John Glen
MP for Salisbury · Conservative · United Kingdom
“I welcome the Chief Secretary to her new position, but what words of comfort could she give the residents of Salisbury in Wiltshire, a unitary authority? We are not part of a combined authority and we do not have a metro mayor.”
“Sam Moody is my constituent. He is the chief executive of Rockhopper. During my time in this House, he has been absolutely scrupulous in following the laws of this country and respecting the Falkland Islanders.”
“I listened carefully to what the Minister said about the process, and I respect that. But most people who take a pretty level-headed, pragmatic view of the need for a transition over time still cannot get their heads around the short-term reality: when we have so much turmoil in the middle east, why would we extend the time that we are no…”
“It is 55 days till the Budget. Given the market’s reaction to the Prime Minister’s statement on Tuesday, and given that our gilt rates are higher than those of our peers in the G7, could we have a debate on the implications of higher taxes for growth?”
“Before the hon. Lady makes her statement on Thursday, will she, when reflecting on the arrangement in Wiltshire that would embrace Wessex—although we have been told that that is not the Government’s view—address the prevailing concern that the people of rural Wiltshire will be considerably worse off without having the opportunity to embra…”
“I recognise that the Minister wants to come to what the Government are going to do, but does he not accept that the decisions already made in the last two years—with respect to the price of employment and the national living wage, the cost of employment with regard to legislation, and business rates—have depressed the appetite of many sma…”
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“I note the hon. Lady’s long-standing interest in this subject, but I want to state clearly that the Government support the role of the low-income developing countries to be supported by the UK’s G7 presidency. We have made clear our expectation that the private sector and the firms she mentioned will offer debt treatment on at least as favourable terms as the official sector, under the common framework, as agreed by the G20 last November.”
“The Foreign Secretary is continuing to look very carefully at the legislative requirements and will set out further detail in due course on how the Government intend to proceed.”
“The Government are committed to encouraging business investment in Doncaster and its surrounding area, and at the Budget we confirmed £23 million funding for Goldthorpe’s town deal—just due west of the town—and that will boost economic growth and encourage business investment in the area. The MHCLG is currently assessing the remaining 49 towns fund bids, including those from Doncaster and Stainforth; we will make further announcements on those in due course.”
“Friend the Member for Rugby (Mark Pawsey), whose enthusiasm demonstrates his understanding of the sector. I end my remarks by saying that UK businesses and the men and women at their helm are the backbone of our economy. We are committed to doing whatever it takes to support them through this crisis and to unleash their potential to drive our national recovery and renewal. This extraordinary Budget in extraordinary times sets out how we will achieve that and, in so doing, secure a stronger economy and a better future for the people of this country as we emerge from this pandemic. Ordered , That the debate be now adjourned.— (David T.C. Davies.) Debate to be resumed tomorrow.”
“The FCA will also consult on the IPO listings regime following Lord Hill’s excellent review, and I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Sir Robert Neill) will watch that with great interest. Thirdly, we are closing the UK’s productivity gap. Our super deduction—the biggest two-year business tax cut in modern British history—will mean our business investment tax regime leads the world. As the Culture Secretary outlined earlier, our £520 million Help to Grow scheme will offer small businesses MBA-style management training, as well as help to embrace digital technology. I welcome the remarks of the hon. Member for Sunderland Central (Julie Elliott), who gave some begrudging support for Help to Grow and digital investment, and the remarks of my hon.”
“First, we are increasing opportunities for young people while ensuring that firms benefit from a steady pipeline of talent, with £126 million to fund up to 43,000 high-quality traineeships. In addition, employers who hire a new apprentice will receive a £3,000 payment. We are also rolling out a new unsponsored points-based visa, so that high-growth firms in science, research and tech can attract the best global talent. Secondly, we are helping firms turbocharge their growth by providing greater access to capital through a range of new schemes, as acknowledged by my hon. Friend the Member for Wimbledon (Stephen Hammond). They include giving the pension industry more flexibility to release investment into innovative ventures and helping firms scale up through a new £375 million “future fund: breakthrough” programme.”
“Before that increase kicks in, we are making the tax treatment of losses more generous by allowing businesses to carry back losses of up to £2 million for three years, and we are reviewing the 8% surcharge levied on bank profits to ensure that the sector remains globally competitive. However, that is far from the sum of business’s contribution to our economic renewal. Companies small and large have another important role: driving growth and spreading opportunity around the country. I strongly support the points made by my right hon. Friend the Member for Chipping Barnet (Theresa Villiers) on the role of changing regulations in increasing growth and competition opportunities. In our Budget plans, we are building an investment-led recovery and we have set out how to support the firms that are going to do it.”
