Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Valuation Office Agency's Council Tax: practice notes, Basis of Valuation- Valuation Assumptions, Section 4.3: Tenure, what estimate the Agency has made of the average difference between sale prices and council tax valuations.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency values properties in line with legislation. It is not required to provide estimates relating to the difference between sales prices and Council Tax valuations to carry out this work.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the long term affordability of public sector pay settlements agreed outside the recommendations of independent pay review bodies.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent public sector pay settlements on departmental budgetary flexibility in future financial years.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent public sector pay settlements on forecast productivity growth in relevant sectors.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what analysis her Department has undertaken of the distributional impact of recent public sector pay awards across income deciles.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent public sector pay settlements on trends in the level of public sector net borrowing in future financial years.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of taking fiscal steps to offset the potential impact of recent public sector pay agreements on the public finances.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent public sector pay settlements on the fiscal rules.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
No additional central funding has been given to Departments for the 2025/26 pay awards beyond their existing funding allocations, and this will be the case for the remainder of the Spending Review period. This means we will not be borrowing more or raising taxes to fund higher pay awards, nor will there be an impact on the fiscal rules.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Valuation Office Agency's publication, VOA rating list downloads, whether the Unique Address Reference Number matches individual hereditaments on the 2026 draft non-domestic rating list with their previous entry on the 2023 non-domestic rating list; and how are properties matched if they do not have an Unique Address Reference Number.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
All properties in the rating list are assigned a Unique Address Reference Number (UARN).
The UARN for each property is the same between both lists and will continue into the compiled list, due to come into effect on 1 April 2026.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the council tax bands, banding thresholds and multipliers for the new council tax surcharge will be set in (a) primary or (b) secondary legislation.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government expects that the implementation of the High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS) will require both primary and secondary legislation.