Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to the publication of the draft Rating List of 26 November 2025, if he will publish the changes in average Rateable Values for each Special Category Code, compared to the previous Rating List, according to information held by the Valuation Office Agency.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Statistics on changes in the rateable value of non-domestic properties as a result of the 2026 Revaluation and publication of the draft 2026 Rating List are published here: Change in rateable value of rating lists, 2026 Revaluation
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to require HMRC to review 2010 mileage rates to reflect 2025 costs.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Approved Mileage Allowance Payment rates are used by employers to reimburse an employee's expenses, tax free, for business mileage in their private vehicle. These rates are also used by self-employed drivers to claim tax relief on business mileage (when using simplified motoring expenses), and can be used by organisations to reimburse volunteers who use their own vehicle for voluntary purposes.
Employees can claim up to 45p/mile for the first 10,000 miles annually, followed by up to 25p/mile thereafter. An additional 5p/mile can be claimed for each passenger transported.
The AMAP rates are not mandatory, and employers can choose to pay more or less than the AMAP rate. It is therefore ultimately up to employers to determine the rate at which they reimburse their employees.
The Government keeps the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) rate under review and HMRC use a variety of information in estimating typical motoring costs per business mile. This includes information from the AA, the National Travel Survey, the Association of British Insurers, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she will take to increase levels of investment into community finance organisations such as credit unions.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is taking concrete steps to increase investment into community finance organisations. In November 2024, the British Business Bank launched the Community ENABLE Funding (CEF) Programme. This will channel £150 million over the next two years to not-for-profit lenders, including Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs), to widen access to affordable credit for underserved consumers and businesses.
The Government also recognises the important role of credit unions in providing savings and affordable loans to their members and in supporting local communities throughout the country. It is therefore taking action to support credit unions to grow and scale into the future, including a package of growth‑focussed reforms to the credit union common bond.
These reforms were announced in the Financial Inclusion Strategy, published last month, which also outlines a number of measures aimed at improving access to affordable credit — including a Credit Union Transformation Fund to support the sector in England to scale. The Government will work closely with stakeholders to deliver on these interventions.
Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she will take to measure the impact of the Financial Inclusion Strategy in supporting the credit union sector.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the value that credit unions bring to their members and their key role in supporting financial inclusion, particularly through the provision of savings products and affordable credit.
I published the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy last month which sets out a range of ambitious measures to improve financial inclusion and resilience across the UK. This includes interventions to support the credit union sector scale and serve its members more effectively, through the launch of a new £30 million transformation fund for credit unions in England and growth-focused reforms to the common bond to support the growth of credit unions in Great Britain.
We have engaged closely with a range of stakeholders, including credit union sector representatives, to develop the Strategy, and will continue to do so to ensure it has a meaningful impact. The Strategy’s implementation will be reviewed in two years’ time to provide an update on progress and relevant outcomes-based metrics.
Asked by: Mel Stride (Conservative - Central Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there will be a Spring Statement in 2026 to accompany the OBR's Spring Forecast 2026; and whether the OBR's Spring Forecast 2026 will include the scoring of new measures announced since Autumn Budget 2025.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chancellor will set out her plans for the Spring forecast in due course.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she considered including an assessment of the potential impact of paragraph 4.167 State Pension and Simple Assessment of the Budget 2025, published in November 2025, on costs to the public purse within the Budget 2025 document.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the Chancellor has said, over this Parliament those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax.
As announced at the Budget, the government will ease the administrative burden for pensioners whose sole income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments so that they do not have to pay small amounts of tax via Simple Assessment from 2027-28.
The government will set out more detail next year.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Section 4.167 of the Autumn Budget 2025, when her Department plans to publish the solution ensuring that pensioners who only receive the state pension will not (a) have to fill out a tax return and (b) pay income tax.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the Chancellor has said, over this Parliament those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax.
As announced at the Budget, the government will ease the administrative burden for pensioners whose sole income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments so that they do not have to pay small amounts of tax via Simple Assessment from 2027-28.
The government will set out more detail next year.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 4.167 State Pension and Simple Assessment of the Budget 2025, published in November 2025, when her Department began consulting on this policy.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the Chancellor has said, over this Parliament those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax.
As announced at the Budget, the government will ease the administrative burden for pensioners whose sole income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments so that they do not have to pay small amounts of tax via Simple Assessment from 2027-28.
The government will set out more detail next year.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, wow many employees in the United Kingdom take part in a salary sacrifice scheme in the (a) public and (b) private sectors.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Salary sacrifice arrangement can cover multiple non-cash benefits, including cars, pensions, bicycles and workplace nurseries.
HMRC does not hold administrative data on the number of employers offering and employees using salary sacrifice schemes. However, estimates based on other information are held.
Pension contributions
HMRC analysis of the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) suggests that around 7.7 million employees made salary sacrifice pension contributions in 2024.
Cycle to Work scheme
HMRC’s non-structural tax relief statistics publication sets out the estimated number of participants in the cycle to work scheme (link below).
Non-structural tax reliefs - GOV.UK
It is assumed that most would use the scheme via salary sacrifice given the tax savings.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Section 4.167 (State Pension and Simple Assessment) of the Budget 2025, if she will publish the cost impact of this policy.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the Chancellor has said, over this Parliament those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax.
As announced at the Budget, the government will ease the administrative burden for pensioners whose sole income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments so that they do not have to pay small amounts of tax via Simple Assessment from 2027-28.
The government will set out more detail next year.