Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of between increased business rates on the level of closures of community pharmacies.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget, the Valuation Office announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation was the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic.
To respond to those who are seeing large increases, the Government has already acted to limit increases in bills, announcing a support package worth £4.3 billion package at the Budget.
Community pharmacies are also eligible for the new permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties introduced by Government. These new multipliers are worth nearly £1 billion per year and benefit over 750,000 properties.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate HMRC has made of the number of staff who have not attended the office for more than six months.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Around 4000 staff have not attended an office for more than six months. The vast majority of whom are on statutory leave, such as maternity leave, have alternative contractual arrangements or who have another reason for non-attendance in the office such as staff with disabilities or temporary caring flexibilities.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many outstanding cases of people facing the retrospective loan charge she expects will be settled as a result of the McCann Review; and the likely timescale is for bringing the topic to a conclusion.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answers I gave on 23 June 2026 to UIN 9553.Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the government has modelled the net fiscal effect of a reduced rate of VAT on fitness services compared to the reduction in NHS and public costs associated with physical inactivity.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Addressing physical inactivity and getting people moving more is important for improving health outcomes, reducing demand on the National Health Service, and supporting economic growth.
The leisure and fitness sector play an important role in supporting the Government’s sickness to prevention shift through providing affordable and accessible opportunities for people to increase their activity levels.
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is the UK’s third largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26.
Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.
One of the key considerations when assessing a new VAT relief is whether the cost saving is likely to be passed on to consumers. Evidence suggests that businesses only partially pass on any savings from lower VAT rates. In some cases, reliefs do not represent good value for money, as there is no guarantee that savings will be passed on to consumers.
Asked by: James Cartlidge (Conservative - South Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what her Department's policy is on the issuing of war bonds to increase defence spending.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
On 30 June, the Prime Minister announced £15bn of additional defence spending for the Defence Investment Plan. More information, including a ‘Funding Explainer’, is available online: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-defence-investment-plan.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will list each third party database that HMRC has access to for the purposes of income tax collection.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC use third-party data to help simplify tax administration. Specifically in relation to calculating tax due, the key sources of third-party data are:
o Department for Work and Pensions – pension income and benefit information
o Bank and building societies– savings interest information
o Employers – payroll data about payments to employees
In addition, HMRC also make use of third-party data in our compliance activities to ensure customers pay the right amount of income tax. To protect the operational integrity of these activities we do not disclose all of our data sources, but at a high level they include card sales data and other data that provides evidence of undeclared taxable income.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much HM Government has contributed to the European Commission and EU institutions in each of the last ten years.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
When the UK was a EU Member State, financial contributions were made directly to the EU budget. These were disclosed in the annual HM Treasury EU Finances Statement (EUFS). Since the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, payments under the financial settlement in the Withdrawal Agreement continue to be disclosed annually in the EUFS. These can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/eu-annual-statement.
Financial contributions for UK association to the Horizon Europe and Copernicus programmes under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement are reported in the relevant department’s annual accounts as part of normal budgetary disclosures.
Asked by: Mims Davies (Conservative - East Grinstead and Uckfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of business rates on the hospitality, tourism, and leisure sectors in East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget, the VO announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties.
In recognition of the impact of the revaluation on bills, the Government has introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion, to protect against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills.
The Government also introduced new permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new multipliers are worth nearly £1 billion per year and benefit over 750,000 properties.
In addition to the support announced at Budget, the Government understands that pubs have been under huge pressure over recent years. Recognising the value they bring and the challenges they face, the Government has introduced a 1-year 15 per cent relief for all pubs and live music venues in 2026/27. For the following two years, their bills will then be frozen in real terms.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 29 May 2026, to Question 2051, on Revenue and Customs: Social Media, how many separate influencers were hired for the £436,700 of aggregate spending.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Social media hosts large amounts of unofficial tax guidance, which can sometimes be incomplete or misleading and contribute to customer confusion. Using HMRC-approved influencers helps ensure accurate, trustworthy information is presented in these spaces offering repeatable value for money, high engagement, and scalable content output for HMRC.
HMRC worked with 44 distinct influencers as part of this activity. Of these, 11 supported multiple campaigns. Total spend therefore reflects both repeat collaborations with a smaller number of influencers and one‑off engagements.
Asked by: Patrick Hurley (Labour - Southport)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of permitting development corporations to borrow for regeneration projects outside the Government's fiscal rules on economic growth.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government recognises the important role that development corporations can play in unlocking large-scale regeneration and
supporting economic growth, including through coordinating investment, land assembly, and accelerating delivery.
Development corporations have significant financial flexibility. They can access central government grants and borrowing. They can co-invest with private and institutional partners to de-risk development and attract additional capital and can develop and hold assets to generate income for reinvestment.
The Government recognises that long-term funding models and financial flexibility will be important to support delivery at scale.
We will continue to consider how best to ensure that development corporations have access to the tools they need to deliver nationally significant growth, working closely with local partners and relevant public financial institutions