Written questions by Garnier.

What discussions she has had with the Bank of England on encouraging economic growth in relation to its consultation entitled Amendments to the Bank of England’s approach to setting a minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities, published on 15 October 2024.

As set out in the Government’s Written Ministerial Statement published on 15 October, the Government welcomed the Bank of England’s proposals for consultation in relation to its approach to setting minimum requirements for own funds and eligible liabilities. The consultation closed on 24 January and the Government will continue to engage closely with the Bank of England as it considers the feedback it has received. This engagement has included and will continue to include consideration of the impacts on economic growth.

What the expected timeframe is for the publication of the final report by the Digitisation Taskforce.

The Digitisation Taskforce is in the process of producing its final report, having set out an interim report under the previous government. The government is fully committed to ensuring the UK’s shareholding framework is fit for purpose and looks forward to receiving the taskforce’s final report. Once the final report is received, the government will assess its recommendations and outline the next steps it intends to take.

With reference to the press notice entitled Pension reforms to go further to unlock billions to drive growth and boost working peoples’ pension pots, published on 28 January 2025, what estimate she has made of the potential value of additional business investment as a result of reforms to the occupational defined benefit pension funds over the next five years.

The Government will pave the way for more well-funded defined benefit pension schemes to share surplus funds with sponsoring employers and members, subject to stringent funding safeguards.It will be for individual trustees and employers to determine how best to use surplus funding. The amount of surplus will vary from scheme to scheme and trustees will need to be satisfied that sharing surplus is in the interest of their scheme members.The Government will be setting out the details of the surplus policy in in in its response to the Options for Defined Benefits consultation, due this Spring.

How many investigations by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation into breaches of Russian sanctions (a) are open and (b) have been undertaken since February 2022.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (“OFSI”) currently has 318 investigations open regarding potential breaches of The Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the “Russia Regulations”). Since February 2022, OFSI has investigated and closed 388 cases relating to potential breaches of the Russia Regulations.

What steps the Government is taking to promote the UK as a place for international investment in digital assets.

The government is taking a range of steps to promote digital asset adoption. This includes initiatives such as the recently announced Digital Gilt Instrument, or DIGIT, and the new Digital Securities Sandbox, which opened in September.Innovation and techn...

Whether her Department has had discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority on regulation of digital assets.

HM Treasury works closely with the regulators, including the Financial Conduct Authority, on digital assets regulation. This includes the recent opening of the Digital Securities Sandbox, legislated for by HM Treasury and jointly operated by the Bank of E...

What steps the Government is taking to increase access to EU markets for UK collective Investment in transferable securities schemes; and what steps her Department is taking to help promote UK funds given their clas

The UK has granted market access to certain retail funds from the European Economic Area under the Overseas Funds Regime. Decisions regarding market access for UK firms or products into the European Union are an autonomous decision for the European Union....

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the removal of the investment allowance on the amount of (a) oil and (b) gas extracted from the North Sea in the next five years.

At Autumn Budget 2024 the government confirmed that from 1 November 2024, the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) rate would increase by 3 percentage points to 38%, the EPL investment allowance would be abolished and the EPL decarbonisation allowance rate would be ...

If she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to require the Bank of England to (a) take account of climate change in its mandates and (b) publish a timetable for doing this.

Tackling climate change is a key part of this Government’s agenda, reflected in our Mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. We recognise the significant risks posed by climate change to the financial system and wider economy, and are committed to transitioning the economy to Net Zero by 2050 and realising the growth potential of doing so. In opposition, we set out our plans to reverse changes made by the previous Government to downgrade the importance of climate change in the Bank of England’s mandates. We remain committed to making this change and will do so in due course – the Government is required to issue new remit letters for the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) and Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) each year..

What estimate she has made of the potential impact of the ban on new oil and gas licences on taxation revenues to (a) 2030, (b) 2035, (c) 2040, (d) 2045 and (e) 2050.

The government will consult later this year on the implementation of its manifesto position not to issue new oil and gas licences to explore new fields. Forecasts for oil and gas tax revenues are published by the Office for Budget Responsibility.