Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill on the night-time economy.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much and what proportion of funding made available through the Equitable Life Payment Scheme was returned to her Department.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Equitable Life Payment Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016, and there are no plans to reopen any decisions relating to the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it.
The remainder of the £1.5 billion has been set aside for future payments to the With-Profits Annuitants.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies on VAT of the British Hair Consortium’s report entitled Securing the future of UK hairdressing and beauty: The economic, fiscal & societal case for VAT reform, published in February 2025.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is also the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £171 billion in 2024/25. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.
Changes to the VAT threshold have to be carefully balanced considering the potential benefits to small businesses, the economy as a whole and tax revenues.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the level of business rates relief for hospitality, leisure and entertainment businesses on such businesses.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Without any government intervention, Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief would have ended entirely in April 2025, creating a cliff-edge for businesses. Instead, the Government has decided to offer a 40 per cent discount to RHL properties up to a cash cap of £110,0000 per business in 2025-26 and frozen the small business multiplier.
By tapering RHL relief to 40%, rather than letting it end, the government has saved the average pub, with a rateable value (RV) of £16,800, over £3,300 in 2025.
At Budget, the Government also announced that from 2026-27, it intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street RHL properties. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on the most valuable properties, which includes the majority of large distribution warehouses, including warehouses used by online giants.
The rates for any new business rate multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Table 5.2 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, for what reason the estimated revenue from the abolition of the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime in the 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29 financial years is lower than was set out in her Department’s Tax Information and Impact Note published on 29 July 2024.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The estimated revenue from the abolition of the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime has been updated to reflect latest economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility and latest tax return data.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the potential revenue loss from large society lotteries who should be paying lottery duty due to not meeting social responsibility requirements but have not.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Exemptions are permitted from Lottery Duty including for lotteries run as Large Society Lotteries under the terms of the Gambling Act 2005.
Regulatory responsibility for those lotteries lies with the Gambling Commission. Society lotteries require a licence to operate from the Gambling Commission and are tightly regulated.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of freezing fuel duty on inflation since 2010.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Fuel duty applies to petrol, diesel and other fuels for road and non-road uses, such as construction. The Government carefully considers the impacts of fuel duty rates on the fiscal position and the economy, including on inflation, with decisions on rates made at fiscal events.
The Office for Budget Responsibility provide an assessment of the impact of government policies on inflation in their economic and fiscal outlook after each fiscal event.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of maintaining the level of fuel duty on inflation in the next three financial years.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Fuel duty applies to petrol, diesel and other fuels for road and non-road uses, such as construction. The Government carefully considers the impacts of fuel duty rates on the fiscal position and the economy, including on inflation, with decisions on rates made at fiscal events.
The Office for Budget Responsibility provide an assessment of the impact of government policies on inflation in their economic and fiscal outlook after each fiscal event.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what evidential basis HMRC concluded that abolition of the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime will not have significant macroeconomic impacts; and if she will publish that evidence.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The abolition of the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax rules will not have any macroeconomic impact due to the small proportion of the landlord population affected.
There may be a limited behavioural change over the long term.
Impacts are assessed as part of the Budget process.
Asked by: Caroline Dinenage (Conservative - Gosport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps she is taking to support the film and TV industry.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The creative industries play a key role in driving economic growth. The Government is committed to supporting the creative industries as a key part of its plan to fix the foundations of the economy.
As part of this, film and TV companies benefit from extra tax relief through the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit, which provides generous support for production costs. A total of £1.6 billion was paid out to film and TV companies in financial year 2022-23.
In addition, on 9 October the Government announced that it will finish legislating a new Independent Film Tax Credit. This policy will go further to support independent films and develop a pipeline of UK film talent.