Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many individuals with outstanding Loan Charge liabilities are estimated to have debts exceeding £140,000; and of those, how many she expects will be able to settle under the terms announced following the McCann Review.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government recognised that concerns were raised about the Loan Charge under the previous government and that some felt strongly that it had not been handled appropriately.
The Government therefore commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge to bring the matter to a close for those affected, ensure fairness for all taxpayers and ensure that appropriate support is in place for those subject to the Loan Charge.
Page 19 of the Independent Loan Charge Review report provides estimates of the distribution of outstanding liabilities.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-the-loan-charge
The Government accepted all but one of the independent review’s recommendations and in some cases is going further, including writing off the first £5,000 from everyone’s liability. Around a third will have their liabilities written off entirely. Most people will see reductions in their liabilities of at least 50%.
The new settlement opportunity is open to anyone with outstanding Loan Charge liabilities, including employers.
The Government’s response to the review represents a fair and proportionate attempt to provide a route to resolution for those who have not yet been able to settle with HMRC. In turn, this requires those individuals to now come forward and engage with HMRC in good faith.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the settlement opportunity arising from the McCann Review does not include those whose use of disguised remuneration schemes occurred before 9 December 2010 or after 5 April 2019.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget 2024, the Government announced a new independent review of the loan charge. The purpose of the review was to bring the matter to a close for people who have not settled and paid their loan charge liabilities.
The settlement opportunity will only include disguised remuneration scheme use between December 2010 and April 2019 because this is the period during which the loan charge applies.
The Government has no plans to apply the review’s recommendations beyond those individuals and employers with outstanding liabilities that were the focus of the review.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2026, to Question 105534, on Public Sector: Pay, if he will publish the names of the three departments or public bodies that were rejected through the senior pay approvals process.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The senior pay control process acts as an additional layer of scrutiny to senior salaries within the public sector and is designed to ensure value for money for the taxpayer. Details of the cases that are submitted through this process are not published. Individual salaries for successful applications are available through the annual reports and accounts of the employing bodies.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what metrics and data points HM Treasury collates on government spending on consultancy.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Information on spending on consultancy each financial year is published and available through individual departments’ Annual Reports and Accounts, which departments input to OSCAR after publication. This is the most accurate source of data on consultancy spending, and is how we judge whether spending targets on consultancy have been met.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 20 January 2026 to Question 105537 on Government Departments: Cost Effectiveness, what datasets are Departments required to submit to her Department quarterly as part of the Government Efficiency Framework; and whether there is guidance on the Government Efficiency Framework requirements.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government Efficiency Framework sets out guidance on how departments should monitor and report the delivery and realisation of efficiency savings.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Guidance on Public Sector Exit Payments: Use of Special Severance Payments, November 2025, whether payments made under the £150 million government employee exit scheme fund will be reportable under the special severance scheme guidance.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Where payments made from the fund meet the criteria of special severance payments, the associated reporting requirements will apply.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any Ministers or officials in HM Treasury have met with representatives of oil and gas companies to discuss North Sea oil and gas extraction since 1 March 2026.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Treasury Ministers and officials regularly engage with multiple industry stakeholders. The Chancellor met the UK’s oil and gas sector this month following the events in the Middle East. This included discussing how to navigate this uncertain period and the desire to provide certainty to support jobs in the UK, particularly in Scotland.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has issued guidance to Cabinet colleagues on making spending commitments over more than a 10 year period.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Spending Review 2025 set department budgets until 2028-29, with an additional year for capital investment.
Alongside the Spending Review, HM Treasury also published a 10-Year Infrastructure Strategy, with 10-year settlements for school rebuilding, Affordable Homes, flood defenses and maintenance budgets for schools, prison, hospitals and other public assets.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what evidence her Department submitted to the Office for National Statistics' review of the ethnicity harmonised standard, including in relation to the recording of Sikhs and Jewish people as ethnic groups.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
A review of the harmonised standard for ethnicity data collection is underway by the Government Statistical Service Harmonisation team.
A public consultation between October 2025 and February 2026 sought views from a wide range of users, including Government Departments and public bodies, to understand user needs for ethnic group data. This was supplemented by a programme of engagement activity, including with representatives of all government departments.
ONS have committed to providing an initial response to the public consultation in April, and a full report on the consultation in late summer 2026 will include more detailed information on the departments that responded to the consultation.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will offer the same settlement terms that will be provided in the settlement opportunity resulting from the implementation of the McCann Review to those that have already settled with HMRC.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This government recognised that concerns continued to be raised about the loan charge and that some felt strongly that it had not been handled appropriately.
The Government therefore commissioned an independent review of the loan charge to bring the matter to a close for those affected, ensure fairness for all taxpayers and ensure that appropriate support is in place for those subject to the loan charge.
The Government accepted the review’s conclusion that the loan charge was an extraordinary piece of Government policy which necessitated an exceptional response, and is now legislating a new settlement opportunity that will assist those who have not yet settled to do so.
To encourage more people to settle, the Government will write off the first £5,000 of liabilities in addition to the proposals put forward by Ray McCann. As a result, most individuals could see reductions of at least 50% in their outstanding loan charge liabilities, and an estimated 30% of individuals could have these liabilities written off entirely.
The Government’s response to the review represents a fair and proportionate attempt to provide a route to resolution for those who have not yet settled with HMRC. In turn, this requires those individuals to now come forward and engage with HMRC in good faith.
Tax avoidance deprives the Exchequer of funds needed to deliver vital public services and it is right that resources are targeted to stop this. There are no plans to apply the review’s recommendations beyond those individuals and employers with outstanding liabilities that were the focus of the review.
At the Budget, the Government announced action to tackle tax avoidance by umbrella companies, where most disguised remuneration now takes place. The Government is introducing legislation, effective from April 2026, to make recruitment agencies using umbrella companies legally responsible for accounting for PAYE on workers’ pay. Where there is no agency in the supply chain, this responsibility will fall to the end client.
The Government is also introducing new powers in Finance Bill 2025/26 to close in on promoters of marketed tax avoidance and the other professionals who market or enable tax avoidance schemes.
These new powers will go further and include more criminal sanctions. This shows the Government’s clear determination to close in on the few remaining promoters by strengthening deterrents and introducing significant additional consequences for promoters who continue promoting tax avoidance schemes.
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has brought into charge more than £4 billion from its work tackling disguised remuneration.