Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many individuals with outstanding Loan Charge liabilities are estimated to have debts exceeding £140,000; and of those, how many she expects will be able to settle under the terms announced following the McCann Review.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government recognised that concerns were raised about the Loan Charge under the previous government 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 affected, ensure fairness for all taxpayers and ensure that appropriate support is in place for those subject to the Loan Charge.
Page 19 of the Independent Loan Charge Review report provides estimates of the distribution of outstanding liabilities.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/independent-review-of-the-loan-charge
The Government accepted all but one of the independent review’s recommendations and in some cases is going further, including writing off the first £5,000 from everyone’s liability. Around a third will have their liabilities written off entirely. Most people will see reductions in their liabilities of at least 50%.
The new settlement opportunity is open to anyone with outstanding Loan Charge liabilities, including employers.
The Government’s response to the review represents a fair and proportionate attempt to provide a route to resolution for those who have not yet been able to settle with HMRC. In turn, this requires those individuals to now come forward and engage with HMRC in good faith.
Asked by: Lisa Smart (Liberal Democrat - Hazel Grove)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the settlement opportunity arising from the McCann Review does not include those whose use of disguised remuneration schemes occurred before 9 December 2010 or after 5 April 2019.
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 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 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.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of differential treatment of electric and internal combustion engine motorcycles under the proposed electric Vehicle Excise Duty framework on drivers; and whether he has considered extending any VED exemptions to all motorcycles on the basis their road surface impact.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
All UK-registered electric and plug-in hybrid cars will pay Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED). Other vehicle types such as vans, buses, coaches, motorcycles and heavy goods vehicles will be out of scope of the tax upon its introduction. This is because the transition to electric for these vehicle types is less advanced than for cars at this stage.
With regards to existing VED, the government has no current plans to exempt motorcycles on the basis of their impact on road surfaces. The taxation of motoring is a critical source of funding for our vital public services and investment in infrastructure, including upkeep of the roads.
Asked by: Lord Empey (Ulster Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the accuracy of economic predictions submitted to them by the Office of Budget Responsibility.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Economic forecasts, including assessments of the impact of policy decisions, are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
The OBR is required to produce a Forecast Evaluation Report (FER) each year under the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act (2011). The OBR is required to explain the reasons for divergence between its forecasts and subsequent outturns, to support future forecast improvements.
The latest Forecast Evaluation Report was published in July 2025 and can be found on their website.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken with credit reference agencies, lenders and the third sector towards improving how coerced debt is reflected.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Last year, the Government published a Financial Inclusion Strategy which includes economic abuse as a key theme across its areas of focus, in recognition of the particular challenges victim-survivors can face in accessing financial products and services.
The Strategy seeks to support victim-survivors to regain financial independence. This includes an intervention to improve the impact of economic abuse on victim-survivors’ credit scores and, through this, their ability to access products going forward. This work will develop appropriate options lenders should take when reporting data to Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs), depending on the victim-survivor’s circumstances, to minimise the negative impact on their credit files. The Government is continuing to work closely with CRAs, lenders, and consumer organisations as this work develops.
The Economic Secretary was also pleased to recently welcome Sam Smethers, CEO of Surviving Economic Abuse, a leading economic abuse charity, to the Financial Inclusion Committee. This Committee helped develop the Strategy and will support its delivery moving forward.
Asked by: Baroness Curran (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following their decision to impose sanctions on Georgian news channels Imedi TV and Post TV, whether they have advised London-listed Georgian banking institutions of the consequences of non-compliance with those sanctions.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, is the UK’s competent authority for the implementation of UK financial sanctions.
It is the responsibility of all UK persons, including companies, to comply fully with UK financial sanctions. OFSI does not routinely advise institutions on an individual basis of the consequences of non-compliance with UK financial sanctions.
OFSI does undertake regular industry engagement and publishes comprehensive guidance to ensure financial sanctions are understood and complied with effectively across a range of sectors, including the banking and financial sectors. OFSI will take proportionate enforcement action where it identifies breaches of UK financial sanctions.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the cost of the standard rate of Insurance Premium Tax to (1) listed property homeowners, and (2) the homeowners of properties that are not listed; and what plans they have to (a) exempt, or (b) lower, the rate of Insurance Premium Tax on listed building insurance premiums.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) receipts are not broken down by type of insurance; therefore it is not possible to assess the IPT paid by owners of listed and non-listed properties. Insurance pricing is affected by a wide range of factors, and the taxes that insurers pay are just one part of this.
IPT is a broad-based tax which raises important revenue to fund essential public services. The rate of IPT has been unchanged since 2017. The Government keeps all taxes under review and the Chancellor makes decisions at Budgets in the context of the overall public finances.
Asked by: Baroness Curran (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to meet with the Georgian business community in London to discuss their obligations to comply with the sanction of Georgian media outlets Imedi TV and Post TV.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
There is no current engagement scheduled to take place between the Georgian business community in London and HM Treasury in relation to UK financial sanctions.
It is the responsibility of all UK persons, including companies, to comply fully with UK financial sanctions. OFSI undertakes regular industry engagement and publishes comprehensive guidance to ensure financial sanctions are understood and complied with effectively across a range of sectors. OFSI will take proportionate enforcement action where it identifies breaches of UK financial sanctions.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to allow a victim of financial coercive control to reset their credit score to its value before the abusive relationship began.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Last year, the Government published a Financial Inclusion Strategy which includes economic abuse as a key theme across its areas of focus, in recognition of the particular challenges victim-survivors can face in accessing financial products and services.
The Strategy seeks to support victim-survivors to regain financial independence. This includes an intervention to improve the impact of economic abuse on victim-survivors’ credit scores and, through this, their ability to access products going forward. This work will develop appropriate options lenders should take when reporting data to Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs), depending on the victim-survivor’s circumstances, to minimise the negative impact on their credit files. The Government is continuing to work closely with CRAs, lenders, and consumer organisations as this work develops.
The Economic Secretary was also pleased to recently welcome Sam Smethers, CEO of Surviving Economic Abuse, a leading economic abuse charity, to the Financial Inclusion Committee. This Committee helped develop the Strategy and will support its delivery moving forward.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions her Department has had with LINK to ensure that banking hubs continue to accept cheques.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises that cheques remain an important payment method for some people. Decisions on whether cheque deposits are accepted and processed through Post Office counters in banking hubs are commercial matters for individual banks, based on their arrangements with the Post Office and Cash Access UK, which operates banking hubs. A significant number of retail banks continue to accept cheque depositing services through these counters.
Where cheque depositing is not available at a banking hub counter, customers continue to have alternative options to pay in cheques, including at bank branches, by post, or digitally via mobile banking apps using cheque imaging technology. 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 Government continues to engage with the banking industry to improve the consistency and functionality of services provided through banking hubs, including through recent discussions with banks, Cash Access UK and UK Finance.