Asked by: James Wild (Conservative - North West Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many HMRC investigations into the potential underpayment of stamp duty land tax are ongoing.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC are unable to provide the current number of ongoing Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) investigations because live case data isn’t routinely released. This is due to the way in which enquiries are handled and categorised, as they have not been through the end of year assurance process.
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 16 January 2026, to Question 103793, on Cabinet Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, if she will place in the Library a copy of the invoice and receipt from TasteThatLove.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Government Procurement Card spend data is declared in relevant transparency publications.
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 23 January 2026, to Question 105913, on Revenue and Customs: Social Media, if she will name the social media influencers who were used, including their social media handles.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The social media influencers used across all of these campaigns were commissioned and managed by a specialist agency, who identify, contract and oversee creators on HMRC's behalf based on the objectives set for reaching and engaging with specific audiences.
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 21 January 2026, to Question 105915, on Katie Martin, for what reason her adviser is unpaid.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer the hon member to my answer of 3 March 2026, to PQ UIN 114888.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2026 to Question 114105 on Tyres: Imports, what consideration her Department has given to using different codes; and whether her Department plans to implement different codes for single-use and other kinds of tyres.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK commodity codes are formed from the World Custom’s Organization’s (WCO) Harmonized System and, as a WCO contracting party, the UK has recently participated in WCO discussions about tyres. These are resulting in a change to code 4004, which will be introduced to cover “pneumatic tyres that have retained their original shape and are unsuitable for use as a tyre or for retreading because of wear, defects, or other reasons”, to be implemented in 2028.Asked by: Lord Patten (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what forecast they have made of the UK tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio in (1) 2025–26, (2) 2026–27, (3) 2027–28, (4) 2028–29, and (5) 2029–30; and what comparative assessment they have made of the tax-to-GDP ratio of each of the G7 countries in each of those years.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published the latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) in March 2026[1]. This forecasts the tax-to-GDP ratio to change as follows: 2025-26 – 36.3%; 2026-27 – 37.0%; 2027-28 – 37.7%; 2028-29 – 37.8%; 2029-30 – 38.3%[2].
The UK’s current tax-to-GDP ratio is in the middle of the pack within the G7; lower than Italy (42.8%), France (43.5%) and Germany (38.0%), but above Japan (33.7%), Canada (34.9%) and the US (25.6%) based on the latest available OECD data. [3]
[1] https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2026/#
[2] https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2026/#, page 42
[3] Latest OECD data 2024, except Japan, which is from 2023.
Asked by: Lord Walker of Broxton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on household budgets of the reduction of the rate of inflation from 3.4 per cent in December to the current rate of 3 per cent.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Inflation fell to 3 per cent in January 2026. Wages rose faster than inflation in Q4 2025, indicating that real wages are growing, which will support household purchasing power and ease pressure on household budgets.
The Government welcomes the fall in inflation and is committed to improving living standards for everyone, in every part of the UK. We recognise that the cost of living remains too high, which is why, at the last Budget, we took action to bear down on prices and help ease the cost of living pressures for people by targeting everyday expenses. This includes taking on average £150 of costs off household energy bills from April 2026, expanding the £150 Warm Home Discount to 6 million lower income households, freezing rail fares and NHS prescription fees, and extending the 5p fuel duty cut until the end of August 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to remove abandoned vehicles from Crown Estate land; and whether Crown Estate land is designated as off road for the purposes of vehicles in receipt of a Statutory Off Road Notification.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Crown Estate is an independent commercial organisation, and the Government is not involved in its operations and day-to-day decision making.
Removal of abandoned vehicles is primarily the responsibility of the relevant local authority; therefore, where vehicles are abandoned on land under the Crown Estate’s control and management, they will engage with the relevant authorities to address the issue.
Crown Estate land is not automatically considered “off road” for Statutory Off Road Notification purposes.
Asked by: Lord Walker of Broxton (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on household budgets of the Bank of England's decision in January to reduce the base rate to 3.75 per cent.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
In December 2025, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at the Bank of England announced its decision to reduce the Bank Rate to 3.75%. The MPC has the government's full support as it acts to return inflation to the 2% target sustainably. This was the sixth interest rate cut since the election. Those interest rate cuts will save households over £1,300 a year on a typical new 2-year fix for a £215,000 mortgage over a 29-year term.
Asked by: Lord Blencathra (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what information they have on the quantity and value of UK industrial hemp exported to France for house construction.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as an Accredited National Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website at the following link: http://www.uktradeinfo.com/.
Commodity Codes are used to identify the goods being imported and exported and these can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff. However, there is not a commodity code specifically covering industrial hemp used in the construction industry.
Hemp is classified to several commodity codes within headings 1404 (vegetable products note elsewhere specified or included), 5302 (true hemp) and 6808 (panels, board, tiles, blocks of vegetable fibre) of the Tariff. Whilst none of these are specific to hemp used in construction, 6808 includes hempcrete used as an insulation material with hemp fibres mixed with lime and water and made into, for example, insulating panels and boards. This may be the most appropriate heading containing the information requested.
The value and net mass in kilograms for the headings that may contain hemp for the years 2023 to 2025 are as follows:
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