Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any staff (a) have and (b) will be made redundant following the closure of the Office for Value for Money.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Office for Value for Money (OVfM) successfully delivered on its remit.Its functions have been embedded within the Treasury, leaving a legacy of value for money improvements across the public sector.
OVfM was made up of a combination of HM Treasury employees and people on loan from other departments or public bodies. Staff on loan have returned to their home organisations and the permanent HM Treasury employees have either taken up new roles internally or left the department for new employers.
The independent Chair's contract ended alongside the closure of OVfM. An exit payment was not made.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the departing direct ministerial appointments in the Office for Value for Money will receive exit payments.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Office for Value for Money (OVfM) successfully delivered on its remit.Its functions have been embedded within the Treasury, leaving a legacy of value for money improvements across the public sector.
OVfM was made up of a combination of HM Treasury employees and people on loan from other departments or public bodies. Staff on loan have returned to their home organisations and the permanent HM Treasury employees have either taken up new roles internally or left the department for new employers.
The independent Chair's contract ended alongside the closure of OVfM. An exit payment was not made.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of households who will have child benefit reduced as a result of freezing of income tax thresholds.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget 2025, the Government announced that it will maintain the income tax Personal Allowance at £12,570 and higher rate threshold at £50,270 from April 2028 to April 2031. The additional rate threshold remains at £125,140 from April 2028 to April 2031. These decisions have no impact on entitlement to Child Benefit or liability to the High Income Child Benefit Charge.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of households who will have (a) Married Couple’s Allowance and (b) marriage allowance reduced as a result of freezing of income tax thresholds.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC does not produce household-level analysis for either the Marriage Allowance or the Married Couple’s Allowance.
Data on the number of Marriage Allowance claimants up to 2022-23 can be found here:
Non-structural tax reliefs - GOV.UK
Published estimates of the number of Married Couple’s Allowance claimants up to 2024-25 can be found here:
Structural tax reliefs - GOV.UK
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how Politically Exposed Persons and their families can complain about unreasonable withdrawal of services by companies which are not financial services institutions and not regulated by the Financial Services Ombudsman.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
A wide range of business activities, not limited to financial services, are regulated under the Money Laundering Regulations. Relevant businesses must identify and carry out enhanced due diligence on Politically Exposed Persons and their close relatives or business associates. Guidance for different sectors makes clear that these checks should be proportionate to the risks posed on a case-by-case basis.
Individual businesses will be subject to various regulatory and accountability arrangements depending on the nature of the services they provide. Consumers are normally encouraged to direct any complaints first to a business’s own complaints department before escalating if necessary to the relevant ombudsman or equivalent organisation which is empowered to consider complaints.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 26 November 2025 to Question 92033 on Ministers: Second Homes, whether her official ministerial residence is classified as a second home.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer pays full council tax on the flat above 10 Downing Street as her primary residence.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Ministerial residence is registered with Westminster City council as a primary residence.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer pays full council tax on the flat above 10 Downing Street as her primary residence.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact on future VCT fundraising by reducing upfront VCT Income Tax relief from 30% to 20% from April 2026; and when her Department will publish that impact assessment.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget, the government announced a comprehensive package of entrepreneurship tax measures designed to provide substantially enhanced support for scaling businesses across the UK. This includes doubling the maximum amount that a company can raise through the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the Venture Capital Trust (VCT) scheme. These increases will lead to around £100 million per year of extra investment into the most successful scaling companies, supporting their further growth and development.
The Government recognises that there may be other ways we could support companies to scale in the UK. We have therefore launched a Call for Evidence on tax policy support for investment in high-growth UK companies to gather views and evidence from founders, entrepreneurs, scaling companies and investors. This will assess the impact, accessibility, and generosity of existing schemes, and explore potential policy options to go-further.
A Tax Information and Impact Note published at Budget outlines the policy rationale and impacts of these measures. It can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/enterprise-investment-scheme-eis-and-venture-capital-trusts-vct-changes/venture-capital-trusts-enterprise-investment-scheme-investment-limit-increase-and-restructure
The Policy Costings document contains further information on the costing methodology. This can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with representatives of the drinks industry about the potential impact of spirits taxation on pub profitability.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Alcohol duty is charged at the point of production or importation of drinks, and is therefore not generally paid directly by pubs.
Further, the United Kingdon has an international obligation under WTO rules to treat imported and domestic products fairly. A duty-based tax incentive that applied only to domestic spirits producers is likely to be inconsistent with these legal obligations.
To support spirits producers, the Government has:
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has considered introducing tax incentives for pubs that promote UK spirits producers.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Alcohol duty is charged at the point of production or importation of drinks, and is therefore not generally paid directly by pubs.
Further, the United Kingdon has an international obligation under WTO rules to treat imported and domestic products fairly. A duty-based tax incentive that applied only to domestic spirits producers is likely to be inconsistent with these legal obligations.
To support spirits producers, the Government has:
Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel