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, 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, 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
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 of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on pubs with significant spirits sales.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government published a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) which set out the impact of the changes, including for businesses, to employer NICs alongside the introduction of the Bill.
The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from these changes by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change. It means employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage without paying employer NICs. Businesses will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under-21s and under-25 apprentices.
At Budget 2025, the government asked licensing authorities in England and Wales to explicitly consider the need to promote growth and deliver economic benefits in their decisions and set this out in the first National Licensing Policy Framework.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, under what terms was Katie Martin appointed.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Katie Martin was appointed as a special adviser to the Chancellor on 5th July 2024. She has now resigned from that position, with her employment formally ending on 17th December 2025. From January 2026, she will become Business Adviser to the Chanceller. Details of that appointment will be made public in due course.Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate her Department has made of the average spirits duty paid annually by a typical community pub.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC does not hold data on alcohol duty paid on alcohol sold in pubs. Alcohol duty is paid at the point of production or import and would not generally be paid directly by pubs.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Treasury has approved a severance payment for Lord Mandelson.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The termination of Lord Mandelson’s contract was subject to normal HR processes within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
Where appropriate, severance payments for FCDO employees are reported in the departmental annual reports and accounts.