Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland regarding the potential impact of an increase in fuel costs on the agricultural sector in Northern Ireland; and whether she is considering targeted support measures for farmers.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government is actively monitoring the increase in fuel costs across the whole of the UK, including in Northern Ireland, and any impacts on our food and farming sectors.
The Government has already announced that the 5p fuel duty cut will be extended until September.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of a reduced rate of VAT for businesses in Northern Ireland on economic growth and competitiveness; and whether her Department has considered piloting such a measure in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
VAT operates on a UK-wide basis and is a broad-based tax on consumption with the 20 per cent standard rate applying to most goods and services. VAT is the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26.
Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Treasury is considering proposals to transfer Northern Ireland public assets to any entity based in the Republic of Ireland.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury has not participated in any recent discussions regarding the future ownership, management, or financing of Northern Ireland’s public services, including infrastructure, by the Irish Government or any of its agencies.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Vehicle Excise Duty changes on motorists in areas experiencing significant road maintenance issues, including potholes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Consolidated Fund receives the proceeds of VED along with most other tax revenues to support public services and investment in infrastructure, including vehicle infrastructure and road maintenance.
To support motorists, by 2029/30, the government has committed over £2 billion annually for local authorities to repair, renew and fix potholes on their roads – doubling funding since coming into office.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of allocating and ring-fencing funding for strategic rail infrastructure in Northern Ireland.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Responsibility for rail infrastructure in Northern Ireland is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. It is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive to allocate funding across devolved areas, and they are accountable to the Northern Ireland Assembly for these decisions.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed EU (a) taxes and (b) charges on small packages entering the EU on Northern Ireland, including parcels sent within the United Kingdom internal market.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are aware of changes to the EU’s rules of low value imports and the announcement in December of its intention to introduce customs duty on these goods from 1 July 2026.
At Autumn Budget 2025, the Chancellor announced the removal of the UK's relief from customs duty on goods below £135 from March 2029 at the latest.
There is currently a consultation on these changes that closes on 6th March 2026.
We are committed to ensuring that the current facilitations available for parcels under the Windsor Framework continue to operate. This means that goods eligible to move under the UK Carrier Scheme and the UK Internal Market Scheme will continue to do so. These schemes are designed to protect goods moving within the UK internal market from incurring duty.
The benefits of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement will also continue to be available.
The Government continues to engage with industry and the EU to ensure any applicable arrangements are implemented correctly and to minimise any negative impacts on Northern Ireland consumers and businesses.
Asked by: Alex Easton (Independent - North Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of duty-free sales arrangements under the Windsor Framework on Northern Ireland’s airports; and whether she has had discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on enabling passengers travelling from Northern Ireland airports to (a) Great Britain and (b) third countries to access duty-free sales on the same basis as passengers travelling from other UK airports.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Excise duty is due on excise goods due to be consumed in the UK. There are no plans to allow individuals moving from one part of the UK to another to purchase duty free goods.
Passengers travelling from Northern Ireland to a place outside the UK and the EU are entitled to purchase duty free goods in the same way as passengers travelling from Great Britain to a place outside the UK. Duty free shopping between Northern Ireland and the EU would require the application of personal allowances, to prevent the uncontrolled flow of tax-free goods into either Northern Ireland or the EU. The enforcement controls required for this would run counter to the shared ambitions of the UK and the EU set out in the Windsor Framework and the principle of the frictionless movement of people and goods between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
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 impact of changes to (a) Agricultural Property Relief and (b) Business Property Relief on the (i) financial viability of family-run farms, (ii) long-term sustainability of British agriculture and (iii) mental wellbeing of people working within the sector; and if she will review that policy before the Autumn Budget 2025.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free.
The Government has set out that the reforms are expected to result in up to 520 estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.
The Government published a tax information and impact note on 21 July 2025 and this is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforms-to-agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.
More generally, I also refer the Honourable Member to the responses to UIN 66576, UIN 83976, and UIN 86576, which all demonstrate the mental health support provided to farmers by the Government.
The Government will also invest more than £2.7 billion a year in sustainable farming and nature recovery from 2026-27 until 2028-29. This includes the largest financial investment into nature-friendly farming ever.
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 - Chief Secretary to the 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 - Chief Secretary to the 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.