Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer on 8 December 2025 to Question 96643, whether she has any plans to require pensioners who received the state pension as their only income and consequently inherit part of (a) the basic state pension, (b) the additional state pension and (c) the new state pension following the death of their spouse or civil partner to pay income tax.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As set out in my reply to Question 96643, the Chancellor has said that those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax over this Parliament. At the Budget, the Government announced that it will achieve this by easing the administrative burden for pensioners so that they do not have to pay small amounts of tax via Simple Assessment from 2027/28. The Government will set out more detail in due course.Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer on 8 December 2025 to Question 96643, whether she has any plans to require pensioners who receive both the basic state pension and the additional state pension as their only income to pay income tax.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As set out in my reply to Question 96643, the Chancellor has said that those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax over this Parliament. At the Budget, the Government announced that it will achieve this by easing the administrative burden for pensioners so that they do not have to pay small amounts of tax via Simple Assessment from 2027/28. The Government will set out more detail in due course.Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2025 measures on VAT on private hire vehicles on (a) people with disabilities and (b) older people.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Private hire vehicle (PHV) services provided by VAT-registered businesses are, and always have been, subject to the standard rate of VAT (20%).
The Government’s announcement at Autumn Budget 2025 puts an end to the exploitation of a VAT administration scheme, designed for the tour operator sector, by a small number of large private hire vehicle operators seeking to pay a lower rate of VAT than others.
This won’t affect smaller operators outside London whose drivers contract directly with passengers, or black cabs, neither of which have attempted to exploit this scheme.
By making sure all operators pay their fair share, the Government expects to raise around £700m of tax revenue each year that it believes should already be being paid. Protecting this revenue is part of the Government’s tax reforms which have enabled us to protect payslips, cut energy bills and reduce borrowing.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential socio-economic merits of a VAT relief scheme for Further Education colleges.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises that Further Education (FE) funding is vital to ensure people are being trained in the skills they need to thrive in the modern labour market. The 2025 Spending Review provided an additional £1.2 billion per year by 2028-29 for skills and £1.7 billion of capital funding to help colleges maintain the condition of their estate. In addition, the Government is providing £375 million of capital investment to support the FE system to accommodate increasing student numbers.
For their non-business activity, FE colleges are unable to reclaim VAT incurred. We operate several VAT refund schemes for schools and academies. FE colleges do not meet the criteria for either scheme.
In relation to business activity, FE colleges enjoy an exemption from VAT which means that they do not have to charge VAT to students, but cannot recover it either. The Government is not currently planning to introduce a VAT refund scheme for FE institutions.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to tackle vulnerabilities in property transactions, particularly in the handling and movement of large sums during settlement, in the Economic Crime Plan.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government’s Economic Crime Plan 2 has strengthened the UK’s defences against property‑related money laundering by enhancing transparency of land and overseas property ownership, improving data‑sharing and enforcement, and targeting higher‑risk activity in the property sector to better detect, disrupt and recover illicit assets.
The government’s Money Laundering Regulations ensure that those sectors most at risk of being abused for money laundering have appropriate risk-based controls in place. The regulations apply to all financial, legal and estate agency firms involved in property transactions, whether directly with the purchase, securing the funds, or setting up structures to hold property.
The government intends to develop a new public-private strategy focused on anti-money laundering and asset recovery in the coming months.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will publish information on the taxable status of, and taxes collected from, Libya’s frozen assets.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
We do not have this specific information. The UK’s tax system is not able to target specific tax rates at specific pots of money. The UK tends to apply tax to classes of transactions, rather than assets in situ.
Under all UK sanctions regimes, including the Libya Regulations, taxes and other payments may be made under licences and exceptions from frozen funds, subject to strict conditions. However, specific licence or exception related information is not available for publication to ensure and maintain confidentiality and to comply with UK data protection law.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the recent BankConfidential report entitled "Hidden Credit Lines – The Largest Fraud Anywhere Ever", and what steps she plans to take as a result.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury is aware of the Bank Confidential report about former misconduct in SME banking. The Government also recognises the serious impact that issues of misconduct have had on small businesses in the UK.
I would refer the Honourable Member to an answer I gave recently on this topic (UIN 101305), on 6 January, in which I noted that successive governments and the financial services regulator, working with the financial sector, have taken steps aimed at addressing historical issues of SME misconduct, including through a range of compensation and redress schemes, some of which are ongoing.
The Government continues to keep the financial services regulatory framework under ongoing review, working closely with the Financial Conduct Authority.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 19 November 2025 to Question 89480 on Jeffery Epstein, whether those records are held in (a) electronic and (b) hard copy format; and whether Ministerial private office records for 2009-10 are searchable electronically.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury’s private office records for 2009-10, including for ministerial meetings and correspondence, are held within HM Treasury’s archives in both digital and paper formats, and those in electronic format are searchable electronically.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMT’s spend on advertising and marketing in the last three financial years can be found summarized in the below table:
Financial Year | (a) Advertising | (b) Marketing |
2023/24 | £0 | £0 |
2024/25 | £2,518,240.26* | £0 |
2025/26 (as at November 2025) | £0 | £0 |
*All expenditure on advertising/marketing in 2024/25 can be attributed to costs associated with the sale of Natwest shares, which was entirely recharged back to Natwest group.
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total value of Russian Central Bank assets held in the UK.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Assets belonging to the Central Bank of Russia have been immobilised in the UK and across the G7 through sanctions.
It is important any decision to release detail about the assets is taken on a collective G7 basis.