Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many times the new Chair of the Office for Value for Money has formally met with (a) the Chancellor and (b) the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
David Goldstone CBE was appointed as the independent Chair of the Office of Value for Money on 30 October 2024. His published terms of reference state that he will have monthly regular check-ins with the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and that he will provide a regular update to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Since his appointment, the Chair has provided regular updates to the Chancellor and me on his progress. As part of this, the Chair has had three meetings with me; and one meeting with the Chancellor.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Spending Review Phase 2 is zero-based.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Phase 2 of the Spending Review launched on the 10th December 2024. At launch, I asked every department to conduct a zero-based review of government spending to assess whether it is a priority for this government and represents value for money. This is the first time that a line-by-line review of government spending has taken place in 17 years, offering the opportunity to undertake a more thorough review of spending.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2025, to Question 21295 on Employers’ Contributions: Equality, whether a longer Impact Assessment or screening document was produced internally by her Department on the changes to National Insurance contributions that subsequently informed the content in the Tax Information and Impact Note.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government carefully considers the impact of all decisions on those sharing protected characteristics in line with both our legal obligations and with our commitment to greater fairness and opportunity.
The Government is committed to meeting its obligation to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) and Treasury ministers are confident the Government has met the obligation for the changes to National Insurance.
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer; the economic impacts of the policy; and the impacts on individuals, businesses, civil society organisations and an overview of the equality impacts.
The Office for Budget Responsibility also published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2025 to Question 25682 on Motor vehicles: taxation, whether any impact assessment has been produced on changes to tax on double cab pick-up vehicles in the Autumn Budget 2024.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The change in treatment for Double Cab Pick-ups (DCPUs) as announced at Autumn Budget 2024 was to align treatment with recent case law to treat them as cars, and not a change in policy requiring legislation. As mentioned in my answer of 28 January 2025, given this was not a policy change, it sits outside the Tax Consultation Framework. Under that framework, Tax Information and Impacting Notes (TIINs) are only published alongside legislation at fiscal events. More information on the Tax Consultation Framework can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a79567ee5274a3864fd622b/tax-consultation-framework.pdf
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was claimed for trade union subscriptions under section 344 of the Income Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003 in each of the last five years.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The requested information is not available. Claims for Professional Membership Fees and Annual Subscriptions, (under s343 and s344 ITEPA 2003) are reported on HMRC returns under the ‘Fees and Subscriptions’ category and cannot therefore be separately identified.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 January 2025 to Question 20947 on First Time Buyers: Stamp Duties, what the average stamp duty paid was by people who claimed first time buyers’ relief in the 2023-24 tax year; how many such payments were made in the same period; and what estimate he has made of the (a) number and (b) value of those payments in the 2025-26 tax year.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In 2023 to 2024, there were 113,100 transactions above the nil-rate band threshold of £250,000 that claimed First-Time Buyers’ Relief (FTBR) in the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) return. These transactions paid an average of £900 in SDLT.
Estimates for 2025 to 2026 for claimants of FTBR and for the average SDLT paid by FTBR claimants are not available.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the non-domiciled tax regime on (a) philanthropic giving and (b) the charitable sector.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government’s priority is improving the UK’s competitiveness internationally and securing economic growth. The non-domicile reforms have been specifically designed to make the UK competitive with a modern, simple tax regime that is also fair. The reforms establish a tax regime for new residents, which is more attractive to new arrivals than the current rules.
As part of the reforms, the Government also wants to incentivise non-domiciled individuals who are not eligible for the new regime to spend and invest their foreign income and gains in the UK. That is why existing and previous users of the remittance basis will be able to take advantage of a three-year Temporary Repatriation Facility (TRF) to bring their offshore funds to the UK at a discounted tax rate.
The Government published a Tax Information and Impact Note for this policy at Autumn Budget 2024. This can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-changes-for-non-uk-domiciled-individuals/reforming-the-taxation-of-non-uk-domiciled-individuals.
Charities are a vital part of our society, and the Government continues to support them and their donors. Total charitable tax reliefs given to charities and donors was over £6bn for the tax year ending in April 2024.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2024 to Question 12389 on Pensions: Inheritance Tax, whether the (a) partner and (b) dependent's scheme pension for the (i) Civil Service Alpha scheme and (ii) Ministerial Pension Scheme will be included in the value of the estate for inheritance tax for (A) married couples, (B) unmarried couples and (C) couples in a civil partnership.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Dependant scheme pensions, including partner pensions, are not subject to Inheritance Tax. This is the same for registered and unregistered UK schemes, and will not be impacted by the changes announced at Autumn Budget 2024.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Autumn Budget 2024, whether the (a) pension and (b) associated pension benefits under the tax-unregistered Judicial Pension Scheme will be liable for inheritance tax.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
There are three different types of UK statutory defined benefit judicial pension schemes. As defined benefit schemes, none of these have a dedicated fund which can be inherited as defined contribution schemes do.
Dependant scheme pensions, including partner pensions, are not subject to Inheritance Tax. This is the same for registered and unregistered UK schemes, and will not be impacted by the changes announced at Autumn Budget 2024.
Asked by: John Glen (Conservative - Salisbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2024 to Question 10442 on Government departments: communication and public consultation, what non-essential spending in each Department has been stopped to deliver the £50 million of savings in (a) 2024-24 and (b) 2025-26.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
To identify savings in Communications spending for 2024-25 and 2025-26, the UK Government conducted a comprehensive review of communications campaigns through the Spending Review. This review looked at the strategic logic, join-up, role for communications and value for money of each campaign. This led to 39 campaigns being cancelled, 46 continuing with reduced budgets and 46 aiming to reduce their expenditure by 25%.
As a result, Autumn Budget 2024 confirmed an £85 million saving from reducing unnecessary communications spend in 2024-25 and up to £96m in 2025-26 – exceeding the £50 million target set out in the Chancellor’s July 2024 Inheritance speech.