“The billions of pounds that we spend on such interventions are necessary and affordable in the short term but, as the Chancellor also said last week, we cannot allow debt to rise indefinitely, so let me touch on the role of businesses in rebuilding our nation’s finances, as mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Norfolk (George Freeman). We are providing over £100 billion of support to firms throughout the pandemic, and it is only right that we ask businesses to help as they return to profit and the economy rebounds. That is why, in 2023, we are increasing the corporation tax rate to 25%. Even at that level, I say to the right hon. Member for Wolverhampton South East (Mr McFadden), the UK will still have the lowest corporation tax rate in the G7.”
“We will continue to think carefully about what is required to support all aspects of our economy. As we start to emerge from the pandemic, our new restart grants will help get shops bustling, hairdressers snipping and fitness centres buzzing again. I can confirm to my right hon. Friend and neighbour the Member for Romsey and Southampton North (Caroline Nokes) that personal care businesses will be included in stage 2, which will open from 12 April. As many hon. Members have mentioned, the Government continue to take their world-leading environmental commitment seriously. They remain dedicated to meeting climate change and wider environmental targets, including improving the UK’s air quality.”
“We are also providing targeted support to the sectors that have found themselves at the sharp end of the pandemic. As my right hon. Friend the Culture Secretary outlined this afternoon when he opened this debate, that includes hundreds of millions of pounds to support our arts, culture and sporting institutions as they reopen and an extension of our hugely successful film and TV production restart scheme. We are giving eligible properties in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors a £6 billion tax cut by continuing the 100% business rates holiday for three months. We are extending the 5% reduced VAT rate for eligible hospitality and tourism businesses until the end of September. I listened carefully to the representations from my hon. Friends the Members for Hastings and Rye (Sally-Ann Hart) and for North West Norfolk (James Wild).”
“Members of the headline measures: extending the furlough scheme to the end of September, with firms required to make only a small contribution to wages as the economy reopens; more help for the self-employed with a fourth income support grant worth 80% of three months’ average trading profits and capped at £7,500; and a fifth grant, with its value determined by a turnover test, to target support at those who need it most. In addition, more than 600,000 extra people, many of whom became self-employed in 2019-20, will now be able to claim for the scheme. The CBI praised those steps and said it was right that businesses start to contribute a little more as revenues recover, while the Federation of Small Businesses declared that the Government’s interventions were the building blocks of a pro-business Budget.”
“That is why, over the past year, we have rolled out a series of extraordinary, unprecedented interventions, including the furlough and self-employment income support schemes, and billions of pounds of grants and loans, as well as VAT cuts and rate holidays for eligible firms. Those steps have worked. According to official statistics, insolvencies last year were ranked 25% below 2019 levels. However, while the pandemic continues, it is only morally right that we do all we can to support the hardest-hit firms. That is why in last week’s Budget the Chancellor built on our existing help for businesses as part of a total covid support package worth £352 billion this year and next. Let me remind hon. and right hon.”
“Over the past four and a half hours we have had contributions from well over 75 right hon. and hon. Members from across the United Kingdom—from Blackpool to Buckingham, and from Stockton North and South to Somerset. There may be many geographical differences between us and differences of opinion, but I think all of us, no matter what our political allegiance or the location of our constituencies, are united in our desire to safeguard businesses from the impact of covid-19. On this International Women’s Day, I take this opportunity to pay particular tribute to those businesses’ female employees, whose work helps to drive this country’s economic success. Indeed, the desire to safeguard businesses has been this Government’s guiding mission since the first days of the pandemic.”
“By challenging and tackling existing anomalies and reducing inconsistencies that distort the market, our hope is to support innovation and growth within the industry and thereby give the sector the future that it deserves. I thank my hon. Friend for his contribution today. I know that he will be a little bit frustrated that I cannot set out a clearer timetable, but he certainly can know that the Government are fully committed to addressing the issue and will urgently respond to the challenge that he has set us.”
