theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when recycling services will be restored in Birmingham; and what estimate she has made of the quantity of recycling material in Birmingham directed to landfill since the suspension of those services. \p Jim McMahon: Birmingham City Council plans to restore household recycling collections when the waste dispute is resolved. The City Council has increased the opening hours of its 5 household waste recycling facilities which remain open to households. We understand that no recycling material has been sent to landfill since the suspension of household waste collections.
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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to prevent long leases from becoming assured shorthold tenancies. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Renters’ Rights Bill will abolish assured shorthold tenancies, so most private rented sector tenancies will be assured tenancies in future.

The Bill will also exclude leases over 21 years in length from the assured tenancy regime.

This will mean that long leases cannot be considered assured or assured shorthold tenancies once the Bill’s reforms have been brought into force.

This will close the ‘Tenancy Trap’, a problem for some leasehold-homeowners where their properties can be repossessed via the assured tenancy possession ground for rent arrears.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to expand tenants rights in relation to eviction notices. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Renters’ Rights Bill delivers our manifesto commitment to transform the experience of private renting, including by ending Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions.

The Bill will improve the current system for both the 11 million private renters and 2.3 million landlords in England.

It will give renters much greater security and stability so they can stay in their homes for longer, build lives in their communities, and avoid the risk of homelessness.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of the report entitled Mobile homes: The impact of a change in the maximum park home sale commission, published in June 2022. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 44299 on 16 April 2025.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate she has made of the gross cost of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions for fire and rescue services. \p Alex Norris: Government funding for fire and rescue services is provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) through the Local Government Finance Settlement (LGFS) in the form of revenue support grant (RSG) and retained business rates.

In recognition of the decision to increase employer National Insurance Contributions, the Government will provide £515 million to English local councils, including mayoral combined authorities and fire and rescue authorities, allocated based on an assessment of each council’s share of relevant net service expenditure.

The 2025/26 LGFS was published on 3 February and sets out funding allocations for all local authorities including fire and rescue. Standalone Fire and Rescue Authorities will see an increase in core spending power of £65.5m in 2025/26. Including the National Insurance Contribution Grant, this is an increase of 3.6 per cent in cash terms compared to 2024/25.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether their Department plans to amend its policies on access to (a) toilets, (b) changing facilities and (c) other single-sex spaces in (i) Departmental buildings and (ii) other buildings within their Department’s remit following the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025. \p Alex Norris: The Supreme Court ruling made it clear that the provision of single-sex spaces is on the basis of biological sex. Providers should note and follow the ruling.

It is important that we ensure dignity and respect for all. Trans people should have access to services they need but in keeping with the ruling.

The Equality & Human Rights Commission, as Britain’s Equalities watchdog, is developing updated guidance to support service providers. Ministers will consider the EHRC’s updated draft once they have submitted it following further work in light of this ruling.

The Government is considering the implications of the Court’s judgment, including what this means for Government buildings.
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John Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 4 April 2025 to Question 41460 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Equality, what payments (a) her Department and (b) each of its arm’s-length bodies have made to the training company Inclusive Employers Ltd since July 2024; and for what purposes. \p Alex Norris: MHCLG’s Inclusion Allies network is comprised of 73 (a) staff members and zero (b) ministers.

All expenditure by core MHCLG with this supplier since July 2024, and the purpose of that expenditure, is set out in the answer to Question UIN 45669 on 29 April 2025.

No ALB sponsored by the MHCLG has made any payments to this supplier since July 2024, except for Homes England who made one payment for a 12-month corporate membership to support their EDI ambitions.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding was allocated by her Department for infrastructure improvements in Romford constituency in the last two years. \p Alex Norris: There have been no funds allocated to Romford over the last 2 years from the Housing Infrastructure Fund or from other MHCLG Land and Infrastructure funds.

