Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential cost exempting repairs enjoyed by museums and galleries from VAT to include listed places of worship to the Exchequer.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - 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. Outside of a limited number of VAT reliefs aimed at stimulating the supply of new homes, the standard VAT rate of 20 per cent applies to most construction work.

Some museums and galleries receive VAT refunds on the costs associated with providing free access to their permanent collections, under the museums and galleries VAT Refund Scheme. This includes the refunds of the VAT paid on repairs to the buildings that contain museums/galleries’ permanent collections. Further information about the refund scheme can be found here:

VAT Refund Scheme for museums and galleries (VAT Notice 998) - GOV.UK

The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, administered by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, provides grants for VAT paid by listed places of worship on their repair and maintenance costs, with the objective of helping to preserve UK heritage. From April 2026, the scheme will be replaced by a Places of Worship Renewal Fund, which will invest £92 million capital funding into listed places of worship. It is designed to ensure that taxpayer funding is targeted more effectively toward the preservation of our heritage assets.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will reinstate the right to remain of a Christchurch constituent who has been classified as an overstayer pending review of his case, with reference 1212-0001-5632-8110/00.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

We are working with the hon Gentleman’s constituent to resolve the situation and will contact them directly to resolve the situation.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many UK businesses at the most recent date for which information is available have had their Government Gateway access restricted on the grounds that their accounts may have been compromised by fraudulent attempts to reclaim VAT.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The security of HMRC’s online services is a top priority. We are aware of attempts by organised criminals to access VAT accounts using genuine customers’ registration details, and our immediate focus is to protect customer data and correct any affected tax or payment records. Customer accounts may be restricted, i.e. suspended or deleted, for a range of reasons, including proactive fraud monitoring, reports of suspicious activity, and the closure of inactive accounts. Specialist security and VAT teams are actively investigating and delivering improvements to strengthen VAT account security, which could include restricting accounts where fraudulent activity has not been identified.

When and if fraudulent activity has occurred, HMRC contacts affected customers to explain the remedial actions taken and outline any steps they need to take.

Found: Q620 Sir Christopher Chope: What can you do to stop profiteering?

Found: Bill Esterson (Labour; Sefton Central) (Chair) Ms Polly Billington (Labour; East Thanet) Sir Christopher Chope

The cross-party Modernisation Committee is holding an inquiry into Backbench Business Committee and Petitions Committee debates, as part of its ongoing work on how time is used in the Commons.