Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimates she has made of the number of how many taxpayers with outstanding Loan Charge liabilities HMRC expects to be eligible for the new settlement opportunity following the McCann Review; and how many have been contacted to date.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget 2024, the Government committed to a new independent review of the loan charge. The purpose of the review was to bring the matter to a close for people who have not settled and paid their Loan Charge liabilities.
The Government has accepted all but one of the Review’s recommendations, and in some areas has gone further. The Government has introduced legislation in the Finance Act to provide for a generous new settlement offer which it hopes maximises the opportunity for individuals to come forward and settle. I am committed to deliver the Government’s ambition to bring this matter to a close for as many customers as possible.
As outlined in the Tax Impact and Information Notice published in November 2025 about the recommendations from the independent loan charge review, there are approximately 32,000 individuals who have an outstanding loan charge liability.
HMRC began contacting customers to notify them of their eligibility for the new settlement opportunity from January 2026. When the new settlement opportunity is enacted, HMRC will contact customers again, in stages, to explain what it means for them based on their specific circumstances.
The Government’s response to the review represents a fair and proportionate attempt to provide a route to resolution for those who have not yet been able to settle with HMRC. In turn, this requires those individuals to now come forward and engage with HMRC in good faith.
Tax avoidance deprives the Exchequer of funds needed to deliver vital public services and it is right that resources are targeted to stop this. There are no plans to apply the review’s recommendations beyond those individuals and employers with outstanding liabilities that were the focus of the review.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of whether people who previously settled Loan Charge liabilities with HMRC will be offered equivalent terms to those available under the new settlement opportunity following the McCann Review.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget 2024, the Government committed to a new independent review of the loan charge. The purpose of the review was to bring the matter to a close for people who have not settled and paid their Loan Charge liabilities.
The Government has accepted all but one of the Review’s recommendations, and in some areas has gone further. The Government has introduced legislation in the Finance Act to provide for a generous new settlement offer which it hopes maximises the opportunity for individuals to come forward and settle. I am committed to deliver the Government’s ambition to bring this matter to a close for as many customers as possible.
As outlined in the Tax Impact and Information Notice published in November 2025 about the recommendations from the independent loan charge review, there are approximately 32,000 individuals who have an outstanding loan charge liability.
HMRC began contacting customers to notify them of their eligibility for the new settlement opportunity from January 2026. When the new settlement opportunity is enacted, HMRC will contact customers again, in stages, to explain what it means for them based on their specific circumstances.
The Government’s response to the review represents a fair and proportionate attempt to provide a route to resolution for those who have not yet been able to settle with HMRC. In turn, this requires those individuals to now come forward and engage with HMRC in good faith.
Tax avoidance deprives the Exchequer of funds needed to deliver vital public services and it is right that resources are targeted to stop this. There are no plans to apply the review’s recommendations beyond those individuals and employers with outstanding liabilities that were the focus of the review.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HMRC paid in (a) withheld tax repayments and (b) rebates relating to UK Real Estate Investment Trust distributions to non-UK residents in financial years (i) 2023-24 and (ii) 2024-25; and what compliance and assurance processes apply to such repayments.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC does not routinely publish data on withheld tax repayments relating to Real Estate Investment Trust distributions, the specific figures requested are not readily available in a single dataset. Repayments are administered through a number of different systems and routes, and unfortunately collating the information required would exceed the cost threshold for responding to parliamentary questions.
We can confirm that HMRC operates compliance and assurance processes for repayments of withholding tax. These processes include checks on eligibility for relief, identification of the claimant, validation of the repayment calculation and verification that the non-UK resident is entitled to treaty benefits.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution of the Chancellor of the Exchequer of 8 April 2025 during Treasury Questions, Official Report, column 718, when the relevant Minister plans to meet the hon. Member for Sefton Central.
Answered by James Murray - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
I apologise for the delay in progressing arrangements for your meeting with the relevant minister. We have now spoken with the Department of Health and Social Care and the responsible minister’s office will be in contact to organise a meeting with you as soon as practical.Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the EU's carbon border adjustment mechanism on the UK steel industry.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The government is continuing to assess the potential impact of the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) on UK businesses, including the steel industry, and is engaging with UK businesses on this.
As the UK has an ambitious carbon pricing system through our Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and Carbon Price Support mechanism, we expect the EU CBAM to take account of this in its implementation.
Full details of the EU CBAM will be known when the EU adopt the required implementing and delegated acts. UK officials are continuing to closely monitor this process and are waiting to see these before building a full understanding of potential impacts on UK businesses.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value was of exports of UK-manufactured ceramic products in each year since 2019.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as a National Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com). From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria. However, it should be noted that HMRC does not hold data regarding the manufacture of those exported goods.
Classification codes (according to the Harmonised System) are available to assist you in accessing published trade statistics data in the UK Trade Tariff. Goods moving from the UK are identified by an eight-digit commodity code. These are publicly available from the UK Trade Tariff at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff.
Ceramics can be classified under a number of commodity codes depending on the item produced. The classification codes in chapter 69 are used for ceramic products other than porcelain and china. However, there are other Tariff chapters that may also contain ceramic in them.
The value of ceramics exported from the UK since 2019 is available from the above uktradeinfo website. As referenced above, the online data available does not distinguish where the ceramics are manufactured.
The Office for National Statistics do publish statistics on UK manufacturers’ sales by product (latest available 2021), of which Division 23 SIC(07) 2341 to (07)2349 may be of interest. However, these statistics do not differentiate between domestic and export sales.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of Exchequer, with reference to the National Semiconductor Strategy, published 19 May 2023, whether it is his policy to fully restore R&D tax credits that were reduced to incentivise research and development.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Semiconductors are an essential component for the functioning of almost every electronic device we use, as well as underpinning future technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum and 6G. To support this vitally important sector, the Semiconductor Strategy set out how £1 billion of Government investment over the next decade will improve access to infrastructure, power more research and development and facilitate greater international cooperation.
As part of the ongoing research and development (R&D) tax reliefs review, the Government announced at Autumn Statement 2022 that the R&D tax reliefs would be reformed to ensure taxpayer’s money is spent as effectively as possible, whilst leaving the level of R&D related business investment in the economy unchanged.
The SME scheme cost twice as much as the Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC), and its cash value to firm was three times that of RDEC - yet it incentivised as little as 60p of additional R&D for each £1 spent, compared to as much as £2.70 additional R&D per £1 of RDEC. Following the corporation tax rise from April 2023, the SME scheme would have become even more generous in cash terms, and RDEC less.
The Chancellor committed to considering the case for further support for R&D intensive SMEs, and at Spring Budget announced a new permanent rate of relief for the most R&D intensive loss-making SMEs. This is worth around £500 million a year and will benefit around 20,000 SMEs a year by 2027-2028.
To support modern methods of innovation, the Government is expanding the scope of qualifying expenditure for R&D tax reliefs to include data, cloud computing and pure mathematics costs. This means that businesses will be able to claim more R&D tax relief for cutting-edge R&D methods such as genome sequencing, machine learning, and data analytics.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of a carbon border adjustment mechanism on the domestic steel industry.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
The government is currently consulting on potential future measures to mitigate carbon leakage risks, including the potential for a UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). The consultation is currently open, and the government is seeking a wide range of stakeholder views before taking any decisions. The government will respond to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, What assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of raising the de minimis customs threshold to £1000.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The customs duty de minimis threshold allows for ease of trade when importing low value consignments, benefiting businesses and consumers. This threshold remains under continuous review as part of ongoing work to develop and enhance our independent customs regime.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on the potential merits of reforming business rates in the period since the Spring Budget.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
At Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a package of changes and tax cuts worth £13.6 billion over the next five years, including:
Treasury Ministers regularly engage with other Government departments and external stakeholders on a range of issues.