The Greater London Authority was awarded a £63 million grant through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for the 2025-26 financial year to support London's economic development, with a focus on supporting local businesses and improving communities and skills. The GLA is working with London Councils and other partners to allocate these funds.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of new fire safety regulations on the workload of fire and rescue services. \p Alex Norris: The Fire Safety Act 2021 and the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 are the main changes made to fire safety legislation in recent years, and both were subject to impact assessments which were published at the time of their introduction.

We are providing £10 million Protection Uplift Grant to Fire and Rescue Services for 2025/26, with £5 million allocated for the first six months and a further £5 million to be confirmed later in the year. The Protection Uplift grant is ringfenced to fire protection and is used to bolster capability and capacity in protection departments.

Decisions on future funding to Fire and Rescue Services to support the work of the Building Safety Regulator are under consideration and yet to be confirmed.

Additionally, MHCLG’s Remediation Acceleration Plan sets out the Government’s intent to legislate to place stronger duties on landlords, including creating a legal duty on those responsible for buildings 11m and over to remediate their buildings within clear timescales, supplemented by further powers for regulators, including Fire and Rescue Authorities, to enforce. An impact assessment of any new legislation will be produced and published alongside this to capture the likely impact of the change including regulatory burden.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2025 to Question 38618 on Freeports, whether trade unions participants in freeports governance will be subject to the same responsibilities and duties as ordinary board members. \p Alex Norris: The specific responsibilities and duties of Freeport board members are stipulated by the relevant articles of association/terms of reference for the Freeport Board and are for individual Freeports to define, giving due regard to relevant government guidance.
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Fabian Hamilton:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help support the sustainability of independent hair salons on high streets; and whether she has made a recent assessment of the contribution of such businesses to local communities. \p Alex Norris: This Government recognises the important economic and social value of the hair and beauty industry to high streets and local communities, and we want to support these businesses that help make our town centres successful.

That is why we have committed to reforming business rates from 2026-27 with a permanently lower multiplier for retail, leisure and hospitality properties, including hair and beauty salons.

The Government will also protect the smallest businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all and employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.

We have also introduced new powers to help fill persistently vacant properties and make town centre tenancies more accessible and affordable through High Street Rental Auctions, supporting independent hair salons to access commercial property opportunities.
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Perran Moon:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans her Department has to help tackle shortages of professional services in design and planning stages of (a) infrastructure and (b) housing. \p Matthew Pennycook: Professional services across the built environment are vital to delivering both infrastructure and housing.

A significant amount of beneficial and innovative work is being undertaken by the sector to identify and deliver the professional skills that will be needed in the future, ensuring that it can continue to offer services to further development.

My answer to Question UIN 28327 on 13 February 2025 also sets out the programme in place to enable planning local authorities to access relevant skills.

This will be further underpinned by the fee increases for planning services that is being implemented from April 2025 which will help improve the resourcing of planning application services, so that local planning authorities can access the skills they need.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help improve the cyber security resilience of fire and rescue services. \p Alex Norris: The government is committed to enhancing the UK’s resilience to threats, crises and emergencies.

Fire and Rescue Authorities are subject to the full set of civil protection duties under the Civil Contingencies Act (2004), to plan and prepare for disruptive incidents. This includes cyber security, and my department regularly engages with the National Fire Chiefs Council’s (NFCC) Digital Data and Technology Team and relevant service Cyber Leads.

In addition, my department is working closely with all Fire and Rescue Services in England to support them to improve their cyber security and resilience. This includes:
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department holds information on the number of buildings that do not meet standards for safe cladding. \p Alex Norris: The department publishes monthly data on the number of 11m+ residential buildings identified with unsafe cladding and their remediation progress. This can be found here: Building Safety Remediation - GOV.UK. The latest release shows that as at 31st March 2025, there are 5,031 11m+ buildings identified with unsafe cladding, of which 1,637 (33%) have completed remediation works.
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Sarah Gibson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making water companies statutory consultees in planning applications. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government recently declared a moratorium on any new statutory consultees, along with a review of the existing statutory consultee arrangements to ensure they align with the government’s ambitions for growth. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510). Any further announcements will be subject to this review.

