Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to (a) promote public sector reform and (b) increase public sector productivity.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chancellor has launched a multi-year Spending Review to conclude in Spring 2025 that will establish a new approach to public service reform to drive greater productivity in the public sector.
The Government will use the Spending Review to change the way public services are delivered by embedding a mission-led approach, driving forward public service reform and making the best use of technology to better deliver services. The Spending Review will set spending plans for a minimum of three years of the five-year forecast period.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of the rate of the business rates multiplier in (a) England and (b) Wales.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Recent trends in the rate of the business rates multiplier can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-business-rates.
A number of reliefs are available to support businesses with their business rate liabilities. The eligibility criteria for them can be found on GOV.Uk. This includes the Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) which provides 100% rate relief for eligible properties with rateable values below £12,000 with tapered relief available for eligible properties with rateable values between £12,000 and £15,000. SBRR means that over a third of the smallest non-domestic properties in England pay no business rates.
I am unable to comment on the Welsh business rates system, as business rates is a devolved policy area which means this is a matter for the Welsh government.
Asked by: Jerome Mayhew (Conservative - Broadland and Fakenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the burden of business rates on small and medium-sized businesses.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Recent trends in the rate of the business rates multiplier can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/calculate-your-business-rates.
A number of reliefs are available to support businesses with their business rate liabilities. The eligibility criteria for them can be found on GOV.Uk. This includes the Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) which provides 100% rate relief for eligible properties with rateable values below £12,000 with tapered relief available for eligible properties with rateable values between £12,000 and £15,000. SBRR means that over a third of the smallest non-domestic properties in England pay no business rates.
I am unable to comment on the Welsh business rates system, as business rates is a devolved policy area which means this is a matter for the Welsh government.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, If she will publish (a) the agreement and (b) the terms of reference between the Welsh Government and the Valuation Office Agency in relation to (i) the Agency's work for a council tax revaluation in Wales and (ii) the development of the Automated Valuation Model in Wales.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Welsh Government have previously responded on this matter in June 2024.
The answers can be viewed here:
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the cost to the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) of the council tax revaluation in Wales; and what payments the Welsh Government has (a) made and (b) agreed to make to the VOA to finance this work.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Welsh Government have previously responded on this matter in June 2024.
The answers can be viewed here:
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether (a) artificial intelligence and (b)machine learning were used in the automated valuation model in the Valuation Office Agency’s work for council tax revaluation in Wales.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Automated Valuation Model (AVM) utilises supervised machine learning, where a model is trained using known transaction values. Statistical techniques are used to calculate the impact of the property’s inherent characteristics and location on the value of a property. While the AVM supports the valuation process, its outputs are reviewed and refined by valuers and analysts before making a final judgement on the appropriate band a property is placed in.
Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will list (a) each of the variables and (b) the source of data for each variable used in the new Automated Valuation Model for the Valuation Office Agency's council tax revaluation in Wales.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The variables used in the AVM model include property attributes, locations, and sales details. While much of this data is sourced from VOA records, the VOA supplement this with data available across Government and through the Public Sector Geospatial Agreement, including from the Office for National Statistics, HM Land Registry and Ordnance Survey.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the compatibility of their policy on charging VAT on independent schools with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), and in particular with (1) Article 2 of the First Protocol, and (2) Article 14 of the ECHR.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 29 July, the Government announced that, as of 1 January 2025, all education services and vocational training provided by private schools in the UK for a charge will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent. This will also apply to boarding services provided by private schools.
The Government has considered the policy’s interaction with Human Rights law, and is confident that it is compatible with the UK’s obligations under the Human Rights Act.
Asked by: Paula Barker (Labour - Liverpool Wavertree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of developing a system to tackle trends in the level of tax evasion from small businesses.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to tackling all forms of non-compliance, including evasion. Each year HMRC estimates the size of the tax gap, and the latest published tax gap (2022-23) was 4.8% of theoretical liabilities, or £39.8bn. The element attributable to small businesses is 60% (£24.1bn) of that overall tax gap.
HMRC publishes these estimates in its annual ‘Measuring the Tax Gap’ report. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/measuring-tax-gaps
Small businesses play a vital role in the UK economy and most businesses pay what they owe. A small minority fail to pay their fair share of tax, thereby depriving public services of vital funding and leading to unfair competition between businesses.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Reform UK - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many positions in her Department included (a) diversity, (b) inclusion, (c) equity and (d) equality in their job title in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of the salaries of each such job was in each of those years.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are currently 3 members of HM Treasury staff who have (a) diversity, (b) inclusion, (c) equity or (d) equality in their job title. We do not hold this information for previous years.
As the total number of individuals is less than 5, HM Treasury is unable to release salary information as doing so would mean these individuals may be identifiable. This is in line with HM Treasury's data reporting policy.