Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the service standard level time is for businesses to receive a UK Internal Market Scheme number.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) was launched in June 2023, allowing businesses across the United Kingdom to apply, and HMRC has successfully encouraged over 10,000 traders to get authorised.
HMRC is required to take a decision regarding the outcome of a UKIMS application within 120 days days. Applications are typically processed much faster with an average turnaround time of 12 to 15 working days. HMRC must undertake a range of checks to verify eligibility for the scheme and, in certain cases, seek further information from businesses. We do not collect data on the time taken for traders to complete UKIMS applications.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average time taken is for businesses to (a) apply for and (b) receive a UK Internal Market Scheme number.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) was launched in June 2023, allowing businesses across the United Kingdom to apply, and HMRC has successfully encouraged over 10,000 traders to get authorised.
HMRC is required to take a decision regarding the outcome of a UKIMS application within 120 days days. Applications are typically processed much faster with an average turnaround time of 12 to 15 working days. HMRC must undertake a range of checks to verify eligibility for the scheme and, in certain cases, seek further information from businesses. We do not collect data on the time taken for traders to complete UKIMS applications.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value inclusive of accrued interest is of assets frozen by the UK that belonged to the Libyan Qaddafi regime.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury published in its 2023-2024 Annual Review that £13.4 billion in assets relating to the Libya sanctions regime have been reported as frozen as of September 2023. This is an aggregated total of all entities and individuals listed on the Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets.
Interest accrued on frozen assets is still subject to an asset freeze to be frozen immediately by the person in possession or control of them, but there is no change in ownership of the frozen funds or economic resources, and they are not transferred to HM Treasury. As there is no obligation for a relevant institution to inform OFSI when it has credited interest to a frozen account, OFSI does not hold this information.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there will be a Barnett consequential for Northern Ireland following the roll out of free breakfast clubs in England.
Answered by Darren Jones
At Phase 1 of the 2025 Spending Review, over £30 million was allocated to the Department for Education to fund breakfast clubs in 2025-26. The Barnett formula was applied in the usual way to changes in the Department for Education’s Delegated Expenditure Limit (DEL) budget.
The resulting Barnett consequentials were included in the Northern Ireland Executive’s £18.2 billion settlement for 2025-26, which includes 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.
The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. The most recent report was published in July 2023. An update to Block Grant Transparency to include Autumn Budget 2024 changes will be published in due course:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-july-2023
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the final report by the Complaints Commissioner entitled The FCA’s handling of Safe Hands Plans Limited, published on 11 March 2025, if she will make recommendations to the Financial Conduct Authority based on that report.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
I am sympathetic to all the Safe Hands customers who have lost money, following the collapse of the firm in 2022.
Once concerns were raised about the funeral plan market, the Government legislated to bring all pre-paid funeral plan providers and intermediaries within the regulatory remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This made it illegal to sell pre-paid funeral plans without authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority, protecting 1.6 million customers and their families.
The FCA has published its response to the Financial Regulator Complaints Commissioner. The FCA has been clear that it is not possible to immediately act on every piece of anonymous intelligence they receive.
We support the FCA's handling of Safe Hands, and it is clear that they acted reasonably in this case, as they had a clear plan to properly scrutinise Safe Hands’ business during the authorisations process. As the Commissioner acknowledges, there is also no evidence that alternative action from the FCA would have led to different outcomes for Safe Hands customers.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the orchestra tax relief to include choirs.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Government supports the creative industries, including orchestras, through funding and through the tax system. Orchestra Tax Relief (OTR) provides tax relief on productions costs and provided £33 million of support in 2022-23.
To qualify for OTR, a concert must be performed by a group of at least 12 instrumentalists. The voice is not considered to be an instrument. However, orchestra concerts with a vocal element are eligible for the relief providing that the orchestra also contains at least 12 instrumentalists, not including the voice, and the instrumentalists are the primary focus. These rules help ensure OTR fulfils its objective of supporting and incentivising orchestra concerts specifically.
Whilst the Government has no plans to extend OTR to choirs, all taxes are kept under review. The Chancellor makes announcements on tax at fiscal events in the context of the overall public finances.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy to increase the childcare tax free cap in line with inflation.
Answered by Darren Jones
The £2,000 Tax-Free Childcare top-up, which can be claimed per year and per child up to age 11 (and £4,000 per disabled child, up to age 16), was set at this level because it strikes the right balance between helping parents with their childcare costs, and managing the public finances in a responsible way.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the National Wealth Fund investment in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Darren Jones
HM Treasury ministers and officials engage regularly with the Northern Ireland Executive. The Chancellor met the First Minister and Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland on 12 September 2024 and discussed how to deliver economic growth in Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Executive were consulted at official level on the Statement of Strategic Priorities to the National Wealth Fund, issued on 19 March 2025, which commits to work collaboratively with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that the benefits of investment are felt in all four nations of the UK.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans the Government has to locate GRS Research Government Scheme Jobs in Northern Ireland.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Government Social Research Profession (GSR) is made up of over 2,500 members living and working across the four nations of the UK in devolved administrations, departments, and arm’s lengths bodies. There are members of GSR located in Northern Ireland.
Each year, on behalf of its member organisations, the central profession team based in His Majesty’s Treasury run a mass campaign to recruit research officers into the profession. The locations available in any given campaign are provided by the participating devolved administrations, departments and arm’s length bodies and change based on recruitment need.
Asked by: Claire Hanna (Social Democratic & Labour Party - Belfast South and Mid Down)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Crown Estate plans to extend Net Zero housing pilots to Northern Ireland.
Answered by Darren Jones
The Crown Estate is currently trialling net zero carbon homes through three demonstration projects aimed at improving home quality and energy security. These projects involve developing 200 homes across three sites in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Cheshire.
The aim is to explore how new homes can be delivered using less than 300kg/m2 of embodied carbon and operational energy use intensity of 35kWh/m²/year. The developments aim for a minimum 15% biodiversity net gain, on-site renewable energy generation, and alignment with the Passivhaus standard, promoting healthy and energy-efficient living.
The focus is on exploring innovative approaches to net zero carbon homes before considering how to scale these solutions across the UK. The Crown Estate will share insights and lessons learned, enabling policymakers, developers, and the wider market in Northern Ireland to benefit from the methods used in the demonstration projects to improve home quality and energy security.