Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department's policy paper, Changes to the Class 1 National Insurance Contributions Secondary Threshold, the Secondary Class 1 National Insurance contributions rate, and the Employment Allowance from 6 April 2025, published on 13 November 2024, if she will make an estimate of the (a) revenue that will accrue to the Exchequer from businesses in the dentistry sector as a result of the proposed increased rate of employer national insurance contributions and (b) average cost per business (i) nationally and (ii) by constituency of that increase in the next five financial years.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The latest forecasts for tax revenues were published alongside the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) October Economic and Fiscal Outlook. These forecasts are based on economic determinants, including wage growth and employment levels. The OBR do not forecast NICs receipts at a sector level. Detailed tax receipts forecasts can be found here: Economic and fiscal outlook – October 2024 - Office for Budget Responsibility.
The government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance Contributions, i.e. central government, public corporations and local government. Dentists are independent contractors and therefore will not be exempt from these changes.
The government has taken tough decisions to fix the foundations so that increased funding for the NHS in England could be announced at the Budget. Resource spending for the Department of Health and Social Care is set to increase by £22.6 billion in 2025-26 compared to 2023-24 outturn, providing a real-terms growth rate of 4% for the NHS, the largest since before 2010 excluding Covid-19 years. This includes funding to support the NHS to deliver the first step of an extra two million NHS operations, scans, and appointments a year in England.
Primary care providers – general practice, dentistry, pharmacy and eye care – are valued independent contractors who provide nearly £20bn worth of NHS services. Every year we consult with each sector both about what services they provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract.
DHSC will confirm funding for dentistry for 2025/26 as part of the usual contract processes later in the year, including through consultation with the sector.
Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department's policy paper, titled Changes to the Class 1 National Insurance Contributions Secondary Threshold, the Secondary Class 1 National Insurance contributions rate, and the Employment Allowance from 6 April 2025, published on 13 November 2024, if she will make an estimate of the number of businesses in the dentistry sector that will pay the proposed increase in the rate of employer national insurance contributions (a) nationally and (b) by constituency in the next financial year.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The latest forecasts for tax revenues were published alongside the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) October Economic and Fiscal Outlook. These forecasts are based on economic determinants, including wage growth and employment levels. The OBR do not forecast NICs receipts at a sector level. Detailed tax receipts forecasts can be found here: Economic and fiscal outlook – October 2024 - Office for Budget Responsibility.
The government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance Contributions, i.e. central government, public corporations and local government. Dentists are independent contractors and therefore will not be exempt from these changes.
The government has taken tough decisions to fix the foundations so that increased funding for the NHS in England could be announced at the Budget. Resource spending for the Department of Health and Social Care is set to increase by £22.6 billion in 2025-26 compared to 2023-24 outturn, providing a real-terms growth rate of 4% for the NHS, the largest since before 2010 excluding Covid-19 years. This includes funding to support the NHS to deliver the first step of an extra two million NHS operations, scans, and appointments a year in England.
Primary care providers – general practice, dentistry, pharmacy and eye care – are valued independent contractors who provide nearly £20bn worth of NHS services. Every year we consult with each sector both about what services they provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract.
DHSC will confirm funding for dentistry for 2025/26 as part of the usual contract processes later in the year, including through consultation with the sector.
Government keeps all taxes under review.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of retaining existing rates of agricultural property relief.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government took a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to restore economic stability, fix the public finances, and support public services. These were tough decisions given the situation we inherited from the previous administration, but the Government has done so in a way that makes the tax system fairer and more sustainable.
The Government set out its policy at Autumn Budget 2024 regarding agricultural property relief and business property relief. From 6 April 2026, in addition to existing nil-rate bands and exemptions, the 100% rate of relief will continue for the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business assets, and the rate of relief will be 50% thereafter.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to (a) retail, (b) hospitality and (c) leisure business rates on high street businesses.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Without any government intervention, the current Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief would have ended entirely in April 2025, creating a cliff-edge for businesses. Instead, the Government has decided to offer a 40 per cent discount to RHL properties up to a cash cap of £110,0000 per business in 2025-26 and frozen the small business multiplier. This is a package worth over £1.6 billion in 2025-26, aimed at supporting the most vulnerable businesses, ensuring that over 250,000 RHL properties receive the full 40% support.
By tapering RHL relief to 40%, rather than removing it entirely, the government has saved the average pub, with a rateable value (RV) of £16,800, over £3,300 in 2025.
At Budget, the Government also announced that from 2026-27, it intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for RHL properties, including those on the high street. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on the most valuable properties, which includes the majority of large distribution warehouses, including warehouses used by online giants.
The exact rates for any new business rate multipliers will not be set until Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 14 October 2024 to Question 7694 on Private Education: VAT, whether providers offering Higher-Level studies at Level 6 will be subject to VAT.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 29 July, the Government announced that, as of 1 January 2025, all education services and vocational training provided by a private school in the UK for a charge will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent.
The Government has no plans to make changes to the VAT treatment of Higher Education.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether providers of higher-level qualifications funded through the Dance and Drama Awards scheme will be subject to VAT.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
On 29 July, the Government announced that, as of 1 January 2025, all education services and vocational training provided by a private school in the UK for a charge will be subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent.
As announced in July this change will apply to private schools providing full-time education for pupils of school age or to institutions providing full-time education for 16-19 year olds for a fee, where that institution is principally concerned with providing education suitable to that age range.
The draft legislation was published in July and can be found here: