Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury of 3 December 2025, Official Report, column 991, what she held discussions with the Independent Advisor on Ministerial Standards before announcing the investigation.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
A leak inquiry is now under way and the government does not comment on the details of leak inquiries.
The Independent Adviser for Ministerial Standards has written to the leader of Reform UK and does not intend to investigate this matter.
The Chief Executive Officer of the FCA has written to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee and the FCA have not launched an enforcement investigation.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury of 3 December 2025, Official Report, column 991, whether the Financial Conduct Authority be involved in the investigation.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
A leak inquiry is now under way and the government does not comment on the details of leak inquiries.
The Independent Adviser for Ministerial Standards has written to the leader of Reform UK and does not intend to investigate this matter.
The Chief Executive Officer of the FCA has written to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee and the FCA have not launched an enforcement investigation.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury of 3 December 2025, Official Report, column 991, what the terms of reference are for the investigation.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
A leak inquiry is now under way and the government does not comment on the details of leak inquiries.
The Independent Adviser for Ministerial Standards has written to the leader of Reform UK and does not intend to investigate this matter.
The Chief Executive Officer of the FCA has written to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee and the FCA have not launched an enforcement investigation.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury of 3 December 2025, Official Report, column 991, what the planned timetable is for the inquiry.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
A leak inquiry is now under way and the government does not comment on the details of leak inquiries.
The Independent Adviser for Ministerial Standards has written to the leader of Reform UK and does not intend to investigate this matter.
The Chief Executive Officer of the FCA has written to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee and the FCA have not launched an enforcement investigation.
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 4 December to Question 95961 on Business Rates: Tax Allowances, if she will modify the Budget 2025: Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Factsheet, published on 28 November, to reflect that the calculation for the applicable Transition Relief cap for 2026/27 is made from the base liability for 2025/26 before RHL relief has been applied.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
No, I will not modify the Budget 2025: RHL Factsheet. It is correct.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury of 3 December 2025, Official Report, column 991, how much funding her Department plans to provide for the leak inquiry.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
A leak inquiry is now under way and the government does not comment on the details of leak inquiries.
The Independent Adviser for Ministerial Standards has written to the leader of Reform UK and does not intend to investigate this matter.
The Chief Executive Officer of the FCA has written to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee and the FCA have not launched an enforcement investigation.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much has been recovered by HM Revenue and Customs from furlough fraud to date.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC’s latest fully assured figures, covering up to the end of March 2025, have been published in the HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hmrc-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025
Across the three HMRC-administered COVID-19 support schemes Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) and Eat Out to Help Out (EOHO), up to the end of March 2025, HMRC’s compliance effort on the COVID-19 schemes has prevented the payment of or recovered the overpayment of over £1.7 billion worth of grants, which is made up of £430 million prevented from being paid out and £1.3 billion recovered from overpayments.
Of the overall £1.3 billion recovered from overpayments, £920 million relates to CJRS.
HMRC identifies claims for compliance checks where the amount of the claim is out of step with other information. The risk that the claim is incorrect may be due to a range of reasons from an honest mistake through to fraud, therefore our data does not distinguish between error and fraud.
HMRC also introduced dedicated voluntary disclosure portals where claimants can voluntarily repay a COVID-19 support scheme grant, either because they have identified an overpayment of a grant or if they no longer require it. These repayment facilities have so far resulted in unprompted disclosures and voluntary repayments of over £1 billion for CJRS, £51 million for SEISS, and £2 million for EOHO.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of anti money laundering controls in bureaux de change and money service businesses.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The latest National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, published in July 2025, confirms that Money Service Businesses (MSBs) remain high risk for both money laundering and terrorist financing, unchanged from the 2020 rating. The report can be found here:
National risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing 2025 - GOV.UK
The Government recognises the importance of targeting anti-money laundering (AML) activity at the highest-risk sectors as part of a risk-based approach. That is why the latest amendments to the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs), due to be laid in 2026, will make the MLRs more proportionate and effective by ensuring that so-called ‘Know Your Customer’ requirements on regulated businesses such as MSBs are clearer and more targeted at high-risk activity.
HMRC is the AML supervisor for MSBs. While we cannot comment on individual cases, HMRC provides HM Treasury with data on the number and risk profile of MSBs operating in the UK, as well as information on how it assesses and responds to MSB-related risks. This information is published in HM Treasury’s annual anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervision report, the latest version of which is available here:
Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism: Supervision Report 2023-24 - GOV.UK
HMRC also publishes details of penalties it has issued to businesses for non-compliance with the MLRs. The information for the 2024-25 financial year can be found here:
Businesses that have not complied with the money laundering regulations (2024 to 2025) - GOV.UK
According to this data, in 2024-25 16 MSBs were fined a total of £50,276 for failures in: the provision of registration information; notifying HMRC of material change; having the correct policies, controls and procedures; conducting due diligence; record keeping; and providing requested information or documents. HMRC also applies a range of non-financial penalties, including preventing businesses from trading through suspension or cancellation of their supervisory registration, to address risks in its supervised sectors.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to increase levels of household savings.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Everyone should have access to affordable and appropriate products for their financial wellbeing. The government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and ensuring individuals and households have greater financial security.
This is why the government offers several ways to help people save and increase their financial resilience. The overall ISA allowance of £20,000 ensures that savers can put significant sums away in a tax-free savings account. For those who save outside of an ISA, the Personal Savings Allowance provides up to £1,000 of tax-free savings interest for basic rate taxpayers, and £500 for higher rate taxpayers.
The Help to Save scheme supports financial resilience for working people on low incomes by encouraging consistent, long-term saving and helping them build a financial buffer to plan and prepare for the future. The scheme is currently available to working individuals in receipt of Universal Credit, ensuring it remains targeted at its intended population.
As announced at Autumn Budget 2025, the government will make the Help to Save scheme permanent and, from April 2028, will expand eligibility to include all Universal Credit claimants who receive the child element, the caring element or both.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for the total spend on (i) LinkedIn membership fees (ii) other subscriptions by her Department in the last financial year.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
In financial year 2024/25, HM Treasury spent £16,103.50 on a LinkedIn contract as part of the department’s advertisements of external job vacancies. There was no other HM Treasury spend on other LinkedIn fees or subscriptions.