Speeches by Blake.

“That means that your job is getting a lot harder. Do you think that is reflected in the level of expectation on OBR forecasts?”

“Just so I understand it: you make an assessment about investment and use similar forecasting for anything that you would categorise as investment, but you acknowledge that the complexity of assets and liabilities now does mean that it is slightly more difficult for you to forecast. Is that a fair summary?”

“Thank you. Professor Miles, I want to talk about what this growing Government use of public financial institutions is doing to the OBR model. How is the model adapting in order to provide the most effective forecasts it can, with this complexity within assets and liabilities?”

“On that point, does my hon. Friend agree that it is important for HMRC to work with local authorities to take action on tax evasion by high street stores that do not act fairly, like the awful Harry Potter stores in my constituency? I am worried about the impact that they have on the high street and on our tax revenues…”

“Not far from here, on Whitehall and on Oxford Street, we have seen the proliferation of Harry Potter shops. These are not welcoming for our tourists and we do not believe that they are trading fairly. Will the Minister support me in encouraging His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs to work with Westminster city council, wh…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for securing today’s debate. It is timely, both in terms of London’s potential and current contribution to growth and the fair funding review. He mentioned the £4 million per day that London local authorities spend on temporary accommodation. My own local authority, Westminster city council, spen…”

“What specific steps are you taking to improve the claims experience, given that a significant number of complaints are around claims?”

“It is the firm-specific complaints data from the FCA, from December 2024, showing the insurance and pure protection complaint uphold rate.”

“Mr Ward, I want to come on to the uphold rate for Scottish Widows, which is quite high. It was 80% between July and December. Why is that?”

“Do you use third parties to deal with your claims?”

“I wanted to talk about some of the data that we have from the Financial Ombudsman Service. We have seen that the complaint uphold rate reported is now at about 40%. Mr Walker, why do you think that is happening?”

“What confidence can customers have that you are not using this risk around monthly payments just to increase their individual payments? What confidence can the private renters our Chair talked about have that you are not just targeting them for higher payments?”

“That growth in customer numbers is coming from customers who are paying monthly, and we are concerned, based on the risk factors that you have just described, that there is a real premium there.”

“Your annual report has set out that you are seeing more customers paying monthly, and that your profits are increasing. We want to understand what impact monthly payments are having on your business model, and whether you are incentivised towards that. We have highlighted that there is a concern about the premium. Your…”

“Mr Hargreaves, your annual report showed that 10% of your revenue is from interest income. Can you tell us from which particular products that interest income might be coming?”

“Does the Chief Secretary to the Treasury agree that it is because of these fiscal rules that this Government have been able to establish firm foundations for future growth? Will he explain to the House how the Budget stability rule supports the Government with confidence of investors and businesses?”

“The modern industrial strategy suggests that there is a little overlap between yourselves and the British Business Bank. I hope we can drill into that with it, or with the Minister later. This is your moment. What would that environment look like in a more ideal setting? You have alluded to the fact that there are a nu…”

“We will come on to the role of the Government in the next panel. I want to drill into this question about the relationship between the British Business Bank, Innovate UK and the National Wealth Fund. We have heard from other witnesses about the 23 different organisations that are involved. You have talked about the peo…”

“You can see the risk, if there is an intention to generate additional investment into these key sectors and the National Wealth Fund grows, that the focus on additionality could decline. Can you see the risk I am highlighting?”

“How would you make sure that, at each point in that growth, you are true to the objective of the fund, which is to generate additionality?”