HM Treasury is the government’s economic and finance ministry, maintaining control over public spending, setting the direction of the UK’s economic policy and working to achieve strong and sustainable economic growth.
This inquiry will examine quantitative tightening, including its impact on the economy and its fiscal costs. It will also investigate …
Oral Answers to Questions is a regularly scheduled appearance where the Secretary of State and junior minister will answer at the Dispatch Box questions from backbench MPs
Other Commons Chamber appearances can be:Westminster Hall debates are performed in response to backbench MPs or e-petitions asking for a Minister to address a detailed issue
Written Statements are made when a current event is not sufficiently significant to require an Oral Statement, but the House is required to be informed.
HM Treasury does not have Bills currently before Parliament
A Bill to Authorise the use of resources for the year ending with 31 March 2026; to authorise both the issue of sums out of the Consolidated Fund and the application of income for that year; and to appropriate the supply authorised for that year by this Act and by the Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) Act 2025.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 21st July 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to make provision about secondary Class 1 contributions.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 3rd April 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to make provision about finance.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 20th March 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to amend the Crown Estate Act 1961.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 11th March 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to Authorise the use of resources for the years ending with 31 March 2024, 31 March 2025 and 31 March 2026; to authorise the issue of sums out of the Consolidated Fund for those years; and to appropriate the supply authorised by this Act for the years ending with 31 March 2024 and 31 March 2025.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 11th March 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to make provision for loans or other financial assistance to be provided to, or for the benefit of, the government of Ukraine.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 16th January 2025 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to impose duties on the Treasury and the Office for Budget Responsibility in respect of the announcement of fiscally significant measures.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 10th September 2024 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to authorise the use of resources for the year ending with 31 March 2025; to authorise both the issue of sums out of the Consolidated Fund and the application of income for that year; and to appropriate the supply authorised for that year by this Act and by the Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) Act 2024.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 30th July 2024 and was enacted into law.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12,570 to £20,000
Gov Responded - 20 Feb 2025 Debated on - 12 May 2025Raise the income tax personal allowance from £12570 to £20000. We think this would help low earners to get off benefits and allow pensioners a decent income.
Don't change inheritance tax relief for working farms
Gov Responded - 5 Dec 2024 Debated on - 10 Feb 2025We think that changing inheritance tax relief for agricultural land will devastate farms nationwide, forcing families to sell land and assets just to stay on their property. We urge the government to keep the current exemptions for working farms.
Don't apply VAT to independent school fees, or remove business rates relief.
Gov Responded - 20 Dec 2024 Debated on - 3 Mar 2025Prevent independent schools from having to pay VAT on fees and incurring business rates as a result of new legislation.
Commons Select Committees are a formally established cross-party group of backbench MPs tasked with holding a Government department to account.
At any time there will be number of ongoing investigations into the work of the Department, or issues which fall within the oversight of the Department. Witnesses can be summoned from within the Government and outside to assist in these inquiries.
Select Committee findings are reported to the Commons, printed, and published on the Parliament website. The government then usually has 60 days to reply to the committee's recommendations.
The Government has not issued specific advice or guidance to banks or financial services firms on complying with United States sanctions imposed on individuals associated with the International Criminal Court.
The action taken by the United States under Executive Order 14203 is limited to the jurisdiction of the United States and does not reflect any legal action or domestic sanction taken by the UK.
The UK respects the independence of the International Criminal Court and does not support sanctioning individuals or organisations associated with the Court.
The Government recognised that concerns continued to be raised about the loan charge and that some felt strongly that it had not been handled appropriately. The Government therefore commissioned an independent review of the loan charge to bring the matter to a close for those who had not settled and paid their loan charge liabilities.
The Government accepted all but one of the independent review’s recommendations and in some cases is going further. The Government’s decision to write off £5,000 from everyone’s liability will mean that around a third will have their liabilities written off entirely. Most people will see reductions in their liabilities of at least 50%.
HMRC will continue to work with taxpayers to resolve their cases in line with existing legislation and case law. HMRC is committed to working sensitively and pragmatically with taxpayers to reach settlement. This includes offering flexible payment terms where people need more time to pay their liabilities.
The Government takes the wellbeing of all taxpayers very seriously. Vulnerable customers can make use of HMRC’s well-established Extra Support Service.
Strengthening our relationships with all international partners, including the EU, is a key focus of the Government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy.
The UK and EU both face the same challenges – delivering growth, renewal of our infrastructure and the green transition. Financial services are a key part of the solution. We want to work with the EU to ensure that firms and individuals across Europe are able to access much needed capital and investment as efficiently as possible.
This is the message the Chancellor has set out to EU Leaders, including at Eurogroup in December 2024, and reiterated in her Mansion House speech last July. This was also the message that the Economic Secretary to the Treasury shared when she met with European Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque in Brussels in January.
Last July, the Government published the Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy, which sets out its commitment to establishing a regulatory and legislative framework that enables new digital solutions, such as tokenisation, to be taken forward.
The Strategy notes that current use cases demonstrate that English and Welsh law, alongside UK financial services legislation is, in many cases, sufficiently flexible to accommodate digital assets. However, the Strategy commits the Government to providing legal clarity where it is needed to accommodate distributed ledger technology and we are working closely with the financial services regulators to identify where such clarifications may be necessary.
As part of this, the Government has established the Digital Securities Sandbox (DSS). This addresses priority areas where existing requirements can create barriers to adopting new technology. The DSS allows participating entities to be subject to modified legislative requirements, to facilitate new digital infrastructures in the UK market.
Some payments made under Government established compensation schemes will not give rise to an income tax liability. This is because payments intended to compensate individuals for personal injury would generally fall within established tax principles that treat compensation for personal injury as non-taxable. If payments are made which specifically represent loss of earnings, they will be subject to income tax under miscellaneous income rules.
Beyond this, tax exemptions for individual schemes will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Given the historic nature of the Infected Blood Scandal and the reduced life expectancy of Infected Blood recipients, many individuals will have passed away before they could receive their compensation. This means that concerns around the impacts of secondary transfers are particularly acute in the case of Infected Blood compensation. For this reason, we have taken steps to extend the inheritance tax relief for this scheme.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as an Accredited National Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website at the following link: http://www.uktradeinfo.com/.
Commodity Codes are used to identify the goods being imported and exported and these can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff. However, there is not a commodity code specifically covering industrial hemp used in the construction industry.
Hemp is classified to several commodity codes within headings 1404 (vegetable products note elsewhere specified or included), 5302 (true hemp) and 6808 (panels, board, tiles, blocks of vegetable fibre) of the Tariff. Whilst none of these are specific to hemp used in construction, 6808 includes hempcrete used as an insulation material with hemp fibres mixed with lime and water and made into, for example, insulating panels and boards. This may be the most appropriate heading containing the information requested.
The value and net mass in kilograms for the headings that may contain hemp for the years 2023 to 2025 are as follows:
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In December 2025, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at the Bank of England announced its decision to reduce the Bank Rate to 3.75%. The MPC has the government's full support as it acts to return inflation to the 2% target sustainably. This was the sixth interest rate cut since the election. Those interest rate cuts will save households over £1,300 a year on a typical new 2-year fix for a £215,000 mortgage over a 29-year term.
Inflation fell to 3 per cent in January 2026. Wages rose faster than inflation in Q4 2025, indicating that real wages are growing, which will support household purchasing power and ease pressure on household budgets.
The Government welcomes the fall in inflation and is committed to improving living standards for everyone, in every part of the UK. We recognise that the cost of living remains too high, which is why, at the last Budget, we took action to bear down on prices and help ease the cost of living pressures for people by targeting everyday expenses. This includes taking on average £150 of costs off household energy bills from April 2026, expanding the £150 Warm Home Discount to 6 million lower income households, freezing rail fares and NHS prescription fees, and extending the 5p fuel duty cut until the end of August 2026.
The Crown Estate is an independent commercial organisation, and the Government is not involved in its operations and day-to-day decision making.
Removal of abandoned vehicles is primarily the responsibility of the relevant local authority; therefore, where vehicles are abandoned on land under the Crown Estate’s control and management, they will engage with the relevant authorities to address the issue.
Crown Estate land is not automatically considered “off road” for Statutory Off Road Notification purposes.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published the latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) in March 2026[1]. This forecasts the tax-to-GDP ratio to change as follows: 2025-26 – 36.3%; 2026-27 – 37.0%; 2027-28 – 37.7%; 2028-29 – 37.8%; 2029-30 – 38.3%[2].
The UK’s current tax-to-GDP ratio is in the middle of the pack within the G7; lower than Italy (42.8%), France (43.5%) and Germany (38.0%), but above Japan (33.7%), Canada (34.9%) and the US (25.6%) based on the latest available OECD data. [3]
[1] https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2026/#
[2] https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-march-2026/#, page 42
[3] Latest OECD data 2024, except Japan, which is from 2023.
I refer the hon member to my answer of 3 March 2026, to PQ UIN 114888.
