Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made, if any, of the increase in billionaires resident in the UK by (1) number, and (2) percentage, between (a) 2019–20, and (b) 2020–21; and what assessment have they made of the link, if any, between this increase and the payment of furlough money.

The Government has made no such assessment. The Office for National Statistics publishes statistics on the wealth of British households where individuals have a tax obligation and report to HMRC: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/personalandhouseholdfinances/incomeandwealth/bulletins/totalwealthingreatbritain/april2018tomarch2020

HMRC also publishes statistics on personal incomes: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-incomes-tables-312-to-315a-for-the-tax-year-2018-to-2019

The Wealthy unit, which is part of Customer Compliance in HMRC, does not hold the number of billionaires resident in the UK. Additionally, the 2020-21 income details have been filed in January 2022, and so it is too early to complete a comparison to 2019-20 for 2020-21.