Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2025 to Question 86245 on Alex Chisholm and Simon Case, what was the business case for the approval of the severance payment for Simon Case in March 2025.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The severance payment for Simon Case was made in line with his contract of employment, and guidance concerning special severance payments as defined in HM Treasury’s Managing Public Money.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how the Government assesses qualification for funding projects against receipt of other funding received in the locality.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Departments are required to follow the Green Book and accompanying business case guidance when developing spending proposals.
In developing a business case, departments may take account of other public funding already received in an area where it is relevant to the proposal.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the National Wealth Fund spent on trade union facility time in the 2024-25 financial year; how many FTE staff were funded by facility time, and if this included paid time for trade union activities.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
As set out in the National Wealth Fund’s Annual Report and Accounts for the 2024-25 financial year, no expenditure was incurred.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost to the public purse was of feasibility studies conducted by their Department for projects that did not proceed in the last five years.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The information requested is not held as we do not track costs in this way.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Box 2.D of the Autumn Budget 2025, HC1492, published on 26 November 2025, what information will Departments’ published delivery plans include.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Departmental Efficiency Plans were published alongside the Spending Review 2025 on 11 June 2025 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/departmental-efficiency-delivery-plans/departmental-efficiency-plans
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government by what date the inquiry into pre-budget leaks led by James Bowler is expected to report, and whether its findings will be announced to Parliament.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury set out to the Treasury Select Committee on 10/12/25 that he hopes the review will conclude in advance of the Spring Statement, which is on 3 March.
The outcome of the review will be published.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Treasury collates data on central government spending on translation and interpretation into foreign languages for those residing in the United Kingdom.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Government spending on translation and interpretation services for British residents exists across many departments. Spending on such services typically falls below the HM Treasury approval and disclosure threshold, as defined by a department’s Delegated Authority Limit. HM Treasury therefore does not collect or receive data at the requested level of granularity.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 48 of the Autumn Budget HC1492, published on 26 November 2025, if she will publish the monetary savings in each year on which the 16% back-office administrative costs figure is based.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
These are published in Table 1.1 of the Spending Review 2025 (page 13).
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any gifts or hospitality given to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in a Ministerial capacity since July 2024 by Lord Alli have been returned or refunded.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor has not received any gifts or hospitality from Lord Alli since July 2024.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HMRC has spent on social media influencers through (a) Pablo in partnership with the Unlimited Group and (b) OmniGov since July 2024.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Spend since July 2024 totals £436,700 through Pablo/Unlimited Group (excluding agency fees) and £85,719 through OmniGov. This expenditure has primarily been directed at campaigns promoting digital channels for interacting with HMRC. In 2025, this activity generated an additional 4.2 million HMRC app downloads, taking total users during this period to over 7 million.