Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much (1) beef, and (2) ethanol products, were imported from the USA to the UK in each of the past five years.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The data on beef and ethanol products imported from the USA to the UK is given in the attached table.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as an accredited official statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com). From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assumptions they have made in their budget estimates for additional resources gained from the recovery of unpaid tax.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government expects an additional £6.3 billion per year to be gained by 2029-30 from the measures announced as part of the Budget in October 2024 and Spring Statement 2025. These estimates have been certified by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what additional staff and funding they have provided to allow HMRC to pursue unpaid tax.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As announced by the Chancellor in July 2024 (and confirmed in the Budget in October 2024) £1.4 billion of funding will be provided to HMRC over the next five years to recruit an additional 5,000 HMRC compliance staff, raising £2.7 billion per year in additional revenue by 2029-30.
In addition, the Government confirmed at the Budget in October 2024 that £262 million will be invested over the next five years, to fund 1,800 HMRC debt management staff, raising £2 billion per year in additional revenue by 2029-30. Further investment of £272m to modernise HMRC’s IT and data systems and increase tax receipts as a result, is expected to raise additional revenue of £700m per year by 2029-30.
As part of the Spring Statement 2025, a package of measures to help further close the tax gap and raise over £800 million in additional gross tax revenue per year by 2029-30 was announced.. Specifically, investment of £100m in 500 additional HMRC compliance staff and £114m in 600 additional HMRC debt management staff, as well as £87m to increase collection of overdue tax debt using Debt Collection Agencies acting on HMRC’s behalf.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the Barnett consequentials are for Northern Ireland arising from the £1 billion support package announced for employment, health and skills for the disabled and those with long-term medical conditions.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Barnett formula is applied when UK Government departmental budgets change, not when additional funding is announced. The Barnett consequentials from the £1 billion employment support package will be confirmed at Phase 2 of the Spending Review 2025.
The Northern Ireland Executive is receiving £18.2 billion in 2025-26, including an additional £1.5 billion through the operation of the Barnett formula. This is the largest spending review settlement in real terms since devolution and ensures that the Northern Ireland Executive continues to receive over 24% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK, including the 2024 restoration financial package.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total cost of customs declarations from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in the past 12 months.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has not made an estimate of the total cost of declarations for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in the past 12 months.
The latest available information relating to declarations for goods moved on this route is for the calendar years 2022 and 2023. This information can be found on GOV.UK.
Businesses moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland can access free to use support from the Trader Support Service.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much duty has been returned to firms based in Northern Ireland as a result of the Duty Reimbursement Scheme.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Information on duty reimbursed to firms specifically based in Northern Ireland under the scheme is not held by HMRC.
The Duty Reimbursement Scheme has been operational since 2023, allowing businesses who move goods into Northern Ireland to reclaim or remit duty provided that the goods can be shown not to have subsequently entered the EU. HMRC has published extensive guidance and will continue to support businesses to use the scheme effectively, as well as other schemes like the Customs Duty Waiver Scheme.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total cost to firms in Northern Ireland of applying for reimbursement from the Duty Reimbursement Scheme.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
No assessment has been made of the total cost to businesses in Northern Ireland of applying for reimbursement from the Duty Reimbursement Scheme.
The Duty Reimbursement Scheme allows traders to reclaim or remit full EU applicable duties on goods entering Northern Ireland. There is no limit on the number of claims that can be made. HMRC has published extensive guidance on the scheme and will continue to support businesses to use it effectively.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the value of imports from the United States of America to Northern Ireland in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The value of goods imported from the United States of America to Northern Ireland was £639m in 2022, £835m in 2023 and £753m in 2024.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what the Barnett consequentials are of additional funding to the Northern Ireland Executive to support the increased cost to public sector bodies as a result of changes to employer National Insurance contributions.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) costs. This funding will be allocated to UK Government departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way for the Northern Ireland Executive at Main Estimates 2025-26.
This additional funding for employer NICs costs will be on top of the £18.2 billion the Northern Ireland Executive is receiving in 2025-26. This is the largest in real terms of any settlement since devolution and ensures that the Northern Ireland Executive continues to receive over 24% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK, including the 2024 restoration financial package.
Decisions on devolved priorities – including the size and pay levels of the public sector – is a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Executive. Barnett-based funding for the Northern Ireland Executive is not ringfenced for a specific policy area, giving the Northern Ireland Executive full flexibility to allocate its funding across devolved areas according to its own priorities and local circumstances. The Northern Ireland Executive is accountable to Northern Ireland Assembly for these decisions.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the total revenue to be raised as a result of the proposed changes to business rates for private schools.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Business rates are devolved. At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government reconfirmed that it is removing private schools’ eligibility for business rates charitable rate relief in England from April 2025. This intervention will raise around £140 million per year.
Business rates retention means that local authorities retain a proportion of all business rates revenue. As such, the increase in rates receipts due to the reduction in charitable rate relief for private schools will be shared between central and local government.