Motion· Early Day MotionEDM 146open
United Kingdom · UK Parliament · 21 December 2000
That this House commends the approach taken by the Co-operative Insurance Society in applying the principles of socially responsible investment across its entire ú26 billion portfolio; recognises the success of taking socially responsible investments to the widest public audience by ensuring all the 365,000 ISAs the society has sold since their launch are invested in a socially responsible way but also all the other investments made on behalf of its 4.5 million customers; further notes the potential that this investment strategy has in promoting best practice in corporate governance and business practice both in the UK and worldwide; and calls upon the Government to repeat the principled stand it took on trust-based pensions by ensuring that people who take out stakeholder pensions are aware of the ethical stance taken by the funds they invest in.
Motion· Early Day MotionEDM 876open
United Kingdom · UK Parliament · 20 June 2000
That this House believes that houses in multiple occupation provide an important source of housing for many vulnerable groups of people; notes that many of these properties are in poor condition, with up to 20 per cent. falling below the legal standard of fitness for human habitation; supports proposals to introduce a licensing scheme to improve conditions and increase value for money which would benefit tenants and responsible landlords alike; and hopes the Government will include legislation to implement these proposals in the next Queen's Speech.
Motion· Early Day MotionEDM 764open
United Kingdom · UK Parliament · 19 May 2000
That this House supports the unanimous and firmly held view of the Board of Directors of Standard Life that mutuality is in the best interests of the company and its policy holders; recognises that the payouts from mutual insurance companies are higher than for public limited companies and that on average Standard Life's returns to policy holders have, over a long period, being around 9 per cent. higher than equivalent plcs; believes that it is vital that the option of investing in a mutual insurer should remain a vibrant and real choice for the public, and that there is a systemic interest in maintaining a competitive mutual sector for the benefit of all consumers; notes that actual windfall payments to the majority of Standard Life members will be considerably less than the 'average' quoted in the media and by those who wish the company to demutualise; endorses the view that a mutual life company has responsibilities to both current and future members; is concerned that if Standard Life, as the biggest mutual company in Europe, demutualises, then it is likely that, ultimately, a large part of the UK insurance sector will end up being controlled from abroad; and calls upon the carpetbaggers' group to state publicly that they will accept the result of the ballot on the special resolutions that they are moving at the special general meeting on 27th June.
Motion· Early Day MotionEDM 763open
United Kingdom · UK Parliament · 19 May 2000
That this House welcomes the efforts of the Emerging role of Sheltered Housing Consortium and their contribution to the debate about housing options for older people; notes that the 'Going on to Sheltered Housing' National Awareness Week is from 22nd to 28th May; and congratulates them on their efforts to raise public awareness about the positive and cost-effective benefits that sheltered and very sheltered housing offers to older people.
Motion· Early Day MotionEDM 762open
United Kingdom · UK Parliament · 18 May 2000
That this House is in favour of greater clarity in the attribution of the long-term assets held in the life fund of shareholder-owned insurance companies; recognises that the guiding principle in the allocation of surplus assets is that the reasonable expectation of the policyholders should be protected; notes the continuing controversy over the division of these assets between policyholders and shareholders and that this does not relate to mutual insurers such as Standard Life who are owned by their policyholders; expresses concern that these assets may be used to pay compensation for pension mis-selling where it may be more appropriate that the risk be borne by the shareholders; supports the comments of the Government Actuary that the actuarial profession is placing too much emphasis on shareholders and the life assurance industry is not doing enough to protect the interests of policyholders; and calls on the FSA, when the Financial Services and Markets Bill becomes law, to issue guidance and make rules for the protection of policyholders and potential policyholders of shareholder-owned insurance companies.
Motion· Early Day MotionEDM 701open
United Kingdom · UK Parliament · 9 May 2000
That this House recognises the fundamental importance of access to good quality, affordable housing; understands that decent housing is essential to good health and improved opportunity in education and employment; believes that housing providers, drawing on both public and private resources, have a key role to play in economic and social regeneration; and believes that to achieve the aspiration of a decent home for all, as set out in the Housing Green Paper, including the commitment to tackle the ú19 billion backlog of council housing repairs, investment in housing and in particular affordable housing, must be increased in the Government's forthcoming spending review.
Motion· Early Day MotionEDM 635open
United Kingdom · UK Parliament · 12 April 2000
That this House congratulates the Government on its decision to locate the new National Athletics Stadium at Picketts Lock; applauds the subsequent decision of the IAAF to award the 2005 World Athletics Championship, universally recognised as the third most important sporting event in the world, to London to be held in the new stadium; commends both the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and the London Borough of Enfield for the significant role that they have played in ensuring that the stadium will be based in Edmonton; recognises that the development is likely to include state of the art national facilities including sports medicine, sports science and coaching development facilities; and further notes that the regeneration of the area, including jobs and expected improvements to the transport infrastructure will be substantial, and that the local community will be one of the main beneficiaries of the development.
Motion· Early Day MotionEDM 418open
United Kingdom · UK Parliament · 17 February 2000
That this House believes that social housing activities by registered social landlords should not be charged corporation tax at the same rate as commercial companies; also believes that this is not in the interests of improved investment in Britain's housing stock; understands that, while charitable RSLs are exempt from such tax, many offer too broad a range of services to qualify for charitable status; notes that the National Housing Federation estimates the cost of exemption at approximately ú30 million a year and contrasts this figure with the ú300 million cost of reducing the corporation tax rate for commercial companies in 1998-99; further notes that this ú30 million represents a 6 per cent. increase in internally generated funds available for social housing activities; and calls on the Chancellor to boost investment in social housing by considering exempting social housing activities from corporation tax liability.
Motion· Early Day MotionEDM 328open
United Kingdom · UK Parliament · 27 January 2000
That this House re-affirms its support for the Government's determination to combat all forms of social and financial exclusion while promoting social inclusion; notes that many people are still excluded from mainstream financial services and are unable to enjoy the benefits of tax-efficient savings schemes; recognises the importance of ensuring that low-income households benefit from such programmes; welcomes the attempts of some financial service providers to attract previously excluded families to the benefits of these schemes; welcomes, in particular, the success of the Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) in attracting over 200,000 customers into the new Individual Savings Accounts (ISA); notes that 70,000 of these accounts belong to customers who previously did not enjoy regular tax-efficient savings; and calls on the Government to build upon the achievements of the ISA in broadening the net for tax-free savings when designing its proposals for stakeholder pensions.