Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement powers available to county council Trading Standards services on tackling the sale of illegal tobacco and vaping products on the high street.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer the hon member to the answer on 27 October 2025 to UIN 84365 Electronic Cigarettes and Tobacco: Smuggling.
Operation CeCe is a joint UK-wide initiative between HMRC and Trading Standards to target the illicit tobacco trade. Since it began in January 2021, the operation has removed more than 74 million illicit cigarettes, 19,750kg of hand-rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale [1].
In 2023 new sanctions were introduced to support the work that Trading Standards do at retail level. They allow Trading Standards to make a referral into HMRC in relation to their tobacco seizures. HMRC can then then investigate and issue civil sanctions, including penalties of up to £10,000.
At Budget 2025, the Government set out its plans to tackle rogue retailers who breach tobacco and vape regulations, by taking the power in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to introduce a licensing scheme for retailers to sell tobacco and vape products. This will strengthen enforcement and support legitimate businesses. The government is also legislating to introduce the Vaping Duty Stamps scheme from 1 October 2026, which requires all vaping products manufactured or imported into the UK to have a duty stamp on packaging so illicit products are immediately identifiable.
[1] Over £1.4 million in penalties issued as crackdown on illegal tobacco accelerates
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department has taken to help support Trading Standards services in Suffolk in responding to organised criminal activity linked to the sale of illegal tobacco and vaping products.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer the hon member to the answer on 27 October 2025 to UIN 84365 Electronic Cigarettes and Tobacco: Smuggling.
Operation CeCe is a joint UK-wide initiative between HMRC and Trading Standards to target the illicit tobacco trade. Since it began in January 2021, the operation has removed more than 74 million illicit cigarettes, 19,750kg of hand-rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale [1].
In 2023 new sanctions were introduced to support the work that Trading Standards do at retail level. They allow Trading Standards to make a referral into HMRC in relation to their tobacco seizures. HMRC can then then investigate and issue civil sanctions, including penalties of up to £10,000.
At Budget 2025, the Government set out its plans to tackle rogue retailers who breach tobacco and vape regulations, by taking the power in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill to introduce a licensing scheme for retailers to sell tobacco and vape products. This will strengthen enforcement and support legitimate businesses. The government is also legislating to introduce the Vaping Duty Stamps scheme from 1 October 2026, which requires all vaping products manufactured or imported into the UK to have a duty stamp on packaging so illicit products are immediately identifiable.
[1] Over £1.4 million in penalties issued as crackdown on illegal tobacco accelerates
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2025 to Question 95420 on Defence: Finance, whether she has a timetable for spending 3 per cent of GDP on defence.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
We are set to spend 2.6 percent of GDP on defence spending in 2027, with an ambition to spend 3 percent of GDP on defence next Parliament when economic and fiscal conditions allow.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what percentage of GDP will be spent on the MOD budget in the financial year that NATO declared defence spending will increase to 3 per cent of GDP.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
We are set to spend 2.6 percent of GDP on defence spending in 2027, with an ambition to spend 3 percent of GDP on defence next Parliament when economic and fiscal conditions allow.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to increase Small Business Rate Relief thresholds to prevent closures of pubs.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in the manifesto.
The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since COVID. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.
Around a third of properties pay no business rates as they receive 100 per cent Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR), with an additional 85,000 benefiting from reduced bills as this relief tapers.
If a property loses eligibility for SBRR at the 2026 revaluation because their rateable value exceeds the threshold, the Supporting Small Business scheme will cap their bill increases for three years at the higher of £800 per year, equivalent to £65 per month, or the relevant Transitional Relief caps. These caps are applied before changes in other reliefs and local supplements.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to increase Small Business Rate Relief thresholds to prevent closures of pubs.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in the manifesto.
The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since COVID. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.
Around a third of properties pay no business rates as they receive 100 per cent Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR), with an additional 85,000 benefiting from reduced bills as this relief tapers.
If a property loses eligibility for SBRR at the 2026 revaluation because their rateable value exceeds the threshold, the Supporting Small Business scheme will cap their bill increases for three years at the higher of £800 per year, equivalent to £65 per month, or the relevant Transitional Relief caps. These caps are applied before changes in other reliefs and local supplements.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to reduce business rates multipliers for pubs.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in the manifesto.
The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since COVID. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.
Around a third of properties pay no business rates as they receive 100 per cent Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR), with an additional 85,000 benefiting from reduced bills as this relief tapers.
If a property loses eligibility for SBRR at the 2026 revaluation because their rateable value exceeds the threshold, the Supporting Small Business scheme will cap their bill increases for three years at the higher of £800 per year, equivalent to £65 per month, or the relevant Transitional Relief caps. These caps are applied before changes in other reliefs and local supplements.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to maintain the current 5 pence per litre fuel duty cut and freeze on Vehicle Excise Duty to support businesses operating in and around the Port of Felixstowe.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget 2025, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut until the end of August 2026. Rates will then gradually return to previous levels. The planned increase in line with inflation for 2026-27 will not take place, with the government increasing fuel duty rates in line with RPI from April 2027. This will save the average van driver £100 next year compared to previous plans, and the average HGV driver more than £800
The Government also announced that VED rates for cars, vans and motorcycles will be uprated by RPI in 2026-27 as in previous years.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of rising rateable values from April 2026 on small community pubs currently exempt from Business Rates through Small Business Rates Relief.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
If a business only occupies one property, and the property’s rateable value (RV) is lower than £12,000 from 2026, it will be eligible for 100% Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) and will pay nothing in business rates. SBRR is also available if RV is between £12,001 and £15,000, and the rate of relief tapers from 100% to 0%.
The 2026 revaluation began under the previous government to update values since the pandemic. If the property loses some or all of its SBRR or Rural Rate Relief (RRR) as a result, then its bill increase will be capped at £800 for the year or the relevant transitional relief caps (5% or 15%), whichever is higher. That is part of this government’s support to pubs to insulate them from the effects of the revaluation.
To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down.
You can find more detail on these changes at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2025-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-factsheet/budget-2025-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-factsheet
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an estimate of the potential revenue effect to the public purse of increasing the Small Business Rates Relief threshold from £12,000 to £17,000 in 2026.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) is available to businesses with a single property below a set RV. Eligible property under £12,000 will receive 100 per cent relief, which means around a third of properties in England pay no business rates at all. There is also tapered support available to properties valued between £12,000 and £15,000.The Government is supporting small businesses to grow. At Budget, the Government announced the extension of SBRR so that businesses opening second premises after Budget day can retain their SBRR for three years, tripling the current allowance.