When a taxpayer requests an address change on their Government Gateway account, a range of security checks are applied to help protect the account and prevent unauthorised access.
These checks include confirming the user’s identity through their Government Gateway credentials, monitoring for unusual or suspicious activity, and applying additional verification measures where appropriate. HMRC also uses automated controls and risk‑based assessments to help detect and prevent potential fraud.
The precise nature of these checks is kept under review and is not disclosed in detail, as doing so could undermine their effectiveness.
Where employers reimburse allowable travel expenses, tax relief is available provided the expenses are wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred for work purposes.
Ordinarily, employers must hold evidence of the employee’s actual expenditure. However, to reduce administrative burdens on employers, HMRC allows expenses for travel outside the UK to be reimbursed without evidence up to the levels contained within the Overseas Scale Rates. Where the Overseas Scale Rates do not cover the expense incurred by employees, employers can still reimburse and provide tax relief provided they have appropriate evidence.
The government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process.
The Treasury is in regular contact with the Bank of England, international counterparts, and affected industries, including our maritime sector.
I recently met with Lloyd’s of London as part of the government’s ongoing work to monitor impacts from the unfolding conflict in Iran and the Middle East. The Treasury will continue to monitor global insurance markets, including war risk insurance coverage.
We are taking measures to ensure the wider economic environment is conducive to growth. We are cutting borrowing and debt, and supporting the Bank of England by taking action to bring inflation down – which otherwise dampens investment in the UK and slows economic growth. Government took measures at Budget to reduce consumer price inflation by 0.4pp in 2026/27, which the office for budget responsibility forecast will reduce CPI.
The Government set out its overall approach for supporting SMEs in the Small Business Strategy published in July 2025 and built on this with targeted reforms to support small businesses at Autumn Budget 2025. The Government is committed to a fair tax system that supports small firms, while ensuring the ongoing funding of essential public services and economic stability. Through our changes to Employer National Insurance Contributions, the threshold at which business start paying Employer NICs has doubled to £10,500.
We are supporting employment and skills by changing the rules to fully fund SME apprenticeships training costs for eligible people under the age of 25.
At the Budget we announced an Entrepreneurship package to support starts ups and scale ups. As part of this, Government is undertaking its largest ever injection of capital into the British Business Bank. Over the next five years, the British Business Bank will increase annual deployment by two-thirds, aiming to unlock around £26 billion of private capital alongside £13 billion in public funding, and enable up to an additional £10 billion in small business lending through guarantees. We are also doubling the eligibility of our enterprise tax incentives to boost scale-ups, consulting on plans to reducing business energy prices, and reforming and simplifying regulation.
We have also launched the Business Growth Service, making it easier for all firms, including micro companies, to get the advice and support they need to grow and thrive.
Following the conclusion of each financial year, the Royal Mint Advisory Committee publishes its annual report on the Royal Mint Museum website. These reports contain detail on when the Committee and the Sub-Committee on the selection of themes met over the financial year and themes that were recommended to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in her capacity as Master of the Mint and HM The King. The annual report for 2024-25 can be found here: www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/siteassets/about-us/rmac-annual-report-2024-25.pdf
The annual report for 2025-26 will be published later this year.
All designs for the themes recommended by the Committee can be found on The Royal Mint website, here: Coin Designs and Specifications | The Royal Mint
ISA reform forms part of our strategy to support people into the higher returns that investing can provide.
Rules will be introduced to avoid circumvention of the lower limit for cash ISAs where an individual is under the age of 65. The industry is being consulted on the draft rules, which will be made by amendments to the ISA Regulations and laid in Parliament ahead of April 2027.
We will consult on the final rules as soon as these are ready, so that firms have enough notice before the new limit applies in April 2027.
The government is committed to ensuring high standards of financial inclusion across the financial services sector, including accessibility for blind and partially sighted customers.
The Equality Act 2010 provides legal protection from discrimination for disabled people in a range of circumstances, including in the provision of goods, facilities and services and requires retailers to make reasonable adjustments. The Financial Conduct Authority also requires authorised financial services firms to comply with their ‘Consumer Duty’, which requires them to deliver good outcomes for retail customers, including those with disabilities.
Ensuring individuals have access to the financial products and services they need is a key priority for the government. This is why I published the Financial Inclusion Strategy last year which sets out a range of ambitious measures for government and industry to improve financial inclusion for underserved groups across the UK. This includes the launch of an industry-led inclusive design working group to consider how to make products more accessible.
