Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of Plan 2 student loan borrowers residing in Wales who will repay at the higher interest threshold as a result of the freeze to the Plan 2 repayment threshold.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Education is a devolved matter. It is for the Welsh government to confirm threshold levels in Wales.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of Plan 2 student loan borrowers residing in Wales who will begin making repayments as a result of the freeze to the Plan 2 repayment threshold.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Education is a devolved matter. It is for the Welsh government to confirm threshold levels in Wales.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to analysis cited in the Road Haulage Association’s 2025 Autumn Budget Submission, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of an increase in fuel duty on household living standards.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget 2025, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut until the end of August 2026. Rates will then gradually return to early 2022 levels. The planned increase in line with inflation for 2026-27 will not take place, with the government uprating fuel duty rates by RPI from April 2027. This will save the average car driver £49 next year compared to previous plans.
The Government has set out estimated impacts on household incomes from tax, welfare and public service spending decisions taken at Budget 2025, including eVED. These impacts are available at GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69269c6222424e25e6bc31bb/Impact_on_households.pdf
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a fuel duty rebate linked to emissions reductions to encourage the use of low carbon fuels such as hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO).
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is a relatively new fuel and has limited availability in the UK. When used for domestic heating, HVO benefits from the rebated duty rate of 10.18p per litre, in contrast to the full duty rate of 52.95p per litre.
The Government currently encourages the use of HVO through the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO), which incentivises the use of low carbon fuels and reduces emissions from fuel supplied for use in transport and non-road mobile machinery. The RTFO has been very successful in supporting a market for renewable fuel since its introduction in 2008. Renewable fuels supplied under the RTFO currently contribute a third of the savings required for the UK’s transport carbon budget.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to ensure that UK steel producers are not subject to additional decarbonisation-related charges that could impact their competitiveness relative to overseas producers.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The government is committed to supporting the UK steel sector and we will publish our strategy for the sector in 2026. This will articulate what is needed to create a competitive environment and to secure UK steelmaking capability.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her department is taking to harmonise customs processes between the UK and EU.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government and HMRC continue to speak to the European Commission, including on topics such as customs processes to ensure that those processes are operating smoothly and to identify opportunities for future collaboration.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to include indirect emissions in the scope of the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism before 2029.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The inclusion of indirect emissions within scope of the CBAM will be delayed until 2029 at the earliest. This is to reflect continued support for the Energy Intensive Industries Compensation Scheme.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2025 to Question 95762 on Income Tax: Wales, what estimate her Department has made of the number of taxpayers residing in Wales that will (a) begin paying income tax, (b) enter the higher rate band and (c) enter the additional rate band due to the threshold freeze in each year until 2030-31.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The number of people forecast to pay tax by marginal rate can be found in Table 3.19 in the OBR’s November 2025 Economic and fiscal outlook – detailed forecast tables: receipts, linked below:
The previous Government made the decision to maintain income tax thresholds at their current levels from April 2021 until April 2028.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the planned £4.9 billion in efficiencies and savings in 2030–31 on devolved governments’ budgets.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
As a result of decisions at Budget 2025, the Welsh Government will receive an additional £320 million RDEL and £185m CDEL through the operation of the Barnett formula on top of the record settlement provided at Spending Review 2025. This means that the Welsh Government’s settlement continues to grow in real terms between 2024-25 and 2028-29.
The Welsh Government are free to allocate Barnett consequentials as they see fit across their devolved priorities
Where policy changes will take effect in years beyond the existing Spending Review 2025 period, the Barnett formula will apply when departmental budgets change at the next Spending Review.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of higher-than-forecast inflation and pay growth on devolved governments’ capacity to fund public sector pay settlements.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Public sector pay is a devolved responsibility. This means it is for the devolved governments to decide how to allocate the funding they receive across their areas of responsibility, including public sector pay.