Asked by: David Simmonds (Conservative - Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the business rates revaluation 2026, whether the base liability for charity shops' (a) transitional rate relief and (b) Supporting Small Business Relief includes the application of mandatory charitable rate relief.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The base liability for charity shops within the transitional relief scheme does not include the application of mandatory or discretionary charitable rate relief. However, charitable relief where applicable is awarded against the bill after Transitional Rate relief.
A charity is not eligible for Supporting Small Business Rate relief.
For more information on Charitable Rate relief, please see: Business rates relief: Charitable rate relief - GOV.UK
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the sunset clause for the Energy Saving Materials VAT relief on 31 March 2027, whether her Department has conducted an impact assessment on the potential effect on Net Zero targets if the relief reverts to 5% in 2027; and if she will consider extending the zero-rate period to help provide long-term certainty for the low-carbon heating industry.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This Government is committed to improving the quality and sustainability of our housing stock, through improvements such as low carbon heating, insulation, solar panels and batteries. This will be vital to making the UK more energy resilient and meeting our 2050 Net Zero commitment.
Installations of qualifying energy-saving materials (ESMs) in residential accommodation and buildings used solely for a charitable purpose benefit from a temporary VAT zero rate until March 2027, after which they will revert to the reduced rate of VAT at five per cent.
The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the overall public finances
Asked by: Andrew Griffith (Conservative - Arundel and South Downs)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the (a) gross and (b) net revenue raised for her Department from the UK Emissions Trading Scheme in the 2024-25 financial year, broken down by auction receipts, administrative costs, and any revenue recycling and hypothecation.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Receipts from auctioning of UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) allowances accrue to the exchequer. The Economic and Fiscal Outlook (November 2025) published by the OBR confirms the ETS outturn for 2024-25.
The administrative cost of the UK ETS can be found in the National Audit Office’s report on the UK ETS.
The UK does not hypothecate revenue from the UK ETS, which is subject to a floating carbon price which changes frequently. All receipts from the UK ETS accrue to the consolidated fund, and go to funding government priorities, which includes decarbonisation support for ETS participants.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the annual cost to the Exchequer is of the exemption from VAT on repairs enjoyed by museums and galleries.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC does not hold data that specifically relates to the refunds of VAT on repairs enjoyed by museums and galleries. HMRC does not hold information on VAT revenue from specific products or services because businesses are not required to provide figures at a product level on their VAT returns, as this would impose an excessive administrative burden.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of Air Passenger Duty on domestic air routes and regional airport connectivity in the UK, compared with the approach taken by other European countries to supporting internal air connectivity.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to the long-term future of the aviation sector in the UK and recognises the importance of maintaining a thriving and competitive aviation sector in the UK to deliver connectivity.
In April 2023, reforms to APD took effect, aiming to bolster air connectivity within the UK. This included the introduction of a new band for domestic flights, initially set at half the rate for short-haul international flights. The domestic rate applies to all flights between airports in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland (excluding private jets) and is currently set at £7 for economy passengers until April 2026.
The Government is clear that APD is an appropriate tax that ensures airlines make a fair contribution to the public finances, particularly given that tickets are VAT free and aviation fuel incurs no duty. Other countries also have different forms of aviation taxes.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the Barnett consequentials allocated to the Northern Ireland Executive from the £750,000 uplift provided in 2019 for an increase in officer numbers to 20,000 in England and Wales.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Barnett formula applies to all changes in UK Government Departmental Expenditure Limits, including the Home Office, as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy. The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes to the Northern Ireland Executive’s block grant funding since Spending Review 2015. The most recent report was published in October 2025.
Asked by: Julia Lopez (Conservative - Hornchurch and Upminster)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has directed HMRC to review the application of VAT upon medicines supplied free-of-charge via EAMS and other compassionate access schemes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
VAT is the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Taxation is a vital source of revenue which helps to fund public services.
The Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) allows patients access to free medicines for life threatening conditions before receiving full NHS approval.
Under UK VAT law, some transactions where no money changes hands are treated as if a supply has been made – these are called deemed supplies. This is to keep the system fair. If a business has reclaimed VAT on costs (like making or importing goods), it should not avoid accounting VAT when those goods leave the business for free.
Whether VAT applies to medicines or treatments provided for free under the EAMS will depend on the precise facts of the case. In certain circumstances the giving of goods away for free can be outside the scope of VAT. Where the supply is within the scope of VAT a relief may apply, meaning the supply can be made VAT free.
Asked by: Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour - Gower)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the Barnett consequentials allocated to the Northern Ireland Executive following increases in police funding to PCCs in England and Wales in each year since 2020.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Barnett formula applies to all changes in UK Government Departmental Expenditure Limits, as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy. The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes to the Northern Ireland Executive’s block grant funding since Spending Review 2015. The most recent report was published in October 2025.Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the (a) total number of full-time equivalent customer service staff employed by HM Revenue and Customs was in each of the last ten financial years and (b) number of these positions that were based in (i) call centres, (ii) face-to-face service locations and (iii) digital support teams.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC operates a flexible resourcing model, meaning staff are deployed across different types of customer service work throughout the year. This approach allows the department to direct people to the areas of highest demand, whether that is helplines, post correspondence, webchat, or other customer contact channels. Because staff move between these activities as demand changes, HMRC does not separate out staffing into specific categories.
However, HMRC can provide overall full‑time equivalent figures for Customer Services from 2019-20 to 2024-25, noting that these staff may work across several frontline customer service functions depending on business need.
HMRC is unable to provide figures prior to 2019-20 because doing so would exceed the cost threshold for answering written parliamentary questions. This is due to the information, where it is available, being held across multiple systems that do not align with current reporting definitions, and producing the data would require significant separate interrogation and analysis.
Average number of frontline customer service staff (000):
Most customers are satisfied with the service they are receiving from HMRC. Satisfaction with phone, webchat and digital services was 80.0% to the end of November 2025-26, meeting their 80% customer satisfaction target. Customer satisfaction with digital services is consistently above 80% (82.9% up to the end of November 2025-26).
Notes:
Asked by: Gareth Bacon (Conservative - Orpington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of offering the same terms to be given to those facing the Loan Charge to those who have previously settled with HMRC.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government commissioned an independent review of the loan charge to bring the matter to a close for those affected, ensure fairness for all taxpayers and ensure that appropriate support is in place for those subject to the loan charge.
The Government accepted the review’s conclusion that the loan charge was an extraordinary piece of Government policy which necessitated an exceptional response, and is now legislating a new settlement opportunity that will assist those who have not yet settled to do so.
As a result, most individuals could see reductions of at least 50% in their outstanding loan charge liabilities, and an estimated 30% of individuals could have these liabilities written off entirely. To encourage more people to settle, the Government will write off the first £5,000 of liabilities in addition to the proposals put forward by Ray McCann.
The Government’s response to the review represents a fair and proportionate attempt to provide a route to resolution for those who have not yet been able to settle with HMRC. In turn, this requires those individuals to now come forward and engage with HMRC in good faith.
Tax avoidance deprives the Exchequer of funds needed to deliver vital public services and it is right that resources are targeted to stop this. There are no plans to apply the review’s recommendations beyond those individuals and employers with outstanding liabilities that were the focus of the review.