Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has produced impact assessments on the potential impact of the (a) increase to employer National Insurance contributions and (b) changes to Business Property Relief on the horticulture sector.
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.
In accordance with standard practice, a TIIN for the reforms to business property relief will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total value is of (a) funds, (b) near cash assets and (c) other financial instruments held by (i) the Bank of England and (ii) other UK licensed financial institutions for (A) the Central Bank of Russia, (B) the Russian Ministry of Finance, (C) the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation and (D) any other Russian state entities, by (1) asset type, (2) Russian state entity and (3) financial institution.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, published in its annual review that £25.03 billion in assets relating to the Russia sanctions regime have been reported as frozen between February 2022 and December 2024. This is an aggregated total of all entities and individuals listed on the Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets, known as Designated Persons.
However, assets belonging to the Central Bank of Russia, the National Wealth Fund of Russia, or the Ministry of Finance of Russia have been immobilised in the UK and across the G7 by sectoral sanctions – rather than with an asset freeze, and therefore their value is not included within the above figure. In the UK, sanctions prohibit UK persons from providing financial services in respect of these assets.
There are sensitivities around publishing the figure for immobilised asset holdings in the UK covered by these sectoral sanctions. It is important a decision to release any detail about these assets it taken on a collective G7 basis.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total value of (a) funds, (b) near cash assets and (c) other financial instruments held by (i) the Bank of England and (ii) other UK licensed financial institutions is on behalf of Euroclear Group entities as a result of European Union sanctions on Russia.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) does not comment on individual entities.
Please note OFSI has no role in the implementation of any other country’s sanctions. Therefore, it is unable to comment on EU financial sanctions.
Every year, OFSI undertakes a frozen asset review, which requires all persons holding or controlling assets (including funds and economic resources) frozen as a result of UK financial sanctions to report the nature and values of these assets to OFSI. The 2023 Frozen Asset Review saw approximately £10.2 billion of funds reported to OFSI as frozen under the Russia regime. This figure does not include the value of all assets reported to OFSI as a part of the annual frozen asset review due to difficulties defining their values with accuracy. This may include the contents of safety deposit boxes or tangible assets.
OFSI’s 2023-2024 Annual Review can be found here:
OFSI Annual Review 2023-24: Engage, Enhance, Enforce - GOV.UK
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the scope of the Loan Charge review.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge. Ray McCann, a highly respected figure in the tax world, is leading the review. His name was suggested by one of the Loan Charge campaigners.
To ensure transparency, the terms of reference make it clear that Mr McCann will be supported by a team of officials who have not previously worked on this policy area and will be based outside of HM Treasury and HMRC. Information provided by HMT and HMRC to the review team and factual comments provided on draft reports will be published after the review has concluded.
The Government does not think it is right for people affected by the Loan Charge to have to wait years to bring this matter to a close and has therefore ensured that the review has a focused remit, allowing it to report by this summer. The Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025.
Alongside the review, the Government is consulting in 2025 on measures to tackle promoters of marketed tax avoidance and has already announced measures to tackle the significant tax avoidance and fraud in the umbrella company market.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to section five of the policy paper entitled New approach to ensure regulators and regulation support growth, updated on 31 March 2025, whether she made an assessment of the potential merits of seeking regulator pledges from the Advertising Standards Authority.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
As published in March, New approach to ensure regulators and regulation support growth set out reforms across the regulatory landscape. These focused on tackling complexity and the burden of regulation, reducing uncertainty, and shifting excessive risk aversion in the regulatory system. Many of these reforms pertain to all UK regulators.
This action plan also included specific, pro-growth commitments from a range of key regulators which operate across the economy and also support sectors in the Industrial Strategy. We will continue to work with all regulators to promote investment, accelerate innovation, and deliver better outcomes.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority will retain independent commissioners.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) will combine the functions of the National Infrastructure Commission and Infrastructure and Projects Authority. NISTA will bring oversight of strategy and delivery into one organisation, driving more effective delivery of infrastructure across the country.
On 17 January 2025, the Prime Minister announced in a Written Ministerial Statement that NISTA will be a joint unit of HM Treasury and Cabinet Office, effective from 1 April 2025. Further detail on the work and governance of NISTA will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full time equivalent staff have been re-employed on HMRC’s customer telephone service in each year since 2015.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Data on the number of complaints relating to telephony services is held in line with HMRC’s retention policy.
Reporting year | Number of complaints relating to telephony services | Number of telephony complaints as a proportion of all complaints received (%) |
2015-16 | Not held | Not held |
2016-17 | Not held | Not held |
2017-18 | Not held | Not held |
2018-19 | 1,244 | 1.74% |
2019-20 | 1,340 | 2.04% |
2020-21 | 2,137 | 2.72% |
2021-22 | 2,032 | 2.53% |
2022-23 | 2,634 | 2.89% |
2023-24 | 8,037 | 8.72% |
In March 2023, HMRC changed from only recording the primary cause of a complaint to recording all contributing causes and factors of a complaint.
HMRC has previously faced challenges in delivering good customer service.
In 2024-25 HMRC has increased its telephony ‘adviser attempts handled’ and decreased wait times. HMRC’s latest performance information is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports#reporting-year-2024-to-2025
HMRC is encouraging more of its customers to use its online services to complete tasks quickly and easily online. Satisfaction with HMRC’s online services is consistently above 80%.
HMRC operates a flexible resourcing model where staff are deployed across various types of customer service work throughout the year. This allows HMRC to allocate resources to support customers where and when they need it most across different channels, including helplines, post correspondence and webchat. Given the dynamic nature of HMRC’s workforce, their staffing records do not segregate helpline resources separately. Telephony services are funded from HMRC’s overall funding settlement.
HMRC started reporting on disconnections after 70 minutes when they introduced a new telephony system. Information on the number of disconnections from March 2023 and for April 2023 to March 2024 is published in the HMRC Annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024
The average time to answer a customer telephone call for each year since 2015 is published as part of HMRC’s annual reports and accounts: 2023 to 2024 – historical data series (see above link).
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of customers have made a complaint about the customer telephone service in each year since 2015.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Data on the number of complaints relating to telephony services is held in line with HMRC’s retention policy.
Reporting year | Number of complaints relating to telephony services | Number of telephony complaints as a proportion of all complaints received (%) |
2015-16 | Not held | Not held |
2016-17 | Not held | Not held |
2017-18 | Not held | Not held |
2018-19 | 1,244 | 1.74% |
2019-20 | 1,340 | 2.04% |
2020-21 | 2,137 | 2.72% |
2021-22 | 2,032 | 2.53% |
2022-23 | 2,634 | 2.89% |
2023-24 | 8,037 | 8.72% |
In March 2023, HMRC changed from only recording the primary cause of a complaint to recording all contributing causes and factors of a complaint.
HMRC has previously faced challenges in delivering good customer service.
In 2024-25 HMRC has increased its telephony ‘adviser attempts handled’ and decreased wait times. HMRC’s latest performance information is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports#reporting-year-2024-to-2025
HMRC is encouraging more of its customers to use its online services to complete tasks quickly and easily online. Satisfaction with HMRC’s online services is consistently above 80%.
HMRC operates a flexible resourcing model where staff are deployed across various types of customer service work throughout the year. This allows HMRC to allocate resources to support customers where and when they need it most across different channels, including helplines, post correspondence and webchat. Given the dynamic nature of HMRC’s workforce, their staffing records do not segregate helpline resources separately. Telephony services are funded from HMRC’s overall funding settlement.
HMRC started reporting on disconnections after 70 minutes when they introduced a new telephony system. Information on the number of disconnections from March 2023 and for April 2023 to March 2024 is published in the HMRC Annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024
The average time to answer a customer telephone call for each year since 2015 is published as part of HMRC’s annual reports and accounts: 2023 to 2024 – historical data series (see above link).
