Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the RAC Report on Motoring 2025, published in October 2025, what assessment she has made of that report's recommendations on motor insurance tax.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have established a cross-government motor insurance taskforce with a strategic remit to set the direction for UK government policy, identifying short- and long-term actions for departments that may contribute to stabilising or reducing car insurance premiums. The taskforce's final report will be published in the autumn.
Insurance pricing is a decision which is affected by a wide range of factors, and the taxes that insurers pay are just one part of this. There is no guarantee that any reductions in Insurance Premium Tax (IPT) would be passed on to policy holders.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the (a) staffing, (b) system, (c) compliance and (d) other costs of (i) implementing and (ii) administering the proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief; and if she will take steps to publish an estimate prior to the reforms taking effect in April 2026.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
I refer to the answer given on 5 September 2025 at UIN 70546 :
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-08-29/70546
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the Chair of the Independent Review of the Loan Charge on the progress of that review.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Ministers have not held discussions with the independent reviewer of the Loan Charge since the review was launched. However, the review team has confirmed that they expect to conclude in the summer, and the government will respond to their report by Autumn Budget 2025.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings (a) she and (b) Ministers have had with Doug Gurr since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Treasury Ministers and officials 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 and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to renegotiate carnet provisions between the UK and EU on the movement of vehicles and parts used in motorsport.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The UK is committed to maintaining the option of using ATA Carnets for temporary movements of professional equipment to the EU. Carnets can be a simpler and cheaper way to move goods into and out of a customs territory temporarily, compared to submitting full customs import and export declarations and paying duties.
The EU’s Temporary Admission procedure in combination with the UK’s Returned Goods Relief offers another alternative to move items temporarily into the EU and back to the UK without paying import duties. Improved guidance on the temporary movement of goods from the UK has recently been published: https://www.gov.uk/taking-goods-out-gb-temporarily.
The Government is reviewing how we can improve the UK’s own Temporary Admission procedure and simplify processes for individuals and businesses, and has engaged with the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders which included representatives from Motorsport UK. HMRC and HMT are open to further discussions and any specific concerns the motorsport industry has around the options available for temporarily moving goods.
Work to digitalise ATA Carnets and their processes is currently underway as part of a World customs Organisation (WCO) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) initiative. The Digital Pilot was launched in February 2019, initially involving the UK and five other countries. To date the UK has successfully processed a number of e-Carnets from Heathrow and is looking to collaborate with more ports to make digital Carnets more readily available. More information is available at https://iccwbo.org/media-wall/news-speeches/icc-new-ata-carnet-app-makes-digital-declarations-and-transactions-possible/
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information his Department holds on the value of compensation awarded under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in each financial year since 2018-19.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The overall cost of compensation awarded by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for the years in question can be found in its Annual Reports and Accounts, which are published here: https://www.fscs.org.uk/industry-resources/annual-report-archive/ and https://www.fscs.org.uk/news/fscs-news/annual-report/.
In 2021/22, the last year for which numbers have been published, the cost was £584 million.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the Plastic Packaging Tax on trends in the rates of recycling for (a) flexible plastics and (b) films.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
The Plastic Packaging Tax was introduced in April 2022 to encourage businesses to include more recycled plastic in packaging. This will increase demand for recycled plastic, which will stimulate increased levels of recycling and collection of plastic waste.
The government continues to keep all taxes under review and will consider conducting an evaluation of PPT after at least one year’s worth of monitoring data has been collected.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Office for Budget Responsibility's report entitled Economic and fiscal outlook, published in November 2022, whether it is Government policy to introduce a 23 per cent. increase in fuel duty in late-March 2023.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
No changes to fuel duty were made in November’s Autumn Statement.
The Government will confirm policy on fuel duty in the Budget in the Spring, as has been the case in previous years. The impact of any policy change is carefully considered.
Until then, the OBR’s forecast is prepared on the Government’s longstanding assumption that fuel duty will rise in line with inflation.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Office for Budget Responsibility's report entitled Economic and fiscal outlook, published in November 2022, what assessment he has made of the impact of a potential increase in fuel duty in March 2023 on the road haulage sector.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
No changes to fuel duty were made in November’s Autumn Statement.
The Government will confirm policy on fuel duty in the Budget in the Spring, as has been the case in previous years. The impact of any policy change is carefully considered.
Until then, the OBR’s forecast is prepared on the Government’s longstanding assumption that fuel duty will rise in line with inflation.
Asked by: Greg Smith (Conservative - Mid Buckinghamshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Office for Budget Responsibility's report entitled Economic and fiscal outlook, published in November 2022, what assessment he has made of the impact of a potential increase in fuel duty on the classic car sector.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
No changes to fuel duty were made in November’s Autumn Statement.
The Government will confirm policy on fuel duty in the Budget in the Spring, as has been the case in previous years. The impact of any policy change is carefully considered.
Until then, the OBR’s forecast is prepared on the Government’s longstanding assumption that fuel duty will rise in line with inflation.