Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to reduce the level of value added tax applied to repairs and renovations on churches, historic buildings and residential homes.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
To stimulate the construction of new homes, the Government currently maintains a zero rate of VAT on new-build residential buildings. Additionally, residential renovations are subject to a reduced rate of VAT of five per cent if they meet certain conditions. These include conversions of buildings from one residential use to another, conversions from commercial to residential use, and the renovation of properties that have been empty for two or more years.
To preserve heritage, restorative work carried out on listed buildings previously benefited from a zero rate of VAT. However, this relief was abolished in 2012, as it was primarily used to carry out extension work unnecessary for heritage purposes. Withdrawing this relief simplified VAT rules and also removed the scope for error when categorising construction work as either alteration or repair.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport also administer a Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. This provides grants towards VAT paid on repairs and maintenance to the nation's listed places of worship.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much was raised in tax in each of the past three years from gambling activities.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The table below contains the latest betting and gaming duty receipts totals for each of the past three calendar years.
UK betting and gaming duty receipts by calendar year | Total betting and gaming receipts |
2022 | £3,254 million |
2023 | £3,393 million |
2024 (provisional) | £3,552 million |
The totals above are composed of receipts from General Betting Duty, Pool Betting Duty, Gaming Duty, Bingo Duty, Remote Gaming Duty, Machine Games Duty, and Lottery Duty.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to introduce a zero rate of VAT for church repairs and renovation.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has no plans introduce a zero rate of VAT for church repairs and renovation.
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is the UK’s second largest tax forecast to raise £171 billion in 2024/25. Taxation is a vital source of revenue that helps to fund vital public services.
Evidence suggests that businesses only partially pass on any savings from lower VAT rates. In some cases, reliefs do not represent good value for money, as there is no guarantee that savings will be passed on to consumers.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport administer the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. This provides grants towards VAT paid on repairs and maintenance to the nation's listed places of worship.
The Government keeps all tax policy under review, and any decisions on tax policy will be announced at fiscal events in the context of the overall public finances.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have they made of the impact on tenant farms of the changes to agricultural property relief in the Autumn Budget, and of the land that will be available for tenants to farm after April 2026.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms, and further explanatory information at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-are-the-changes-to-agricultural-property-relief.
In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will introduce a zero rate of VAT for repairs of rural churches.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the twenty per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Whilst there are exceptions to the standard rate, these have always been limited by both legal and fiscal considerations.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport already administer the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. This aims to redress financial shortfalls by providing grants towards VAT paid on repairs and maintenance to the nation's listed places of worship. With annual funding increased to £42 million per annum, the scheme handles around 7,000 claims per annum and has made grants totalling over £300 million to date.
Going further by zero rating all repairs of rural churches would impose significant additional pressure on the public finances to which VAT makes a significant contribution.
There are no plans to introduce a new VAT relief for the repair of rural churches. However, the Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take, if any, to set up a rural banking hub to avoid a lack of banking provision within ten miles.
Answered by Baroness Penn
Decisions on opening and closing branches are taken by the management team of each bank on a commercial basis, which it would be inappropriate for the Government to intervene in.
Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) sets out its expectation of firms when closing a branch; they must carefully consider the impact of a planned closure on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This will ensure the implementation of closure decisions is done in a way that treats customers fairly.
An alternative for those who prefer to conduct their everyday banking face-to-face is the Post Office, which enables customers to carry this out at 11,500 post offices across the UK. The Post Office is required by the Department for Business and Trade to ensure that 95% of the total rural population across the UK to be within 3 miles of their nearest Post Office outlet.
New shared Banking Hubs are also being introduced providing cash and basic banking services, and dedicated space where community bankers from major banks can meet customers of that bank. Banking Hubs are a commercial initiative provided by participating retail banks and building societies in partnership with the Post Office. Decisions regarding the operation and location of Banking Hubs are taken by the parties involved.
Regarding access to cash, the government legislated to protect access to cash services through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023. Following this, the government recently published a policy statement. This included setting the government’s current understanding that the vast majority of people in predominately rural areas have access to cash within 3 miles of where they live, while the vast majority of people in predominately urban areas have access to cash within 1 mile of where they live. This is based on FCA analysis and concerns access to cash services in general rather than bank branches. The policy statement sets out that the FCA, as responsible regulator, should seek to maintain this distribution of cash access services, while recognising that cash needs may differ by location and change over time. The government’s policy statement is available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what provisions are in place to support customers in the event of a rural bank closure with no bank branch available within three miles.
Answered by Baroness Penn
Decisions on opening and closing branches are taken by the management team of each bank on a commercial basis, which it would be inappropriate for the Government to intervene in.
Guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) sets out its expectation of firms when closing a branch; they must carefully consider the impact of a planned closure on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and consider possible alternative access arrangements. This will ensure the implementation of closure decisions is done in a way that treats customers fairly.
An alternative for those who prefer to conduct their everyday banking face-to-face is the Post Office, which enables customers to carry this out at 11,500 post offices across the UK. The Post Office is required by the Department for Business and Trade to ensure that 95% of the total rural population across the UK to be within 3 miles of their nearest Post Office outlet.
New shared Banking Hubs are also being introduced providing cash and basic banking services, and dedicated space where community bankers from major banks can meet customers of that bank. Banking Hubs are a commercial initiative provided by participating retail banks and building societies in partnership with the Post Office. Decisions regarding the operation and location of Banking Hubs are taken by the parties involved.
Regarding access to cash, the government legislated to protect access to cash services through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023. Following this, the government recently published a policy statement. This included setting the government’s current understanding that the vast majority of people in predominately rural areas have access to cash within 3 miles of where they live, while the vast majority of people in predominately urban areas have access to cash within 1 mile of where they live. This is based on FCA analysis and concerns access to cash services in general rather than bank branches. The policy statement sets out that the FCA, as responsible regulator, should seek to maintain this distribution of cash access services, while recognising that cash needs may differ by location and change over time. The government’s policy statement is available on gov.uk.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of any distortion to the housing market caused by VAT on the renovation and restoration of existing homes as opposed to VAT exemption for the building of new homes; and what plans they have, if any, to address such distortion.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The construction of certain new-build properties, including residential buildings, is subject to a VAT zero rate to encourage the construction of new homes. A reduced rate of VAT at five per cent is also maintained, subject to certain conditions, for residential renovations. This includes conversions of buildings from one residential use to another, conversions from commercial to residential use, and the renovation of properties that have been empty for two years or more.
Extending this VAT relief would impose additional pressure on the public finances to which VAT makes a significant contribution. As such, the Government has no plans to introduce a VAT relief on the renovation and restoration of existing homes; however, the Government keeps all taxes under review.
A temporary zero rate (up to April 2027) also applies to installations of qualifying energy saving materials, such as insulation, solar panels and heat pumps into residential accommodation. This relief is targeted at materials that specifically improve the energy efficiency or reduce carbon emission from a residential property.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the access to cash in rural areas for (1) vulnerable residents, such as the elderly and infirm, and (2) small businesses.
Answered by Lord Harlech
The government recognises that while the transition towards digital banking and payments brings many opportunities, cash continues to be used by many people, including those who may be in vulnerable groups, and small business across the UK.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has a considerable evidence base on cash provision and use across the UK. Analysis that was published by the FCA in June 2022 shows that, as of the end of 2021, over 95% of the population are within two kilometres of a free-to-use cash access point, such as a free-to-use ATM, bank branch or Post Office branch. Additional breakdowns by category of cash facility and areas are published on the FCA’s website.
The government is currently taking legislation to protect access to cash across the UK through Parliament as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022. The legislation will establish the FCA as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities.
As part of its responsibilities, the FCA will be granted powers to seek to address any local deficiencies in the provision of access to cash facilities that it has identified and considers to be significant. The government’s view is that this will allow for consideration of local circumstances in all parts of the UK. This will result in a regulatory framework that will support the ongoing assessment of cash needs and provision at both a nationwide and local level.
Asked by: Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what data they collect on the average distances a resident in a rural community must travel to access (1) a bank, and (2) a cash machine.
Answered by Lord Harlech
The government recognises that while the transition towards digital banking and payments brings many opportunities, cash continues to be used by many people, including those who may be in vulnerable groups, and small business across the UK.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has a considerable evidence base on cash provision and use across the UK. Analysis that was published by the FCA in June 2022 shows that, as of the end of 2021, over 95% of the population are within two kilometres of a free-to-use cash access point, such as a free-to-use ATM, bank branch or Post Office branch. Additional breakdowns by category of cash facility and areas are published on the FCA’s website.
The government is currently taking legislation to protect access to cash across the UK through Parliament as part of the Financial Services and Markets Bill 2022. The legislation will establish the FCA as the lead regulator for access to cash with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of withdrawal and deposit facilities.
As part of its responsibilities, the FCA will be granted powers to seek to address any local deficiencies in the provision of access to cash facilities that it has identified and considers to be significant. The government’s view is that this will allow for consideration of local circumstances in all parts of the UK. This will result in a regulatory framework that will support the ongoing assessment of cash needs and provision at both a nationwide and local level.