Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the amount of Russian assets in bank accounts in the UK.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, announced in December 2023 that £22.7 billion of Russian Assets had been reported as frozen since February 2022 as of October 2023.
This figure is collated from a cumulation of various asset types, of which bank accounts form part, and is a cumulative total of assets reported.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many bank closures there were in 2024.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Government does not hold bank branch closure data.
Guidance from the FCA sets out its expectation of firms when they are deciding to reduce their physical branches or the number of free-to-use ATMs. Firms are expected to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs, and put in place alternatives, where this is reasonable.
The Government is working closely with banks to roll out 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament. These will provide individuals and businesses up and down the country with critical cash and banking services. Over 100 are open so far.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of rises in employer National Insurance contributions on victims of domestic and sexual violence.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government recognises the important role charities play in our society and has made it a priority to reset the relationship with civil society by developing a Civil Society Covenant.
To repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance.
The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of employers with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year. Charities will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.
More broadly, within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving., with more than £6 billion in charitable reliefs provided to charities, CASCs and their donors in 2023 to 2024.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will hold discussions with the devolved Administrations on the adequacy of (a) funding and (b) devolved powers for the provision of public services.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
The UK Government regularly engages with officials and ministers from the devolved governments on a wide range of issues, including their funding to deliver public services.
The devolved governments’ settlements for 2025-26 are the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution. Each devolved government is receiving at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK, amounting to over £16 billion more in 2025-26. In total, the devolved governments will receive over £86 billion in 2025-26, including an additional £6.6 billion through the Barnett formula.
Barnett-based funding is not ringfenced for a specific policy area. This provides the devolved governments with the flexibility to allocate funding across devolved areas according to their own priorities and local circumstances, including public services. The devolved governments remain accountable to their respective devolved legislatures for these decisions.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of recent trends in the rate of inflation on (a) consumers and (b) businesses.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation has normalised after an inflationary shock resulted in it peaking at 11.1% in October 2022. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility say that they expect inflation to remain close to the 2% target throughout the forecast period. The Government fully supports the independent Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England in maintaining price stability sustainably in the medium term.
Inflation creates uncertainty for consumers and businesses. Which is why we are putting the public finances on a sustainable path and investing in the future. That is the most important thing to support working people and create a stable environment for growth.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the level of interest rates on people with low incomes.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq
The Government understands the importance of protecting family finances. That is why we are committed to delivering economic stability to grow the economy, maintain low and stable inflation, and keep taxes and mortgages as low as possible. Low and stable inflation is an essential pre-requisite for economic growth and improving living standards, so we are continuing to support the independent Monetary Policy Committee as it acts to return inflation to target sustainably.
We are taking a comprehensive approach—supporting those in immediate need while addressing the structural changes necessary to fix the country's foundations. These combined efforts will help families by boosting wages and putting more money in people’s pockets. Specific actions already taken by the Government to support people on low incomes include: increasing to the National Living Wage from April 2025; extension of the Household Support Fund in England and Discretionary Housing Payments in England and Wales in 2025-26; and introduction of a new Fair Repayment Rate from April 2025 to cap debt repayment made through Universal Credit.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people aged under 21 have opened lifetime ISAs in the last 12 months.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Information on Lifetime ISAs can be found in HMRC’s Annual Savings Statistics, available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/annual-savings-statistics
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with mortgage providers on the availability of low deposit mortgages for first time buyers.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq
The Government is regularly in contact with mortgage lenders on all aspects of their business, including the provision of finance to first time buyers.
This Government will turn the dream of owning a home into a reality by fixing the planning system and building 1.5 million more homes, as well as helping buyers who are struggling to save for a large deposit by introducing a permanent Mortgage Guarantee Scheme. As set out in the Chancellor’s recent Budget, we will announce further details of the scheme in Phase 2 of the Spending Review.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of including renewable liquid gases in the green taxonomy.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq
The purpose of implementing a green taxonomy is to support investment into activities aligned with sustainability goals, and to mitigate greenwashing.
However, the government is aware that taxonomies can be complex in practice, and feedback on their value is mixed. The government has therefore published a consultation to gather views on the value case for launching a UK Green Taxonomy as part of a wider sustainable finance framework.
At this stage in the consultation process, the government is not seeking feedback on the detail of the sectors for inclusion. Instead, the government is focused on the bigger picture of whether and how this can be a useful tool for companies and investors.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of recent tax increases on small and medium businesses.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government inherited a very difficult fiscal situation and so we are asking businesses to contribute to fixing the public finances and our public services.
At the Autumn Budget, the Government announced tax reforms to support smaller businesses. Including, more than doubling the employment allowance to £10,500; committing in the Corporate Tax Roadmap to maintain the Small Profits Rate and marginal relief at their current rates and thresholds, as well as maintaining the Annual Investment Allowance; and freezing the small businesses multiplier for 2025/26. In the transition to permanently lower business rates burden for the high street, through lower multipliers for Retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) businesses from April 2026, RHL business rates relief will also be extended for one year at 40% (up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business). If the Government had not acted, the current RHL relief would have ended entirely in April 2025.