Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the correspondence entitled DAO 02/25 Updates to Managing Public Money, published on 12 June 2025, what the business case was for the changes of guidance on (a) the propriety of using the Companies Act 2006 to establish Government-owned companies and (b) revisions permitting the setting of delegations by the Treasury for the approval of special severance payments.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The guidance contained in Managing Public Money is produced by the Treasury, and reflects the ongoing dialogue between the Treasury and the Committee of Public Accounts regarding Parliament’s expectations for the use of public money. It also includes operational guidance in the interests of effective administration.
While the government has used the Companies Act and its precursors since their original passage, the position on the propriety of this, and its interaction with the 1932 PAC Concordat, was unclear. Following correspondence between the Treasury Officer of Accounts and the Public Accounts Committee in late 2024, the revised approach was incorporated into the latest edition of Managing Public Money.
Similarly, the introduction of the ability to set delegations for special severance payments supports greater departmental autonomy while maintaining strong standards of financial control.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 3 in the section entitled Civil Servants of the the Cabinet Office publication entitled Annual party conferences 2025, updated on 8 September 2025, how many civil servants in her Department have been permitted to attend (a) Labour Party Conference, (b) Conservative Party Conference, (c) Liberal Democrat Party Conference, (d) SNP Party Conference and (e) Reform Party Conference this year.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Permanent Secretary’s Office did not receive any requests to grant permission to attend any party conferences from HMT officials in 2025, in either an official or personal capacity.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the incidence of B-Corp status resulting in financial divestment in the defence industry.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury is aware that, in particular, SMEs and startups operating in the defence sector face barriers to accessing finance and MOD contracts, which is why the recent Defence Industrial Strategy established a new Defence Office for Small Business Growth to improve access to finance, set up a dedicated SME Commercial Pathway, and set ambitious targets for increasing MOD spending with SMEs.
The recent deal with Norway worth £10bn is testament to the UK’s global competitiveness.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) disciplinary actions and (b) dismissals of HMRC officials have there been for unauthorised access to personal data since 1 July 2024.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC takes the security of customer data extremely seriously. Its Systems Audit and Data Analyst (SADA) team have robust systems in place to monitor staff use of systems and to identify any unauthorised access.
When staff are inducted, HMRC gives them clear guidance and information on the use of corporate systems. There are clear processes and policies published that remind staff of their continuing obligations. HMRC also provides annual mandatory learning for all its staff on data security to remind them of their obligations.
HMRC take unauthorised access and the protection of customer data very seriously. When a case of unauthorised access is identified, it is automatically investigated as potential gross misconduct, which means it could lead to the employee’s dismissal (a single offence can result in dismissal).
Since 1st July 24 to 15th October 2025 there have 81 cases concluded with a case category of unauthorised access. This has resulted in:
22 resignations
52 dismissals
6 final written warning
1 first written warning
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 71234 on Cabinet Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, for what reason her Department organised a training event for 70 Philippines officials in Manila; and what was the topic of the training.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The training showcased British expertise and standards in sustainable infrastructure, shared UK best practice in infrastructure planning, design, finance and delivery, demonstrating the quality and innovation of British approaches that are helping to drive growth and opportunity at home. By sharing proven UK standards, the event strengthened the UK's position as a trusted infrastructure partner whilst exploring opportunities for future collaboration that could benefit British businesses, expertise and economic interests.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 65148 on Bank Notes, whether (a) her Department or (b) the Bank of England has an equality, diversity and inclusion policy on the (i) design of and (ii) selection of characters to appear on banknotes.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Bank of England is responsible for all aspects of banknote design and character selection, as set out in the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1954 and the 2025 Memorandum of Understanding between HM Treasury and the Bank of England, which can be found online here: Financial relationship between HM Treasury and the Bank of England Memorandum of Understanding.
As a result, HM Treasury is not involved in decisions on banknote designs or character selections.
Recently, the Bank of England announced that they will be launching a new series of banknotes and over the summer concluded a public consultation on possible themes to be featured on the new series:
Help us design our next series of banknotes | Bank of England
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to establish a sector council for financial services.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury is committed to continuing to work closely with industry as we drive forward our programme to grow our world-leading financial services sector, ensuring that it delivers for UK businesses and consumers.
Treasury ministers regularly meet with a wide range of stakeholders from across the financial services sector. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 65150 on Royal Mint: Committees, whether the (a) Royal Mint Advisory Committee and (b) Sub-Committee on the Selection of Themes have a policy on equality, diversity and inclusion in coin designs.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Royal Mint Advisory Committee advises the Chancellor of the Exchequer (in her capacity as Master of the Mint) on the themes and designs of new coins.
While there is no formal written policy on equality, diversity and inclusion in coin designs or themes, the Committee actively encourages that the themes and designs it recommends reflect diversity in age, race, gender and other characteristics.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 47195 on Environment Protection: Finance, what is the policy of the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosure in relation to investment in (a) defence and (b) nuclear weapons.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK government formally endorsed the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework in 2021 and has mandated TCFD-aligned disclosure for large entities in the private sector since 2022. The FCA also refers to the TCFD framework in its listing rules and has required TCFD aligned reports since 2021 for listed companies.
The new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) Standards, so called S1 and S2, are designed to replace the TCFD framework. These draft standards, which will be known as UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) were published for consultation in June 2025, closing in September 2025.
Both UK SRS, and the TCFD framework that they will replace, are disclosure standards that ask firms to disclose financially material climate related risks to their business. The objective of these is to provide investors with consistent, comparable and reliable information about companies' sustainability-related risks and opportunities. These standards are designed to enhance transparency and do not dictate how a company should invest. They do not prevent or impose restrictions on investment in specific sectors, including defence or nuclear weapons.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much additional funding has been allocated to (a) central government departments and (b) local authorities due to the cost of higher National Insurance rates for employers in 2025-26.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At Autumn Budget 2024 the Government set aside funding to support the public sector with the additional cost of employer National Insurance Contributions. The Government published allocations by department for 2025-26 alongside Main Estimates. This included support for local authorities through the Local Government allocation.