As part of the focus on inclusive design, the strategy specifically acknowledges that the phasing out of tactile features from payment processes has made it more difficult for people who are blind or partially sighted to make payments independently.
The Royal National Institute of Blind People is working with providers and UK Finance, the leading trade association for the banking sector, to introduce accessible features for cards. UK Finance is developing a Code of Practice for Accessible Cards, providing a set of guidelines for accessibility features on card products for participating firms. The government welcomes this positive example of industry and consumer representatives working together on tangible solutions.
UK Finance also maintains voluntary standards to help ensure point-of-sale technology remains accessible for those who are visually impaired. It will be working with the British Retail Consortium to identify opportunities to go further in embedding accessibility features where they can make the most difference in practice.
The government continues to closely monitor progress in this important area.
The government is committed to ensuring high standards of financial inclusion across the financial services sector, including accessibility for blind and partially sighted customers.
The Equality Act 2010 provides legal protection from discrimination for disabled people in a range of circumstances, including in the provision of goods, facilities and services and requires retailers to make reasonable adjustments. The Financial Conduct Authority also requires authorised financial services firms to comply with their ‘Consumer Duty’, which requires them to deliver good outcomes for retail customers, including those with disabilities.
Ensuring individuals have access to the financial products and services they need is a key priority for the government. This is why I published the Financial Inclusion Strategy last year which sets out a range of ambitious measures for government and industry to improve financial inclusion for underserved groups across the UK. This includes the launch of an industry-led inclusive design working group to consider how to make products more accessible.
As part of the focus on inclusive design, the strategy specifically acknowledges that the phasing out of tactile features from payment processes has made it more difficult for people who are blind or partially sighted to make payments independently.
The Royal National Institute of Blind People is working with providers and UK Finance, the leading trade association for the banking sector, to introduce accessible features for cards. UK Finance is developing a Code of Practice for Accessible Cards, providing a set of guidelines for accessibility features on card products for participating firms. The government welcomes this positive example of industry and consumer representatives working together on tangible solutions.
UK Finance also maintains voluntary standards to help ensure point-of-sale technology remains accessible for those who are visually impaired. It will be working with the British Retail Consortium to identify opportunities to go further in embedding accessibility features where they can make the most difference in practice.
The government continues to closely monitor progress in this important area.
The government is committed to ensuring high standards of financial inclusion across the financial services sector, including accessibility for blind and partially sighted customers.
The Equality Act 2010 provides legal protection from discrimination for disabled people in a range of circumstances, including in the provision of goods, facilities and services and requires retailers to make reasonable adjustments. The Financial Conduct Authority also requires authorised financial services firms to comply with their ‘Consumer Duty’, which requires them to deliver good outcomes for retail customers, including those with disabilities.
Ensuring individuals have access to the financial products and services they need is a key priority for the government. This is why I published the Financial Inclusion Strategy last year which sets out a range of ambitious measures for government and industry to improve financial inclusion for underserved groups across the UK. This includes the launch of an industry-led inclusive design working group to consider how to make products more accessible.
As part of the focus on inclusive design, the strategy specifically acknowledges that the phasing out of tactile features from payment processes has made it more difficult for people who are blind or partially sighted to make payments independently.
The Royal National Institute of Blind People is working with providers and UK Finance, the leading trade association for the banking sector, to introduce accessible features for cards. UK Finance is developing a Code of Practice for Accessible Cards, providing a set of guidelines for accessibility features on card products for participating firms. The government welcomes this positive example of industry and consumer representatives working together on tangible solutions.
UK Finance also maintains voluntary standards to help ensure point-of-sale technology remains accessible for those who are visually impaired. It will be working with the British Retail Consortium to identify opportunities to go further in embedding accessibility features where they can make the most difference in practice.
The government continues to closely monitor progress in this important area.
The Government recognises that cheques remain an important payment method for some people, including those with protected characteristics. UK’s largest retail banks continue to accept cheques through a range of channels, including at bank branches, in banking hubs and the Post Office, by post, and digitally through cheque imaging.
The Treasury has not made a formal assessment of the impact of individual banks’ decisions on specific groups. Where banks have taken commercial decisions to change how they accept cheque deposits, they are expected to consider the needs of customers in vulnerable circumstances and to ensure alternative routes remain available.
The treatment of customers by UK banks is governed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which requires firms to provide a prompt, efficient, and fair service to all of their customers. This includes special considerations for vulnerable customers. In addition, like all service providers, banks and building societies are bound under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments, where necessary, in the way they deliver their services. Treasury Ministers and officials engage regularly with the FCA, the Payment Systems Regulator and UK Finance on matters relating to retail banking and payments.
