Asked by: Baroness Coffey (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 8 July (HL1794), what is the source of the data provided, including a direct link to where it is published; and what is the quarterly breakdown of the annualised data provided from Q1 2016 to Q1 2026.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Real household disposable income (RHDI) is reported by the ONS as part of the UK Economic Accounts, available here: UK Economic Accounts - Office for National Statistics. Due to quarterly volatility, RHDI per capita is best suited to annual comparisons. The previous response noted that RHDI per capita was £26,159 in 2019 (Q1 2019 to Q4 2019), compared to £26,187 in the year to Q1 2026 (Q2 2025 to Q1 2026).
The quarterly data is provided in the table below:
Quarter | RHDI per capita |
Q1 2016 | 6,336 |
Q2 2016 | 6,340 |
Q3 2016 | 6,286 |
Q4 2016 | 6,235 |
Q1 2017 | 6,208 |
Q2 2017 | 6,347 |
Q3 2017 | 6,359 |
Q4 2017 | 6,381 |
Q1 2018 | 6,424 |
Q2 2018 | 6,374 |
Q3 2018 | 6,389 |
Q4 2018 | 6,475 |
Q1 2019 | 6,459 |
Q2 2019 | 6,542 |
Q3 2019 | 6,554 |
Q4 2019 | 6,604 |
Q1 2020 | 6,488 |
Q2 2020 | 6,368 |
Q3 2020 | 6,540 |
Q4 2020 | 6,562 |
Q1 2021 | 6,618 |
Q2 2021 | 6,634 |
Q3 2021 | 6,577 |
Q4 2021 | 6,449 |
Q1 2022 | 6,465 |
Q2 2022 | 6,311 |
Q3 2022 | 6,299 |
Q4 2022 | 6,386 |
Q1 2023 | 6,305 |
Q2 2023 | 6,363 |
Q3 2023 | 6,338 |
Q4 2023 | 6,356 |
Q1 2024 | 6,448 |
Q2 2024 | 6,455 |
Q3 2024 | 6,559 |
Q4 2024 | 6,649 |
Q1 2025 | 6,610 |
Q2 2025 | 6,562 |
Q3 2025 | 6,513 |
Q4 2025 | 6,584 |
Q1 2026 | 6,529 |
Notes on the data: RHDI per capita is calculated by dividing real household disposable income (ONS variable NRJR) by total population (ONS variable EBAQ).
Asked by: Lord Murphy of Torfaen (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will extend non-payment of inheritance tax on personal estates from six to 12 months because of severe delays to the obtaining of probate.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Inheritance tax is due at the end of the sixth month after the date of death. After this point, late payment interest will begin to accrue on the outstanding tax. The Government has no plans to change the existing, longstanding deadlines.
The most recent Family Court Statistics Bulletin published by the Ministry of Justice shows that probate grants took approximately 5 weeks to be issued after the application was submitted during January to March 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Foster of Oxton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to meet the efficiency savings outlined in the funding package for the Defence Investment Plan.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Defence will deliver £10.7 billion of efficiencies and savings over the Parliament, including through a reshaped civilian workforce, accelerated use of AI, £1 billion of savings from reduced reliance on consultancies, and rationalisation of the MOD estate. This will be underpinned by a £500m Transformation Fund to deliver productivity improving investments in AI and workforce transformation
The plan will be subject to an annual update to Parliament before summer recess, audited by the NAO, with the first update due by July 2027.
A further breakdown of the Defence Reform and Efficiency Plan can be found on page 73 of the Defence Investment Plan, available on the government website.
Asked by: Baroness Foster of Oxton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans, if any, they have to allocate further funding to the Defence Investment Plan.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Defence Investment Plan allocates a further £15 billion to defence spending over the next four years, funded by reprioritising public spending, with £10.3 billion already identified and a further £4.7 billion to be confirmed at Budget 2026 in a fair and balanced way. This brings total defence spending to almost £300 billion over the next four years and by 2027-28, the UK will spend 2.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on core NATO defence spending.
The Government has committed to increasing defence spending to 3% of GDP in the next Parliament, with funding and plans to be set out in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Foster of Oxton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the £4.7 billion of uncommitted funding in the Defence Investment Plan will be met at the next Budget.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Defence Investment Plan allocates a further £15 billion to defence spending over the next four years, funded by reprioritising public spending, with £10.3 billion already identified and a further £4.7 billion to be confirmed at Budget 2026 in a fair and balanced way.
A Defence Investment Plan Funding Explainer can be found on the government website.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of taxation on working people.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has made fair and necessary choices on tax so it can deliver on the public’s priorities. Everyone is being asked to contribute to support these goals, but the Government is keeping the contribution from working people as low as possible by ensuring the wealthiest contribute more.
Asked by: Lord Moynihan (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they are planning to increase the Energy Profits Levy.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government introduced a temporary windfall tax, the Energy Profits Levy (EPL), on extraordinary profits from oil and gas companies in 2022. The EPL currently levies 38% tax on profits in addition to the 40% rate of tax in the permanent fiscal regime
The EPL will come to an end either on 31 March 2030 or earlier if the Energy Security Investment Mechanism (ESIM) triggers, and will be replaced by the permanent Oil and Gas Revenue Levy (OGRL) which will become a permanent feature of the tax system and operate only in times of high prices to ensure oil and gas companies continue to pay their fair share of tax.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of artificial intelligence by the Financial Conduct Authority to support the handling of supervisory cases.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The FCA is operationally independent of government, and as such the government has not made an assessment of its use of artificial intelligence (AI). The FCA is accountable to the government and Parliament for the exercise of its functions.
The government is committed to the safe and responsible adoption of AI across the economy, and welcomes regulators considering how they can use AI in a way that improves efficiency, while keeping human judgement central to decision-making.
Asked by: Lord Balfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of changing the rates of Capital Gains Tax to move in line with income tax rates; and what assessment they have made of how effective such a change would be.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Decisions on tax policy are taken by the Chancellor at fiscal events.
Asked by: Baroness Neville-Rolfe (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Livermore on 14 July (HL Deb col 562), what legal advice they have received on the compatibility of a revised UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the UK's obligations under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal.
Answered by Lord Pitt-Watson - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK and EU are committed to building a closer relationship and are negotiating agreements that will boost trade, enhance energy security and create opportunities for young people. The government takes all its international partnerships seriously and will ensure that UK-EU agreements are consistent with the UK’s wider international obligations.