Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the planned higher multiplier for properties with rateable values above £500,000, broken down by business sector.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government published a Discussion Paper setting out priority areas for business rates reform and invited industry to co-design a fairer business rates system.
In summer, the Government will publish an interim report that sets out a clear direction of travel for the business rates system, with further policy detail to follow at Budget 2025.
To deliver our manifesto pledge, from April 2026, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RVs) below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure that RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we also intend to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties from April 2026 - those with RVs of £500,000 and above. This represents less than one per cent of all properties.
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) have published data on properties with RVs above £500,000 based on the previous valuation, broken down by sector online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-domestic-rating-property-counts-and-rateable-value-rv-for-properties-in-england-with-rv-over-500000. The VOA also routinely publish data on the whole commercial property stock by sector online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-rating-stock-of-properties-2024.
Every three years, all commercial properties are revalued by the VOA. The 2026 revaluation, which will take effect from April 2026, will update RVs and may, therefore, affect which businesses are within scope of the new higher rate. The revaluation process is ongoing. The VOA are required to publish a draft of all properties’ new RVs this year.
The rates for the new business rate multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context. When the new multipliers are set, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the expected effects of the new multiplier arrangements.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what her planned timeline is for the publication of the interim report on business rates.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government published a Discussion Paper setting out priority areas for business rates reform and invited industry to co-design a fairer business rates system.
In summer, the Government will publish an interim report that sets out a clear direction of travel for the business rates system, with further policy detail to follow at Budget 2025.
To deliver our manifesto pledge, from April 2026, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RVs) below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure that RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we also intend to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties from April 2026 - those with RVs of £500,000 and above. This represents less than one per cent of all properties.
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) have published data on properties with RVs above £500,000 based on the previous valuation, broken down by sector online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-domestic-rating-property-counts-and-rateable-value-rv-for-properties-in-england-with-rv-over-500000. The VOA also routinely publish data on the whole commercial property stock by sector online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-rating-stock-of-properties-2024.
Every three years, all commercial properties are revalued by the VOA. The 2026 revaluation, which will take effect from April 2026, will update RVs and may, therefore, affect which businesses are within scope of the new higher rate. The revaluation process is ongoing. The VOA are required to publish a draft of all properties’ new RVs this year.
The rates for the new business rate multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context. When the new multipliers are set, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the expected effects of the new multiplier arrangements.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of increasing the Trading Allowance to £3,000.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Trading Allowance allows individuals to earn up to £1,000 a year in trading or miscellaneous income tax-free, and this has not changed. The Government is increasing the Income Tax Self-Assessment reporting threshold from £1,000 to £3,000 gross within this parliament.
Individuals will still owe tax on anything above £1,000, but if below £3,000 they will be able to report their income through a new HMRC online service rather than Self-Assessment. This will reduce administrative burdens for up to 300,000 traders.
The Government must ensure the tax system supports strong public finances whilst targeting support where it is most needed. As with all aspects of the tax system, the Government keeps the taxation of trading income under review. Any decisions on future changes will be taken by the Chancellor in the context of the wider public finances.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what her Department's timetable is for (a) implementing and (b) publishing further information on its policy to bring unused pension funds and death benefits under an individual’s estate for inheritance tax purposes.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Most unused pension funds and death benefits will be included within the value of a person’s estate for inheritance tax purposes from 6 April 2027.
A technical consultation was published at Autumn Budget 2024 on the proposal for pension scheme administrators to become liable for reporting and paying any inheritance tax due on pensions. The consultation concluded on 22 January 2025 and the responses are being considered. The Government will publish a response document and draft legislation for these changes later this year.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has set a target for the impact of the Office for Value for Money on Government expenditure in each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
The Office for Value for Money has two primary roles. First, to provide targeted interventions, working with Treasury and departments, so that value for money governs every decision government makes. Second, to recommend system reforms to ensure any changes support the government’s missions and deliver value for money.
The Office for Value for Money will be a time-limited team. Following the conclusion of the Spending Review, the Office will evaluate the effectiveness of systems reforms, and its impact on the wider spending architecture.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the Office for Value for Money on Government expenditure in each of the next three financial years.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
The Office for Value for Money has two primary roles. First, to provide targeted interventions, working with Treasury and departments, so that value for money governs every decision government makes. Second, to recommend system reforms to ensure any changes support the government’s missions and deliver value for money.
The Office for Value for Money will be a time-limited team. Following the conclusion of the Spending Review, the Office will evaluate the effectiveness of systems reforms, and its impact on the wider spending architecture.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff in the Office for Value for Money have a salary over £100,000.
Answered by Darren Jones - Minister for Intergovernmental Relations
The Office for Value for Money has one member of staff with a salary of over £100,000. This is within the pay range for Senior Civil Service Directors across government.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to support (a) pubs and (b) breweries in (i) Richmond Park constituency and (ii) the United Kingdom.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Pubs make an enormous contribution to our economy and society, and this is recognised in the tax system.
At the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor 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%.
The Chancellor also confirmed her intention to introduce permanently lower business rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs, from 2026-27, and in the interim extend the current RHL relief for 1-year at 40%, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business.
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing citizens with a breakdown of what proportion of their tax payments are invested into each sector of the economy.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The government regularly publishes a breakdown of total public tax receipts and total public sector spending. The most recent of these can be found in Annex B of the Spring Budget 2024 document, which is published on gov.uk here: Spring Budget 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Citizens can also see how this breakdown applies to their tax contributions via the Annual Tax Summary service which can be accessed here: Annual Tax Summary - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
A more detailed breakdown of current receipts, public sector current expenditure (PSCE) and public sector gross investment (PSGI), is set out in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) published by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The most of recent of these can be found in Tables A5 and A7 in the EFO published in March 2024, alongside the Spring Budget. This can be found on the OBR’s website here: EFOs - Office for Budget Responsibility (obr.uk).
Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff in his Department work on child benefit.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
HMRC has a dedicated team of trained staff members available to support and assist customers with queries related to Child Benefit. The staffing numbers are regularly reviewed and adjusted based on demand throughout the year. The Department has the capability to train existing colleagues from outside the Child Benefit team as needed to address priority areas.