Politics

We aim to keep you informed of all relevant Westminster parliamentary business, including select committee activity and early day motions. Members and associates can also track key bills as they pass through the legislative process, and keep up to date with our public affairs work through our activities page.

Highlights of parliamentary business during the week beginning 29 June -

• Gordon Brown set out the government's 'Building Britain's future' policy document which included the draft legislative programme for the last parliamentary session ahead of the general election. The prime minister’s announced that funding would be increase from £1.2 billion to £1.5 billion to deliver an additional 20,000 affordable homes for rent or buy over the next two years. The government will introduce a new Financial Services and Business Bill to strengthen regulation and ensure the FSA has sufficient powers, protect and support consumers, and improve efficiency and competition.
• It has been reported that the financial services white paper, to be published next week, will be based heavily on Lord Turner’s report. An article in The Independent suggested that the existing three-way split between the Treasury, the Bank and FSA will be retained, but there will be plans to make them work together more closely and effectively. It also reported that the chancellor has ruled out calls for banks to be split between their risky investment and their retail businesses. But the white paper will suggest that the banks' contingency plans make it easier to see the split between the two functions so that any future rescues would be easier.
• “We need to keep prudential and conduct of business expertise in one place, in a regulator capable of seeing all parts of the picture at once. That regulator has to be the FSA.”, according to the business secretary. In a speech at a BBA conference this week, Lord Mandelson also stressed the importance of focussing on EU proposals. He said that in addition to the Turner review, the regulatory response to the credit crunch will come from the EU. “Brussels has to recognise that EU rules will affect the UK far more than any other European state. We have more skin in this game than the rest of Europe put together”. Financial services secretary Lord Myners also spoke at the conference.
• Communities and Local Government (CLG) published the latest mortgage rescue scheme monitoring statistics giving information on the number of households approaching local authorities with mortgage difficulties and households applying and accepted for the scheme.
• CLG published a consultation paper that proposes new prescribed articles for Right to Manage companies. Housing minister John Healey also announced that he intended to publish a consultation before the summer recess on reform of council housing finance by dismantling the housing revenue account and replacing it with a devolved system of responsibility and funding.
• Consumer affairs minister Kevin Brennan launched a consumer white paper which sets out the government’s plans to promote responsible borrowing and lending. In connection with this, the OFT launched a review into the supply of high cost credit.
• The Government Equalities Office launched a consultation on age discrimination and the Equality Bill. The consultation cover policy proposals for exceptions from the age discrimination ban including the use of age-based practices in financial services.
• The CML gave evidence (along with the BSA, BBA, IMLA and ARLA) to the Commons Treasury committee on mortgage arrears and access to mortgage finance. The committee was interested in whether the FSA’s mortgage conduct of business rules are fit for purpose, how well the FSA has performed its role and seemed keen for the FSA to name and shame lenders when they start to investigate them. There were also interested in charges on accounts in arrears and views on the government support schemes.
• The Treasury committee has also now published transcripts from hearings last week on banking regulation and supervision with FSA chairman Lord Turner and Bank governor Mervyn King. The transcript of a separate hearing with Mervyn King on the Bank’s latest inflation report is also now available.
• Liberal Democrat shadow chancellor Vince Cable introduced a debate on mortgage arrears and repossession. This is the third debate introduced by him on this subject. Cable said the introduction of the government’s support schemes merited returning to this subject to review the progress of these schemes and ask the minister to report on developments.

Full details of relevant parliamentary business can be found in Week in Westminster below. Sign up to our website updates and we will email you each issue as it's published.

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