Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the report by the NAO entitled The Administrative Cost of the Tax system, published on 10 February 2025, what steps she plans to take to reduce the annual cost to VAT registered traders.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC have acknowledged the findings of the NAO report and emphasised the ongoing efforts to modernise and streamline tax administration. An HMRC Transformation Roadmap will be published in 2025. This will set out HMRC’s vision to be a digital first organisation and outline our plans to extend digital services and tools to provide better customer service for customers, including small businesses, and agents.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 4 of the report by the NAO entitled The Administrative Cost of the Tax System, published on 10 February 2025, if she will instruct HMRC to update its £15.4bn estimate of the cost to businesses of complying with the tax system.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The £15.4bn estimate of the cost to businesses of complying with the tax system contains in the NAO report comes from HMRC’s Standard Cost Model (SCM). This uses an internationally recognised approach to estimating these costs.

The SCM contains data on approximately 2,500 obligations across 27 policy areas, and is largely based on data collected from businesses and agents on the time and costs of complying with regulations.

HMRC is looking to reduce the complexity of the model so it is easier to update which may enable it to produce a more timely estimate of the cost to business.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed discontinuous electrification of East West Rail on (a) capital costs and (b) operating costs of the railway.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The cost of discontinuous electrification is already included in the publicised capital cost range of the project and the option of full electrification is still under consideration. However, electrification (discontinuous or full) is expected to significantly reduce operating costs for the line over its whole life.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has made an assessment of the suitability of adopting similar international government models including the (a) US Office of Management and Budget and (b) Department for Government Efficiency in the UK.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Departments have agreed a 2% productivity, efficiency and savings target in the first phase of the Spending Review and have been set a stretching 5% target in the second phase. This target is to be delivered via efficiencies and savings from innovative technology-driven approaches, such as Artificial Intelligence; more effectively joining up services; and a more strategic approach to government processes, including procurement.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has also asked each department to carry out a line-by-line review of existing day-to-day budgets to identify where spending is no longer aligned with this government’s priorities or is poor value for money.

The Office for Value for Money, led by an independent Chair, will work with departments to assess where and how to root out waste and inefficiency, including agreeing plans to deliver technical efficiencies through the Spending Review period. It will also develop recommendations for system reform, informed by lessons learned from the past, international best practice, and the views of external organisations. This will underpin a ruthless focus within government on realising benefits from every pound of public spending.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) inheritance tax payments on Defined Contribution pensions and (b) the loss of the Residence Nil Rate Band on marginal tax rates.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government considers inheritance tax policy carefully and has due regard to several factors, including marginal inheritance tax rates.