Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the 2024 changes to Employer National Insurance Contributions on job creation and retention in the hospitality sector.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
The hospitality sector makes significant contribution the exchequer, the UK economy, and society and we are determined to support hospitality businesses to succeed.
The Government protected the smallest hospitality businesses from the recent changes to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500.
We have also taken a number of other steps to support the hospitality industry. This includes:
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she will consider extending Employer NICs exemptions to young people and those returning to work from welfare to support employment growth in sectors such as hospitality.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Businesses can claim a number of employer NICs reliefs including those for under-21s and under-25 apprentices. This means employers will pay no employer NICs for apprentices under 25 or employees under 21 on earnings up to £50,270.
There are a wide range of factors to take into consideration when introducing or expanding a tax relief. These include how effective the relief would be at achieving the policy intent, how targeted support would be, whether it adds complexity to the tax system, and the cost.
The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process. The Chancellor will announce any changes to the tax system at fiscal events in the usual way.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she will consider exempting larger hospitality venues from the business rates surcharge as part of her Department’s review of support for high street and community-based businesses.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In April 2026, the Government will introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RVs) below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure eligible RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government is sustainably funding this by introducing a higher tax rate on properties with RVs of £500,000 and above.
The final design, including the rates, for the new business rates multipliers will be announced at Budget 2025, so that the Government can factor the revaluation outcomes, as well as the broader economic and fiscal context, into decision-making.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will consider introducing the maximum business rates discount for hospitality properties with a rateable value under £500,000 to support high street recovery.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In April 2026, the Government will introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RVs) below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure eligible RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government is sustainably funding this by introducing a higher tax rate on properties with RVs of £500,000 and above.
The final design, including the rates, for the new business rates multipliers will be announced at Budget 2025, so that the Government can factor the revaluation outcomes, as well as the broader economic and fiscal context, into decision-making.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she will consider reducing VAT on hospitality services to 12.5% to encourage investment and support the sector.
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.
VAT is a reserved tax, applying UK wide. VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services, including alcohol, whether served in hospitality establishments or sold in supermarkets. HMRC estimate that the cost of a 5 per cent reduced rate for accommodation, hospitality and tourist attractions would be around £10 billion this financial year. If the scope were also to include alcoholic beverages, the cost would be approximately £3 billion greater.
The Government is supporting the hospitality sector through the business rates system. To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including those on the high street, from 2026/27. Ahead of these changes being made, we have prevented RHL relief from ending in April 2025 by extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business and frozen the small business multiplier.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the 20% VAT rate on the competitiveness of the UK hospitality and tourism sectors compared with European nations with rates of 10–13%.
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.
VAT is a reserved tax, applying UK wide. VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services, including alcohol, whether served in hospitality establishments or sold in supermarkets. HMRC estimate that the cost of a 5 per cent reduced rate for accommodation, hospitality and tourist attractions would be around £10 billion this financial year. If the scope were also to include alcoholic beverages, the cost would be approximately £3 billion greater.
The Government is supporting the hospitality sector through the business rates system. To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including those on the high street, from 2026/27. Ahead of these changes being made, we have prevented RHL relief from ending in April 2025 by extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business and frozen the small business multiplier.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department plans to take to help ensure that the carbon border adjustment mechanism will support a reduction in carbon leakage in all the sectors in scope of the legislation.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) will be introduced on 1 January 2027 to address the risk of carbon leakage.
Carbon leakage occurs when production and associated emissions shift from one country to another due to different levels of decarbonisation effort, for example, as a result of carbon pricing and climate regulation.
The CBAM will place a carbon price on specific industrial goods imported to the UK from the aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen and iron & steel sectors that are at risk of carbon leakage, to ensure they face a comparable carbon price to those produced in the UK.
This will support UK decarbonisation efforts to lead to a true reduction in global emissions rather than simply displacing carbon emissions overseas, and give industry confidence to invest in the UK knowing their decarbonisation efforts will not be undermined.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that the carbon border adjustment mechanism supports the international competitiveness of businesses.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The CBAM is an environmental policy designed to support decarbonisation and mitigate the risk of carbon leakage. It will be introduced on 1 January 2027.
Carbon leakage can undermine efforts to reduce global emissions and curtail private investment in decarbonisation – compromising efforts to reach net zero and limit global warming to 1.5°C.
The CBAM will ensure highly traded, carbon intensive products from overseas face a comparable carbon price to those produced here so that UK decarbonisation efforts lead to a true reduction in global emissions rather than simply displacing carbon emissions overseas. It will give industry confidence to invest in the UK knowing their decarbonisation efforts will not be undermined.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure that renters can include regular rent payments in credit reports to support access to credit and financial products.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Ensuring individuals have access to the appropriate financial products and services they need is a key priority for the Government. This is why I have committed to publish a Financial Inclusion Strategy later this year which will seek to tackle a range of barriers individuals face, including how to increase access to affordable credit for underserved consumers.
Credit reference agencies (CRAs) have traditionally only collected data on consumers’ credit agreements, so rental payments made under tenancy agreements are not typically recorded on credit reports. However, since the Government’s Rent Recognition Challenge in 2017, various third-party services have emerged to make it possible for rental payments to be reported to CRAs and subsequently appear on individuals’ credit reports.
Asked by: Sarah Hall (Labour (Co-op) - Warrington South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to reduce levels of (a) poverty and (b) economic inequality in the North West; and what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of regional disparities in (i) income and (ii) living standards.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government has set out a Plan for Change that includes raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom. To deliver this, we have taken action to support households facing the greatest hardships by increasing the National Living Wage by 6.7%, introducing a Fair Repayment Rate to cap deductions from Universal Credit, uplifting the Universal Credit standard allowance to 5% above CPI by 2029-30, and expanding the Warm Homes Discount to every billpayer on means-tested benefits. Furthermore, at the Spending Review we expanded Free School Meals to lift 100,000 children out of poverty, funded the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation, provided £1bn a year (including Barnett impact) for a new Crisis and Resilience Fund, and extended the £3 Bus Fare Cap in England. This is in addition to investing in 350 deprived communities across the UK, to fund interventions including regeneration, community cohesion and improving the public realm.
The Government is also investing in infrastructure in the North West to spur economic growth, boost wages and increase living standards, providing £4.1bn to the North West via the Transport for City Regions fund. It has recommitted to £160m of funding over 10 years for Investment Zones in Greater Manchester and Liverpool, and reconfirmed support for Liverpool City Region Freeport. Local partners expect Greater Manchester Investment Zone to deliver £1.1 bn in private sector investment and 32,000 jobs, and expect Liverpool City Region’s Investment Zone to generate £320m in private investment and 4,000 jobs.
The latest Office for National Statistics data shows that in 2022 Gross Disposable Household Income (GDHI) per head was £19,752 in the North West compared to £22,789 for the UK. The Plan for Change sets out that living standards at a regional level is measured by regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per head. The latest ONS data shows that GDP per head, in real terms (2022 prices), was £33,170 per head in the North West and £37,135 per head for the UK in 2023. GDP per head was £23,555 per head in the North West in 1998 compared to £28,570 for the UK.