Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 October 2025 to Question 85934, if HMRC utilised or was given access to passenger name records as part of the Data Usage Agreement with the Home Office.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC did not directly access passenger name records held by the Home Office as part of its efforts to reduce Child Benefit non-compliance. The process involves HMRC sharing a data set with the Home Office, which includes the Child Benefit claimant’s name. Matches returned by the Home Office also include the Child Benefit claimant’s name. Both data sets were assessed and agreed for data minimisation purposes.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that HMRC’s fraud detection systems do not incorrectly suspend child benefit payments for claimants that travel through the Republic of Ireland.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Child Benefit is paid to over 6.9 million families, supporting 11.9 million children. It is one of the most widely accessed benefits in the UK.
As part of its ongoing efforts to reduce error and fraud in the Child Benefit system, HMRC undertook a pilot last year using international travel data. This pilot saw thousands of people who had left the UK but carried on claiming Child Benefit removed from the system - preventing around £17m in wrongful payments. This led to a wider rollout and investment in an additional 180 counter-fraud staff, announced at the Autumn Budget 2024 and is expected to save £350 million over the next five years.
In expanding the process last month, a check of HMRC systems to first look for continuing UK employment was inadvertently omitted on around 23,500 enquiries. While evidence from the pilot suggests that most of these cases will have been correctly suspended, the omission of the check has meant that HMRC will have incorrectly suspended payments in some instances.
HMRC has taken immediate corrective action to resolve this issue. The employment check has been reinstated for all future cases meaning fewer people will be sent letters in the first instance. In addition, HMRC has retrospectively applied this check to the 346 Northern Ireland customers, resulting in reinstated payments for 134 cases. HMRC have also reinstated payments for a further 46 Northern Ireland customers while we clarify their residency status.
HMRC has taken steps to improve the process. HMRC will no longer suspend payments at the outset and will give customers time to evidence their entitlement first. Together these changes will reduce error and ensure fair treatment of claimants.
Customers affected by the issue who believe they are still eligible should call the number on the letter they received. HMRC have set up a dedicated team to handle their cases swiftly.
Where eligibility is confirmed, payments will resume and HMRC will make backdated payments, so no-one is left out of pocket.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had discussions with the Minister for Finance in Northern Ireland on the potential impact of increases in employers' National Insurance contributions on community and voluntary sector organisations in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the UK Government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance contributions (NICs).
The UK Government recognises the need to protect charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of employers with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year.
In addition, charities will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.
The devolved governments will receive funding through the Barnett Formula in 2025-26 for any changes to UK Government department budgets, including support for employer NICs. This is the normal operation of the funding arrangements as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.
This funding will be in addition to the devolved governments’ record Spending Review settlements for 2025-26, which are the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution.
I regularly engage with the Minister of Finance for Northern Ireland on a variety of issues, including the impact of Autumn Budget 2024 in Northern Ireland.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number and proportion of farms that will be affected by changes to agricultural property relief in Northern Ireland.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
I refer the Honourable Member to the PQ referenced 12861 published on 15th November 2024 at https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-11-05/12861.
The Chancellor also recently wrote to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, and her letter may be of interest: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/45691/documents/226235/default/.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12760 on Employers' Contributions: General Practitioners, whether support arrangements for additional employer National Insurance contribution costs will be provided to the Northern Ireland Executive as ringfenced resource expenditure for (a) public bodies, (b) GPs and (c) NHS dentists.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
As has been confirmed, the UK Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance contributions costs. The detail of this policy change is being worked through thoroughly.
My department will continue to engage with the devolved governments.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.40 of the Autumn Budget 2024, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contribution rates on GPs in Northern Ireland; and whether she plans to take steps with Cabinet colleagues to provide additional support to GP practices affected by those changes.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
Raising the revenue required to fund public services and restore economic stability requires difficult decisions on tax, which is why we are asking employers to contribute more. A Tax Information and Impact Note will be published in due course alongside the legislation when it is introduced to Parliament.
The UK Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance contributions costs. This funding will be allocated to UK Government departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way for the devolved governments.
This funding will be in addition to the £1.5 billion in Barnett consequentials the NIE is receiving in 2025-26 as a result of decisions taken at Autumn Budget. The NIE’s settlement for 2025-26 delivers a real-terms increase and is the largest in real terms of any settlement since devolution.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance his Department issues on the requirements for customs declarations for business-to-business shipments exceeding the value of £135 between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government has recently issued guidance on the long-term arrangements for business-to-business parcels which is available on gov.uk - www.gov.uk/government/publications/moving-parcels-from-great-britain-to-northern-ireland-under-the-windsor-framework-from-30-september-2024.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department plans to take to implement public sector pay rises in Northern Ireland.
Answered by John Glen
The Government is accepting the headline pay recommendations of the independent Pay Review Bodies in full for 2023/24. This will be funded from within existing department budgets through a combination of greater efficiency and reprioritisation.
Equivalent decisions in Northern Ireland are devolved.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data his Department holds on the revenue raised by the Soft Drinks Industry Levy for Northern Ireland for financial year (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23; and if will provide details of how much of levy raised will be distributed to Northern Ireland using the Barnett formula.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Parliamentary Under Secretary (Business and Trade)
The Government does not breakdown the revenue raised from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy specifically for Northern Ireland.
Since January 2020, HMRC no longer publish disaggregated tax receipts. However, HMG continues to input into the Office for National Statistics’ Country and Regional Analysis publication which presents statistical estimates for the allocation of identifiable expenditure between the regions and nations of the UK and includes estimates for Northern Ireland. The latest report can be accessed via this link:
The devolved administrations are well funded through the operation of the Barnett formula, receiving around 20% more than equivalent UK Government spending in other parts of the UK.
The Block Grant Transparency publication sets out a full breakdown of the funding provided to the devolved administrations and is due to be updated shortly.
Asked by: Colum Eastwood (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Foyle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue has been generated by the soft drinks industry levy in Northern Ireland in each of the last three years; and whether this funding has been used to help tackle (a) poor oral health, (b) obesity, (c) diabetes and (d) other issues.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Parliamentary Under Secretary (Business and Trade)
The Government remains committed to helping people live healthier lives. Having a fit and healthy population is essential for a thriving economy and addressing obesity remains a priority for the Government.
The Government does not breakdown the revenue raised from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) specifically for Northern Ireland.
Headline statistics including total SDIL receipts are published online and can be accessed via this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/soft-drinks-industry-levy-statistics