“To be clear, the UK has negotiated intensively with the US and the EU on these disputes and remains committed to reaching a fair and balanced settlement. I share my hon. Friend’s desire to help struggling producers and reach a settlement that works for the UK as a whole. To sum up, Mr Deputy Speaker, the UK’s alcohol duty system makes an important contribution to funding vital public services and addressing alcohol-related harms. However, as my hon. Friend has compellingly explained, once again the current system is in need of reform. Leaving the EU provides an invaluable historic opportunity to undertake that reform, and our guiding intention is to do what we can to support this country’s historic and vibrant drinks industry for the long term.”
“Friend the Member for Moray has also raised the issue of small brewers relief, I should add that the Government are running a separate technical consultation specifically on this issue. That closes on 4 April. I encourage any craft breweries based in his constituency or in Scotland to make their views heard by responding to this consultation. The Chancellor will set out plans for the coming year at the Budget next Wednesday, and hon. Members will understand that it would be inappropriate for me to comment in any more detail at this stage. I note that my hon. Friend has also rightly raised concerns about the 25% US tariffs on Scotch whisky, and I agree entirely with his assessment that the continued application of these tariffs is particularly disappointing and unfair, given that they have nothing to do with the Scotch whisky industry.”
“Is there a case to move to a standard method of taxation? Would a more consistent systemic approach to indexing alcohol duties be of benefit? Could we reduce burdens by standardising the way businesses declare and pay their duty? I am pleased to say that we received more than 100 submissions expressing, as one might expect, a wide range of views, which we—my officials and my hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary—are now analysing. We will provide further updates from the review in due course, as quickly as we can. I would like to assure my hon. Friend that my right hon. Friend the Chancellor and my hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary are taking a very close interest in this issue and the detailed analysis and work that has been undertaken and are keen to make the most swift progress possible. Since my hon.”
“The review has come about in part because the Treasury recognises that the alcohol drinks industry is innovative and entrepreneurial, and that traditional assumptions may no longer hold. I was heartened to hear in his speech that Scotland is turning its distilling expertise to gin, with explosive growth in the number of Scottish gin brands. Since that announcement at the 2020 Budget, my officials and my hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary have engaged with stakeholders across the industry, as well as with public health officials and tax experts. Our goal has been to assess how well the alcohol duty system works now and how it could work better in future. A call for evidence launched in October 2020 asked a series of key questions such as: overall, how well do the different duties work when combined together as a system?”
“I know that many of our constituents agree that there is need for reform. My hon. Friend has once again eloquently voiced his concerns, urging the Government to create a system that works in the best interests of business, his constituents and the industry as a whole. As he noted, at Budget 2020 the Chancellor announced that the Government would review the alcohol duty system. That, of course, was a commitment made in our manifesto, which, as my hon. Friend said, was announced when the Prime Minister visited the distillery in his constituency at Roseisle during, I think, the election campaign, and this review came about only because of the campaigning efforts of my hon. Friend and other Scottish Conservatives to raise the need for reform.”
“In fact, the price of a typical bottle of Scotch whisky is £1.79 lower than it would have been, since we ended the spirits duty escalator seven years ago, in 2014. As hon. Members may be aware, the current UK duty system is comprised of four distinct categories—beer duty, cider duty, spirits duty and wine duty. That means that the tax applied to each unit of alcohol varies according to whether the alcohol used to produce it came from malt, grapes or apples. That inconsistency was, in part, a consequence of EU directives. Now that the United Kingdom has left the European Union, the Government have the opportunity to take a fresh look at the alcohol duty system to see whether we can create a system that is simpler, more consistent and less administratively burdensome to producers, and does a better job of protecting public health.”
“Over time, the UK alcohol duty system evolved to become an important provider of Government revenue, and that is very much still the case. As my hon. Friend noted, the sector has experienced an impressive period of growth, helping to generate billions of pounds for the UK Exchequer. Each year the UK’s alcohol duty system raises over £12 billion, helping to fund public services such as the NHS. In that way it helps to address the harm caused to society and public health by excessive or irresponsible drinking. Those benefits, though, are balanced by the Government’s pragmatic, reasonable approach to the level of duty applied. The Government have cut or frozen duty at seven of the last eight Budgets.”
