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Written Question
Empty Property: Business Rates
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to question 1 of his Department's consultation on business rates avoidance and evasion, published in July 2023, and to page 37 of his Department's publication entitled, Spring Budget 2024: Policy Costings, published in March 2024, whether his Department made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the reset period for empty property relief to six months.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Responses to the Business Rates Avoidance and Evasion consultation made clear that avoidance of business rates through abuse of Empty Property Relief (EPR) is an area we need to take action on. Most respondents, and all those from local government, agreed that extending the EPR ‘reset period’ is an effective means of reducing rates avoidance. Extending the reset period to 13 weeks will help ensure a level playing field between ratepayers while maintaining support for landlords while they seek new tenants for vacant properties.


Written Question
Empty Property: Business Rates
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: James Murray (Labour (Co-op) - Ealing North)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to question 1 of his Department's consultation on business rates avoidance and evasion, published in July 2023, and to page 37 of his Department's publication entitled, Spring Budget 2024: Policy Costings, published in March 2024, whether his Department made an estimate of the Exchequer impact of extending the reset period for empty property relief to six months.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Responses to the Business Rates Avoidance and Evasion consultation made clear that avoidance of business rates through abuse of Empty Property Relief (EPR) is an area we need to take action on. Most respondents, and all those from local government, agreed that extending the EPR ‘reset period’ is an effective means of reducing rates avoidance. Extending the reset period to 13 weeks will help ensure a level playing field between ratepayers while maintaining support for landlords while they seek new tenants for vacant properties.


Written Question
Revenue and Customs: Telephone Services
Tuesday 26th March 2024

Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an equality impact assessment of the decision to close the HMRC helpline between April and September each year.

Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC conducted a full Equalities Impact Assessment regarding the planned closure of the Self Assessment helpline between 8 April and 30 September 2024. However, HMRC has halted this plan while it engages with stakeholders about how to ensure all taxpayers’ needs are met as the Department shifts more people to online self-service.


Written Question
Cash Dispensing: Lincolnshire
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of cash withdrawal facilities in Lincolnshire.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups.

The government legislated through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 to establish a new legislative framework to protect access to cash. This establishes the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as the lead regulator for access to cash and provides it with responsibility and powers to seek to ensure reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities, on both a national and local basis. The FCA expects to finalise its regulatory rules in the third quarter of this year.

The most recent analysis undertaken by the FCA is available on the FCA website: Access to cash coverage in the UK 2023 Q1


Written Question
Debt Collection
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that companies in the (a) finance and (b) utility sectors use best practice when collecting debts from vulnerable customers.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government wants to see fair treatment of individuals in problem debt, and there is a range of work underway across government and regulators to promote responsible debt collection practices.

In June 2023 the FCA, Ofgem, Ofwat and Ofcom published a joint letter via the UK Regulators’ Network (UKRN) setting out how firms in their respective sectors should support customers in financial difficulty. On 18 March 2024, the same group of regulators issued further guidance, setting out their shared expectations on firms’ debt collection practices. This is to ensure that firms support customers in debt and that firms’ collection practices are not causing harm to customers.


Written Question
Credit: Regulation
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Stella Creasy (Labour (Co-op) - Walthamstow)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department's consultation entitled Regulation of Buy-Now Pay-Later: consultation on draft legislation, how many responses were received; and of those received, how many and what proportion were from (a) buy-now-pay-later providers, (b) charities and advocacy groups, (c) other financial service providers who do not offer buy-now-pay-later products and (d) members of the public.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

A list of respondents will be included in the Government’s response to the consultation, which will be published in due course.


Written Question
Treasury: Legal Costs
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Nick Thomas-Symonds (Labour - Torfaen)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total cost to the public purse was of legal (a) support and (b) representation to Ministers in his Department in relation to their official conduct in each of the last three years.

Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Such information is not centrally recorded or collated in the form requested.


Written Question
Mortgages: Interest Rates
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to (a) help ensure mortgage rate stability and (b) support the housing market.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The path to lower interest rates is through low inflation, and the Government is fully committed to supporting the Bank of England get inflation back down to the 2% target, including by keeping borrowing under control.

While the pricing of mortgages is ultimately a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene, our plan is working, and the average offered mortgage rates on 2-year and 5-year fixed rates are now lower compared to their peak in Summer 2023. The Government’s Mortgage Charter - in addition to the significant safeguards already in place - is providing support to vulnerable households; and mortgage arrears and repossessions remain low.

Housebuilding is a priority for this Government. At SR21, we demonstrated the Government’s commitment to investing in safe and affordable housing by confirming a settlement of nearly £24 billion up to 2025-26.

In 2022-2023, more than 230,000 net additional dwellings were delivered and government is on track to meet our commitment to deliver one million additional homes across this Parliament.


Written Question
Cost of Living
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the impact of his measures introduced in the Spring Budget 2024 on the cost of living.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government has demonstrated its commitment to supporting the most vulnerable at Spring Budget 2024 – including the extension of the Household Support Fund, freezing fuel duty, and helping households in debt.

The measures introduced by this government to support households have contributed to real incomes being stronger than expected this year. Real wages are now higher than pre-pandemic level.


Written Question
Companies: Cost of Living and Inflation
Monday 25th March 2024

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of the level of profits made by companies outside the oil and gas industries on (a) the cost of living and (b) inflation.

Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government monitors UK corporates’ performance on an ongoing basis. Profits as a share of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) for UK private non-financial corporations excluding firms in the UK Continental Shelf have been relatively stable since 2000.