Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the total increase in business rates for 2026/27, compared to 2025/26, across the entire NHS estate.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government does not hold data on the total increase in business rates across the entire NHS estate in (a) 2026-27 compared to (b) 2025-26. The total change in business rates revenue is set out in the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much have business rates increased for Hinchingbrooke Hospital for the 2026-2027 financial year .
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government cannot comment on the bills of individual ratepayers.
I recommend that Hinchingbrooke Hospital get in contact with their local authority for any questions regarding their business rates bill.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 17 December 2025, to question 95176 on Ministers: Official Residences, whether tax is payable on residences owned by the State.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS) will be paid by property owners, and official residences operate through a range of different ownership structures, including leases and trusts. The details of the HVCTS are to be consulted upon shortly.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether Ministers in her Department will have a role in the decision on the chosen option for local government reorganisation in Cambridgeshire.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Decisions on local government reorganisation proposals are subject to collective agreement across government.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has she made of the impact of treating 50% of the gain in disposal to trustees of an Employee Ownership Trust as the disposers' chargeable gain for CGT purposes.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget 2025, the Chancellor announced that the relief from Capital Gains Tax available on qualifying disposals to Employee Ownership Trusts will be reduced from 100% to 50%. This will retain a strong incentive for employee ownership, whilst ensuring that business owners pay their fair share of tax. The relief remains more generous than alternative reliefs that individuals might use when disposing of their companies, such as Business Asset Disposal Relief.
An assessment of the impacts can be found in the Tax and Information Note for this measure, here: Capital Gains Tax — Employee Ownership Trusts - GOV.UK
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the findings of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s Economic Financial Outlook on the potential impact of the new pay-per-mile tax on electric vehicle sales.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As announced at Budget 2025, the Government is introducing Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) from April 2028. The rate of eVED for EVs will be half of the equivalent fuel duty rate paid by the average petrol/diesel driver, ensuring that EVs are cheaper to own and run for the majority of EV drivers.
As set out by the OBR, the estimated net impact of eVED and other Budget measures, including the ECG and ECS, is 120,000 fewer new EV sales across the forecast period. This is against a baseline which assumes EV sales more than triple from 2025-26 levels by 2030-31, which means the net impact of eVED represents only 2% of total new EV sales in the period.
The Government has set out expected impacts from eVED and other Budget measures in the Budget 2025 Policy Costings document at GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/692872fd2a37784b16ecf676/Budget_2025-Policy_Costings.pdf
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Budget 2025: Strong Foundations, Secure Future, page 47, what is the breakdown of the £2.8billion efficiencies and savings target for 2028-29 across each department.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The £2.8 billion efficiencies and savings represent 0.5% of departmental day-to-day budgets set at Spending Review 2025.
Efficiencies and savings achieved within the NHS will be reinvested to improve patient care, and the government will ensure it continues to meet existing NATO spending commitments.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the impact of the additional £32 billion required to meet the pledge to spend 3.5% of GDP identified by the Office for Budget Responsibility in its 2025 Economic Financial Outlook.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
We are set to spend 2.6 percent of GDP on defence spending in 2027, with an ambition to spend 3 percent of GDP on defence next Parliament when economic and fiscal conditions allow.
The Government is also committed to hitting a headline ambition of 5 percent of GDP on national security spending by the Parliament after next. This is currently split into 1.5% on security and resilience-related spend, and 3.5% core defence spending.
This new NATO target is a decade away. We remain committed to plans announced at the Spending Review. In 2029, when NATO review capability requirements and this pledge, the UK and Allies will review the trajectory and the balance of spending between defence and wider national resilience.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when she plans to announce how her Department will move to a) 3.0% of GDP and b) 3.5% of GDP on defence spending.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
We are set to spend 2.6 percent of GDP on defence spending in 2027, with an ambition to spend 3 percent of GDP on defence next Parliament when economic and fiscal conditions allow.
The Government is also committed to hitting a headline ambition of 5 percent of GDP on national security spending by the Parliament after next. This is currently split into 1.5% on security and resilience-related spend, and 3.5% core defence spending.
This new NATO target is a decade away. We remain committed to plans announced at the Spending Review. In 2029, when NATO review capability requirements and this pledge, the UK and Allies will review the trajectory and the balance of spending between defence and wider national resilience.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to question 82442 on Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties, where evidence on the impact of the changes so far should be submitted to.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In March 2023, the previous government published its response to the new alcohol duty system consultation which ran from October 2021 to January 2022. Within that response was a commitment to evaluate the impacts of the new rates and structures three years after the changes take effect on 1 August 2023.
The previous government’s response can be found here: The new alcohol duty system: final consultation response
HMRC and HM Treasury began to monitor the impacts of the new rates and structure before the changes were introduced on 1 August 2023. The timeframes committed to should be an appropriate amount of time to gather useful and accurate data that could be used to understand the impacts in the alcohol market.
Plans are being formulated within HMRC for discussions with business via their trade associations as part of the evaluation work. In the meantime, the government always welcomes written feedback direct from parliamentarians and their constituents.