Ensuring everyone has access to the appropriate financial products and services they need is a priority for the Government. That is why we have published the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy which sets out a package of ambitious measures to improve financial inclusion and resilience across the UK. Access to banking is a key area of focus in the Strategy, alongside digital inclusion, including an intervention to make financial products more accessible through an industry-led inclusive design working group. Action to improve financial inclusion requires a joined-up approach, and the Government is committed to continuing to work collaboratively across the UK on this important agenda going forward.
The Chancellor chaired the Growth Mission Board. The membership was flexible, at the Chancellor's discretion, with internal and external attendees determined based on their relevance to the agenda. The Growth Mission Board was a Cabinet Committee. It is a long-established precedent that information about the discussions that have taken place in Cabinet and its committees, including attendance, is not normally shared publicly.
As previously published on GOV.UK, the Growth Mission Board was established 'to oversee and drive progress on the growth mission’.
The government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly, including where they have suffered a bereavement, and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules. The FCA requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive). FCA rules also require insurers to ensure their communications are clear, fair and not misleading. The FCA have published guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers, including those who may recently have experienced bereavement.
The FCA monitors firms to make sure they comply with these rules, and, where necessary, it has robust powers to take action.
More broadly, insurers make commercial decisions about the terms of cover they offer based on their assessment of the relevant risks. The government does not generally intervene in these decisions by insurance companies.
The government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly, including where they have suffered a bereavement, and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules. The FCA requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive). FCA rules also require insurers to ensure their communications are clear, fair and not misleading. The FCA have published guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers, including those who may recently have experienced bereavement.
The FCA monitors firms to make sure they comply with these rules, and, where necessary, it has robust powers to take action.
More broadly, insurers make commercial decisions about the terms of cover they offer based on their assessment of the relevant risks. The government does not generally intervene in these decisions by insurance companies.
The government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly, including where they have suffered a bereavement, and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules. The FCA requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive). FCA rules also require insurers to ensure their communications are clear, fair and not misleading. The FCA have published guidance for firms on the fair treatment of vulnerable customers, including those who may recently have experienced bereavement.
The FCA monitors firms to make sure they comply with these rules, and, where necessary, it has robust powers to take action.
More broadly, insurers make commercial decisions about the terms of cover they offer based on their assessment of the relevant risks. The government does not generally intervene in these decisions by insurance companies.
The government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules. The FCA requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive). The FCA has been clear that it will be monitoring firms to make sure they provide products that are fair value, and, where necessary, it has robust powers to take action.
The government believes that the safe and effective adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in financial services is a major strategic opportunity, with the potential to power growth across the UK.
As set out in the government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, it is our ambition to make the UK the world's most technologically advanced global financial sector, leveraging our dual strengths in financial services and AI.
To support the effective and safe use of AI by industry, while protecting consumers and financial stability, the government has appointed Financial Services AI champions, Harriet Rees and Rohit Dhawan. They will focus on helping firms seize the opportunities for AI in a way that supports innovation, maintains trust in UK financial services, and ensures that consumers are appropriately protected.
The Government has regular conversations with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on a range of topics, including the regulation of equity crowdfunding.
In 2024, the government delivered the Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations which enabled the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to reform the UK Prospectus Regime.This new regime took effect on 19 January 2026, and gives investors access to better quality information to support their investment decisions.
The regulations also created a new regulated activity of operating a Public Offer Platform (POP). Companies seeking to make public offers of securities outside a public market to a broad investor base, where the value exceeds £5 million, will now need to do so via a POP, ensuring investors receive better information about their investments.
The government is pleased to confirm that charities will continue to be eligible for Gift Aid following implementation of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024.
HMRC has published guidance setting out that where subscriptions are currently eligible under existing Gift Aid rules, they will remain so. The guidance can be found on gov.uk via: Chapter 3 - 3.13.4: Gift Aid - GOV.UK
The Government has committed a record level of funding for local authorities to repair, renew and fix potholes; totalling over £2 billion annually by 2029-30. This is double the amount provided by the previous government – and it ensures that we will exceed our manifesto commitment to fix an additional 1 million potholes in each year of this Parliament.
The Government has committed a record level of funding for local authorities to repair, renew and fix potholes; totalling over £2 billion annually by 2029-30. This is double the amount provided by the previous government – and it ensures that we will exceed our manifesto commitment to fix an additional 1 million potholes in each year of this Parliament.