I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UNI 40935 on 31 March 2025.
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Manuela Perteghella:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to ensure that planning (a) policies and (b) decisions support UK (i) nature and (ii) climate targets. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 41339 on 3 April 2025.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to ensure community cohesion within local planning departments. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is leading cross-government efforts to develop a longer-term, more strategic approach to social cohesion, working in partnership with communities and local stakeholders to rebuild, renew and address the deep-seated issues which local areas face.

The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that planning policies and decisions should aim to promote healthy, inclusive and safe places which promote social interaction, including opportunities for meetings between people who might not otherwise come into contact with each other.

Places should be safe and accessible, so that crime and disorder, and the fear of crime, do not undermine the quality of life or community cohesion.

Local Planning Authorities should plan positively for the provision and use of shared spaces, community facilities and other local services to enhance the sustainability of communities and residential environments, taking into account local strategies to improve health, social and cultural wellbeing for all sections of the community.
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Dr Roz Savage:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to (a) publish for the purposes of public scrutiny and (b) make available to hon. Members for the purposes of parliamentary scrutiny the draft 4th edition of the Service Charge Residential Management Code prior to its formal adoption. \p Matthew Pennycook: Responsibility for reviewing and updating the current edition of the Service Charge Management Code rests wholly with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), as owners of the Code. The Department had no role or influence in determining the composition of the expert panel or the terms of reference of the review.

A draft 4th edition of the Code was published by RICS for public consultation in April 2022, and it will be for RICS to decide if and when the 4th edition of the code is published, or subject to further scrutiny. Once the revised code is published, Ministers will decide whether or not formally to approve it, in whole or in part, using powers under Section 87 of the Leasehold Reform and Urban Development Act 1993.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when her Department plans to issue updated land use in England statistics. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Department will publish the updated land use statistics in due course. The publication date will be pre-announced on GOV.UK.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of dwellings were built on land designated as previously undeveloped Green Belt in England in each year since 1997 for which figures are held. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Department publishes a statistical release entitled ‘Land use change statistics – new residential addresses’, which includes information on the proportion of dwellings built on land designated as previously undeveloped Green Belt in England.

The live table P310 provides data from 2013-14 to 2021-22, and can be found here.

The live tables P243 and P246 provide data from 1989 to 2011, and can be found here. Figures for 2022-23 will be published in due course.
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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of further regulation of funds by (a) developers and (b) building owners for leaseholders. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government intends to act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

This includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable.

Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement published on Thursday 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).
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Suella Braverman:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to increase the powers of mortgage holders to hold developers to account in relation to inadequate construction. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government is aware of the challenges faced by mortgage holders and all other purchasers of new build properties with building safety and other defects.

Presently, most new home warranties are 10 years in length and are regularly a requirement placed on potential borrowers by mortgage providers.

The developer is often held accountable for the first two years of this period, with the rest of the period covered by the warranty provider.

Where issues arise with a new home, the government would urge new build homeowners to check the terms of any warranty their home may be under to see if the developer can be held accountable for rectifying any issues before referring back to the warranty provider. Where a homeowner is dissatisfied with the service given, warranty providers should have a clear complaints procedure for warranty holders to follow. If this still does not resolve the issue, the next step would be to refer the case to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for a decision.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled £2 billion new investment to support biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, published on 25 March 2025, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of affordable housing programme expenditure in the 2026-27 financial year on economic growth. \p Matthew Pennycook: Social and affordable housing delivers economic gains through increased housing supply and further societal benefits.

Prior to the immediate injection of £2 billion announced at Spring statement, the departments modelling, published in this NAO report, showed that for every £1.00 spent on the 21-26 programme provides £2.70 of benefits, with 89% of the programme’s net benefit to society arising from increased housing supply measured via land value uplift.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that homes sold under Right to Buy are not used as private rental properties. \p Matthew Pennycook: Former council tenants who have purchased their home under the Right to Buy scheme but wish to resell or dispose of it within a 10-year period, must first offer the property for sale at the full market value to either the former landlord or to another social landlord in the area. This is known as the right of first refusal and helps to safeguard social housing and keep it within the public sector.

