Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what taxation powers his Department is considering devolving to local authorities.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The government’s vision for devolution in England was set out in the joint cabinet statement, ‘Rewiring the state’ published in July. This committed to replacing grants from central government with a share of local income tax for every mayor beginning in 2028 and greater retention of the revenue from business rates for local councils and strategic authorities. Strategic authorities will also have the power to introduce an overnight visitor levy as a way to raise money to support growth in their regions, including the visitor economy. The long-term certainty of funding via taxation will provide more flexibility and enable greater investment to fund interventions that will deliver a return.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of school attendance Fixed Penalty Notices issued in the most recent year for which data is available were preceded by documented support interventions under the Department's support first approach.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not collect data on the support interventions undertaken before individual penalty notices are issued.
The government’s approach is that schools and local authorities should work with families to understand and address the barriers to attendance before considering legal intervention.
Statutory guidance makes clear that a penalty notice should normally be considered only where support has not worked, has not been engaged with or is not appropriate, as is usually the case for an unauthorised term-time holiday. Such holidays accounted for 93% of penalty notices in the latest year for which data are available.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the evidential basis is for concluding that Fixed Penalty Notices for school attendance offences improve long-term pupil attendance.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The causes of school absence are complex and penalty notices are one part of a wider toolkit to help ensure children receive the education they are entitled to. The government remains committed to a support-first approach, with enforcement only used in cases where support is not appropriate, has not been engaged with or is not proving effective.
Recent data suggests this approach is having a positive impact. In the 2024/2025 academic year, the rate of absence due to unauthorised holidays fell from 0.53% to 0.48%, equating to around 1.3 million fewer missed sessions compared with 2023/2024. Penalty notices are primarily targeted at term-time holidays, which accounted for 93% of notices issued in 2024/2025.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the reasons cited by parents for absences that subsequently resulted in Fixed Penalty Notices.
Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In the 2024/2025 academic year, 93% of penalty notices were issued for unauthorised family holidays. This is an increase of 4% compared to the previous year.
A further 0.3% were issued for lateness and the remaining 7% for other unauthorised circumstances.
This distribution is in line with the government‘s requirement that penalty notices should only be issued for unauthorised absences and only where support has been ineffective, not engaged with or would be inappropriate. Penalty notices must be considered on an individual basis and schools must not have blanket rules. All schools have the discretion to grant leave of absence in exceptional circumstances, allowing the leave to be authorised and not fined.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing Public Country by Country Reporting.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The UK is a global leader on tax transparency. As part of this, we keep our approach to transparency policy under review, including public country-by-country reporting (‘PCBCR’). The UK already requires multinational groups to provide country-by-country reports to HMRC, publishes aggregated country-level data, has public reporting requirements in certain sectors and robust wider reporting requirements. The Government believes that any action on PCBCR should be coordinated internationally to ensure a consistent and comprehensive approach and to minimise the risk of competitive distortions.Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of replacing Business Rates with a Land Value Tax.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Government is committed to creating a fairer business rates system over the course of this Parliament that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century.
The Government has already started the work of reforming our business rates system by introducing new permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These provide nearly £1 billion per year of support to the RHL sector and benefit over 750,000 properties.
The Government is continuing to review the wider business rates system to ensure it better supports high streets, local economies and small businesses, and further decisions on business rates reform will be set out in the normal way at the Budget.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of replacing Council Tax with a Proportional Property Tax.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
Council Tax is a vital source of income for Local Authorities, which the OBR forecasts will raise £50.9 billion across England in 2025/26.
The new High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS) makes the Council Tax system fairer by adding charges to high value property.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he will respond to the letter of the Hon. Member for Dewsbury and Batley originally sent 29th of April, and if he will outline the Department's guidelines regarding anticipated response times.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I apologise to the HM for the delay in responding. We will issue a response in due course.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what conversations he has had with the Treasury regarding the UK's approach to negotiations on the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Secretary of State has not spoken with His Majesty's Treasury (HMT), however, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has been working closely with HMT, as the lead department for tax policy, since the start of the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation negotiations.
The UK continues to engage constructively in the discussions and remains committed to supporting inclusive and effective international tax cooperation. A future UN Framework Convention could have a role in supporting that aim, but it will only be successful if it seeks to build upon rather than reinvent existing initiatives, and seeks to secure the broad support and participation of members.
Asked by: Iqbal Mohamed (Independent - Dewsbury and Batley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what conversations he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero regarding the UK's approach to negotiations on the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
HM Treasury as the lead department for tax policy has been working closely with other government departments, including the Department of Energy, Security and Net Zero, since the start of the UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation negotiations.
The UK continues to engage constructively in the discussions and remains committed to supporting inclusive and effective international tax cooperation. A future UN Framework Convention could have a role in supporting that aim, but it will only be successful if it seeks to build upon existing initiatives, and seeks to secure the broad support and participation of members.