Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 88 of the UK Government Resilience Action Plan, how many meetings Ministers in their Department have attended related to the Home Defence Programme.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has regular discussions with officials, external experts and ministerial colleagues on a range of issues, including national security, defence and resilience. This includes attending and speaking at public and sector events.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many outstanding cases of people facing the Loan Charge she expects will be settled as a result of the McCann review.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget 2024 the Government announced a new independent review of the loan charge. The purpose of the review was to 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 gone further in supporting people on the lowest incomes by providing an additional £5,000 deduction for those in scope of the review. This entirely removes approximately 10,000 individuals from the charge and reduces liabilities for the vast majority. Most others will see their liabilities reduced by at least half.
Under the review recommendations, an individual earning £30,000 who used a disguised remuneration scheme for three years would have their liability reduced by 66 percent. Under the Government’s plans, they will instead see 89 percent written off. It represents the Government’s attempt to provide a fair route to resolution for those who have not settled with HMRC. In turn, those people need to come forward and engage with HMRC in good faith.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the value for money to the taxpayer of the Loan Charge.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget 2024 the Government announced a new independent review of the loan charge. The purpose of the review was to 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 gone further in supporting people on the lowest incomes by providing an additional £5,000 deduction for those in scope of the review. This entirely removes approximately 10,000 individuals from the charge and reduces liabilities for the vast majority. Most others will see their liabilities reduced by at least half.
Under the review recommendations, an individual earning £30,000 who used a disguised remuneration scheme for three years would have their liability reduced by 66 percent. Under the Government’s plans, they will instead see 89 percent written off. It represents the Government’s attempt to provide a fair route to resolution for those who have not settled with HMRC. In turn, those people need to come forward and engage with HMRC in good faith.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will provide an itemised list of import and exports of (a) Crayfish and Lobster and (b) Fish products from Tristan Da Cunha.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 imports and exports information monthly, as an Accredited Official Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com).
From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria. To use the tables, you will need the commodity codes for crayfish, lobster and fish products. These codes are publicly available from the UK Trade Tariff at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff. Lobster and crayfish are classified to Chapter 03 of the Tariff and fish products are classified within Chapter 16.
The data on the website will, within limitations, tell you the total value of imports of these products into the UK. It includes value and weight (kg) of imports and exports. However, it will not identify individual items as this could identify individual importers or exporters. This would be in conflict with Section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (CRCA). CRCA restricts the information that HMRC may disclose publicly on persons making imports and exports.
It will not be possible to distinguish imports and exports specifically from or to Tristan Da Cunha because for trade statistics purposes the territory of “Tristan Da Cunha” is included and grouped together with imports from and exports to Saint Helena, Tristan Da Cunha and other islands in this area.
If you need help or support in constructing a table from the data on uktradeinfo, please contact uktradeinfo@hmrc.gov.uk.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will provide an itemised list of imports and exports of (a) coffee and (b) fish and fish products from Saint Helena.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 imports and exports information monthly, as an Accredited Official Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com).
From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria. To use the tables, you will need the commodity codes for coffee, fish and fish products. These codes are publicly available from the UK Trade Tariff at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff. Coffee is classified to Chapter 09 of the Tariff, fish are classified to Chapter 03 and fish products are classified within Chapter 16.
The data on the website will, within limitations, tell you the total value of imports and exports of these products into and out of the UK. It includes the value and weight (kg) of imports and exports. However, it will not identify individual items as this could identify individual importers or exporters. This would be in conflict with Section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (CRCA). CRCA restricts the information that HMRC may disclose publicly on persons making imports and exports.
It will not be possible to distinguish imports and exports specifically from or to Saint Helena because for trade statistics purposes the territory of “St Helena” includes imports from and exports to Saint Helena, Tristan da Cunha and other islands in this area.
If you need help or support in constructing a table from the data on uktradeinfo, please contact uktradeinfo@hmrc.gov.uk.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the change in business rates liability for the further education college sector in 2026/7 relative to 2024/5.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget, the VOA 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 as they recover from the pandemic.
In recognition of the impact of the revaluation on bills, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion, to protect against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down next year. This also means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
Asked by: Jim Allister (Traditional Unionist Voice - North Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses were referred to HMRC because they had outstanding supplementary declarations and or post-movement Internal Market Movement Information (IMMI) or their account, during: i) June 2025, ii) July 2025, iii) August 2025, iv) September 2025, v) October 2025, vi) November 2025, vii) December 2025, viii) January 2026 and ix) February 2026.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC does not routinely share compliance data where its disclosure may undermine current or future enforcement action.
HMRC takes a risk and intelligence-based approach to enforcement of trade obligations relating to the movement of goods.
Since the introduction of the arrangements concerning goods movements into and out of Northern Ireland, HMRC has worked closely with the Trader Support Service (TSS) to ensure that traders understand their obligations, are offered support to meet them, and that proportionate steps are taken to enforce their compliance.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will provide an itemised list of exports of (a) fish and fisheries, (b) wool and (c) meat products from the Falkland Islands.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK which includes data on imports of fish and fisheries products, wool and meat products from the Falkland Islands. 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 (www.uktradeinfo.com).
From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria. To use the tables, you will need the commodity codes for fish, fisheries products, wool and meat products. These codes are publicly available from the UK Trade Tariff at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff . Fish are classified within Chapter 03 of the Tariff, wool is found within Chapter 51 and fisheries and meat products within Chapter 16.
The data on the website will, within limitations, tell you the total value of imports of these products into the UK from the Falklands Islands. It includes value and weight (kg) of imports. However, it will not identify individual items as this could identify individual importers. This would be in conflict with Section 18 of the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (CRCA). CRCA restricts the information that HMRC may disclose publicly on persons making imports and exports.
If you need help or support in constructing a table from the data on uktradeinfo, please contact uktradeinfo@hmrc.gov.uk.
Asked by: Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat - North Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to help increase economic growth in Norfolk.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
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.
Asked by: Lord Farmer (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much has been underspent, year on year, from projected budgets of foregone revenue due to couples claiming the marriage allowance.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
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.