As announced at Autumn Budget, the government is allowing councils to keep 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales, which coupled with the increased flexibilities in how councils can use the receipts, will help to accelerate and increase the delivery of replacement homes. The majority of the receipts must be spent on replacement social housing within 5 years.

The government’s manifesto committed to better protecting newly built social housing from the Right to Buy since we recognise that the risk of a home being sold soon after completion can disincentivise councils from investing in new housing. To give councils greater confidence to scale-up delivery of social homes for those who need them most, the government increased the “cost floor” period during which Right to Buy discounts can be reduced to account for money spent building or maintaining the property, from 15 years to 30 years.

The government is aware, however, that the cost floor may not always be sufficient to protect new builds, because new homes can still be sold under the scheme, and it may not cover all forms of investment in existing housing stock. We therefore sought views in the recent consultation on reforming the Right to Buy scheme, which can be found on gov.uk here, on an exemption for new builds from the scheme. The consultation has closed and the government is carefully considering all responses received and will announce next steps in due course.
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Lewis Cocking:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help ensure that residential freeholders are notified of future liability for charges during the conveyancing process. \p Matthew Pennycook: The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (“the 2024 Act”) contains measures to improve the home buying and selling process for homeowners to ensure perspective homeowners receive relevant and timely information at a reasonable cost.

We will be consulting on the secondary legislation that is required to switch on these measures in due course.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will publish a digital, publicly available map of Tree Protection Orders. \p Matthew Pennycook: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 35438 on 12 March 2025.
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Seamus Logan:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to implement the recommendations of the report by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights entitled Concluding observations on the seventh periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, published on 3 March 2025. \p Alex Norris: Relevant departments are currently considering the Committee’s concluding observations in detail. The Government will give written responses to three priority areas that the Committee has identified for specific follow-up by 2027.

The Government will respond to the rest of the recommendations before the UK’s next reporting cycle starts in 2030.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to expand the scope of the Loan Change review to include (a) promoters, (b) umbrella companies, (c) recruitment agencies, (d) accountants and (e) tax advisers. \p James Murray: The Government has commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers.

The Government does not think it is right for people affected by the Loan Charge to have to wait years for any progress on bringing this matter to a close for them and has therefore ensured that the review has a focused remit, allowing it to report by this summer. The Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025.

Alongside the review, the Government is consulting in 2025 on measures to tackle promoters of marketed tax avoidance and has already announced measures to tackle the significant tax avoidance and fraud in the umbrella company market.
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John Glen:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43449 on Trident Submarines: Procurement, if she will make it her policy to amend assimilated EU law under the UK Benchmarks Regulation to remove the EU legacy law references to controversial weapons; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on levels of investment by companies which provide (a) goods and (b) services relating to Trident renewal. \p Emma Reynolds: As set out in the recent Call for Evidence on the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, having an effective regulatory environment is key to maintaining and enhancing our position as a global financial centre so that it can support growth across the wider UK economy. That includes regulations inherited from the European Union, such as the Benchmarks regulation.

The government remains open to views from industry on how we can continue to progress reforms to assimilated law as part of this work creating an effective regulatory environment.

More broadly, the government does not see a conflict between sustainable investment and investment in the defence sector.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what diversity network time is available to staff at HM Revenue and Customs. \p James Murray: I refer the Right Hon. Member to the answer given by Lord Spencer Livermore in HL1114 which references the diversity network time available to staff at HM Revenue and Customs.
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Stephen Gethins:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of re-joining the EU single market on the UK economy, in the context of the UK-EU summit on 19 May 2025. \p James Murray: The OBR has estimated that productivity will be 4% lower in the long run than it would have been had the UK not withdrawn from the EU, and that imports and exports will eventually both be 15 per cent lower than had we stayed in the EU. As of the Spring Budget 2025, these assumptions are unchanged from its previous assessment. The OBR estimated in their March 2021 Economic and Fiscal Outlook that two-fifths of this impact to productivity had already materialised before the Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into force in January 2021.

