Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Budget Information Security Review, published on 9 February 2026, whether monitoring and recording of access to documents classified as Budget - Market Sensitive will include Ministers.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Yes.
Asked by: Katrina Murray (Labour - Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether funding allocated to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme in England is treated as comparable expenditure for the purposes of calculating Barnett consequentials for Scotland.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Yes - funding allocated to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme in England is treated as comparable expenditure for the purposes of calculating Barnett consequentials for Scotland.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to support the hospitality sector in Harpenden and Berkhamsted constituency.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the important role the hospitality sector plays both in terms of its economic contribution but also to our culture.
That is why we are delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street businesses, as promised in our manifesto. We are introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties which are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
This Government has worked closely with the hospitality sector. We announced the first National Licensing Policy Framework and are working to ensure local authorities apply it consistently to ease licensing decisions ‘on the ground’. We have extended opening hours for Home Nations games in the later stages of the Men’s Football World Cup. We will also legislate to increase the number of Temporary Events Notices venues can hold, helping them screen further national moments and host community and cultural events.
In addition, we are more than doubling the Hospitality Support Fund to £10 over three years, ending upward-only rent review clauses and introducing a strong Community Right to Buy.
We will continue to work with the hospitality sector to develop a new cross-government High Streets Strategy to help businesses in Harpenden and Berkhamsted, and across the country, to remain the centre of local communities.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Droitwich and Evesham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussion she has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport about the financial burden on charities arising from VAT on social media advertising.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is the UK’s third largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Taxation is a vital source of revenue that helps to fund vital public services including schools and hospitals.
Charities already benefit from a reduced (5%) or zero rate of tax when purchasing some goods and services. More information about VAT relief for charities can be found here: VAT for charities: What qualifies for VAT relief - GOV.UK. The Government has no plans to broaden this list of goods and services to include social media advertising, but takes steps elsewhere in the tax system to ensure that charities receive treatment that takes account of their unique status and invaluable contribution.
Our tax regime for charities, including gift aid and an exemption from paying business rates, is among the most generous of anywhere in the world, with tax reliefs for charities and their donors worth just over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2024.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to include refineries in the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism from January 2028.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As announced at Budget 2025, the government is considering the feasibility and impacts of including refined products in the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in future.
The government recognises the role that refineries play in energy security and the UK’s industrial base. The Government published a call for evidence (https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/future-of-the-uk-downstream-oil-sector/future-of-the-uk-downstream-oil-sector-call-for-evidence) on the future of the fuel sector on 23rd February 2026 in order to help understand the current state of the refining sector.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Droitwich and Evesham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the administrative costs to charities caused by the current manual Gift Aid process, including the time and resources spent correcting errors and navigating rules.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC has worked collaboratively with a broad range of charity sector stakeholders to explore the potential of Future of Gift Aid (FOGA). This work included extensive research and analysis of the implications of FOGA and the effectiveness of the existing Gift Aid system.
HMRC has not made a formal quantitative assessment of the administrative costs to charities arising from the current Gift Aid process. HMRC will continue to engage with the charities sector to improve the way that Gift Aid works through the use of digital technology.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Droitwich and Evesham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with HMRC regarding the Future of Gift Aid pilot, and what assessment has been made of its potential impact on the charity sector.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC has worked collaboratively with a broad range of charity sector stakeholders to explore the potential of Future of Gift Aid (FOGA). This work included extensive research and analysis of the implications of FOGA and the effectiveness of the existing Gift Aid system.
HMRC has not made a formal quantitative assessment of the administrative costs to charities arising from the current Gift Aid process. HMRC will continue to engage with the charities sector to improve the way that Gift Aid works through the use of digital technology.
Asked by: Nigel Huddleston (Conservative - Droitwich and Evesham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on updating VAT guidance to recognise social media advertising as qualifying zero rated charity advertising.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is the UK’s third largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Taxation is a vital source of revenue that helps to fund vital public services including schools and hospitals.
Charities already benefit from a reduced (5%) or zero rate of tax when purchasing some goods and services. More information about VAT relief for charities can be found here: VAT for charities: What qualifies for VAT relief - GOV.UK. The Government has no plans to broaden this list of goods and services to include social media advertising, but takes steps elsewhere in the tax system to ensure that charities receive treatment that takes account of their unique status and invaluable contribution.
Our tax regime for charities, including gift aid and an exemption from paying business rates, is among the most generous of anywhere in the world, with tax reliefs for charities and their donors worth just over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2024.
Asked by: Victoria Collins (Liberal Democrat - Harpenden and Berkhamsted)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consideration her Department gave to transition arrangements for UK citizens living abroad who have been making voluntary Class 2 National Insurance contributions but have not yet qualified for a full State Pension.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The changes to voluntary National Insurance contributions policy announced at Budget retain routes for individuals living outside of the UK to fill gaps in their NI records by paying Class 3 NICs, which allows individuals to continue to build entitlement to the UK State Pension.
This includes transitional arrangements for existing voluntary Class 2 and 3 customers to not be subject to the new 10-year qualifying conditions.
The removal of access to voluntary Class 2 NICs applies for the 2026/27 tax year onwards, and does not affect the ability of any customer to pay voluntary Class 2 NICs for periods abroad prior to 6 April 2026.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will take steps to ensure that independent gyms and leisure businesses are provided with comparable business rates relief to pubs and other hospitality sectors.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has defined in guidance which properties will be eligible for the relief announced on 27th January 2026 based on definitions used previously in the business rates system. Individual Local Authorities will need to determine which properties meet these definitions. Some comedy clubs may be eligible for the relief, depending on their specific circumstances.
Properties that are not eligible for this support will still benefit from the wider business rate support package announced at the Budget, worth £4.3 billion over the next three years. The Government is also introducing new permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties, which includes comedy venues, gyms and leisure businesses open to the public and with rateable values below £500,000. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down next year. This also means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.