Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any civil servants hired by her Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Civil Service recruitment is governed by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which requires that all appointments to the Civil Service are made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition.
HM Treasury does not recruit candidates on the basis of protected characteristics. All appointments are made on merit, in line with the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. Compliance with these principles is overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to pages 106 and 107 of the Part of a Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of Commons dated 4 February 2026 relating to the appointment of Lord Mandelson as HM Ambassador to Washington, Volume 1, HC1774-I, 11 March 2026 and with reference to paragraph 3.1 of her Department's document entitled Guidance on Public Sector Exit Payments, published in November 2025, and Annex A4.13 of her Department's document entitled Managing Public Money, published in June 2025, what discussions she had with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Developments Affairs on whether the Special Severance Payment was paid to Lord Mandelson because it was (a) exceptional, (b) novel, (c) contentious and (d) repercussive.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chancellor did not have any discussions with the Foreign Secretary on this issue.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Budget Information Security Review, February 2026, paragraph 5.20, whether the Macpherson Principles will apply to the briefing of non-market sensitive Budget information.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
As explained in paragraphs 5.1 to 5.5 of the Budget Information Security Review, the Macpherson Principles apply to: the economic and fiscal projections, the fiscal judgement and individual tax rates, reliefs and allowances.
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they expect to publish the conclusions of the review of VAT for public bodies under Section 41 of the Value Added Tax Act 1994.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Under Section 41 of the VAT Act 1994 Government departments, NHS Trusts and some wider public bodies can claim VAT refunds on certain outsourced services. Their remaining irrecoverable VAT is funded through Departmental Expenditure Limits. The Government is exploring reforming this system into a ‘Full Refund Model’ which would enable Section 41 bodies to recover VAT on all goods and services incurred during the course of non-business activities.
To ensure the reform is fiscally neutral, the departmental budgets of Section 41 bodies must be adjusted by an amount corresponding to the additional VAT they will be refunded for. HM Treasury is currently analysing data provided by Section 41 bodies on their irrecoverable VAT and will set out the next steps to the reforms in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of publicly-backed development finance institutions in supporting access to growth capital for small and medium-sized enterprises; and what steps they are taking to encourage collaboration between those institutions and commercial lenders to support regional economic development.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the important role that Public Financial Institutions play in improving businesses’ access to growth capital.
The British Business Bank (BBB), as the UK’s economic development bank, has supported over 100,000 smaller businesses through its programmes and has a strong track record of crowding in private capital into early‑stage equity and later‑stage growth finance.
At the Spending Review the Government expanded the BBB’s total financial capacity to £25.6 billion, enabling it to support a greater volume and range of investments. As part of this uplift, the BBB’s new Industrial Strategy Growth Capital initiative will provide £4 billion of capital to the eight priority Industrial Strategy Sectors, leveraging £12 billion of further private investment.
To help the next generation of UK unicorns at the critical stage when access to scale-up capital is most challenging, the BBB will support 10 new-to-market growth-stage fundraisings over the next 10 years, increasing the number of such funds in the market by 100 per cent.
The BBB will also deploy £2.6 billion to ensure entrepreneurs across the UK — regardless of location or background—can access the finance required to grow. This support will boost smaller business growth across all nations and regions.
The UK’s export credit agency, UK Export Finance (UKEF), also supports SMEs and regional growth by ensuring no viable UK export fails through lack of finance and insurance. UKEF offers finance for SME exporters through commercial lenders. Last year, the Government increased UKEF’s capacity by £20 billion, bringing the total to £80 billion, and is legislating to increase statutory limits of UKEF support so lack of capacity does not limit support for exporters.
We continue to strengthen coordination between PuFins. The BBB’s new Strategic Plan commits to working more closely with other Public Financial Institutions to provide clearer, more joined up routes for businesses to access the right form of finance at the right stage of their growth.
The Government will continue to monitor the effectiveness of development finance interventions and ensure they complement private‑sector activity while supporting enterprise, innovation and economic growth across every region.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of replacing the business rates system on businesses in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has already started the work of reforming our business rates system by introducing new permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new multipliers are worth nearly £1 billion per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
The Government is also supporting small businesses to grow. At Budget, the Government announced the extension of Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR) so that businesses opening second premises can retain their SBRR for three years, tripling the current allowance.
The Call for Evidence, published at Budget, built on the findings of the Transforming Business Rates: Discussion Paper and asked stakeholders for more detailed evidence on how the business rates system influences investment decisions. We are carefully considering representations we’ve received, and a Government response to the Call for Evidence will be published in due course.
