Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: HM Treasury

Oral Answers to Questions

Rachel Blake Excerpts
Tuesday 9th December 2025

(1 day, 8 hours ago)

Commons Chamber
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Rachel Reeves Portrait Rachel Reeves
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As the right hon. Gentleman knows, we are backing Grangemouth and have put money into the Acorn carbon capture and storage project. We are taking £150 off people’s energy bills in Scotland. In England and Wales, NHS waiting lists are falling. I wonder why they are still increasing in Scotland.

Lindsay Hoyle Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. Dave Doogan, what is it about you always wanting to shout at the wrong time? Please be quiet.

Rachel Blake Portrait Rachel Blake
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Short-term lets account for up to 20% of homes in parts of my constituency. Not only are they eroding communities, but I am concerned that their owners are not fully paying their tax. What steps will the Chancellor take to address the fact that data from Airbnb suggests that as many as 6,000 homes are being let on short-term lets, but vanishingly few are registered to pay business rates? Will she meet me to discuss this issue, and how we can recover the tax, which could be up to hundreds of millions of pounds—

Lindsay Hoyle Portrait Mr Speaker
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Minister, “Yes” will do.