§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the participants, and the organisations they represented, at Treasury seminars on individual savings accounts. [47729]
§ Mrs. Liddell[holding answer 29 June 1998]: The Treasury has held two seminars in London and one in Edinburgh as part of the process of consultation on the proposals for setting voluntary standards for individual savings accounts set out in the Treasury consultation document "Making Saving Easy".
The seminars included speakers from Britannic Assurance, Direct Line, the Financial Services Authority, M&G, Midland Bank, Nationwide Building Society, Pearl Assurance, Tillinghast Towers Perrin and Virgin Direct.
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§ Dawn Primarolo[holding answer 22 June 1998]: The information requested is given in the table. The first row gives the increase in WFTC cost from introducing a rented housing credit; the second row shows the net effect including reduced Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit owing to the increased WFTC. The third row shows the net effect if the eligible rent in Housing Benefit is reduced by the amount of the rented housing credit.
The seminars were attended by some 240 representatives of a range of organisation including consumer organisations, financial institutions and their trade associations, law firms, the press and regulators. Officials from HM Treasury and the Inland Revenue were also present.