Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding her Department has committed to the Rural Fuel Duty Relief Scheme in each of the last five financial years.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Rural Fuel Duty Relief Scheme has provided a 5p reduction to motorists buying fuel in certain areas since its introduction in 2012. The Government publishes figures for the estimated cost of non-structural tax reliefs at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs/non-structural-tax-relief-statistics-december-2024.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of increasing the rebate provided under the Rural Fuel Duty Relief Scheme in line with inflation.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Rural Fuel Duty Relief Scheme has provided a 5p reduction to motorists buying fuel in certain areas since its introduction in 2012, with the rate remaining unchanged during that time. The areas included in the scheme demonstrate certain characteristics such as: pump prices much higher than the UK average; remoteness leading to high fuel transport costs from refinery to filling station, and; relatively low sales meaning that retailers cannot benefit from bulk discounts.
The Government carefully considers the impact of fuel duty on households and businesses, with decisions on rates made at fiscal events.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Spending Review will fund all of the recommendations of the 2025 Strategic Defence Review.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was published on 2 June 2025, and the recommendations within it have been accepted by the government. Full details of the departmental budgets for the spending review period will be published on 11 June 2025.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure consumers are aware of rights regarding personal financial products.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department of Business and Trade provides funding to Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland to deliver advice to consumers, including on debt and money matters. In addition, the Consumer Protection Partnership delivers an annual scams awareness campaign. Last year’s campaign focused on financial scams: fake debt advice; friend in need scams; pension scams; investment scams; and parking QR Codes.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) sets standards for consumer protection for regulated financial services products, and holds to account any firms that don’t meet those standards. The FCA’s Consumer Duty sets high standards of consumer protection across financial services, and includes a principle requiring firms to act to deliver good outcomes for customers. Good outcomes include consumers being given the information they need, at the right time, and presented in a way they can understand.
Additionally, the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) is supported by the Government to provide comprehensive guidance for each stage of consumers’ financial lives. Its MoneyHelper website offers a range of tools to support consumers with money matters, including information on everyday financial products and letter templates to help consumers raise complaints with their providers.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending business rate relief for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses beyond March 2026.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) relief has been extended year-by-year by previous governments since the pandemic. It has been a stopgap measure, and we recognise that businesses need longer term certainty on their liabilities.
Without any government intervention, RHL relief would have ended entirely in April 2025, creating a cliff-edge for businesses. Instead, the Government has decided to provide a 40 per cent discount to RHL properties up to a cash cap of £110,0000 per business in 2025-26, ahead of introducing permanently lower rates for RHL properties, with rateable values below £500,000 from 2026-27.
Asked by: Ian Roome (Liberal Democrat - North Devon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Digital Services Tax.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The UK remains committed to reaching a global solution on the taxation of the digital economy through Pillar 1 of the G20-OECD Inclusive Framework project. It is the UK’s intention to repeal our Digital Services Tax (DST) when this international solution is in place.