Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on the VCSE sector.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
In order 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 contributions (NICs).
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, and civil society organisations as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
The Government has protected the smallest businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to Employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all this year and more than half of employers will see no change or will gain overall from this package.
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: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Financial Conduct Authority's redress scheme in relation to the collapse of the Woodford Equity Income Fund.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
On 19 April 2023, the FCA published a statement on their investigation into the circumstances leading up to the suspension of the Woodford Equity Income Fund, and the role of Link Fund Solutions. The statement set out a proposed settlement scheme for this investigation, where Link Fund Solutions and Link Group would provide a redress payment of up to approximately £230 million. This scheme would mean investors recovering up to 77p in the pound for the losses attributable to Link Fund Solutions.
The FCA considered that the scheme was the quickest way for investors to obtain a better outcome than might otherwise be achieved. In December 2023, investors voted by an overwhelming margin to endorse the scheme.
On 9 February 2024, the High Court issued a judgment approving the scheme, and the first redress payments of over £185 million were distributed by April 2024.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to Vehicle Excise Duty from April 2025 on levels of electric vehicle adoption; and what impact these changes will have on owners of zero-emission vehicles registered between 2017 and 2025 which will move from a £0 rate to the standard rate of £190-£195 per year.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is a tax on vehicles used or kept on public roads. As announced by the Government at Autumn Statement 2022, from April 2025, zero emission and hybrid cars, vans and motorcycles will begin to pay VED in a similar way to petrol and diesel vehicles. Revenue from motoring taxes helps ensure we can continue to fund the vital public services and infrastructure that people and families across the UK expect.
The Policy Costings document and Tax Information and Impact Note published alongside Autumn Statement 2022 when the change was announced both estimate the impact on zero emission vehicle take-up to be ‘minimal’.
The Tax Information and Impact Note also sets out expected economic, equalities and other impacts of the changes, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-vehicle-excise-duty-for-zero-emission-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-from-2025/introduction-of-vehicle-excise-duty-for-zero-emission-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-from-2025.
The Government is committed to supporting the transition to zero emission vehicles and announced a number of measures at Autumn Budget 2024 to support zero emission vehicle take-up. From 1 April 2025, VED First Year Rates have changed to apply higher rates to hybrid, petrol and diesel vehicles.
The Government has also maintained incentives for the purchase of zero emission vehicles within the Company Car Tax and Salary Sacrifice regimes until 2030, and extended the 100% First Year Allowances for businesses purchasing zero emission cars and installing chargepoint infrastructure.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief on trends in levels of agricultural employment.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992.
The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information about the costing in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024. The OBR published more detail on the costings on 22 January 2025. This material is all available on the OBR’s website.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief on trends in levels of tax revenues.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992.
The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information about the costing in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024. The OBR published more detail on the costings on 22 January 2025. This material is all available on the OBR’s website.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief on the trend in levels of economic growth
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992.
The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information about the costing in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024. The OBR published more detail on the costings on 22 January 2025. This material is all available on the OBR’s website.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of the UK’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements: and whether the Government plans to publish an updated review timeline.
Answered by Tulip Siddiq
The government is committed to leading the world in sustainable finance by making the UK a global hub for green and transition finance activity, and delivering a world-leading sustainable finance regulatory framework.
The government will provide further information about its plans to support growth and integrity in the UK sustainable finance landscape, including sustainability disclosures, in due course.