Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the war in the Middle East on projected living standards in each of the next 5 years.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government keeps the economic outlook, including living standards, under close review. The economic impact of the situation in the Middle East will depend on its severity, duration and the extent of disruption to energy supplies. Official forecasts, including for living standards, are published by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.
Living standards are rising, with real household disposable income per capita having risen by £700 in the last 12 months compared to the final year of the last Parliament.
The Government is acting to improve living standards by growing the economy, tackling inflation and supporting households, including measures at the Budget to cut energy bills, expand targeted support for lower‑income households, and freeze rail fares and NHS prescription charges.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the proportion of UK income going to workers in each of the next five years.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury does not prepare forecasts for the UK economy. These forecasts are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
The OBR publishes its forecasts in their Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO). The OBR’s latest EFO can be found here: Economic and fiscal outlook – March 2026 - Office for Budget Responsibility. This includes the OBR’s forecast for the labour share of income at March 2026 which can be found in tab 1.6 of this link: Detailed Forecast Economy Tables.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had any discussions with the Bank of England on the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulatory Authority proposal to reduce data reporting for banks.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor and I meet regularly with the leadership of the Bank of England to discuss a range of topics, including its work to streamline data reporting requirements for banks and other firms regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
The government has today published an update on the Regulation Action Plan which welcomes actions the PRA has proposed or implemented to reduce some of the requirements on the firms it regulates.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Bank of England on the use and reliability of stablecoin in the last 12 months.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury and Bank of England are maintaining a close and ongoing dialogue on the legal and regulatory treatment of stablecoins in support of the Government's objective to make the UK a global destination for digital assets.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff her Department has seconded from Palantir since July 2024.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury has not had any seconded staff from Palantir since July 2024.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the UN's proposed global tax convention.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The UK is committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure inclusive and effective international tax cooperation, and has been actively engaging in negotiations at the UN over a future Framework Convention.
The UK believes that a UN Tax Framework Convention has the potential to further advance international tax cooperation, but to be successful, it needs to be clear in its aims, avoid duplicating initiatives, and seek to secure the broad support and participation of members.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the tax on (a) capital gains and (b) dividends to the same rate as income tax.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK tax system encourages investment whilst also taxing income from capital sources like dividends and Capital Gains fairly.
As set out in the Government’s response to the Office of Tax Simplification's report on Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on 30 November 2021, substantial reforms to CGT rates and allowances would involve a number of wider policy trade-offs and so careful thought must be given to the impact that they would have on taxpayers, as well as any additional administrative burden on HMRC.
The Government keep all aspects of the tax system under review to ensure it is simple and efficient.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much their Department spent on hospitality in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Shadow Minister (Business and Trade)
We do not routinely publish this data, as has been the case under successive administrations. All Business Units within HM Treasury have a responsibility to keep official hospitality costs as low as possible and demonstrate good value for money.
Details of ministerial and senior official hospitality are published on a quarterly basis, and are available on GOV.UK
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact on tax receipts of the introduction of an annual wealth tax.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The UK system is designed to ensure among other things that the richest in our society pay their fair share on their wealth and assets, with the tax system taxing wealth across many different economic activities, including acquisition, holding, transfer and disposal of assets and income derived from assets. These tax levers generate substantial revenue, including Inheritance Tax revenues of £7 billion, Capital Gains Tax revenues of £18.1 billion and property transaction taxes of £17.3 billion in 2022-2023.
Asked by: Jon Trickett (Labour - Normanton and Hemsworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact on tax receipts if the rate of capital gains tax rate was equal to the rate of income tax.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
As set out in the Government’s response to the Office of Tax Simplification's report on Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on 30 November 2021, substantial reforms to CGT rates and allowances would involve a number of wider policy trade-offs and so careful thought must be given to the impact that they would have on taxpayers, as well as any additional administrative burden on HMRC.
The Government will continue to keep the tax system under review to ensure it is simple and efficient.