Written questions by Anderson.

What steps she is taking at (a) the G7, (b) the G20 and (c) other multilateral forums to promote (i) sustainable finance and (ii) climate-related investments.

The government is committed to leading the world in sustainable finance by making the UK a global hub for green and transition finance activity, and delivering a world-leading sustainable finance regulatory framework. The 2023 Green Finance Strategy committed to develop a pilot model to track net zero investment within the UK. This research has now concluded, and Government is considering, alongside relevant stakeholders, how to build on this research and whether to repeat the exercise in future. Internationally, the UK is proud to be actively involved in the G20 Finance track’s work on sustainable finance. Through that work, we have helped develop principles for climate transition plans for financial institutions. The Chancellor herself made interventions on climate and sustainable finance when visiting Rio for the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in July.

If her Department has plans to bring forward legislative proposals on the regulation of securities tokenisation.

The government recognises the potential of tokenisation to transform the UK’s financial services sector by enhancing efficiency, increasing liquidity, and strengthening risk management. The government is taking forward the new Digital Securities Sandbox, which will allow the Treasury and financial regulators to assess how securities can be tokenised including through the use of Distributed Ledger Technology. In particular, the sandbox will assess whether the existing regulatory framework appropriately support and regulates such assets, and whether any changes are needed. The Treasury will report to Parliament on lessons learnt through the sandbox. Additionally, the Ministry of Justice has introduced into Parliament the Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill, which will confirm in statute the common law position that certain digital assets can possess personal property rights.

What recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on the adoption of sustainability disclosure requirements in line with global standards.

The government is committed to leading the world in sustainable finance by making the UK a global hub for green and transition finance activity, and delivering a world-leading sustainable finance regulatory framework. The 2023 Green Finance Strategy committed to develop a pilot model to track net zero investment within the UK. This research has now concluded, and Government is considering, alongside relevant stakeholders, how to build on this research and whether to repeat the exercise in future. Internationally, the UK is proud to be actively involved in the G20 Finance track’s work on sustainable finance. Through that work, we have helped develop principles for climate transition plans for financial institutions. The Chancellor herself made interventions on climate and sustainable finance when visiting Rio for the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in July.

What plans her Department has to help expand financial services trade with other key international financial centres.

As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, this government are committed to developing a trade strategy that will drive economic growth. That is why we intend to deliver the UK’s Free Trade Agreement programme, starting with the Gulf Co-operation Council, India, Israel, Republic of Korea, Switzerland and Turkey. The financial services sector is one of the UK’s most critical industries. With Free Trade Agreements, we will secure commitments on financial services that will drive growth by increasing UK financial services exports, attracting foreign investment, and enhancing the City’s competitiveness.

What steps her Department is taking to track green finance flows into the UK; and how will this data be used to promote investment in the green economy.

The government is committed to leading the world in sustainable finance by making the UK a global hub for green and transition finance activity, and delivering a world-leading sustainable finance regulatory framework. The 2023 Green Finance Strategy committed to develop a pilot model to track net zero investment within the UK. This research has now concluded, and Government is considering, alongside relevant stakeholders, how to build on this research and whether to repeat the exercise in future. Internationally, the UK is proud to be actively involved in the G20 Finance track’s work on sustainable finance. Through that work, we have helped develop principles for climate transition plans for financial institutions. The Chancellor herself made interventions on climate and sustainable finance when visiting Rio for the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in July.

If she will take steps improve accessibility for high-growth SMEs to the research and development tax credit system.

The Government recognises the important role that R&D plays in driving innovation and economic growth as well as the benefits it can bring for society. The UK’s R&D tax reliefs have a key role to play in supporting R&D investment in a fiscally sustainable way.R&D intensive, lossmaking, small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) qualify for an enhanced rate of relief (“ERIS”). This gives eligible companies a cash value of £27 for every £100 spent on R&D. The Government expects around 20,000 SMEs annually will benefit from this support, which is worth around £600 million per year. To give additional certainty and assure compliance HMRC offers an Advanced Assurance scheme to eligible SMEs (companies with a turnover of below £2 million and less than 50 employees) claiming R&D tax relief for the first time. To further support accessibility, HMRC publishes comprehensive guidance and has produced new “guidelines for compliance” explaining what is and is not R&D.

If she will negotiate a new financial services memorandum of understanding with the EU that includes measures on green finance.

Green finance measures are covered by the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) establishing a framework for financial services regulatory cooperation between the EU and the UK. The MoU is published online:UK-EU Memorandum of Understanding on Financial Services Cooperation - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Joint Statements following meetings of the Joint EU-UK Financial Regulatory Forum, established by the MoU, are published online:Joint EU-UK Financial Regulatory Forum - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If her Department will make an assessment of the adequacy of support provided to (a) high growth start-ups and (b) entrepreneurs by the (i) Enterprise Investment Scheme, (ii) Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme and (ii) Venture Capital Trust.

The Enterprise Investment Scheme, Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme and Venture Capital Trust Scheme were all recently evaluated, with reports published in November 2023. These are available on gov.uk.