Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the OSCAR II database holds information on departmental spending on communications, marketing and advertising.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
Financial information explicitly recording Communications and Advertising expenditure is not held centrally within OSCAR. OSCAR records Marketing expenditure against the Chart of Accounts code "EXP - PURCHASE OF GOODS/SERVICES - MARKETING & MEDIA".
There are no separate expenditure codes specifically attributed to Communications or Advertising activity; however, departments may include these items of spend within this aggregate account on OSCAR.
Individual departments may hold more detailed information on expenditure recorded against this code, or the specific items of expenditure being enquired about, within their own finance systems.
The most recent OSCAR data are published as part of the OSCAR annual release: November 2025 - GOV.UK, which can be accessed online.
Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues and international counterparts on the potential merits of introducing an additional tax on high-polluting corporations to fund the tackling of pollution caused by such companies.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS) is our key lever to ensure those companies who are responsible for carbon emissions pay for them.
Introduced in January 2021, the UK ETS covers 25% of UK emissions across the power sector, energy-intensive industry, domestic and UK–EEA flights, and domestic maritime.
Revenues from the scheme accrue to the consolidated fund and support spending on government priorities, which includes net zero objectives.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of HMRC Valuation Office's performance in conducting timely revaluations of domestic properties where improvements have been made in England; and what assessment he has made with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government of the potential impact of this performance on local authority finances.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Valuation Office is working towards its target of clearing 90% of Council Tax Maintenance cases within 90 working days by March 2027.
A new case management system has been implemented to help improve the timelines of domestic property cases.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2026 to Question 16041, on Treasury: Furniture, what comparative assessment HM Treasury’s PFI team has made of the value for money of the cost of the picnic and outdoor furniture (a) purchased via the PFI company and (b) purchased directly from a retailer such as B&Q.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
HM Treasury occupies accommodation at the Government Offices Great George Street, which is managed by the Government Property Agency (GPA). Decisions relating to the procurement of furniture for shared areas are a matter for the GPA.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the percentage office workplace attendance requirement in each of the department’s offices, broken down by location; and whether attendance statistics are collated for each of those individual offices.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
HM Treasury's office attendance policy applies across all of its office locations. Employees are expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in their contractual workplace, unless alternative arrangements have been agreed through workplace adjustments.
Line managers are responsible for supporting and monitoring compliance with the department's office attendance expectations. Attendance data is not collated for individual offices as anonymised, aggregated building access data is used to understand overall occupancy levels and does not identify individual members of staff.
Asked by: Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the merits of introducing public country by country reporting to tackle profit shifting by large multinational corporations.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK has led the way on international tax reforms to ensure that large multinational enterprises pay their fair share of tax on profits arising from their UK activities. This includes fully implementing the actions agreed through the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting project, and being at the forefront of development and implementation of the Global Minimum Corporate Tax. These reforms have strengthened the international tax framework and reduced opportunities for multinational groups to shift profits artificially. The UK already requires multinational groups to provide country-by-country reports to HMRC, publishes aggregated country-level data, has public reporting requirements in certain sectors and robust wider reporting requirements. The Government believes that any action on public country-by-country reporting should be coordinated internationally to ensure a consistent and comprehensive approach and to minimise the risk of competitive distortions.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 17 July 2026, to Question 16029, on Darlington Economic Campus: Remote Working, how many HMT staff are assigned to Darlington Feethams House; and what is the expectation of the percentage rate of office attendance for staff at that office.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
362 active staff, as of March 2026, are assigned to work at the Darlington Economic Campus.
HM Treasury's office attendance policy applies across all office locations. Employees are expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in their contractual workplace, unless alternative arrangements have been agreed through workplace adjustments.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2026 to Question 20813, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the UK/EU reset and new financial obligations to the EU on changes to the profile of payments to and from the EU.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
As announced on 17 December 2025, the UK has agreed to join the Erasmus+ programme in 2027 at a 30% discount compared to the default terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). This will require a payment of c. £570m. The UK’s existing financial obligations to the EU under the Withdrawal Agreement and the TCA are unchanged. The Government will continue to assess the financial implications of any further commitments as the relevant arrangements are negotiated and implemented.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 17 July 2026, to Question 16029, on Darlington Economic Campus: Remote Working, how many HMT departmental staff are assigned to work at the Darlington Economic Campus, how many desks are assigned to that office for those staff, and whether the expected office attendance rate is 60% or a lower figure.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
362 active staff, as of March 2026, are assigned to work at the Darlington Economic Campus. The campus operates a shared workspace model and HM Treasury's apportioned allocation is 105 desks and 133 workspaces.
HM Treasury's office attendance policy applies across all office locations. Employees are expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in their contractual workplace, unless alternative arrangements have been agreed through workplace adjustments
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans his Department has to amend business rates for (a) pubs and nightclubs and (b) the thresholds for independent small businesses.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Government has introduced permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. Local Authorities determine whether a hereditament meets the legislative definition of Retail, Hospitality or Leisure (RHL) and therefore qualifies for the RHL multiplier.
Full details of eligibility for the new multipliers are set out in the relevant statutory instrument (SI), which can be found online here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/1093/contents/ made with guidance to support in interpreting the SI found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/business-rates-multipliers-qualifying-retail-hospitality-or-leisure.
The Government recognises that pubs, social clubs and live music venues have faced significant pressures in recent years. Earlier this year, the Government cut every pub, social club and live music venues bill by 15 per cent and ensured bills will be frozen in real terms for a further two years.
The Government is now going further by introducing an additional 20 per cent cut for pubs, social clubs, and all but the very largest live music venues, building on the support already in place.
Further decisions on wider business rates reforms will be set out in the normal way at the Budget.