“That is a reflection of the sector’s remarkable growth, which my hon. Friend mentioned, and the innovation that it has seen in recent years. I am confident that, post pandemic, the sector will continue to flourish, attracting millions more visitors each year. Distillers, like so many other businesses, have had a very challenging year, and as hon. Members will know, the Government have acted decisively to help them, just as we have acted decisively to help thousands of other businesses across other sectors. Today, though, we are debating the future of the UK’s alcohol duty system—a system that in fact has a long and fascinating history. Dating back to 1643, it was first introduced by Parliament as a way of financing its fight in the English civil war.”
“May I start my response by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Moray (Douglas Ross) on securing this debate, particularly since his constituency of Moray lays claim to hosting the largest number of distilleries in any United Kingdom constituency? He has indeed been a tireless advocate for the interests of Scotland. From lobbying for the removal of US tariffs to ensuring officials press on with the alcohol duty review, he has continually supported the Scottish alcohol industry, and he is absolutely right to do so. Distillers such as those in Moray are not just a source of refreshment; they are part of our heritage, they are significant tourism attractions in their own right, and they are important employers up and down the country. In 2019, the number of visitors to the Speyside whisky trail surpassed 2 million.”
“Throughout the covid crisis, the Government have sought to protect people’s jobs and livelihoods, and support businesses and public services across the UK. We recognise that food and drink wholesalers have been severely impacted by the necessary action we have taken to control the virus, but those businesses have been eligible for a number of our economic support schemes, including the job retention scheme, VAT deferral and bounce back loans.”
“I thank the hon. Lady for her question, and, indeed, I met representatives of the sector in my constituency a few weeks ago. The Treasury is in regular discussion with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and they are assessing the systemic risks to the food supply chain of the fulfilment of those public sector contracts to schools, hospitals and prisons. We keep these matters under close review, but at the moment there is no threat to those supply chains and, as I referenced, the options that are available to those firms continue to be available.”
“Equivalence is an autonomous technical process that each side is undertaking separately. Officials have had a number of meetings with their counterparts in the Commission over the past 12 months to discuss each other’s processes, and we remain open and committed to continuing dialogue with the EU about its intentions for equivalence.”
“My hon. Friend has a lot of expertise in this area. He will know that, alongside the trade and co-operation agreement, we had a joint declaration to establish a structured regulatory co-operation for financial services and to discuss a whole range of matters around equivalence determinations going forward. The memorandum of understanding will be agreed in discussions between the EU and UK by March 2021. That will establish a framework for that co-operation. It would not be appropriate for me to give a running commentary on that, but the plans will come to fruition over the coming weeks.”
“To clarify for the right hon. Gentleman, the equivalence granting process is an autonomous, separate process from the MOU discussion. The MOU is about a framework to evaluate the future direction of financial services across the EU and UK. I remain very ambitious for the financial services sector. The Chancellor and I are continuing to have a dialogue—with roundtables with representatives of the sector this week and next week, as well as one-to-one meetings—to ensure that we listen to the sector, and respond appropriately and ambitiously for the future.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his question. Across the pandemic, the Government have created a number of innovative responses, like eat out to help out. We will continue to examine very carefully what package of measures we need to intervene with, and the Chancellor has indicated that he will be coming forward at the Budget with an update to the House on that package in due course.”
“Many of the speeches made today have covered the long and sad history of this matter. I do not propose to revisit all of that this afternoon. I do, however, want to remind hon. Members that the Government took more action than any of their predecessors to resolve this issue and committed significantly more funding than any other. I appreciate that some investors remain disappointed by the steps that we took and would like to see further funds made available, but the Government have been clear and consistent in saying that this issue is closed and no further money will be paid out. This is in line with the ombudsman’s report, which was explicit about having no expectation of the full amount being paid.”
“Let me start, as others have done, by acknowledging the role of my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman), his long-standing work on the issue and his success in securing the debate. I also need to declare an interest, as I did when I responded to the debate on 31 January 2019: my late father was an investor in Equitable Life and, therefore, I am keenly aware of the history and the importance of the issue to all concerned. As we have heard and grasped again today, this is a complex and technical subject, the history of which has been very well documented over many years. I should also remind Members that the Equitable Life payment scheme closed to new claims over five years ago, so nothing has changed since that previous debate two years ago.”
“I appreciate investors’ desire that the scheme should pay out more, but the Government’s position has always been clear and consistent, both since the original announcement back in 2010 and since the scheme was wound down over five years ago. I am afraid that that position remains and will not change.”
“That is likely to have been what happened in specific cases that Members have raised today, and I believe that they show that the system that the scheme established to ensure accurate payments worked well. The Government have taken significant action to resolve this issue and to balance the expectations of the policyholder with the needs of the taxpayer. The scheme was fully transparent, as I have set out. We published the calculation methodology in full. We made significant resources available to explain it. And we put systems in place to ensure that where there were errors in that input data and, therefore, payments, they were remedied swiftly.”
“The Treasury is not aware of any corrected payments having been made to policyholders since the scheme closed, but I recognise that it may be helpful to go into some more detail on this point. The most critical determinant of the value of any payment is the input data received from Equitable itself, including payments in, payments out and the type of policy bought. Actuaries checked this data carefully and made any obvious corrections automatically before payments were made. But then the scheme also gave policyholders the opportunity to verify their own input data, which would be a significant driver of any errors, and where an error was found, the scheme corrected it and recalculated the payment.”
“In addition, the Treasury incurred actuarial fees well in excess of £100,000, answering the questions reasonably posed by the actuarial representative of the Equitable Members Action Group, in an effort to ensure that there was maximum transparency to that group and to those members who were concerned, but no errors were found in the methodology. The group confirmed to their members that the payments to annuitants were accurate, and all this was set out in detail to the Public Accounts Committee in 2018. Some hon. Members have spoken about policyholders who have received increased payments from the scheme, but given the closure of the scheme to new claims, I can only assume that these are historical cases.”
“I will not, because of time. Indeed, the ombudsman wrote to the APPG to clarify that position. Today, we have heard additional representations on the transparency and accuracy of the payments made by the scheme. I heard very clearly that point from my right hon. Friend and his reference to me during the debate, and I shall respond to that now. First, the Treasury published the calculation methodology in full in 2011, as well as a simplified explanation to assist members of the scheme who were anxious about how it would work, with worked examples of the calculation. These explain how every payment made by the scheme was calculated.”
“I therefore commend this order to the Committee.”
“That will allow time for the FCA to design, consult on and implement the regulatory architecture for the new regime. It will also allow time for funeral plan providers and intermediaries to take the necessary steps to familiarise themselves with the new regulatory requirements. I also fully expect funeral plans to be brought within the scope of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, but ultimately the scope of the FSCS is determined by the FCA, which will need to consult on the matter. The Government are currently considering whether further legislation is required to ensure that the compensation scheme would operate effectively for consumers if it were extended to cover this sector. As I said, compulsory regulation in this area is long overdue. We must ensure that vulnerable and elderly consumers in this sector are protected.”
“It is a regrettable fact that bringing a previously unregulated sector into regulation—whatever form that may take—creates a possibility that some providers are not able to meet the threshold for the new authorisation. I therefore cannot rule out the possibility that, in the authorising of those firms under the new regime, it is revealed that some providers are unable to deliver on the promises that they have made to their customers. However, I can assure the Committee that the Treasury and the FCA will monitor the situation very closely and, subject to the facts at the time, stand ready to take any appropriate action. I will briefly outline the next steps. Once this order is made, there will be an 18-month implementation period before the new regulatory framework comes fully into force.”
“I thank the FPA for its work up to this point. I hope that it will continue to operate until the new FCA regime comes into force and I urge providers to retain their registration and, of course, abide by the authority’s code of conduct in this transitional period. Following consultation with the industry, the Treasury has concluded that the majority of providers operating in this market are well run, with properly funded trusts. That is important, because it provides a foundation on which a proper regulatory regime can be based. The Treasury has also found that the reported poor practices have largely been attributed to providers that had chosen not to register with the FPA, demonstrating that in this case a voluntary system of regulation cannot be fully effective because providers can simply choose not to comply.”
“The order also makes consequential amendments to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Collective Investment Schemes) Order 2001. Finally, the order will bring this sector into the scope of the Financial Ombudsman Service. The Government consider that consumers should have access to the financial ombudsman in respect of both plans purchased after the order comes fully into force and plans that would otherwise have benefited from the complaints procedure of the current voluntary regulator. Accordingly, the order extends the jurisdiction of the financial ombudsman to allow it to deal with complaints in relation to matters that occurred when the funeral plan provider was registered with the Funeral Planning Authority.”
