Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of raising the income tax threshold to £20,000 for pensioners.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to making sure older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve in retirement. The State Pension is the foundation of the support available to them. Over the course of this Parliament, the yearly amount of the full new State Pension is currently projected to go up by around £1,900 based on the Office for Budget Responsibility's latest forecast.
The Government is committed to keeping people’s taxes as low as possible while ensuring fiscal responsibility. Raising the personal allowance to £20,000 for all taxpayers would cost more than £50bn, roughly equal to the UK defence budget.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of the outcome of the UK-EU Summit on 19 May 2025.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
We estimate that the Emission Trading System and food and agriculture elements of the agreement alone will boost the economy by nearly £9 billion by 2040.
Implementation costs will be confirmed in due course when we have negotiated the details of these arrangements. This will include proportionate contributions in specific and limited areas, such as where access to specific IT systems will help to remove trade barriers for UK firms or help us to manage biosecurity risks. We will not be making general contributions to the EU budget.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of her Department's proposed welfare reforms on the Northern Ireland block grant.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
For any funding implications of these welfare reforms, the arrangements set out in the Statement of Funding Policy will apply in the usual way.
Where UK Government programmes are in Annually Managed Expenditure (AME), such as welfare, the UK Government provides AME funding to the Northern Ireland Executive. Where the Northern Ireland Executive offers broadly comparable terms, the UK Government funds the costs of the programme.
If the Northern Ireland Executive offers more generous terms, the higher costs must be met by the Northern Ireland Executive.
As set out in the Pathways to Work Green Paper published on 18 March, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will continue to work closely with the Northern Ireland Executive on the proposals, in line with the general principle of parity in matters of social security between DWP and its counterpart in Northern Ireland, the Department for Communities.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to help ensure access to banking services in North Down constituency; and if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the planned closure of the Halifax branch in Bangor, North Down.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets in North Down and across the UK, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. This is why the Government is working closely with banks to roll out 350 banking hubs, which will provide individuals and businesses up and down the country with critical cash and banking services.
FCA guidance expects firms to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and put in place alternatives where reasonable. This seeks to ensure that branch closures are implemented in a way that treats customers fairly.
Alternative options to access everyday banking services can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking and via the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows personal and business customers to withdraw and deposit cash, check their balance, pay bills and cash cheques at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure (a) equivalent health funding is allocated to the devolved Administrations and (b) all UK nations benefit equitably from health service improvements.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The devolved governments are each responsible for deciding how to allocate their funding across their devolved responsibilities in their respective nations, including health.
The devolved governments’ Spending Review settlements for 2025-26 are the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution, each receiving at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK. That translates into over £8.5 billion per year for the Scottish Government, over £4 billion for the Welsh Government and £2.5 billion for the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking through the tax system to support small businesses with increases in employer National Insurance contributions.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has protected the smallest businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that next year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all. The government has also frozen the small business multiplier. Together with Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR), which exempts over a third of properties from business rates, this will protect 90% of properties from inflationary increases in business rates liabilities.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on funding for public sector pay awards in Northern Ireland; and whether she has allocated funding to ensure parity in pay offers for public sector workers in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
As a result of decisions taken at Autumn Budget 2024 and Phase 1 of Spending Review 2025, the Northern Ireland Executive is receiving £15.6 billion block grant funding in 2024-25 and £18.2 billion in 2025-26. Funding in 2025-26 represents the largest real-terms settlement since devolution, and the Northern Ireland Executive (NIE) is being funded above its independently assessed relative need level of 124% in 2024-25 and 2025-26, including the 2024 restoration financial package.
The NIE is responsible for deciding how to allocate its funding across its devolved responsibilities, including the provision of pay awards for public sector workers.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy to reverse the proposed tax changes to (a) agricultural property relief and (b) business property relief on family-owned (i) farms and (ii) businesses.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government set out its policy at Autumn Budget 2024 and that remains the Government’s policy.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of adding a photograph to National Insurance cards issued at the age of 16 to provide photographic identification.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC is responsible for issuing National Insurance Numbers (NINos) to the children of people receiving Child Benefit and Tax-Free Childcare . As a young person approaches age 16, HMRC informs them of their NINo via a letter. Cards have not been sent since 2011. The NINo is an internal reference number to support the administration of tax and social security; not proof of identity.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, HC 295, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief on family-owned farms in (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the rest of the UK; and what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to help ensure the (i) sustainability and (ii) generational continuity of agricultural businesses in (A) regions where farming is a part of the local economy and heritage and (B) other areas.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer 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.
Agricultural land and associated buildings are exempt from business rates.
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government provided £5 billion across this year and next to support the ongoing transition towards a more productive and environmentally sustainable agricultural sector in England. This will strengthen the domestic sector, and improve food security.
The devolved governments’ settlements for 2025-26 are the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution.