Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure (a) transparency and (b) accountability in property valuations conducted by the Valuation Office Agency.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency has a statutory duty to maintain fair and accurate lists for Council Tax and business rates purposes. Both the lists, the VOA’s rating manuals, and other technical guidance, including its approach to valuing over 200 types of non-domestic property, are publicly available for transparency on GOV.UK. The VOA also publishes blogs explaining how they assess properties and why they might ask for information from taxpayers to perform their functions.
The Government’s business rates reforms will deliver greater transparency on valuations for ratepayers and greater accuracy. By 2026, most ratepayers will be able to access more tailored details about comparable properties and by 2029, more specific valuation information and rental evidence will also be available.
The VOA uses internationally recognised valuation methods. It has a robust three-stage assurance framework which maintains and improves the quality of valuations across all areas through assuring adherence to professional standards, legislative obligations and internal processes. It also has a performance target around valuation quality, which it reports on in its annual report and accounts, which are published on GOV.UK.
The recent decision to move the Valuation Office Agency’s functions into its parent department (HMRC) by 2026 was taken to increase efficiency, business experience and provide greater ministerial oversight and accountability around delivery.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is planning to take to assist low-income families facing rising living costs in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
To support those most in need, the Government have introduced a Fair Repayment Rate, capping debt deductions made through Universal Credit, enabling 1.2 million families to keep more of their UC award each month and benefiting around 700,000 of the poorest families with children.
We also extended the Household Support Fund in England, as well as Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales, helping households facing the greatest hardship. Working age benefits increased fully by inflation in 2025-26 which will see around 5.7 million families on Universal Credit gain £150 on average this year.
The Government has set out the next steps in delivering our approach for regional growth, spreading growth across the country through investment and reform, including via devolution of funding and powers. This will benefit people across the country, including in the West Devon constituency.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of increases in the cost of living on households in West Dorset constituency.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Plan for Change outlines key milestones, including raising living standards in every part of the United Kingdom to put more money back in people’s pockets. In the latest data, living standards (as measured by real household disposable income per capita) are already growing at their fastest quarterly rate in two years.
The Government has set out the next steps in delivering our approach for regional growth, spreading growth across the country through investment and reform, including via devolution of funding and powers. This will benefit people across the country, including in the West Devon constituency.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a lower rate of employer National Insurance contributions for businesses in the hospitality sector which employ a high proportion of part-time workers.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has taken difficult but necessary decisions to fix the public finances and create long-term stability in which businesses can invest and grow.
The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from changes to employer National Insurance contributions 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. It means employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage without paying employer NICs.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to extend the deadline for voluntary National Insurance contributions.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Individuals can pay voluntary National Insurance contributions for up to six years in arrears to fill gaps in their National Insurance record.
Transitional arrangements to the new State Pension introduced by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in 2013 entitled men born after 5 April 1951 and women born after 5 April 1953 to pay voluntary National Insurance contributions for older years (back to the tax year 2006-2007) by 5 April 2025.
The 5 April 2025 deadline has been implemented, though individuals who were unable to pay contributions before that date were able to register for a call back from DWP after the deadline.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what impact recent discussions with representatives from the (a) pub and (b) brewing industries on (i) the levels of duty payable on beer and (ii) fiscal support for those industries have had on her policy decisions.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Treasury ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at the link here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
As with all taxes, the Government welcomes representations on how the alcohol duty system can be improved. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the public finances.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had recent discussions with representatives from the (a) pub and (b) brewing industries on (i) the levels of duty payable on beer and (ii) fiscal support for those industries.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Treasury ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at the link here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel
As with all taxes, the Government welcomes representations on how the alcohol duty system can be improved. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the public finances.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of extending the current beer duty freeze on the pub industry.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor cut alcohol duty on qualifying draught products, including most draught beer – approximately 60% of the alcoholic drinks sold in pubs. This represents an overall reduction in duty bills of over £85 million a year and is equivalent to a 1p duty reduction on a typical pint. This reduction, which came into effect on 1 February 2025, increased the relief available on draught products to 13.9%.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the number of farmers in West Dorset who will be affected by the proposed changes to Inheritance Tax, including Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has published information about the reforms to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms. The Chancellor also recently wrote to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee regarding the APR reforms; the letter can be accessed at: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/45691/documents/226235/default/.
It is expected that up to around 2,000 estates across the UK will be affected by the changes to APR and BPR in 2026-27, with around half of those being claims that involve AIM shares. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.
In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.
Information from claims is not recorded to enable regional or constituency-level breakdown of the number of estates expected to be affected.
For more information, please see my recent letter to the Chair of the Northern Ireland Select Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/46267/documents/232537/default/.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has plans to make changes to the tax-free allowance for Individual Savings Accounts.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) incentivise greater saving and investment by helping people save for their future goals and build greater financial resilience. They support people of all incomes and at all stages of life to save.
The Government keeps all aspects of the tax system under review.