Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of salary sacrifice schemes in supporting the uptake of electric vehicles.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced new Company Car Tax rates for the years 2028-29 and 2029-30, which increase for both electric vehicles (EVs) and petrol/diesel vehicles, while still maintaining generous incentives to support EV take-up.
The Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) published alongside Budget set out the expected economic, equalities and other impacts, and highlighted that overall the measure was expected to encourage the take-up of zero emission vehicles.
The Government recognises that the Company Car Tax regime and the salary sacrifice exemption for ultra-low and zero emission vehicles continues to play an important role in the EV transition. The Government needs to balance these incentives against responsible management of public finances to ensure we have sufficient revenue to fund essential public services. A company car is a valuable benefit and therefore needs to be taxed appropriately.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West and Islwyn)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the report entitled Tenure change: turning existing dwellings and buildings in social homes, published by the Bevan Foundation and Shelter Cymru in March 2026; and, in that context, what assessment has she made of the potential impact of VAT on a) general refurbishment works and b) renovation of empty dwellings on the number of empty properties being brought back into use for social housing in Wales.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
To support the re-use of existing buildings for new homes, conversions of buildings from a commercial to residential use, the renovation of properties that have been empty for two or more years, and conversions from one residential use to another all benefit from a reduced 5% rate of VAT.
General refurbishment works are subject to the standard 20% VAT rate, which applies to most goods services. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.
The Government is supporting the delivery of new social housing through the VAT system by preparing to consult on a zero rate of VAT for the sale of land intended for new social housing. This is specifically intended to simplify and accelerate the construction of social housing.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what formal safeguards are in place to ensure that publication of the Electronic Financial Statement via HM Treasury does not compromise the operational independence of the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury published the March 2026 Economic and Fiscal Forecast on behalf of the Office for Budget Responsibility and at its request.
Paragraph 3.12 of the Budget Information Security Review notes: “The publication of the OBR’s EFO on GOV.UK by HMT should not diminish the OBR’s independence and will not give HMT access to any information ahead of time of which it is not already aware.”
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 10 November 2025, to Question 85191, on Parliament: Public Expenditure, how much of the (a) resource and (b) capital expenditure in each year was notionally allocated to support Restoration and Renewal.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
It would be for Parliament to confirm these allocations.
Asked by: Jess Brown-Fuller (Liberal Democrat - Chichester)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing temporary emergency price controls on retail petrol and diesel prices.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government and the CMA are closely monitoring petrol and diesel prices in light of instability in the Middle East, while the CMA are considering what options they have available if there is evidence of unfair practices.
The government are also engaging regularly with refiners, importers and distributors to ensure any emerging risks are identified and managed promptly. Households should be reassured the UK benefits from strong and diverse security of energy supplies, and there are no issues with fuel supply.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of National Insurance changes on the closure rate of charities.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN set out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
More widely, the UK tax regime for charities, including the exemption from paying business rates, is among the most generous of anywhere in the world. Tax reliefs for charities and their donors were worth over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2025, of which gift aid made up just over £2.5 billion and business rates relief over £2.7 billion.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how she plans to undertake loan charge settlement for those impacted prior to December 2010.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government recognised that concerns continued to be raised about the loan charge and that some felt strongly that this 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 affected, ensure fairness for all taxpayers and ensure that appropriate support is in place for those subject to the loan charge.
The settlement opportunity will only include disguised remuneration scheme use between December 2010 and April 2019 because this is the period during which the loan charge applies.
The settlement opportunity will not apply to other tax avoidance schemes that are not within scope of the loan charge. In those cases, 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 by offering flexible payment terms where people need more time to pay their liabilities.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's policy paper entitled Budget Information Security Review, published on 9 February 2026, whether her Department has identified the (a) individual and (b) entity that accessed the Electronic Financial Statement in March 2025.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
As noted in Paragraph 3.6 of the Budget Information Security Review, the National Cyber Security Centre explained why it is not possible to identify to whom the IP addresses used to obtain early access in March or November 2025 belong.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to support off-grid households in Wales with the changing costs of domestic heating oil.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The government recognises the pressures facing households who rely on heating oil. This is why we are providing an additional £53 million of targeted support for vulnerable households, largely in rural communities.
This funding has been allocated based on census data, and the Welsh Government will receive £3.8 million.
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 policy paper entitled UK Government Resilience Action Plan, published on 14 July 2025, how many meetings have been attended by civil servants within their Department in relation to the Home Defence Programme; which directorate in the Department owns the Departmental contribution to the Home Defence Programme; and what the job title is of the civil servant leading and cohering the Departmental contribution to the Home Defence Programme.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury officials regularly attend meetings to discuss the implementation of the Resilience Action Plan as well as matters of national security and defence.