Asked by: Gareth Snell (Labour (Co-op) - Stoke-on-Trent Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of cider production is eligible for draught relief.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC’s statistics on alcohol duty and reliefs are found here: Alcohol Bulletin - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many people are employed by non-departmental public bodies of the Treasury through Skilled Worker visas.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Information on non-departmental public bodies of the Treasury is not held centrally, and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the marginal increase in business rates liability for a retail, hospitality and leisure hereditament moving from £500,000 to £501,000 Rateable Value under the new 2026-27 business rate system.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In order to sustainably fund the permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RVs) below £500,000, the Government is introducing a higher tax rate for properties with RVs of £500,000 and above.
At the Budget, the Valuation Office Agency announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties.
While RVs have increased, the tax rates have decreased, so that all ratepayers, including those on the new high-value multiplier, will pay a lower tax rate than they do now. The Government appreciates that a lower tax rate does not necessarily mean a lower bill for everyone, which is why the Government has introduced a generous support package worth £4.3 billion over the next 3 years to help ratepayers to transition to their new bills.
As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down.
The ‘Business Rates and Investment: Call for Evidence’, published at Budget, builds on the findings of the Transforming Business Rates: Discussion Paper and asks stakeholders for more detailed evidence on how the business rates system influences investment decisions, including the impact of a ‘slab’ based structure where a higher multiplier applies to the entire RV once a threshold is crossed. The government believes there may be merit in moving to a ‘slice’ system for business rates, where the RV is split into slices (or brackets, bands) and each portion is taxed at its own, different rate.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to analysis cited in the Road Haulage Association’s 2025 Autumn Budget Submission, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of an increase in fuel duty on household living standards.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget 2025, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut until the end of August 2026. Rates will then gradually return to early 2022 levels. The planned increase in line with inflation for 2026-27 will not take place, with the government uprating fuel duty rates by RPI from April 2027. This will save the average car driver £49 next year compared to previous plans.
The Government has set out estimated impacts on household incomes from tax, welfare and public service spending decisions taken at Budget 2025, including eVED. These impacts are available at GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69269c6222424e25e6bc31bb/Impact_on_households.pdf
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a fuel duty rebate linked to emissions reductions to encourage the use of low carbon fuels such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO).
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is a relatively new fuel and has limited availability in the UK. When used for domestic heating, HVO benefits from the rebated duty rate of 10.18p per litre, in contrast to the full duty rate of 52.95p per litre.
The Government currently encourages the use of HVO through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), which incentivises the use of low carbon fuels and reduces emissions from fuel supplied for use in transport and non-road mobile machinery. The RTFO has been very successful in supporting a market for renewable fuel since its introduction in 2008. Renewable fuels supplied under the RTFO currently contribute a third of the savings required for the UK’s transport carbon budget.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the proportion of premises that will be subject to higher-multiple business rates which are solely or primarily classed within Standard Industrial Classification code (a) 47910, (b) 47990 and (c) all other SIC codes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. We are doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
We are paying for this sustainably through higher rates on the top one per cent of most expensive properties. Large distribution warehouses, such as those used by online giants, will contribute more as a result – large distribution warehouses will pay around £100 million more in 2026/27, with this going directly to lower bills for in-person retail.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the proportion of premises that will be subject to higher-multiple business rates which are (a) owned and (b) operated by an online retailer.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. We are doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
We are paying for this sustainably through higher rates on the top one per cent of most expensive properties. Large distribution warehouses, such as those used by online giants, will contribute more as a result – large distribution warehouses will pay around £100 million more in 2026/27, with this going directly to lower bills for in-person retail.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Ministers in her Department will have a role in the decision on the chosen option for local government reorganisation in Cambridgeshire.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Decisions on local government reorganisation proposals are subject to collective agreement across government.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many VAT refunds to businesses in the last six months a) have not been refunded and b) have been delayed.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Between 1 June to 30 November 2025, HMRC processed around 1.4 million VAT repayment returns, with around 93% paid promptly following initial risking.
Based on the information held on HMRC’s complaints database, between 1 June to 30 November 2025, HMRC received 162 complaints relating to VAT repayments of which 119 were directly linked to VAT refund delays.
Asked by: Angus MacDonald (Liberal Democrat - Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what role Ministers and officials had in setting the scope and terms of reference for the review of Loan Charge settlement arrangements conducted by Ray McCann.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Review’s Terms of Reference were drafted by the independent reviewer and then agreed with Ministers.
Ministers received advice from officials in line with normal processes. This ensured that the Terms of Reference met legal requirements and the objectives agreed between Ministers and the reviewer.