A review of the harmonised standard for ethnicity data collection is underway by the Government Statistical Service Harmonisation team.
A public consultation between October 2025 and February 2026 sought views from a wide range of users, including Government Departments and public bodies, to understand user needs for ethnic group data. This was supplemented by a programme of engagement activity, including with representatives of all government departments.
ONS have committed to providing an initial response to the public consultation in April, and a full report on the consultation in late summer 2026 will include more detailed information on the departments that responded to the consultation.
The government is restoring stability, increasing investment, and reforming the economy to drive growth across every region of the UK.
Norfolk will receive £32.5 million in Local Transport Grant funding enabling local authorities to deliver transport improvements including more zero emission buses, cycleways, accessibility and congestion improvement measures.
The record breaking results of our most recent offshore wind auction will support projects in the region, delivering further local jobs and growth.
Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax helps taxpayers pay the right amount of tax. It is expected to generate almost £1 billion in additional tax revenue in 2030–31 by encouraging timely and accurate record keeping and reducing that part of the tax gap caused by taxpayer errors and failure to take reasonable care.
HMRC is committed to closing the tax gap further and tackling other types of non-compliance such as tax evasion, tax avoidance, criminal attacks, hidden economy activity, legal interpretation issues, and non-payment.
The OFSI Annual Review 2024-2025 in year reporting sets out that OFSI have been notified of approximately £28.7bn in assets frozen in connection with the Russia sanctions regime since February 2022. Although these assets are frozen and cannot be accessed, they remain the property of the individuals and entities designated under the sanctions.
Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine the Government has provided £21.8 billion in support to Ukraine and has committed to providing a further £3bn a year for as long as it takes.
The Government has taken significant action to enable the donation of the proceeds from the sale of Chelsea Football Club to humanitarian causes in Ukraine. On 17 December 2025, HM Treasury issued a licence permitting the transfer of the over £2.5 billion sale proceeds into a new charitable foundation for exclusively humanitarian purposes in Ukraine. The licence provides a clear legal route for the funds to be used as intended, consistent with Abramovich’s commitment that they should benefit victims of the war.
The Government is urging him to act without delay and will consider any proposal he makes to use this route to establish the foundation and transfer the funds.
Should Abramovich fail to free the funds quickly, the UK Government is fully prepared to take him to court if necessary to enforce the agreement reached with him in 2022.
Marriage Allowance allows a spouse or civil partner to transfer ten per cent of their income tax personal allowance, as long as the partner is not paying tax at higher rates.
The most recent estimates for the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in HMRC’s published tax relief statistics, last updated in January 2026. This is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-reliefs/tax-relief-statistics-january-2026.
The number of Marriage Allowance claimants was estimated at 2,440,000 for the 2023-2024 tax year and the estimated cost is projected to be £590 million for the 2025-2026 tax year. Estimates of the number of claimants are the latest available and reflect only successful claimants up to that point in time and not the anticipated full take up when all backdated claims have been made in future tax years (up to 4 years later).
Data for previous tax years (up to 6 years) on the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in the non-structural tax relief statistics, which is available at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs/non-structural-tax-relief-statistics-december-2024. This is summarised below.
Tax Year | Cost (£ million) | Number of Claimants |
2019–2020 | 520 | 2,020,000 |
2020–2021 | 560 | 2,170,000 |
2021–2022 | 560 | 2,280,000 |
2022–2023 | 580 | 2,350,000 |
2023–2024 (estimated) | 580 | 2,440,000 |
2024–2025 (estimated) | 580 | Not stated |
HMRC does not produce household-level analysis for Marriage Allowance eligibility.
HMRC’s ongoing communications campaign for Marriage Allowance seeks to raise awareness of the eligibility criteria for the allowance, encourage take-up and educate customers on how to claim. It consists of regular promotional activity throughout the year bolstered by paid-for activity at key times of increased interest or engagement in the allowance for customers.
Marriage Allowance allows a spouse or civil partner to transfer ten per cent of their income tax personal allowance, as long as the partner is not paying tax at higher rates.
The most recent estimates for the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in HMRC’s published tax relief statistics, last updated in January 2026. This is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-reliefs/tax-relief-statistics-january-2026.
The number of Marriage Allowance claimants was estimated at 2,440,000 for the 2023-2024 tax year and the estimated cost is projected to be £590 million for the 2025-2026 tax year. Estimates of the number of claimants are the latest available and reflect only successful claimants up to that point in time and not the anticipated full take up when all backdated claims have been made in future tax years (up to 4 years later).
