Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of Israeli goods imported to the UK are from the Occupied Territories.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
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: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2025 to Question 67326 on Taxation, what reforms to the tax system are being considered to support (a) job creation and (b) economic participation in regions with persistently lower employment levels.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The OBR will produce a new forecast for the annual Budget, and the Chancellor will make decisions in the round based on that forecast.
The Government is focused on unleashing the potential of people across all nations and regions of the UK and growing the economy – a key priority in the Plan for Change.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department's long-term fiscal modelling includes assumptions on the potential impact of artificial intelligence on levels of productivity.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The OBR is the government's official forecaster and is responsible for assessing the UK’s economic and fiscal outlook.Its annual publication of its Fiscal Risks and Sustainability (FRS) report includes biennial long-term projections and analysis of major potential fiscal risks.
The OBR includes a long-run productivity assumption in its forecasts. In its July 2025 long-run report, it noted that if productivity grows faster than expected it could significantly improve the outlook for the public finances. One driver for stronger-than expected productivity growth is the rapid development and spread of artificial intelligence. However, the magnitude and timing of the potential boost to productivity remains highly uncertain.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has produced internal modelling on the potential fiscal impacts of artificial intelligence.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The OBR is the government's official forecaster and is responsible for assessing the UK’s economic and fiscal outlook.Its annual publication of its Fiscal Risks and Sustainability (FRS) report includes biennial long-term projections and analysis of major potential fiscal risks.
The OBR includes a long-run productivity assumption in its forecasts. In its July 2025 long-run report, it noted that if productivity grows faster than expected it could significantly improve the outlook for the public finances. One driver for stronger-than expected productivity growth is the rapid development and spread of artificial intelligence. However, the magnitude and timing of the potential boost to productivity remains highly uncertain.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how her Department plans to quantify the (a) costs and (b) savings associated with the adoption of artificial intelligence in (i) health, (ii) defence, (iii) education and (iv) other public services; and whether she considered including such an assessment in the recent Fiscal Risks and Sustainability report.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
The government has committed to invest in upgrading essential digital infrastructure, modernise public services and drive a major overhaul in government productivity and efficiency by harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Spending Review 2025 sets out plans for a step change in investment in digital and AI across public services, including an uplift of £1.2 billion for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to drive forward cross-cutting digital and AI priorities.
HM Treasury has not made a central assessment of AI adoption costs and savings in each public service area. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) provides independent analysis of the UK's public finances and publishes the Fiscal Risk and Sustainability Report and, as such, determine the scope and details within the report. The OBR has full discretion over the judgements underpinning their forecasts.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will request that the Office for Budget Responsibility model an AI-accelerated productivity scenario alongside potential fiscal risks for (a) climate change, (b) demographic and (c) other trends.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the Government's official independent forecaster responsible for assessing the UK economic and fiscal outlook. All judgements underpinning these forecasts, including estimates of the impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI), are for the OBR and the OBR has discretion over the contents of its publications.Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has issued guidance to the Office for Budget Responsibility on the potential inclusion of (a) technological disruption and (b) artificial intelligence in its long-term economic modelling.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the Government's official independent forecaster responsible for assessing the UK economic and fiscal outlook. All judgements underpinning these forecasts, including estimates of the impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI), are for the OBR and the OBR has discretion over the contents of its publications.Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has requested that the Office for Budget Responsibility assess the potential fiscal impacts of artificial intelligence.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the Government's official independent forecaster responsible for assessing the UK economic and fiscal outlook. All judgements underpinning these forecasts, including estimates of the impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI), are for the OBR and the OBR has discretion over the contents of its publications.Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the levels of resilience in the UK tax system of a shift from labour-intensive to capital-intensive economic models.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
It is vital the tax system supports our growth mission. The Government is focused on unleashing the potential of people across all nations and regions of the UK, with an ambition of an 80 per cent employment rate.
The Government continues to keep all elements of the tax system under review.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in employer National Insurance contributions on levels of youth employment in the North East.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
A detailed assessment of the policy has been published by HMRC in their Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN). 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 Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) also publishes Economic and Fiscal Outlooks (EFOs), which set out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances. With all policies considered, the OBR's March 2025 EFO forecasts the employment level to increase from 33.6 million in 2024 to 34.8 million in 2029.
This Government is committed to providing young people with the best start to their working lives. We have committed to deliver a Youth Guarantee so that all 18 to 21-year-olds in England have access to education, training or help to find a job or an apprenticeship. The Government is also expanding Sector-based Work Academy Programmes to provide 100,000 places in 2025/26, providing a work placement, training and a guaranteed interview that can kickstart a new career and support young people into work.