Any reforms taken forward will be phased over the course of the Parliament.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of engagement and consultation with blind and partially sighted people in the design and delivery of interventions set out in the Financial Inclusion Strategy.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
In November, I published the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy which sets out a range of ambitious measures for government and industry to improve financial inclusion for underserved groups across the UK.
As part of its focus on inclusive design, the Strategy recognises the work taken forward by The Royal National Institute of Blind People and UK Finance to introduce accessibility features for cards, so that those who are blind or partially sighted are better able to distinguish between card types and orientate them when using card readers. UK Finance is developing a Code of Practice for Accessible Cards which will ensure these features are consistent across participating firms.
The Strategy also includes a commitment for industry to work with the third sector to make it easier for individuals without standard identification documents to open a bank account, and the launch of an industry-led inclusive design working group to consider how to make products more accessible. UK Finance is currently open to submissions from consumer representative organisations about the accessibility challenges which this group should seek to address.
The Strategy was developed alongside a Committee of consumer and industry representatives, including engagement with frontline organisations and those with lived experience. The Government is committed to continuing to work collaboratively to ensure the delivery of interventions remains informed by a wide range of expertise and perspectives.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that financial services provided through banking hubs and the Post Office are accessible and inclusive for blind and partially sighted people.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to ensuring high standards of financial inclusion across the financial services sector, including the accessibility of services for blind and partially sighted customers.
Financial services provided through banking hubs and the Post Office must comply with the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) rules, which require firms to provide a prompt, efficient and fair service to all customers, including those with disabilities. These services are also subject to the Equality Act 2010, which requires service providers to make reasonable adjustments to ensure disabled people can access services on an equal basis.
The FCA’s Consumer Duty further requires firms to act in good faith, avoid foreseeable harm and support customers to pursue their financial objectives, including by ensuring that information and services are accessible.
Industry, including LINK and UK Finance, is working with accessibility charities such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to ensure that emerging shared banking services reflect the needs of blind and partially sighted people. This includes considering accessible design and tailored support within banking hubs.
The Government continues to monitor progress closely as part of its wider commitment to inclusive access to financial services.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to ensure the representation of blind and partially sighted people on the (a) Identification and Verification Working Group and (b) Inclusive Design Working Group.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
In November, I published the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy which sets out a range of ambitious measures for government and industry to improve financial inclusion for underserved groups across the UK.
As part of its focus on inclusive design, the Strategy recognises the work taken forward by The Royal National Institute of Blind People and UK Finance to introduce accessibility features for cards, so that those who are blind or partially sighted are better able to distinguish between card types and orientate them when using card readers. UK Finance is developing a Code of Practice for Accessible Cards which will ensure these features are consistent across participating firms.
The Strategy also includes a commitment for industry to work with the third sector to make it easier for individuals without standard identification documents to open a bank account, and the launch of an industry-led inclusive design working group to consider how to make products more accessible. UK Finance is currently open to submissions from consumer representative organisations about the accessibility challenges which this group should seek to address.
The Strategy was developed alongside a Committee of consumer and industry representatives, including engagement with frontline organisations and those with lived experience. The Government is committed to continuing to work collaboratively to ensure the delivery of interventions remains informed by a wide range of expertise and perspectives.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the timescale for resolving outstanding cases involving individuals subject to the Loan Charge that will be settled following the conclusions of the independent review led by Ray McCann.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government recognised that concerns were raised about the Loan Charge under the previous government and that some felt strongly that it had not been handled appropriately.
The Government therefore commissioned an independent review of the loan charge to bring the matter to a close for those who had not settled and paid their loan charge liabilities. The Government accepted the review’s conclusion that the loan charge was an extraordinary piece of Government policy which necessitated an exceptional response, and is now legislating to give HMRC the power to administer a new settlement opportunity.
To encourage more people to settle, the Government will write off the first £5,000 of liabilities in addition to the proposals put forward by Ray McCann. As a result, most individuals could see reductions of at least 50% in their outstanding loan charge liabilities, and an estimated 30% of individuals could have these liabilities written off entirely.
HMRC began contacting taxpayers to notify them of their eligibility for the new settlement opportunity from January 2026. HMRC will begin contacting them again, from Spring, to explain the settlement opportunity in more detail. HMRC will contact taxpayers in stages and all taxpayers in scope will be invited to settle by the end of the 2027-28 tax year.
HMRC will encourage taxpayers who want to settle to contact their named HMRC caseworker proactively, and not to wait for a letter. Taxpayers that contact HMRC will be prioritised for settlement.