“Therefore this order amends the relevant regulations in order to allow intermediaries of funeral plan providers to become appointed representatives of “principal” firms. That means that funeral plan providers, acting as the “principal” firm, must ensure that the representatives whom they appoint to sell or promote their funeral plans comply with the relevant regulatory regimes. For the Committee’s benefit, I point out that that is not dissimilar to a travel agent selling insurance but not actually being responsible individually for being regulated as an insurance provider. It results in a proportionate approach whereby smaller firms that operate as intermediaries will be required to follow the rules that protect consumers, without necessarily needing to undergo full FCA authorisation.”
“Failing to capture the sale of funeral plan contracts by that large part of the market would result in an ineffective regulatory regime and expose individuals to the risk of unfair selling practices. Therefore this order also makes amendments to the regulated activities order in order to make dealing in funeral plan contracts as an agent a regulated activity. The effect is that all relevant activities undertaken by intermediaries or third-party distributors who promote or sell funeral plans will also be brought within the scope of the amended regulatory regime. I am mindful that funeral directors are in general not financial services firms, and the Treasury has received many representations from stakeholders concerned about the ability of these small, often family-run businesses to become directly authorised by the FCA.”
“The order will also introduce a new regulated activity that will require providers to be authorised by the FCA in relation to the administration of funeral plans, including existing plans. Those changes to the 2001 order will ensure that the FCA is able to introduce rules to protect consumers at the point of sale, ensure that providers administer the plans properly, and ensure that they have sufficient reserves to pay for funerals as they fall due. Many funeral plan contracts are sold by smaller intermediaries and in particular by funeral directors, a point made to me yesterday in a letter from my right hon. Friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings.”
“That will ensure that funeral plan providers are subject to robust and enforceable conduct standards that aim to protect consumers from further harm. Under the current legislative framework, entering into a funeral plan contract is a regulated activity; however, the 2001 order currently excludes plans covered by a trust arrangement or insurance contract from the definition of a funeral plan. Because all known providers meet those conditions, no pre-paid funeral plan provider is currently, or ever has been, authorised and regulated by the FCA. The draft order will remove those exclusions, with the effect that providers will generally be required to be authorised by the FCA in relation to entering into—that is, selling—funeral plan contracts.”
“Following those reports, in 2018 the Government launched a call for evidence in order to seek views and information on the potential risk of consumer detriment in the market. The responses to that call for evidence confirmed the existence of consumer harm, which included a lack of clarity for consumers over what is covered by their plan, high- pressure and misleading sales tactics, and a lack of access to redress schemes if things go wrong. The call for evidence also confirmed broad demand in the sector for moving to a compulsory regulatory regime, with 84% of respondents expressing their support. Following further consultation on a new legislative framework, the Government have decided to bring the pre-paid funeral plan market within the remit of the FCA.”
“The order will introduce a compulsory regulatory regime by amending the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001, and other related legislation. A funeral plan is a contract under which a policyholder makes one or more payments to a funeral plan provider, who subsequently provides or pays for a funeral upon the death of the policyholder. Entering into such plans in effect allows policyholders to lock in the price of their future funeral when they purchase the plan. Although there is a voluntary regulatory body in the market, the Funeral Planning Authority, over recent years there have been troubling reports from Fairer Finance and Citizens Advice Scotland of consumer detriment in the sector.”
“Compulsory regulation in this area is long overdue, and it is right that the Government act to ensure that vulnerable consumers are protected by a coherent and proportionate regulatory regime. This issue has attracted interest from across the House over a number of years and I thank all Members who have campaigned, spoken and written to me about it in that time, including the hon. Member for Airdrie and Shotts (Neil Gray), the right hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson), my hon. Friend the Member for South Cambridgeshire (Anthony Browne), my right hon. Friend the Member for South Holland and The Deepings (Sir John Hayes), and the hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Bow, who is a member of the Committee.”
“I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) Order 2020. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell, as we consider the order, which was laid before the House on 26 November last year. At the spring Budget in 2020, following comprehensive consultation and stakeholder engagement, the Government published their consultation response and the Chancellor announced the Government’s intention to legislate to bring pre-paid funeral plan providers within the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority. That will ensure that, for the first time, all providers that sell and administer pre-paid funeral plans will be subject to compulsory and robust regulation.”
“I have regular conversations—indeed, I will have one today—with the chief executive of the FCA, and I will keep the matter under close review. I think this is the right thing for the Government to be doing. It is based on evidence, cross-party support and clearly, as matters move forward and the detail of the work and the regulations come into play, there will be an opportunity to debate the measure further in the House. Question put and agreed to.”