Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of its business rates policies on small hospitality businesses.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.
At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic. 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 next year. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
Without this support, pubs would have faced a 45% increase in the total bills they pay next year. However, because of the support the Government has put in place, this has fallen to just 4%.
More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.
The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
The Government is paying for this tax cut through higher rates on the top one per cent of most expensive properties. Large distribution warehouses, such as those used by online giants, will pay around £100m more in 2026/27, with this going directly to lower bills for in-person retail.
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.
The Call for Evidence, published at Budget, focuses on how reform of the business rates system can be used to incentivise and secure more investment by Britain’s businesses. This Call for Evidence builds on the findings of the Transforming Business Rates: Discussion Paper and asks stakeholders for more detailed evidence on how the business rates system influences investment decisions.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with hospitality businesses on the potential impact of the current rate of VAT on the viability of those businesses.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the significant contribution made by hospitality businesses to economic growth and social life in the UK. The Chancellor and other Ministers meet with a range of businesses and their representatives to understand the impacts of Government policy, including hospitality businesses.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of creating a dedicated form of business rates relief for post offices.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has no plans to introduce a targeted business rates relief for post offices.
However, as set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government will introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with ratable values below £500,000, including post offices, from 2026/27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that eligible post offices benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
Post offices are also eligible for 40 per cent RHL relief up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business in 2025/26. They are also eligible for 100 per cent rural rate relief if they meet certain conditions.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the level of taxation paid by the gambling industry.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government committed in its manifesto to reducing gambling-related harms, but addressing harm is not the primary purpose of the gambling duty system. Nevertheless, we will remain mindful of any potential impact on problem gamblers in the event we make any change to gambling taxes following the recently closed consultation.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contribution rates on third sector organisations; and whether she plans to provide further funding to support charities with these costs.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government recognises the important role charities play in our society, and has made it a priority to reset the relationship with civil society and build a new partnership to harness their full potential by developing a Civil Society Covenant recognising the sector as a trusted and independent partner.
Within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving. The tax reliefs available to charities are a vital element in supporting charitable causes across the UK, with more than £6 billion in charitable reliefs provided to charities, CASCs and their donors in 2023 to 2024.
To repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance.
The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of employers with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year. Charities will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.
The Government has committed to provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer NICs costs only. This is the usual approach the Government takes to supporting the public sector with additional Employer NICs costs, as was the case with the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues, published on 21 March 2024, HC 638, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on that report.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
This is a serious report, requiring serious consideration. The Department for Work and Pensions is the lead department for this and need time to carefully review and consider it.
Once this work has been undertaken, the Government will set out their approach.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will take steps to discourage banks regulated in the UK from supporting businesses which receive income from industrial livestock companies contributing to deforestation.
Answered by Bim Afolami
The Government is committed to working with UK financial institutions to further tackle deforestation-linked finance.
On 9 December at COP28 Nature Day, the Government announced the next steps on the Forest Risk Commodities Scheme which will be introduced through provisions under the Environment Act 2021. This new due diligence legislation will see businesses that have a global annual turnover of over £50 million and use over 500 tonnes of regulated commodities a year banned from using them if sourced from land used illegally.
As set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, HM Treasury will also conduct a review to assess if the financial regulatory framework is adequate for the purpose of eliminating the financing of illegal deforestation, and to consider what changes to the regulatory framework may be appropriate.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of (a) a reduction in public expenditure and (b) the cost of living crisis on children in food poverty.
Answered by John Glen
The Chancellor makes regular assessments on the impact of public expenditure on services and policies in the UK.
At the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor has taken a responsible and disciplined approach to spending whilst prioritising vital public services and the most vulnerable. Over the Spending Review period, overall departmental spending will continue to grow after inflation. This includes an additional [£2.3bn] of funding in 2023-24 and [£2.3bn] in 2024-25 for schools.
The Government also understands that people across the UK are worried about the rising cost of food, which is why we remain committed to supporting children including through:
This Government has also announced £37bn of support for cost of living this financial year, including a Cost of Living payment of £650 to households on means-tested benefits, with extra support for pensioners and those claiming disability benefits, and £500m to continue the Household Support Fund for a further 6 months, to allow Local Authorities to help the most in need.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 June 2021 to Question 16027 on Equitable Life Assurance Society, for what reasons the Government does not plan to (a) reopen the Equitable Life Payment Scheme or (b) review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it.
Answered by John Glen
Since 2010, the government has taken more action to resolve this issue than ever was taken previously, including setting up a payment scheme to make payments of up to £1.5bn to eligible policyholders. Since the Scheme closed in 2016, the Government’s position on this issue has been clear, that there will be no further funding in addition to the £1.5bn and this issue is considered closed.
The methodology for calculating payments to Equitable Life policyholders was published in 2011 and can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-design.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the calculations, including the intermediary steps, used in determining payments made under the Equitable Life Payment Scheme.
Answered by John Glen
Since 2010, the government has taken more action to resolve this issue than ever was taken previously, including setting up a payment scheme to make payments of up to £1.5bn to eligible policyholders. Since the Scheme closed in 2016, the Government’s position on this issue has been clear, that there will be no further funding in addition to the £1.5bn and this issue is considered closed.
The methodology for calculating payments to Equitable Life policyholders was published in 2011 and can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/equitable-life-payment-scheme-design.