Asked by: Lord Snape (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the consequentials under the Barnett Formula for each of the devolved administrations resulting from approval of the Lower Thames Crossing.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. Where funding for the Lower Thames Crossing has been allocated at a fiscal event or Estimates, the publication will confirm the total Barnett consequentials received by the devolved governments. The most recent report was published in July 2023 [1]. An updated report will be published in due course.
At spending reviews, the Barnett formula is applied to the overall change in a department’s settlement using the department’s comparability factor. This means Barnett consequentials generated at spending reviews in relation to the Lower Thames Crossing specifically cannot be determined.
For any future spending on the Lower Thames Crossing, Barnett consequentials will be confirmed when UK Government departmental budgets change.
[1] You can access this report via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-july-2023
Asked by: Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many traders are registered on the Trader Support Service.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Over 60,000 businesses have registered with the Trader Support Service to date.
Asked by: Lord Rogan (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they have allocated to Northern Ireland under the Barnett Formula as a consequence of spending on HS2; and how much additional funding they expect to allocate to Northern Ireland as a consequence of the project in each of the next five years.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. Where funding for HS2 has been allocated at a fiscal event or Estimates, the publication will confirm the total Barnett consequentials received by the Northern Ireland Executive. The most recent report was published in July 2023 [1]. An updated report will be published in due course.
At Spending Reviews, the Barnett formula is applied to the overall change in a department’s settlement using departmental comparability factors. This means that Barnett consequentials generated in relation to HS2 specifically cannot be determined.
[1] You can access this report via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-july-2023
Asked by: Lord Rennard (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many (1) calls, and (2) online submissions, have been made to HMRC fraud hotline services in relation to illicit tobacco in each of the past ten years.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The table below shows the number of contacts received by HMRC’s Fraud Reporting Gateway in relation to illicit tobacco. The data is only available for the last 7 years due to HMRC’s retention policies.
Year | Online Submission | Telephone Submission | Total |
24/25 | 7,605 | 2,094 | 9,699 |
23/24 | 5,416 | 1,873 | 7,289 |
22/23 | 5,625 | 2,060 | 7,685 |
21/22 | 1,558 | 2,424 | 3,982 |
20/21 | 1,988 | 1,535 | 3,523 |
19/20 | 2,012 | 6,323 | 8,335 |
18/19 | 2,182 | 8,285 | 10,467 |
Asked by: Lord Sarfraz (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to regulate pound sterling-backed stablecoin; and what assessment they have made of the impact of the United States GENIUS Act on any such regulation.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has confirmed that it will bring forward final legislation this year to create a financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets in the UK. The Government recognises the growth and competitiveness opportunities of stablecoins, and its regime will allow firms to be licensed in the UK to issue stablecoins.
Following the passing of the GENIUS Act by the US Congress, the Government’s approach to cryptoassets positions the UK well to work with the US in advancing our shared ambition to foster world-leading cryptoasset markets.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what level of equity share they will obtain for their funding support for Casement Park through Financial Transactions Capital.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK Government has committed £50m of Capital Financial Transactions funding to redevelop Casement Park. The UK Government will continue to work with the Northern Ireland Executive; however, it is up to the Executive to take decisions on the design and implementation of the Financial Transaction, including whether to take long-term equity stake in the project. The Financial Transaction will be provided to the Executive on a net basis, it does not need to be repaid to the UK Government and the Executive can recycle any repayments indefinitely.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the intention to reduce travel costs in the Civil Service, as outlined in the Spending Review of 11 June, will apply to ministerial travel.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Ministerial Code sets out that Ministers must ensure that they always make efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements. Ministerial travel in the UK is the responsibility of individual government departments with each department accountable for arranging the travel of its ministers, in line with the Ministerial Code.
The Spending Review 2025 confirmed that UK government departments will deliver reductions in administration budgets of at least 11% in real terms by 2028-29, and 16% in real terms by 2029-30.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the increase of the inflation rate to 3.6 per cent, and what steps they are taking to manage the effects on consumers.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The independent Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England are responsible for controlling inflation. The Government fully supports them as they take action to sustainably return inflation to the 2% target.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the UK classifies mastectomy bras under Chapter 6212 of the Harmonised System Nomenclature; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the classification approach of the EU.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK’s tariff schedule, known as the UK Global Tariff (UKGT), adheres to global classification standards. The UK classification of mastectomy bras follows the harmonised commodity description system, which was developed by the World Customs Organisation (WCO). Following EU exit, the UK continues to follow the WCO classification, implemented under the TCTA.
We continue to monitor the UKGT to ensure our Most Favoured Nation tariff schedule functions as effectively as possible, supports domestic priorities, and provides a stable operating environment for businesses.
Businesses are able to request the partial or full liberalisation of the import duty applied to the products under this commodity code, including mastectomy bras either through the online feedback form or the next business suspensions window.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of people aged (1) 16, (2) 17, and (3) 18, pay income tax according to the latest available information.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Estimates for the number of taxpayers in thousands aged 16, 17 and 18 years old for the tax year 2022 to 2023 are set out in the table below. The percentage within these age groups paying Income Tax is not available as HMRC does not hold information on the entire population.
| Age | Estimated number of taxpayers (thousands) |
| 16 & 17 | 13 |
| 18 | 60 |
Source: Survey of Personal Incomes, tax year 2022-23
Notes on the table
1. You can find the ONS population estimates which provide an age breakdown for the UK population at the following link
The tax year 2022 to 2023 is the latest year for which these figures are available.
2. Estimates are presented in thousands.
3. The estimates for 16- and 17-year-olds have been combined to avoid suppression due to small sample sizes.
4. The data underlying the Survey of Personal Incomes is based on a large sample of over 900,000 individuals with incomes reported to HMRC. As is the case with the published Personal Incomes Statistics, these figures are statistical estimates and will be subject to sampling variation.
5. This table only covers individuals with some liability to tax.
6. For more information about the Survey of Personal Incomes please refer to the supporting documentation. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-incomes-statistics-for-the-tax-year-2022-to-2023/personal-income-statistics-2022-to-2023-supporting-documentation