Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department will publish a detailed breakdown of how other departments' capital budgets have been reduced in order to fund the Defence Investment Plan.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In June, the government announced £15 billion between 2026-27 and 2029-30 for the Defence Investment Plan. It confirmed that £10.3 billion would be funded by reprioritising public spending, with details set out at:
The Defence Investment Plan Funding explainer - GOV.UK
To fund the residual £4.7 billion, Budget 2026 confirms that departmental capital budgets will be reduced by a further 1% from 2027-28 to 2029-30 to raise £3 billion, and an additional £1.7 billion will be funded from unallocated contingency in the Treasury’s capital Reserve.
Updated departmental capital budgets, which reflect these changes, were published at Budget 2026.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has authorised a payment to Oliver Robbins following the legal action initiated by the First Division Association.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The settlement with Sir Oliver was subject to normal HR processes within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), including the requirements set out in the Guidance on Public Sector Exit Payments.
Asked by: Imogen Walker (Labour - Hamilton and Clyde Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that economic growth delivers higher real wages for workers in Hamilton and Clyde Valley.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
To deliver higher wage growth across the UK, the Government is prioritising economic growth. The UK saw the joint-fastest growth in the G7 in the first half of this year, and the IMF predicts the UK to be the joint second-fastest growing G7 economy in 2026
To ensure economic growth and real wage growth is felt in Hamilton and Clyde Valley, the Government has confirmed £20 million of co-funding with the Scottish Government for two Defence Technical Excellence Colleges in the east and west of Scotland, supporting routes into high-wage careers in the defence sector
In addition, the government has announced a 3.9% increase in the National Living Wage, to £13.21 per hour, and a 3.9% increase to the National Minimum Wage, from 1 April 2027. This follows the government’s uprating in April 2026, which was estimated to directly benefit 180,000 workers in Scotland.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of reforms to the Tour Operators' Margin Scheme on coach holiday businesses.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The government published a call for evidence on 28 October 2026 “VAT treatment of travel services in relation to the Tour Operators’ Margin Scheme’, which runs until 31 January 2027. It seeks views on retaining, reforming, simplifying or withdrawing the scheme, including changes to calculations and transitional arrangements. Coach holiday businesses and their representative bodies can contribute evidence about the potential effects on their operations. The evidence received will inform future proposals and assessments of their impacts.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment se has made of international schemes which provide tax incentives for smaller or lighter electric vehicles.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events, and does not routinely comment on proposals.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Budget Statement on the 29th of October 2026, what his department defines as a Vape Shop.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
At Budget 2026, the Government announced changes to business rates to ensure reliefs are better targeted at businesses that support thriving high streets.
Definitions will be published in due course, and we expect these to include premises that mostly or wholly sell vaping products.
As Business Rates are devolved, this policy applies in England only.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been generated by the apprenticeship levy in each year since its establishment.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
HMRC publishes the value of Apprenticeship Levy receipts by tax year in their HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK statistics publication.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the combined financial impact on graduates of freezing income tax thresholds and Plan 2 student loan repayment thresholds.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At Budget 2025, the Government set out to protect funding for the NHS and other public services whilst reducing the national debt. The Government asked everyone to contribute toward this by maintaining personal tax thresholds at their current levels until April 2031.
At that time, the Government published estimates of the impact of maintaining income tax thresholds, including the number of additional taxpayers expected to be brought into the higher rate of Income Tax, in the accompanying Tax Information and Impact Note, published 26 November 2025.
For the financial impact of the Plan 2 repayment threshold freeze, I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 8 September 2026 in response to Question UIN 25214.
The Government will continue to keep the student loan system under review to ensure it is fair to students and sustainable for taxpayers.
Asked by: Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance - Lagan Valley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether any Barnett consequentials will be allocated to Northern Ireland as part of the investment fund to tackle rough sleeping during Christmas 2026.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Northern Ireland Executive will receive Barnett consequentials arising from the Rough Sleeping Programme in the usual way. It is for the Executive to determine how to allocate its funding across its devolved responsibilities.
Asked by: David Smith (Labour - North Northumberland)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of the UK commercial fishing fleet make use of marine voyage relief.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
HMRC holds information on fuel supplied for marine use, and on marine voyage relief claims, but the information is not recorded by vessel type. It is therefore not possible to determine the number, or proportion, of fishing vessels claiming the relief.