Data for previous tax years (up to 6 years) on the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in the non-structural tax relief statistics, which is available at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs/non-structural-tax-relief-statistics-december-2024. This is summarised below.
Tax Year | Cost (£ million) | Number of Claimants |
2019–2020 | 520 | 2,020,000 |
2020–2021 | 560 | 2,170,000 |
2021–2022 | 560 | 2,280,000 |
2022–2023 | 580 | 2,350,000 |
2023–2024 (estimated) | 580 | 2,440,000 |
2024–2025 (estimated) | 580 | Not stated |
HMRC does not produce household-level analysis for Marriage Allowance eligibility.
HMRC’s ongoing communications campaign for Marriage Allowance seeks to raise awareness of the eligibility criteria for the allowance, encourage take-up and educate customers on how to claim. It consists of regular promotional activity throughout the year bolstered by paid-for activity at key times of increased interest or engagement in the allowance for customers.
Marriage Allowance allows a spouse or civil partner to transfer ten per cent of their income tax personal allowance, as long as the partner is not paying tax at higher rates.
The most recent estimates for the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in HMRC’s published tax relief statistics, last updated in January 2026. This is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-reliefs/tax-relief-statistics-january-2026.
The number of Marriage Allowance claimants was estimated at 2,440,000 for the 2023-2024 tax year and the estimated cost is projected to be £590 million for the 2025-2026 tax year. Estimates of the number of claimants are the latest available and reflect only successful claimants up to that point in time and not the anticipated full take up when all backdated claims have been made in future tax years (up to 4 years later).
Data for previous tax years (up to 6 years) on the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in the non-structural tax relief statistics, which is available at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs/non-structural-tax-relief-statistics-december-2024. This is summarised below.
Tax Year | Cost (£ million) | Number of Claimants |
2019–2020 | 520 | 2,020,000 |
2020–2021 | 560 | 2,170,000 |
2021–2022 | 560 | 2,280,000 |
2022–2023 | 580 | 2,350,000 |
2023–2024 (estimated) | 580 | 2,440,000 |
2024–2025 (estimated) | 580 | Not stated |
HMRC does not produce household-level analysis for Marriage Allowance eligibility.
HMRC’s ongoing communications campaign for Marriage Allowance seeks to raise awareness of the eligibility criteria for the allowance, encourage take-up and educate customers on how to claim. It consists of regular promotional activity throughout the year bolstered by paid-for activity at key times of increased interest or engagement in the allowance for customers.
Marriage Allowance allows a spouse or civil partner to transfer ten per cent of their income tax personal allowance, as long as the partner is not paying tax at higher rates.
The most recent estimates for the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in HMRC’s published tax relief statistics, last updated in January 2026. This is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-reliefs/tax-relief-statistics-january-2026.
The number of Marriage Allowance claimants was estimated at 2,440,000 for the 2023-2024 tax year and the estimated cost is projected to be £590 million for the 2025-2026 tax year. Estimates of the number of claimants are the latest available and reflect only successful claimants up to that point in time and not the anticipated full take up when all backdated claims have been made in future tax years (up to 4 years later).
Data for previous tax years (up to 6 years) on the cost and uptake of Marriage Allowance can be found in the non-structural tax relief statistics, which is available at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs/non-structural-tax-relief-statistics-december-2024. This is summarised below.
Tax Year | Cost (£ million) | Number of Claimants |
2019–2020 | 520 | 2,020,000 |
2020–2021 | 560 | 2,170,000 |
2021–2022 | 560 | 2,280,000 |
2022–2023 | 580 | 2,350,000 |
2023–2024 (estimated) | 580 | 2,440,000 |
2024–2025 (estimated) | 580 | Not stated |
HMRC does not produce household-level analysis for Marriage Allowance eligibility.
HMRC’s ongoing communications campaign for Marriage Allowance seeks to raise awareness of the eligibility criteria for the allowance, encourage take-up and educate customers on how to claim. It consists of regular promotional activity throughout the year bolstered by paid-for activity at key times of increased interest or engagement in the allowance for customers.
The Government commissioned an independent review of the loan charge to help bring the matter to a close for people who have not settled and paid their loan charge liabilities. The review identified affordability as a key barrier preventing those individuals from settling and made recommendations to remove this barrier.
In recognition of the unique circumstances, the Government is taking the extraordinary step of relieving people of some of these liabilities.
The Government has no plans to apply the review’s recommendations beyond those individuals and employers with outstanding liabilities that were the focus of the review.
