Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy to encourage communities to purchase public houses through the tax system.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government recognises the important role that pubs play in supporting high streets and local communities.
At the Autumn Budget the Chancellor introduced a range of measures that support pubs. These included doubling the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means more than half of businesses with NICs liabilities will either gain or will see no change this year.
The Chancellor also cut alcohol duty on qualifying draught products – approximately 60% of the alcoholic drinks sold in pubs. This represents an overall reduction in duty bills of over £85m a year and is equivalent to a 1p duty reduction on a typical pint. This reduction increased the relief available on draught products to 13.9%.
We intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality & leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values under £500,000, including those on the high street, from April 2026.
During the interim period, for 2025-26, RHL businesses will receive a 40 per cent relief on their business rates up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business, and the tax multiplier applied to small properties will be frozen. RHL relief was due to end entirely in April 2025. By extending it, the Government has saved the average pub, with a ratable value of £16,800, over £3,300.
There are no current plans to introduce a tax measure to support communities purchasing public houses, but the Government keeps all areas of the tax system under review. Any changes to the tax system are announced as part of the annual Budget process.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure that officials in her Department are adequately trained on potential economic statecraft mechanisms that could be deployed against the UK.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government possesses a range of diplomatic, economic, trade and other tools to respond to economic statecraft mechanisms if they are deployed against the UK. We work with the G7 and a range of other close partners to strengthen our joint resilience in ways that uphold the rules-based international economic system.
The UK Government continues to invest in training and capability building for officials in His Majesty’s Treasury to ensure economic security preparedness, including via the College for National Security. The Integrated Security Fund's Economic Deterrence Initiative has funded training and tailored analysis to improve economic security resilience and preparedness across HM Treasury.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing Business Rates relief to nurseries.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The early years system has a central role to play in driving economic growth and breaking down barriers to opportunity, which is why the Government wants to make childcare more affordable and accessible.
At the Budget in October, the Government committed to increasing spending on early years and family services to over £8 billion in 2025-26. This includes an additional £1.8 billion which will be paid to early years providers to continue the expansion of government-funded childcare and help more parents, particularly women, stay in and return to work.
Business rates are a broad-based tax on the value of non-domestic properties including nurseries. To protect small businesses, the government announced at the Autumn Budget that it would freeze the small business multiplier for 2025-26. Taken together with Small Business Rates Relief, this intervention ensures that over a million properties will be protected from inflationary increases.
In addition to this support, standalone nurseries are also eligible for charitable rate relief where they have a ‘charitable purpose’.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy to ensure Inheritance Tax is not charged on death in service payments paid to relatives of armed forces personnel.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Members of the armed forces deserve our gratitude for their service and a pension that ensures dignity in retirement.
The Government will bring most unused pension funds and death benefits payable from a pension into a person’s estate for inheritance tax purposes from 6 April 2027. Inheritance tax is already applied to death in service benefits for some pension schemes.
Estates of service personnel will benefit from the normal nil-rate bands, reliefs, and exemptions available. For example, the nil-rate bands mean an estate can pass on up to £1 million with no inheritance tax liability and the general rules mean any transfers, including the payment of death benefits, to a spouse or civil partner are exempt fully from inheritance tax. There is also a full exemption from inheritance tax when a member of the armed forces dies from a wound inflicted, accident occurring, or disease contracted on active service.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will review the Sovereign Grant annually on audited and published Crown Estate profits.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The rules governing the Sovereign Grant are set out in the Sovereign Grant Act 2011. This Act requires a review following every five-year period to ensure the percentage of Crown Estate profits used in the calculation of the Grant remains appropriate.
In addition, any unspent surplus from the Sovereign Grant goes into a reserve fund. If this reserve fund goes above 50 per cent of annual expenditure, the level of the Sovereign Grant can be reduced, requiring the Household to draw down this reserve rather than receive excessive additional funding.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will hold discussions with the (a) Duchy of Lancaster and (b) Duchy of Cornwall on creating a shared costs formula for local authorities within those Duchy areas when a Royal visit takes place.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Duchies of Cornwall and Lancaster are private estates, and neither Duchy manages public money. The government has a limited number of functions in relation to their administration, prescribed by Acts of Parliament.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take legislative steps to (a) increase competition and (b) reduce monopolies in the consumer insurance market.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq
The Government is committed to ensuring that the insurance industry operates on a fair and competitive basis.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the independent regulator, has a primary objective to ensure relevant markets are functioning well and a secondary objective to promote effective competition in the interests of consumers.
The FCA has robust powers to tackle anti-competitive practices, working with the Competition and Markets Authority where required. The Government is confident that both regulators are effective in their oversight of the insurance market.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to support farm owners to (a) diversify their businesses and (b) improve their financial security by providing accommodation for furnished holiday lettings on their farms.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is supporting farmers and land managers to adapt their business models and access tailored support to do so through the agricultural transition, including through diversification. For example, farmers can access free business advice through the Farming Resilience Fund.
The Government recognises that many farmers may choose to let out part of their estates as furnished holiday lettings (FHLs). Nevertheless, while the government recognises the important role that FHLs have, including those located on farms, in the visitor economy, tax rules currently privilege short-term lets over long-term rentals. The Government will therefore abolish the FHL tax regime from April 2025,which will equalise the tax treatment of landlords’ property income and gains.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will hold discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority on the additional costs to consumers of paying (a) vehicle and (b) household insurance in monthly instalments; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of such costs on people on lower incomes.
Answered by Bim Afolami
Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, including the financial services regulators, on an ongoing basis.
The Government does not prescribe the terms, conditions or price that insurance companies set when offering insurance. Insurers make commercial decisions about the pricing of insurance following their assessment of the relevant risks. The Government does not intervene in these decisions as this could damage competition in the market.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the independent regulator responsible for supervising the insurance industry. The FCA requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive). The FCA has been clear that it will be monitoring firms to ensure they are providing products that are fair value, and, where necessary, it will take action.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will launch a consumer review of the car insurance market for the purposes of understanding the (a) adequacy of levels of competition and (b) comparative pricing structures between companies.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade
The motor insurance market has many providers offering a variety of insurance products to suit the needs of customers. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), as the independent regulator for financial services, has a statutory objective to promote competition in the interests of consumers, and, working closely with the Competition and Markets Authority, can enforce against breaches of competition law. The FCA have also introduced several reforms, including the Consumer Duty rules, to ensure consumers are treated fairly in regard to pricing.
Insurers make commercial decisions about the terms, conditions or price that they set when offering insurance, including motor insurance. The Government does not intervene in these commercial decisions by insurers as this could damage competition in the market.