Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will request that the Financial Conduct Authority assess whether people living in the 244 neighbourhoods experiencing the highest levels of deprivation are paying above average rates for (a) home, (b) car and (c) travel insurance.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government expects that insurers deliver good outcomes to consumers and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules. These rules require firms to ensure their products offer fair value. This means the price paid by consumers must be reasonable compared to the benefits they receive. The FCA monitors firms and has robust powers to act against firms that breach its rules.
The government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy, published on 5 November 2025, recognises that insurance has an important part to play in financial resilience and wellbeing, and sets out a range of interventions to improve access. This includes a total signposting initiative which will help underserved consumers find insurance policies which meet their needs.
The government also plans to publish the final report of the cross-government Motor Insurance Taskforce in the autumn. As part of the taskforce’s work to understand how the cost of motor insurance impacts on particular groups of customers, the FCA is conducting statistical analysis to evaluate the impacts on different age groups and consumers living in areas with a higher proportion of minority ethnic residents. The FCA will publish its findings later this year.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of abolishing business rates for pubs.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In April 2026, the Government will introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with ratable values below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure that eligible hospitality businesses, including pubs, benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
Ahead of the new multipliers being introduced, the Government prevented RHL business rates relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business.
Business rates are a vital source of Local Government funding and support critical local services, including children's and adult social care. As such, the Government has no plans to abolish business rates for pubs.
Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to reflect the costs of (a) digital connectivity and (b) public transport in (i) rural and (ii) urban areas in funding formulas.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government recognises that areas with different characteristics incur different local costs and considers this when making policy decisions.
The government has recently consulted on proposals to allocate local government funding more fairly through the Local Government Finance Settlement. This included consideration of how to effectively account for variations in relative cost and demand between local authorities, including differences between rural and urban areas.
Asked by: Mohammad Yasin (Labour - Bedford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority on the regulation of financial promotion content on social media linked to so-called pump-and-dump investment schemes; and what steps her Department is taking to protect consumers from misleading online investment advice.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK has a robust regime for identifying and tackling market abuse. It provides the FCA the ability to impose both criminal and regulatory sanctions against perpetrators of market manipulation and insider dealing.
The UK’s financial promotions regime is designed to ensure that consumers are provided with clear and accurate information that enables them to make appropriate decisions for their individual circumstances. As a technology-neutral framework, the regime holds financial promotions on social media to the same standards as those on any other channel. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are responsible for enforcing against any financial promotions that are illegal or which do not comply with its rules.
The provision of financial advice is an FCA regulated activity and those who provide financial advice need to be authorised by the FCA and have the appropriate qualifications. The FCA can take action against firms or individuals who carry out regulated activity without authorisation. Earlier this year, the FCA led a global week of action against unlawful finfluencers resulting in 650 take down requests on social media platforms in the UK.
The government is committed to ensuring that all consumers can access regulated and high-quality sources of advice and support. That is why, together with the FCA, we are developing a new regime called targeted support. This will enable regulated financial services firms to provide more support to give people the confidence to invest.
The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), an arm’s length body of the government, also provides comprehensive guidance to support consumers at every stage of their financial lives. Its MoneyHelper website offers information on a wide range of financial topics, including how to assess online and app-based investments, whether to trust investment recommendations on social media, and the risks of following unauthorised financial advice found online.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the regulation of car insurance providers.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is determined that insurers should treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) rules.
The FCA is an independent body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry across the United Kingdom and has robust powers to act against firms that fail to comply with its rules.
The government plans to publish the final report of the cross-government Motor Insurance Taskforce in the autumn. The Taskforce has a strategic remit to set the direction for UK Government policy, identifying short- and long-term actions for departments that may contribute to stabilising or reducing premiums, while maintaining appropriate levels of cover.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her policies on levels of inflation.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury does not produce forecasts for the UK economy. Forecasting the economy, including the impact of Government policy decisions, is the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which published its latest forecast on 26 March 2025. The Chancellor has asked departments to prioritise reducing inflation when developing policies for the Autumn Budget, ensuring decisions support stability and long-term growth.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact pf (a) mobile phone and (b) broadband contract increases on inflation in (a) each year since 2020 and (b) each forecasted year her Department holds data on.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for producing the UK’s official inflation statistics. These capture the contribution of particular sectors of the economy to inflation. Mobile phone and broadband services sit within the “Telephone and telefax equipment and services” class of the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) basket.
HM Treasury does not produce forecasts for the UK economy. Forecasting the economy, including the impact of Government policy decisions, is the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which published its latest forecast on 26 March 2025. The Chancellor has asked departments to prioritise reducing inflation when developing policies for the Autumn Budget, ensuring decisions support stability and long-term growth.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to Question 81881 on Coinage: Design, whether the (a) Royal Mint Advisory Committee, (b) Sub-Committee on the Selection of Themes and (c) her Department have issued guidance on reflecting diversity in coinage (i) themes and (ii) designs.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Royal Mint Advisory Committee advises the Chancellor of the Exchequer (in her capacity as Master of the Mint) and His Majesty the King on the themes and designs of new coins. Committee members are appointed for their distinguished expertise in areas including design, art, history and heritage, and apply their professional judgement when considering coin themes and designs.
Recommendations to the Master of the Mint and His Majesty the King on coin themes and designs are made collectively by the Committee and Sub-Committee, drawing on the professional judgement and expertise of their members. There is no formal policy on diversity considerations as part of this process.
Asked by: Warinder Juss (Labour - Wolverhampton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps she has taken to assess the unregulated lending market.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The market for lending in the UK is diverse. Consumer credit is highly regulated, while business lending is largely a commercial matter save for regulatory protections that are afforded to the smallest businesses, requiring protections equivalent to those given to consumers. A number of different public bodies routinely make assessments of lending provision in the UK as a whole, its shape and character, including the British Business Bank and Bank of England. The Government takes an interest in this work, and engages with various stakeholders to understand the provision of finance in the UK and matters relating to business lending.
More widely, the Government recognises the importance of understanding private credit provision in the UK, as both banks and private markets play important roles in lending to the real economy, diversifying funding sources and supporting innovation. Globally, private markets have become an increasingly important source of finance for firms, and drove nearly all of the increase in lending to UK businesses between 2008 and 2023. The Government therefore supports the recent efforts of the Bank of England, FPC and domestic and international regulators to deepen their understanding of, and work to mitigate, any emerging risks in private markets, and better understand the connections between private credit and the wider banking system.
Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the policy paper entitled Transforming Business Rates: Interim Report, updated 17 September 2025, whether the proposed reforms on moving from a slab to slice system will be implemented for the introduction of the new surcharge for hereditaments over £500,000 Rateable Value.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Transforming Business Rates: Interim Report, published on 11 September, sets out the Government’s next steps to deliver a fairer business rates system. The Interim Report brings together extensive feedback from a broad range of stakeholders and outlines the Government’s next steps to delivery a fairer business rates system, that supports investment and is fit for the 21st century.
Stakeholders told us that the business rates system can discourage expansion into bigger properties. The Government will explore the case to move to a marginal tax rate, similar to income tax, to support investment and expansion.
The Government will provide a further update at the Budget. Transforming the business rates system is a multi-year process. The Government will consider reforms beyond Budget 2025, and any reforms taken forward will be phased over the course of the Parliament.