National Insurance Contributions
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Vere of Norbiton on 8 April (HL3589), whether they will now answer the question put; namely, what is their assessment of the implications for calculating entitlement to contributory working age benefits and pensions of abolishing, rather than cutting, national insurance contributions.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL3770
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/04/2024 answer text <p>The Government already cut employee NICs by 4p, self-employed NICs by 3p and abolished the requirement to pay Class 2 for self-employed people across Autumn and Spring without increasing borrowing or cutting spending. That is the model the Government wants to follow when it is prudent to go further.</p><p> </p><p>The ambition to abolish NICs is about reducing tax and rewarding work, not about reforming the contributory benefits system. It is a long-term ambition, and the Government has been clear, this cannot be done overnight and this can only be done in a fiscally responsible way.</p><p> </p><p>Cutting NICs rates does not affect anyone’s entitlement to the State Pension or contributory benefits.</p> answering member printed Baroness Vere of Norbiton question first answered 25/04/2024 10:35:56 answering member 4580 label Biography information for Baroness Vere of Norbiton
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett