Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the impact of scrapping Multiple Dwellings Relief in March 2024 on the economy.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The previous Government announced the abolition of Multiple Dwellings Relief following an external evaluation which found no strong evidence the relief was meeting its original objectives of supporting investment in the private rented sector. In addition, and as highlighted in the November 2021 consultation on reforms to MDR, the relief was subject to high levels of abuse.
Larger investors who purchase six or more properties in a single
transaction can still continue to benefit from the non-residential rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax. The Government will continue to engage with stakeholders in the build to rent sector to understand any concerns.
On housing more broadly, the Government has committed to delivering 1.5 million new homes and is reforming the National Planning Policy Framework to get Britain building, including by reintroducing mandatory housing targets.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reintroducing Multiple Dwellings Relief.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The previous Government announced the abolition of Multiple Dwellings Relief following an external evaluation which found no strong evidence the relief was meeting its original objectives of supporting investment in the private rented sector. In addition, and as highlighted in the November 2021 consultation on reforms to MDR, the relief was subject to high levels of abuse.
Larger investors who purchase six or more properties in a single
transaction can still continue to benefit from the non-residential rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax. The Government will continue to engage with stakeholders in the build to rent sector to understand any concerns.
On housing more broadly, the Government has committed to delivering 1.5 million new homes and is reforming the National Planning Policy Framework to get Britain building, including by reintroducing mandatory housing targets.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of scrapping Multiple Dwellings Relief on housing supply.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The previous Government announced the abolition of Multiple Dwellings Relief following an external evaluation which found no strong evidence the relief was meeting its original objectives of supporting investment in the private rented sector. In addition, and as highlighted in the November 2021 consultation on reforms to MDR, the relief was subject to high levels of abuse.
Larger investors who purchase six or more properties in a single
transaction can still continue to benefit from the non-residential rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax. The Government will continue to engage with stakeholders in the build to rent sector to understand any concerns.
On housing more broadly, the Government has committed to delivering 1.5 million new homes and is reforming the National Planning Policy Framework to get Britain building, including by reintroducing mandatory housing targets.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department is taking steps to help protect the interests of shareholders in investment trusts that are subject to hostile takeovers by overseas entities.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Listed companies such as listed investment trusts are subject to substantial corporate governance and shareholder protection requirements.
This includes fair treatment and orderly takeover requirements under the Takeover Code, which the independent Takeover Panel oversees. The Takeover Code applies where a person or company acquires 30% or more of voting rights in a company and ensures that all shareholders are afforded equivalent treatment.
More broadly, under the Companies Act 2006, shareholders must approve any resolutions circulated by a company, or by any individual shareholder or group of shareholders of that company, including proposed changes to company boards.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an estimate of the Barnett consequential funding for Scotland associated with investment in filling potholes in England's roads and footpaths.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. The most recent report was published in July 2023 and the next report will be published in due course.
Barnett-based funding is not ringfenced for any one policy area and it is for the Scottish Government to allocate this funding in devolved areas as they see fit. They can therefore take their own decisions on managing and investing available resources, reflecting their own priorities and local circumstances, and they are accountable to the Scottish Parliament for these decisions.
The Scottish Government’s budget is growing in real terms in 2025-26 and its settlement for 2025-26 is the largest settlement in real terms of any Scottish Government settlement since devolution. The Scottish Government is receiving at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK. That translates into over £8.5 billion more in 2025-26.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to support (a) small and (b) large family owned businesses.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Autumn Budget, we published our Corporate Tax Roadmap, in which we are capping corporation tax at 25% as well as maintaining Small Profit Rate + marginal relief at their current rate + threshold, and maintaining the Annual Investment Allowance at £1m. As a result of commitments in the Corporate Tax Roadmap, 9 in 10 actively trading companies will have a Corporation Tax rate lower than 25%.
The Government protected the smallest businesses from the impact of the increase to Employer National Insurance by more than doubling the Employment Allowance to £10,500. The Government is also making sure family businesses will receive a very significant level of relief once changes to business property relief have been made, with the first £1 million of business assets continuing to receive 100% relief and then 50% thereafter.
Despite the difficult fiscal inheritance, we have also been able to protect key business support programmes that can be accessed by all small and large family businesses, like the England-wide network of Growth Hubs. We are also allocating £250 million in 2025/26 for small business loans programmes, including Start Up Loans and the Growth Guarantee Scheme.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of VAT on Steiner School kindergartens.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government ran a technical consultation on the VAT policy for seven weeks from 29 July to 15 September. During the consultation period, my officials and I also held a series of meetings with stakeholders to complement written responses. This included written submissions from Steiner Schools.
Following that consultation the Government made changes to the treatment of nursery classes, so that those attached to private schools will continue to be exempt from VAT as long as they are wholly (or almost wholly), rather than completely, composed of children under compulsory school age who wouldn’t be expected to turn compulsory school age that year.
Classes where the vast majority of children are below compulsory school age will remain exempt from VAT. Where mixed classes have a high proportion of children over compulsory school age the Government believes it is fair to treat these classes the same way entire classes of children over compulsory school age are treated. This means that classes like “kindergarten classes” in Steiner schools will be within scope of this policy.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many customs sites were being used by businesses at (a) Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport and (b) Forth Green Freeport in the latest period for which data is available.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The previous government announced new Green Freeports at Inverness and Cromarty Firth, and Forth. Both Green Freeports are in the process of establishing their first customs sites. Tax sites were designated in both Green Freeports earlier this year.