Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many FTE equivalent staff in (a) their Department and (b) each Arm's Length Body it sponsors are dedicated to fulfilment of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED); what the (i) annual employment and (ii) total annual cost incurred is as a result of PSED and compliance with PSED for each of those bodies; what the outputs are from the work of PSED teams and personnel dedicated to PSED; and if they will publish an assessment of their Department's compliance with PSED.
Answered by Rachel Blake
HM Treasury and its Arm's Length Bodies comply with their obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in the Equality Act 2010 and carefully consider the implications of policy and other decisions for those sharing protected characteristics. HMT’s approach to PSED compliance is set out on the following gov.uk page: Equality and diversity - HM Treasury - GOV.UK.
2 FTE posts provide support, guidance and training to colleagues across the Treasury on fulfilling their legal responsibilities under the PSED. The information on equivalent FTE posts for the Arm's Length Bodies is not held centrally by HM Treasury.
Ensuring that decisions taken are PSED compliant, including through the provision of well-evidenced advice to Ministers, is the responsibility of the relevant members of staff and teams working on those issues. Accordingly, the Department does not maintain centrally held records of staffing, costs or outputs attributable solely to PSED compliance. HM Treasury also does not hold corresponding information for its Arm's Length Bodies and seeking to obtain it would involve a disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what actions she is taking in response to the Comptroller & Auditor General's disclaimed opinion on the 2024-25 Whole of Government accounts.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury recognises the seriousness of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s disclaimed opinion on the 2024-25 Whole of Government Accounts and is taking action in three key areas:
o The disclaimer reflects systemic issues in the local government audit market, including delays in audited accounts and a lack of audit assurance.
o Government is progressing wider audit system reforms and legislation to restore local audit capacity and timeliness, which are critical to resolving the underlying cause.
o HM Treasury has reduced the level of missing data in 2024‑25, while continuing to include available (including unaudited) data to maximise transparency to Parliament.
o This reflects a deliberate approach to ensure WGA remains a comprehensive and timely picture of the public finances, even while wider audit issues are being resolved.
o The 2024‑25 WGA represents the final year of the recovery plan, with actions already taken to return reporting timetables to normal and support improved data submission.
o For future years, the Government will continue to work across departments and local government authorities to restore full audit assurance to WGA over time, recognising this as a priority for accountability and scrutiny.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Largest fund of its kind to support vulnerable kids & families, published on 14 July 2025, for what reason the Better Futures Fund is not part of the Government’s Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Darren Jones
At the Spending Review, we committed to announcing further details on our plans for Social Impact Investing over the summer. This announcement – alongside the announcements to support low-income families made at SR25 – are a downpayment ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy being published in the autumn, and will form part of it.
As per the press notice, the Better Futures Fund will be managed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in close collaboration with other departments and engagement with the impact investing sector.
The Better Futures Fund was included in the Spending Review, under the Public Service Reform section. This was before it was named the BFF and was under the working title of ‘Social Impact Investing Vehicle’:
The Better Futures Fund will support up to 200,000 children and their families over the next ten years by bringing together government, local communities, charities, social enterprises, investors, and philanthropists to work together to give children a brighter future.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Largest fund of its kind to support vulnerable kids & families, published on 14 July 2025, for what reason the Better Futures Fund was not announced at the Spending Review 2025.
Answered by Darren Jones
At the Spending Review, we committed to announcing further details on our plans for Social Impact Investing over the summer. This announcement – alongside the announcements to support low-income families made at SR25 – are a downpayment ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy being published in the autumn, and will form part of it.
As per the press notice, the Better Futures Fund will be managed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in close collaboration with other departments and engagement with the impact investing sector.
The Better Futures Fund was included in the Spending Review, under the Public Service Reform section. This was before it was named the BFF and was under the working title of ‘Social Impact Investing Vehicle’:
The Better Futures Fund will support up to 200,000 children and their families over the next ten years by bringing together government, local communities, charities, social enterprises, investors, and philanthropists to work together to give children a brighter future.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Largest fund of its kind to support vulnerable kids & families, published on 14 July 2025, which organisation will manage the Better Futures Fund.
Answered by Darren Jones
At the Spending Review, we committed to announcing further details on our plans for Social Impact Investing over the summer. This announcement – alongside the announcements to support low-income families made at SR25 – are a downpayment ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy being published in the autumn, and will form part of it.
As per the press notice, the Better Futures Fund will be managed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in close collaboration with other departments and engagement with the impact investing sector.
The Better Futures Fund was included in the Spending Review, under the Public Service Reform section. This was before it was named the BFF and was under the working title of ‘Social Impact Investing Vehicle’:
The Better Futures Fund will support up to 200,000 children and their families over the next ten years by bringing together government, local communities, charities, social enterprises, investors, and philanthropists to work together to give children a brighter future.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the ongoing review of the customs treatment of low-value imports on tax revenue.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
On 23rd April, the Government announced a review of the customs treatment for low value imports. Under our current low value import arrangements, consignments valued below £135 from any overseas retailer can be imported into the UK without incurring customs duty. VAT is due on all imports into the UK.
Since the announcement, Ministers and officials have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders on the impact and operation of these arrangements to support our review. The outcomes of the engagement will help inform our next steps.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when final disbursements will be made from the Woodford Equity Income Fund under the terms of the settlement scheme.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In December 2023, investors in the Woodford Equity Income Fund voted to accept a settlement scheme, and in February 2024 the High Court approved the scheme to make it binding on Link Fund Solutions and all creditors. The scheme came into force on 5 March 2024, with investors having received a first redress payment by April 2024. That first payment amounted to over £185 million, out of a settlement fund of up to £230 million.
The rest of the settlement fund is being held as a reserve to enable Link Fund Solutions to meet any contingent liabilities. Any leftover money from the reserve will be distributed to investors covered by the scheme. The operation of the reserve is supervised by the scheme supervisors who are independent of Link Fund Solutions. The FCA are continuing to monitor the operation of the reserve and will monitor when and how distributions are being made.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
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 contributions on provisional supply teachers.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
Additional funding to support schools with NICs costs will be allocated through the NICs grant in 2025-26. Schools will have flexibility over how they use this grant funding to meet their costs, including those relating to supply teachers.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.43 of the Spring Statement of 26 March 2025, what the £150 million provided for government employee exit schemes will be spent on; and how much and what proportion of this is for redundancy payments.
Answered by Darren Jones
As announced at Spring Statement the government has allocated £150 million for government employee exit schemes. Information can be found in the Spring Statement supporting documentation here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67e3ec2df356a2dc0e39b488/E03274109_HMT_Spring_Statement_Mar_25_Web_Accessible_.pdf. This will be match-funded by a further £150 million from Departments.
Exit schemes will enable delivery of leaner, smarter, more efficient government, whilst delivering savings over the medium term.
Departments will bid for funding from this central pot in order to run exit schemes, and therefore the exact details of how this will be spent is not yet known.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Government Procurement cards have been issued to staff in her private office.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
2 Government Procurement cards have been issued to Private Office staff.