Asked by: Lord Hunt of Wirral (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on small drink manufacturers, including administrative burdens, of the proposed changes to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, including its extension to milk-based and plant-based drinks and the lowering of the sugar threshold to 4.5 g per 100 ml.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The changes to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) confirmed at the Budget in November 2025 were informed by the ‘Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy’ consultation, which was open from 28 April to 21 July 2025. Representations from small manufacturers, and the trade bodies representing them, were received and considered as part of this process.
On 25 November 2025, the government published its summary of responses to the consultation, including a full assessment of the impacts of the announced policy changes to the levy. This is available here:
The smallest producers, producing less than a million litres a year, will remain exempt from the SDIL.
Asked by: Baroness Smith of Llanfaes (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much the Welsh Government received in Barnett consequentials in 2025–26 from the childcare offer in England.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Barnett formula applies to all changes to UK Government department Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) funding.
At Spending Reviews, the Barnett consequentials associated with individual programmes cannot be identified because the Barnett formula is applied to the overall change in a departments’ DEL, and not to the individual programmes driving the change in a UK department’s DEL budget. This is the case for the additional funding for childcare in England provided at Spending Review 2025.
The Welsh Government are free to allocate Barnett consequentials as they see fit across their devolved priorities, and they are accountable to the Senedd for these decisions.
Asked by: Lord Pickles (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the high value council tax surcharge valuations by the Valuation Office Agency will include (1) drive-by site visits, or (2) site visits within the curtilage of the dwelling, by valuation staff.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) are currently developing their approach to the targeted revaluation and will set out more details in due course, following the outcome of the Government's consultation.
In general, when valuing domestic properties, the VOA uses modern technology and industry standard techniques combined with freely available information including sales data, property attribute details and government records.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the revenues generated from the ending of free allowances under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme for aviation; and whether she plans to allocate those revenues to support the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK ETS Authority announced in July 2023 that free allocation would end for the Aviation sector in 2026, after considering stakeholder feedback which largely supported the finding that removing aviation free allocation did not pose a significant risk to carbon leakage.
The independent Office for Budget Responsibility is responsible for forecasting receipts from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), and has published its methodology for forecasting ETS receipts on its website.
Receipts from the UK ETS accrue to the consolidated fund, and go to funding government priorities, which includes decarbonisation support for the aviation sector.
The UK Government is supporting the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) industry by building demand through the SAF Mandate, supporting first-of-a-kind SAF production plants through the Advanced Fuels Fund, and derisking SAF projects by introducing legislation for the Revenue Certainty Mechanism. In 2025, the government announced £400,000 to get new fuels to market quicker, delivering on the UK’s clean energy ambitions and powering up economic growth as part of the Plan for Change.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money from the Consolidated Fund was spent on (a) road maintenance and (b) road policing in each of the past 10 years.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Consolidated Fund is a central funding account and does not track spending by individual service area. Spending by departments is managed and recorded through departmental budgets (using set budgeting rules) and published in Annual Reports and Accounts.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much money from speeding fines has been paid into the Consolidated Fund in each of the past 10 years.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Individual public bodies are responsible for detailed record-keeping of any funds surrendered to the Consolidated Fund and are not required to share this data with HM Treasury.Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the additional £370 million allocated to Northern Ireland is an annual uplift in the block grant or a cumulative figure spread over a number of financial years.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As a result of decisions at Budget 2025, the Northern Ireland Executive will receive an additional £240 million RDEL excluding depreciation and £130 million CDEL over the Spending Review 2025 period (2025-26 to 2029-30) through the operation of the Barnett formula.
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 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Economic Outlook for the United Kingdom, published on 2 December.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an independent international organisation. The OECD’s forecast following the Budget has upgraded UK growth and reduced inflation for 2026. This follows stronger than expected growth this year, though there is much more to do.
The Budget is boosting economic growth and delivers on the country’s priorities of cutting the cost of living, reducing NHS waiting lists, and driving down our borrowing and debt.
Asked by: Lord Pickles (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 14 May (HL7072), whether (1) garden sheds, (2) conservatories, (3) fish ponds, and (4) garden gnomes, within the curtilage of a domestic dwelling, are deemed to be a material consideration by the Valuation Office Agency when a property is valued for council tax in (1) England, and (2) Wales, including when valuing homes under the high value council tax surcharge.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) are developing their approach to the targeted revaluation and will set out more details in due course, following the outcome of the Government's consultation.
In general, when valuing domestic properties, the VOA uses modern technology and industry standard techniques combined with freely available information including sales data, property attribute details and government records.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether it remains the Government’s policy to reform the business rates system to level the playing field between bricks and mortar businesses and large online businesses.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.
The Government is doing this by introducing permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, while ensuring that warehouses used by online giants will pay more. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.
The Government is paying for lower tax rates for RHL through higher rates on the top one per cent of most expensive properties. Large distribution warehouses, such as those used by online giants, will pay around £100m more in 2026/27, with this going directly to lower bills for in-person retail.