Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what modelling her Department has done on the potential impact of a UK–EU youth mobility scheme on (a) employment levels, (b) productivity, and (c) economic growth.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government has agreed that it will work towards the establishment of a balanced youth experience scheme with the EU, which will be good for the economy, good for growth and good for business.
The impact of a youth experience scheme will be appropriately analysed and will depend on the parameters that are ultimately agreed. We will not provide an assessment of the impacts while negotiations are ongoing.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what modelling her Department has done of the potential impact of deeper UK–EU regulatory cooperation on services trade and employment.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to providing appropriate analysis of any agreement made with the EU, but we will not be able to provide a full assessment of the impacts whilst detailed negotiations are ongoing. We have made a choice to align in some areas where it makes sense to do so in our national interest. For example, to unlock the SPS and carbon pricing agreements, which will add up to £9 billion a year to the UK economy by 2040. The carbon pricing deal also avoids the risk of taxes on £7bn worth of UK exports to the EU. Where we agree to dynamically align, we will have decision-shaping rights, as well technical adaptations and phasing in to make this deal work for the UK. The details of these are subject to negotiation.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of extending the freeze on Income Tax thresholds on working people in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The previous Government made the decision to maintain income tax thresholds at their current levels from April 2021 until April 2028.
This government is making fair and necessary choices on tax so it can deliver on the public's priorities, including by maintaining personal tax thresholds until April 2031. Everyone is being asked to contribute to support these goals, but the government is keeping the contribution as low as possible by pursuing a programme of reform to fix longstanding issues in the tax system - modernising it, and addressing unequal and unfair treatment, while ensuring the wealthiest contribute more.
The government has published a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) setting out the impact of maintaining income Tax and equivalent National Insurance contributions thresholds.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support entrepreneurs in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government took steps at Budget 2025 to support founders and high-growth companies across the UK, as set out in the Entrepreneurship Prospectus, including on tax incentives, the procurement regime, R&D funding and expanding the role of the British Business Bank (BBB).
This follows the BBB’s work to date supporting SMEs with its Start Up Loans programme. Between the scheme’s inception in 2012 and June 2025, 105 businesses in Surrey Heath have received loans, totaling £1,249,215 of funding.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of her fiscal policies on low income households in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury’s ‘Impact on households’ publication, produced alongside the Budget 2025, shows that the impacts of this Government’s tax, welfare and public spending decisions from Autumn Budget 2024 onwards are progressive and benefit households in the lowest income deciles the most, on average.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment HMRC has made of the causes of customs delays affecting parcels entering the UK from the European Union during the period 1 November 2024 to 31 January 2025.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC understands the importance of consumers receiving their parcels on time and has robust procedures alongside Border Force to help maintain the flow.
HMRC have confirmed there were no significant system outages during the period requested but has not conducted an assessment of what factors may have negatively influenced clearance times during that period.
Whilst HMRC does have average customs clearance times for declarations made on the Customs Declaration Service, it is not able to identify parcels specifically from this data and does not hold data on the average customs clearance time for parcels imported by the UK’s designated postal operator, Royal Mail.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average customs clearance time was for parcels entering the UK from the EU during the period 1 November to 31 January in each of the last three years.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC understands the importance of consumers receiving their parcels on time and has robust procedures alongside Border Force to help maintain the flow.
HMRC have confirmed there were no significant system outages during the period requested but has not conducted an assessment of what factors may have negatively influenced clearance times during that period.
Whilst HMRC does have average customs clearance times for declarations made on the Customs Declaration Service, it is not able to identify parcels specifically from this data and does not hold data on the average customs clearance time for parcels imported by the UK’s designated postal operator, Royal Mail.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that people experiencing financial difficulty are aware of and able to access appropriate (a) financial support and (b) advice during winter months.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government recognises the challenges many households face during the winter months and is committed to ensuring that people experiencing financial difficulty are aware of and able to access the support available.
At Budget 2025, we announced a comprehensive package of measures to ease cost of living pressures. This includes taking an average of £150 off household energy bills from April 2026, expanding the £150 Warm Home Discount to 6 million lower income households, and freezing rail fares and NHS prescription fees for one-year. We are lifting around 550,000 children out of poverty by removing the two child limit, alongside other measures announced this year such as expanding free school meals. The Household Support Fund in England will also continue to help households facing the greatest hardship with the cost of essentials such as food, energy and water.
To ensure people can access support with their finances whenever they need it, the Government also funds the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) which supports consumers with free, impartial guidance for every stage of their financial lives. Its MoneyHelper services – available online, via webchat and over the phone – operate year-round and offer information on a wide range of financial topics, along with easy-to-use tools and calculators to support people in managing their finances. In addition to this, MaPS delivers a range of national and community-based debt advice services across England to provide specialist support to those in problem debt. The UK Government also provides funding for debt advice in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with responsibility for debt advice services resting with respective devolved governments.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps she is taking to help increase the incomes of lower income families in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chancellor took significant steps in the Autumn Budget 2025 to support lower income families and improve living standards across the UK, including in Surrey Heath. These measures include:
• Removing the two-child limit in Universal Credit, which will mean the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began.
• In Surrey Heath, this change is estimated to benefit around 990 children.
• This is part of a wider package of welfare reforms and cost of living support, expanding free school meals and breakfast clubs, freezes rail fares and prescription charges, and raising the National Living Wage to £12.71 per hour from April 2026.
Asked by: Al Pinkerton (Liberal Democrat - Surrey Heath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of business rates on the financial viability of pubs in Surrey Heath constituency.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values (i.e. the tax base) of properties remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.
At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties, including those in the hospitality sector as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
For the pubs sector, the increase in rateable values will be 30%, which combined with the loss of the temporary RHL relief would lead to an increase in total bills paid by the sector of 45%. However, due to government intervention, the sector’s total bill will only increase by 4% next year.
More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.
The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.