Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that inflation on essential food items does not disproportionately impact low and middle income households.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Food prices in the UK are a function of a variety of factors including international agricultural commodity prices, the exchange rate and energy prices.
The government is committed to helping those in need due to the rising cost of living. An uplift to the Universal Credit Standard Allowance will see it rise to 5% above inflation by 2029-30. The government is also investing £1 billion a year (including Barnett impact) in a multi-year settlement for crisis support, which includes funding for councils to support some of the poorest households so that their children do not go hungry outside of term time.
From the start of the 2026 school year, the government will expand Free School Meals to all pupils with a parent receiving Universal Credit. This puts £500 back into these parents’ pockets every year. In addition, from the start of this academic term, 750 schools are receiving funding to deliver a free breakfast club as Early Adopters, reaching more than 180,000 children and 70,000 pupils from schools in the most deprived parts of the country.
The government’s top priority is to deliver strong, sustainable growth that raises living standards across the UK. A growing economy plays a key role in providing greater financial security for households and helping to make food more affordable.
Asked by: Alex Burghart (Conservative - Brentwood and Ongar)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to (a) amend and (b) review the definitions of (i) defence and (ii) national security spending, for the purposes of (A) statistical and (B) NATO targets.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
NATO has a common definition of defence expenditure which is agreed by all NATO Allies. A full definition can be found here:
https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_49198.htm
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 steps she is taking to assist low-income families with living costs in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Plan for Change committed to improving living standards in every part of the United Kingdom. Helping people into good work and financial independence is at the heart of our approach to supporting people on the lowest incomes. This is why we increased the National Living Wage by 6.7%, are tackling poor job security and working conditions through our plan to Make Work Pay, and are investing an additional £1 billion by 2029-30 in employment, health and skills support in the Pathways to Work Green Paper.
Beyond this, the government has introduced a Fair Repayment Rate which lowers the cap on deductions in Universal Credit from April 2025, benefitting 1.2 million households by an average of £420 a year. The Warm Home Discount is also being expanded to every billpayer on means-tested benefits, meaning 2.7 million extra households will receive £150 off their energy bills next winter. Moreover, the Child Poverty Taskforce is working with the Devolved Governments to develop a comprehensive Child Poverty Strategy, which will deliver for children in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of compensation provided to Equitable Life policyholders.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Equitable Life Payment Scheme was designed by the Coalition Government and closed in 2016. There are no plans to reopen decisions relating to the Payment Scheme. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to page 40 of their policy paper Spending Review 2025: Departmental Efficiency Plans, published on 11 June, what were the total administrative costs of the Valuation Office Agency in 2024–25; and what is the breakdown between cash-releasing and non-cash-releasing efficiencies of the projected 5–10 per cent savings from integrating the Valuation Office Agency into HMRC by 2028–29.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency’s total administrative costs in 2024-25 were approximately £27m.
The cash releasing and non-cash releasing breakdown (by 28/29) of efficiencies from integration with HMRC is yet to be determined as detailed plans are still being developed.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much statutory paternity pay was reclaimed by businesses in each of the past five years, broken down by size of business.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
A breakdown of total reclaims for the financial years 2019–20 to 2023–24 is available below. However, data for 2024–25 has not yet been analysed as the tax year has only recently ended.
Further breakdowns of information by size of business are not currently available from published statistics, and collating and verifying the relevant data solely for the purpose of answering this question would incur disproportionate cost.
Date | Sum Recoveries | Count Recoveries |
19/20 | £50,300,000 | 55,100 |
20/21 | £43,800,000 | 44,200 |
21/22 | £52,400,000 | 53,600 |
22/23 | £52,600,000 | 54,600 |
23/24 | £61,500,000 | 56,200 |
Notes:
1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.
2) Sum recoveries rounded to nearest £100,000.
3) Count of recoveries rounded to nearest 100.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many reclaims for statutory paternity pay there have been in each of the past five years, broken down by size of business.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
A breakdown of total reclaims for the financial years 2019–20 to 2023–24 is available below. However, data for 2024–25 has not yet been analysed as the tax year has only recently ended.
Further breakdowns of information by size of business are not currently available from published statistics, and collating and verifying the relevant data solely for the purpose of answering this question would incur disproportionate cost.
Date | Sum Recoveries | Count Recoveries |
19/20 | £50,300,000 | 55,100 |
20/21 | £43,800,000 | 44,200 |
21/22 | £52,400,000 | 53,600 |
22/23 | £52,600,000 | 54,600 |
23/24 | £61,500,000 | 56,200 |
Notes:
1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.
2) Sum recoveries rounded to nearest £100,000.
3) Count of recoveries rounded to nearest 100.
Asked by: Baroness Penn (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of eligible businesses have reclaimed statutory paternity pay in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
A breakdown of total reclaims for the financial years 2019–20 to 2023–24 is available below. However, data for 2024–25 has not yet been analysed as the tax year has only recently ended.
Further breakdowns of information by size of business are not currently available from published statistics, and collating and verifying the relevant data solely for the purpose of answering this question would incur disproportionate cost.
Date | Sum Recoveries | Count Recoveries |
19/20 | £50,300,000 | 55,100 |
20/21 | £43,800,000 | 44,200 |
21/22 | £52,400,000 | 53,600 |
22/23 | £52,600,000 | 54,600 |
23/24 | £61,500,000 | 56,200 |
Notes:
1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.
2) Sum recoveries rounded to nearest £100,000.
3) Count of recoveries rounded to nearest 100.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to their policy paper Spending Review 2025: Departmental Efficiency Plans, published on 11 June, which states that a zero-based review will help the Treasury "get smaller", whether they will publish the outputs of this review; and what proportion of administrative functions are expected to be outsourced, automated, or removed entirely by 2028–29.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As part of the Spending Review 2025, HM Treasury, alongside all government departments, undertook a zero-based review (ZBR) of its expenditure. This review was performed as per the requirements of the Spending Review. The outputs are intended for internal decision-making processes, not for publication. The Spending Review settlement for HMT means the department will need to get smaller, delivering a 10% reduction in its admin budgets by 2028-29. The detailed business planning process to achieve those reductions, including a review of administrative functions, over the Spending Review period is currently in progress. The outputs from the ZBR are being used to support this.
Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.65 of her Department's document entitled Spring Statement 2025, published on 26 March 2025, when she will publish the reforms to Individual Savings Accounts.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is looking at options for reforms to ISAs that get the balance right between cash and equities to earn better returns for savers, boost the culture of retail investment, and support the growth mission.
The Government keeps all aspects of tax and savings policy under review.