Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Act 2025 on small and medium sized businesses.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from the changes to employer NICs by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Act on small high-street businesses.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Non-Domestic Rating (Private Schools and Multipliers) Act gained Royal Assent on 3 April, giving the Government powers to introduce the new multipliers announced at Autumn Budget 2024, and removing charitable rate relief for private schools.
The new multipliers include permanently lower tax rates for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) properties with Rateable Values below £500,000 from 2026-27.
This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we intend to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties on 2026/27 – those with Rateable Values (RVs) of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but cover the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants.
The rates for these new business rate multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context. When the new multipliers are set, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the expected effects of the new multiplier arrangements.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps she is taking to increase growth in rural areas.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Kick starting economic growth, including in rural areas, is the number one mission of this Government so we can put more money in people’s pockets. A prosperous rural economy will be underpinned by strong public services, improvements to rural connectivity and productivity, and a thriving farming sector.
To this end, we are restoring stability and investment in our public services as the best way to support economic growth across the country, including in rural areas. We confirmed investment of over £500 million this year to continue to deliver Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network, driving the rollout of broadband and 4G connectivity, which will support growth in rural areas across the UK. We confirmed over £650 million of funding for local transport beyond our City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements, in 2025-26, to ensure that transport connections improve in our towns, villages and rural areas.
We have also committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years – which includes the largest ever amount of funding directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has of the potential merits of introducing a national financial inclusion strategy.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
On 5 December, the Government announced its intention to publish a Financial Inclusion Strategy, developed alongside a supporting Committee. The Financial Inclusion Committee’s mission is to tackle barriers to individual and households’ ability to access affordable and appropriate financial products and services.
Through this committee, I am working with consumer groups and industry to develop, coordinate and implement interventions to support financial inclusion in the UK, ahead of the publication of a strategy later this year.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the Digital Services Tax.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
While the Government keeps all tax policy under review, we have no plans to raise the rate of the Digital Services Tax (DST).
The UK remains committed to removing the DST once a global solution on the taxation of the digital economy through Pillar 1 of the G20-OECD Inclusive Framework project is in place.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the increase in the rate of employers' National Insurance contributions on trends in the level of economic growth.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer; the economic impacts of the policy; and the impacts on individuals, businesses, civil society organisations and an overview of the equality impacts.
The Office for Budget Responsibility also published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out in detail their assessment of the impact of the policy on the economy and public finances.
Asked by: Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat - Ely and East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps she is taking to support family farmers.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government is investing £5bn across this year and next to support the transition to a more sustainable and productive sector which will help ensure its long-term profitability. This includes a £60m payment to help farmers deal with the devastating impact flooding has had across the country.