Written questions by Garnier.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee's 15% cap on mortgage lending.

The flow limit, which limits the number of mortgages extended at loan-to-income (LTI) ratios of 4.5 or higher to 15% of a lender’s new mortgage lending, is set by the independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC) of the Bank of England.While the Government does not seek to intervene in decisions made by the independent FPC, the Chancellor has recommended that the Committee consider how its decisions support the Government’s priority of supporting home ownership, as stated in her remit letter sent to the FPC on 14 November 2024.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of taking legislative steps to allow credit unions to access the Bank of England’s liquidity facilities.

Credit unions are not currently eligible to access the Bank of England’s liquidity facilities, but the Bank continually assesses the types of firms that are eligible. The Government has made clear its strong support for the credit union sector, recognising the value that credit unions bring to their members in local communities across the country in providing savings products and affordable credit. The Government continues to engage regularly with this sector to understand the current barriers they face and to consider further opportunities for growth.

Innovation and Technology, what his planned timetable is for publishing the Active Debris Removal Programme.

Active Debris Removal (ADR) is a core part of in-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing capabilities to support safe, secure and sustainable access to space. The Government recently awarded £4.7 million to Astroscale and ClearSpace to understand the risks and costs of an ADR mission to rendezvous with and deorbit two UK-licenced satellites. The UK Space Agency is developing the business case for Phase 3 of the ADR programme which, if successful, will be published for tender in mid-2025 to prepare for mission launch in 2028. Any future phase will be subject to funding decisions which will be taken through the Spending Review.

What discussions she has had with the Bank of England on creating a regulatory framework for stablecoins.

HM Treasury has ongoing engagement with the financial regulators, including the Bank of England, on the regulatory treatment of cryptoassets. The Government plans to publish draft legislation for the creation of a financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets as early as possible this year. This regime will include creating a new regulated activity for stablecoin issuance.

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.

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 guidance entitled Pensions dashboards: guidance on connection: the staged timetable, published 25 March 2024, if she will set out a revised timeline for making the connection of occupational pension schemes to the Pensions Dashboard Scheme available to the public.

The Government is committed to the existing timetable in guidance for the connection of occupational pension schemes and personal and stakeholder providers to the pensions dashboards ecosystem, as well as the overall connection deadline of 31 October 2026.

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.

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 technology is also one of our five core policy pillars in our Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness strategy, which forms part of the government’s wider industrial strategy.

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 England and the Financial Conduct Authority, and the forthcoming regulatory regime for cryptoassets.

With reference to her Department's Motorcycles in bus lanes consultation outcome, updated on 21 November 2024, what account her Department took of the outcomes of local authority trials allowing motorcycle access to bus lanes.

The consultation was designed to gather up to date information primarily from local authorities to expand the evidence base. The questions for local authorities included asking about existing levels of motorcycle use in bus lanes on their networks and what factors had been taken into account in their decision making. However, the number of local authorities responding was too small to draw useful conclusions.

With reference to the data on Departmental spending over £500 with an electronic purchasing card solution, when he plans to publish this data for (a) October and (b) November 2024.

The Department intends to publish the October and November data on Departmental spending over £500 with an electronic purchasing card before the end of the financial year.

How many purchases with a value of less than £500 were made by his Department using an electronic purchasing card solution in October 2024, what the value was of those purchases; and if he will take steps to publish this information for (a) November 2024 and (b) subsequent months.

This data is not published by the Department, in line with Section 8.2 Transparency in the Crown Commercial Services’ Procurement Cards Pan-Government Policy.

How many officials in his Department work full-time on COP summits.

The annual UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) is a crucial opportunity to tackle climate change internationally. As a top Government priority, officials across HMG are involved in making these summits as successful as they can be, from negotiations, logistics and Ministerial support to policy and stakeholder engagement. They typically do this as part of a broader role.

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 classification as alternative investment funds under EU rules.

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. The government has committed to reset the UK’s relationship with the European Union through strengthening ties, securing a broad-based security pact, and improving conditions for trade and investment. This recognises the inter-connectedness of our markets and ensures that our approach to financial services supports growth and delivers investment.Ministers and officials at HM Treasury continue to engage regularly with the European Union and Governments in other jurisdictions, including through Economic and Financial Dialogues, to address barriers to UK financial services products being marketed abroad, and to promote the UK’s world-leading financial services sector.

How many gifts were received by Ministers in his Department for travel to COP conferences in the last 12 months.

No gifts were received by Ministers for travel to COP conferences in the last 12 months.

Whether he has made an estimate of the number of unfinanced energy projects in the queue to be connected to the power grid.

Data on financing of projects in the connections queue is not available. However, National Energy System Operator estimates that historically, 60-70% of transmission connection projects do not ultimately connect, including those that do not secure financing. NESO is currently consulting on proposals that would, if approved, ensure only viable projects are able to obtain and retain a connection agreement.

How many fax machines are in use by the National Energy System Operator; and whether his Department plans to provide funding to digitalise the energy grid.

The Government does not hold any information on the number of fax machines in use at the National Energy System Operator (NESO). Government, Ofgem and NESO are working to digitalise the energy system. In August the government published a response to the digital spine feasibility study, detailing how NESO and others are improving energy data sharing. Government funds digitalisation innovation, including the Automatic Asset Registration programme which aims to improve visibility of small-scale low carbon technologies. Ofgem approves funding for digitalisation through its decisions on price controls of licenced organisations, and delivers the Strategic Innovation Fund.

Whether he has had discussions with the National Energy System Operator on pylon presumption.

Details of Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK. The National Policy Statement for electricity networks (NPS EN-5) sets out that overhead lines should be the strong starting presumption for electricity networks developments in general, except in nationally designated landscapes where undergrounding is the starting presumption.