Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the letter from Baroness Taylor of Stevenage on 3 November about the removal of the lower rate of landfill tax, what types of inert construction waste they plan to be reused elsewhere.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget in November 2025, the Government set out its decisions in response to the consultation on reform to Landfill Tax which ran earlier this year. The Government has listened to the arguments made by businesses, particularly in the construction sector, and has decided that now is not the right time to converge to a single rate of tax. Instead, the Government has announced a plan to prevent the gap between the two rates getting any wider over the coming years which ensures that businesses will not face significant additional costs. In addition, the tax exemption for backfilling quarries will be retained to ensure that businesses continue to have access to a low-cost alternative to landfill.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the Spending Review 2025, what estimate they used of the amount available from council tax receipts in each year of the Spending Review in (1) England, and (2) Wales, to calculate the 1.7 per cent per year real increase in police spending power over the Spending Review period; and whether they will place a copy of the calculations and data used to produce that figure in the Library of the House.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Police core spending power refers to the projected total police settlement funding for Counter Terrorism Police and Territorial Police. The Spending Review (SR) Phase 2 settlement projected an average 1.7% real terms increase per year in police spending power. Over the SR period, police spending power is projected to increase by an average 2.3% per year in real terms.
Police core spending power includes projected spending from additional income, including estimated funding from the police council tax precept. The final police precept level and core government funding will be set out in the annual police funding settlement in the usual way.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether a treehouse within the curtilage of a domestic dwelling is deemed to be a material consideration by the Valuation Office Agency when a property is valued for council tax in Wales.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency considers each property valuation on a case-by-case basis, considering the impact that any features could have on the property’s value and whether any such features would be classified as a self-contained unit.
Asked by: Lord Jamieson (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government why there are different business rate liabilities for fee-charging (1) standalone nursery schools, and (2) nurseries within the curtilage of independent schools.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Private schools in England no longer benefit from business rates charitable rate relief. The definition of a private school is set out in the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Act. This definition includes private schools with nursery classes, which, despite the presence of some nursery provision are, by their nature, private schools.
Standalone nursery schools with their own business rates assessments remain eligible for charitable rate relief if they are eligible charities. This approach best ensures consistency with the underlying policy intent to remove eligibility from private schools.