The Government commissioned an independent review of the loan charge to help bring the matter to a close for people who have not settled and paid their loan charge liabilities. The review identified affordability as a key barrier preventing those individuals from settling and made recommendations to remove this barrier.
In recognition of the unique circumstances, the Government is taking the extraordinary step of relieving people of some of these liabilities.
The Government has no plans to apply the review’s recommendations beyond those individuals and employers with outstanding liabilities that were the focus of the review.
The Government commissioned an independent review of the loan charge to help bring the matter to a close for people who have not settled and paid their loan charge liabilities. The review identified affordability as a key barrier preventing those individuals from settling and made recommendations to remove this barrier.
The Government has no plans to apply the review’s recommendations beyond those individuals and employers with outstanding liabilities that were the focus of the review.
The government is committed to supporting the growth of financial mutuals in line with the manifesto commitment to double the size of the mutuals sector. To deliver this, the Chancellor announced a multi-year programme of measures at Mansion House 2024 which HM Treasury is now delivering.
This included asking the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority to produce a report on the current landscape of the sector. This was published in December 2025 and included measures to support the development of financial mutuals, including the FCA’s establishment of their Mutual Societies Development Unit. The government also welcomed the Mutual and Co-operative Sector Business Council and published the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, which will support all organisations in the financial services sector.
For credit unions specifically, the government announced it is pursuing growth-focused reforms to the common bond in Great Britain. This was announced in the Financial Inclusion Strategy in November 2025 and followed a call for evidence on reforms. The government will provide a further update on this work in due course.
The government is committed to supporting the growth of financial mutuals in line with the manifesto commitment to double the size of the mutuals sector. To deliver this, the Chancellor announced a multi-year programme of measures at Mansion House 2024 which HM Treasury is now delivering.
This included asking the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority to produce a report on the current landscape of the sector. This was published in December 2025 and included measures to support the development of financial mutuals, including the FCA’s establishment of their Mutual Societies Development Unit. The government also welcomed the Mutual and Co-operative Sector Business Council and published the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, which will support all organisations in the financial services sector.
For credit unions specifically, the government announced it is pursuing growth-focused reforms to the common bond in Great Britain. This was announced in the Financial Inclusion Strategy in November 2025 and followed a call for evidence on reforms. The government will provide a further update on this work in due course.
The government recognises the contribution co-operatives make to local communities, to a diverse business sector and a resilient UK economy. In line with the manifesto commitment to double the size of the co-operatives and mutuals sector, HM Treasury is taking steps to support the growth nationwide, including in North East Somerset and Hanham.
This includes funding the Law Commission’s independent review of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, which is exploring options to modernise and update the legislative framework. The review is expected to report in 2026 and the government will carefully consider its findings before responding.
At Mansion House 2024 the Chancellor set out a package of measures to support the growth of the co-operative and mutuals sector. This included welcoming the establishment of the industry-led Mutuals and Co-operative Business Council and asking the PRA and FCA to produce a report on the mutuals landscape. These reports were published in December 2025, and covered co-operatives through the FCA’s role as registering authority.
HM Treasury works with other Government departments on support for co-operatives. This includes on the Department for Business and Trade’s call for evidence on business support for co-operatives, which was launched at Budget 2025 and closed in February 2026. In addition, the Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government has announced the launch of a co-operative development unit as part of its Pride in Place Strategy.
Together, these actions will help support the growth of the co-operative sector in across the UK.
The government recognises the contribution co-operatives make to local communities, to a diverse business sector and a resilient UK economy. In line with the manifesto commitment to double the size of the co-operatives and mutuals sector, HM Treasury is taking steps to support the growth nationwide, including in Buckingham and Bletchley.
This includes funding the Law Commission’s independent review of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, which is exploring options to modernise and update the legislative framework. The review is expected to report in 2026 and the government will carefully consider its findings before responding.
At Mansion House 2024 the Chancellor set out a package of measures to support the growth of the co-operative and mutuals sector. This included welcoming the establishment of the industry-led Mutuals and Co-operative Business Council and asking the PRA and FCA to produce a report on the mutuals landscape. These reports were published in December 2025, and covered co-operatives through the FCA’s role as registering authority.
HM Treasury works with other Government departments on support for co-operatives. This includes on the Department for Business and Trade’s call for evidence on business support for co-operatives, which was launched at Budget 2025 and closed in February 2026. In addition, the Ministry for Housing, Communities, and Local Government has announced the launch of a co-operative development unit as part of its Pride in Place Strategy.
Together, these actions will help support the growth of the co-operative sector in across the UK.