Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Venezuelan-origin money laundering on UK financial institutions; and what steps are being taken to help tackle it.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government keeps its assessment of money laundering risks, including those linked to high‑risk jurisdictions, under regular review. The most recent UK National Risk Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing was published in 2025.
The UK operates a robust, risk‑based anti‑money laundering regime, underpinned by the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, which applies to all illicit funds regardless of country of origin. These Regulations ensure that those sectors most at risk of being abused for money laundering have appropriate risk-based controls in place. The Financial Action Taskforce has added Venezuela to the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring which means the UK treats Venezuela‑linked activity as higher risk. UK firms are expected to factor this into the way they conduct their compliance activity in line with these obligations.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans she has to bring forward supply-side reforms aimed at improving productivity in key growth sectors of the economy.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Economic growth is the first mission of this government, driving up prosperity and living standards across the UK. We are prioritising long-term productivity growth.
For example, the Government is committed to reducing the administrative costs of regulation on firms by 25% by the end of the Parliament and has set out reforms to achieve this.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of potential efficiency savings in public services that could reduce pressure on public spending while maintaining service quality.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
This government is relentlessly targeting waste and driving efficiencies to make sure we are getting the best possible value for taxpayer money.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the treasury spends on external videography services annually.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In 24/25 HMT spent £16,831 on external videography services. In 25/26, HMT have spent £11,160 as at 30 November 2025 on external videography services. These figures are inclusive of the use of external videography services to make training videos for the organisation.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much was spent on her visit to Wales and Scotland in early December 2025, including staffing, accommodation, expenses and security.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As has been the case under successive administrations, the Government does not publish granular detail on Ministers’ domestic travel. As a police protected minister, we do not comment on the specific arrangements in place for the Chancellor for security reasons.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the UK’s international tax competitiveness relative to comparable OECD economies; and what consideration she is giving to measures that would encourage investment and business growth.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK has an internationally competitive, territorial corporate tax regime, which is an essential component of growth and industrial policy in the UK.
The Government published its Corporate Tax Roadmap at Autumn Budget 2024, which included a commitment to ensuring a competitive and sustainable main rate of corporation tax by capping it at 25 per cent for the duration of this parliament. The current rate of corporation tax is the lowest in the G7, and this is supplemented by generous business investment tax reliefs which directly support investment, including Capital Allowances, R&D tax reliefs, and the Patent Box regime.
The Corporate Tax Roadmap provides businesses with the stability and certainty they need to make long-term investment decisions in the UK.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the potential impact of the salary sacrifice pension scheme changes announced in the Autumn Budget 2025 on the value of occupational pension funds.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to pensions salary sacrifice.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) set out in their November 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook that they do not expect a material impact on savings behaviour as a result of Budget 2025 tax changes.
The government supports all individuals to save into pensions through a generous system of income tax and NICs reliefs worth over £70 billion a year.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Budget on self-employed workers, including freelancers and contractors.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to a fair tax system that supports small firms and the self-employed, while ensuring the ongoing funding of essential public services and economic stability. The Budget raises revenue in a fair and progressive way, and the Government is sticking to its manifesto pledge not to increase the headline rates of income tax, National Insurance and VAT and its commitments in the Corporate Tax Roadmap.
We are providing support for small businesses and the self-employed in a number of areas. We are introducing the toughest late payment laws in the G7. Through the new Business Growth Service, small businesses will be able to access support with skills training, recruitment, or accessing Start Up Loans and Export Finance.
We are taking wider measures to ensure the wider economic environment is conducive to growth. We are cutting borrowing and debt, and supporting the Bank of England by tackling the persistent high inflation that dampens investment in the UK and slows economic growth. Government took measures at Budget to reduce consumer price inflation by 0.4pp in 2026/27.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Budget 2025 on (a) investment and (b) hiring decisions by small and medium-sized enterprises.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
We are cutting borrowing and debt, and supporting the Bank of England by tackling the persistent high inflation that dampens investment in the UK and slows economic growth. The Government set out its overall approach for supporting SMEs in the Small Business Strategy published in July 2025 and built on this with targeted reforms to support small businesses at Autumn Budget 2025. We are supporting employment and skills by changing the rules to fully fund SME apprenticeships training costs for eligible people under the age of 25. At the Budget we announced an Entrepreneurship which includes the largest ever injection of capital into the British Business Bank. Over the next five years, the British Business Bank will enable up to an additional £10 billion in small business lending through guarantees. We are also doubling the eligibility of our enterprise tax incentives to boost scale-ups and consulting on plans to reduce business energy prices.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Budget 2025 on areas with lower average incomes in each region.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HM Treasury’s ‘Impact on households’ publication, produced alongside Budget 2025, shows that the impact of government tax, welfare and public service spending decisions from Autumn Budget 2024 onwards are benefit households in the lowest income deciles the most, on average HM Treasury does not produce a distributional assessment of policy decisions at a subnational level.