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times has HMRC disconnected a customer who has waited for longer than 70 minutes to speak to an advisor on their customer telephone service in each year since 2015.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Data on the number of complaints relating to telephony services is held in line with HMRC’s retention policy.
Reporting year | Number of complaints relating to telephony services | Number of telephony complaints as a proportion of all complaints received (%) |
2015-16 | Not held | Not held |
2016-17 | Not held | Not held |
2017-18 | Not held | Not held |
2018-19 | 1,244 | 1.74% |
2019-20 | 1,340 | 2.04% |
2020-21 | 2,137 | 2.72% |
2021-22 | 2,032 | 2.53% |
2022-23 | 2,634 | 2.89% |
2023-24 | 8,037 | 8.72% |
In March 2023, HMRC changed from only recording the primary cause of a complaint to recording all contributing causes and factors of a complaint.
HMRC has previously faced challenges in delivering good customer service.
In 2024-25 HMRC has increased its telephony ‘adviser attempts handled’ and decreased wait times. HMRC’s latest performance information is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports#reporting-year-2024-to-2025
HMRC is encouraging more of its customers to use its online services to complete tasks quickly and easily online. Satisfaction with HMRC’s online services is consistently above 80%.
HMRC operates a flexible resourcing model where staff are deployed across various types of customer service work throughout the year. This allows HMRC to allocate resources to support customers where and when they need it most across different channels, including helplines, post correspondence and webchat. Given the dynamic nature of HMRC’s workforce, their staffing records do not segregate helpline resources separately. Telephony services are funded from HMRC’s overall funding settlement.
HMRC started reporting on disconnections after 70 minutes when they introduced a new telephony system. Information on the number of disconnections from March 2023 and for April 2023 to March 2024 is published in the HMRC Annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024
The average time to answer a customer telephone call for each year since 2015 is published as part of HMRC’s annual reports and accounts: 2023 to 2024 – historical data series (see above link).
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what HMRC's budget has been for a customer telephone service in each year since 2015.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Data on the number of complaints relating to telephony services is held in line with HMRC’s retention policy.
Reporting year | Number of complaints relating to telephony services | Number of telephony complaints as a proportion of all complaints received (%) |
2015-16 | Not held | Not held |
2016-17 | Not held | Not held |
2017-18 | Not held | Not held |
2018-19 | 1,244 | 1.74% |
2019-20 | 1,340 | 2.04% |
2020-21 | 2,137 | 2.72% |
2021-22 | 2,032 | 2.53% |
2022-23 | 2,634 | 2.89% |
2023-24 | 8,037 | 8.72% |
In March 2023, HMRC changed from only recording the primary cause of a complaint to recording all contributing causes and factors of a complaint.
HMRC has previously faced challenges in delivering good customer service.
In 2024-25 HMRC has increased its telephony ‘adviser attempts handled’ and decreased wait times. HMRC’s latest performance information is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-monthly-performance-reports#reporting-year-2024-to-2025
HMRC is encouraging more of its customers to use its online services to complete tasks quickly and easily online. Satisfaction with HMRC’s online services is consistently above 80%.
HMRC operates a flexible resourcing model where staff are deployed across various types of customer service work throughout the year. This allows HMRC to allocate resources to support customers where and when they need it most across different channels, including helplines, post correspondence and webchat. Given the dynamic nature of HMRC’s workforce, their staffing records do not segregate helpline resources separately. Telephony services are funded from HMRC’s overall funding settlement.
HMRC started reporting on disconnections after 70 minutes when they introduced a new telephony system. Information on the number of disconnections from March 2023 and for April 2023 to March 2024 is published in the HMRC Annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024
The average time to answer a customer telephone call for each year since 2015 is published as part of HMRC’s annual reports and accounts: 2023 to 2024 – historical data series (see above link).