Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent on 23 December 2025 (HL12792), whether (1) Treasury ministers, or (2) their special advisers, had any involvement in media briefings prior to the Budget 2025 which were not issued alongside a Government press release or statement to Parliament.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Treasury, its ministers, and special advisers place the utmost importance on budget security. A leak inquiry is currently underway, alongside a review of security processes to inform future fiscal events.
The Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury told the Treasury Select Committee on 10 December 2025 that he expects the review to conclude ahead of the Spring Statement on 3 March. The outcome of the review will be published.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the remarks by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury on Monday 1 December (HC Deb col 666), what discussions the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury has had with special advisers about leaks or premature media reporting relating to the Budget 2025.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As the Chief Secretary to the Treasury said to the House of Commons on the 1 and 3 December, the Treasury puts the utmost weight on Budget security.
The Permanent Secretary engages with special advisers and Ministers throughout the Budget process.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to make the 5 pence-per-litre fuel duty reduction permanent.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget in October 2024, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut and cancelling the planned increase in line with inflation for 2025/26. The temporary 5p cut is currently scheduled to expire in March 2026. The Government considers the impact of fuel duty on households and businesses, with decisions on rates made at fiscal events.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce the incidence of debanking without good reason by financial institutions.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Banking services fulfil a vital role for millions of people and businesses across the UK, and the Government is committed to ensuring high standards of consumer protection and financial inclusion across the financial services sector.
Earlier this year, the Government legislated to enhance protections for customers in cases where their bank account is terminated by their provider. Under these new rules coming into force for relevant new contracts from April 2026, Banks and other payment service providers will be required to give customers at least 90 days’ notice before closing their account or terminating a payment service and provide a clear and specific explanation so the customer can understand why it is being terminated.
These changes will ensure more transparent and predictable access to banking, giving customers the time and information they need to challenge decisions or find alternative arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the intention to reduce travel costs in the Civil Service, as outlined in the Spending Review of 11 June, will apply to ministerial travel.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Ministerial Code sets out that Ministers must ensure that they always make efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements. Ministerial travel in the UK is the responsibility of individual government departments with each department accountable for arranging the travel of its ministers, in line with the Ministerial Code.
The Spending Review 2025 confirmed that UK government departments will deliver reductions in administration budgets of at least 11% in real terms by 2028-29, and 16% in real terms by 2029-30.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much funding they have allocated to (1) the police service, and (2) the fire and rescue service in 2025–26 to cover the cost of the rise in employers' National Insurance contributions; what methodology they used to calculate the amount allocated to each service; and what methodology they used to calculate the funding allocated to (a) standalone fire and rescue authorities, and (b) fire and rescue services that are part of a county council.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget in October the Chancellor set aside £4.7 billion of funding for departments in order to support them with the increased costs as a result of the rise in employer national insurance contributions.
This funding has been allocated to departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way, which is in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy. It is for the relevant department to decide the appropriate distribution of funding amongst workforces, including police and fire services.
Updated departmental budgets for 2025/26 including allocations were published at the Spring Statement. The Government also plans to publish individual departments’ allocations as part of Main estimates.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the impact of the European Union’s proposed Capital Requirements Directive VI and its prohibition on the provision of cross-border banking services to European Economic Area clients on UK financial services and consumers.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The impact of Capital Requirements Directive VI on UK financial services is uncertain and will vary across different UK financial services firms. This will be dependent on the nature of services that those firms provide to European Economic Area (EEA) clients and the approach to implementation of the Directive in the respective EEA member states. UK consumers should not be affected as the EU’s Capital Requirements Directive VI applies to services being provided to EEA clients.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury on 20 February (HC23473) and Lord Livermoreon 6 November 2024 (HL1948), whether they will ask the Chief Executive of the Financial Conduct Authority to provide an update to the House on status of the FCA's December 2023 consultation on equality, diversity and inclusion requirements on financial services companies.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority announced on 12 March that they have no plans to take forward their proposed rules on diversity and inclusion in regulated firms.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Economic Secretary to the Treasury on 20 February (HC23473), whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer will use her powers under section IJA of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to recommend to the Financial Conduct Authority that it drop the proposal to impose a new regulatory requirement on diversity and inclusion on the financial sector.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority announced on 12 March that they have no plans to take forward their proposed rules on diversity and inclusion in regulated firms.
Asked by: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take to safeguard Parliamentary sovereignty and Ministerial accountability following the passage of the Budget Responsibility Bill, given that it will provide expanded powers to the Office of Budget Responsibility.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Budget Responsibility Bill will support transparency and accountability, by ensuring that significant fiscal announcements are always subject to independent scrutiny.
Parliament will remain sovereign: the legislation which sets out the legal framework will be taken through the House of Commons for approval, as will the Charter for Budget Responsibility which will set out the technical details. The Bill makes no changes to existing parliamentary scrutiny of Government tax and spending decisions.