The Government is working with the EU to identify areas where we can strengthen cooperation for mutual benefit, such as the economy, energy, security and resilience. There will be no return to the Customs Union or the single market. But we are committed to finding constructive ways to work together and deliver for the British people.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential financial implications of the proposed Security Pact with the European Union. \p Darren Jones: We are ready to negotiate a Security and Defence Partnership agreement with the EU. This should build on the EU’s existing partnership agreements with other third countries, while recognising the unique nature of our security relationship.

We are also ready to look at wider cooperation, beyond a Security and Defence Partnership agreement, on the key issues facing our continent’s security: how to ramp up our defence industrial capacity, financing and capability development.

However, we will not be providing a running commentary on the details of these discussions.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 31991 on Public Expenditure, what the proportional target for savings and efficiencies is the 2024-25 financial year is; what the baseline year is for the five per cent target; and whether the five per cent target is before the previous two per cent reduction. \p Darren Jones: This Government launched a Spending Review last year which is taking place in two phases.

Phase 1 of that review concluded last October with departments expected to identify savings and efficiencies of 2% for 2025-26.

Phase 2 of the review will conclude this June. As part of this the Chancellor of the Exchequer has set all departments targets of identifying at least 5% savings and efficiencies by 2028-29, using 2025-26 budgets as the baseline.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Spending Review Phase 2 will include council tax. \p James Murray: I refer the hon Member to the answer given by Minister McMahon to PQ UIN 45028 Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament on 22 April 2025.
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Tim Roca:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to review the High Income Child Benefit Charge. \p James Murray: The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) is currently the best way to manage Child Benefit expenditure. By withdrawing Child Benefit from high-income families, the HICBC helps to ensure the sustainability of the public finances and protect our vital public services. As announced at Spring Statement 2025, the Government is simplifying the process for those who pay the HICBC by investing to modernise HMRC's IT and data systems.
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Perran Moon:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of hypothecating revenues from the zero emission vehicle mandate for decarbonising transport. \p James Murray: HM Treasury expects to receive no income from the ZEV mandate, due to the mandate design framework.

The Chancellor provided over £300m for EV uptake and £2bn to support domestic manufacturing at the Autumn Budget.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-01 conversation_225

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2024 to Question 11277on Treasury: USA, whether the flights for that journey were carbon offset; and at what cost. \p James Murray: Carbon emissions, including for flight travel, will be published later in the year in the Sustainability Report section of HM Treasury 2024-25 Annual Report and Accounts. This will be published at the following link.

HMT annual report and accounts - GOV.UK
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-01 conversation_226

Suella Braverman:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to use the newly applied Vehicle Excise Duty on Electric Vehicles to improve (a) road maintenance and (b) vehicle infrastructure. \p James Murray: As announced by the Government at Autumn Statement 2022, from 1 April 2025 zero emission cars, vans, and motorcycles have started to pay Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) in a similar way to petrol and diesel vehicles.

The Consolidated Fund receives the proceeds of VED along with most other tax revenues to support public services and investment in infrastructure, including vehicle infrastructure and road maintenance.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-01 conversation_227

Tom Morrison:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to take steps to help (a) improve transparency within the umbrella company sector and (b) ensure workers are not subject to (i) excessive fees and (ii) improper tax arrangements. \p James Murray: The Government is committed to closing the tax gap and making the tax system fairer by ensuring temporary workers are protected from large, unexpected tax bills caused by unscrupulous behaviour from non-compliant umbrella companies. That is why the Chancellor announced in her Autumn Budget that the Government will introduce legislation to make recruitment agencies using umbrella companies legally responsible for accounting for Pay As You Earn on workers’ pay.

The Government set out the expected Exchequer impacts of this measure at the Budget. The Government will publish a full Tax Impact and Information Note later this year.

HMRC recently launched a comprehensive guidance tool, ‘work out pay from an umbrella company’, that agencies and umbrella company workers can use to better understand umbrella company pay and ensure tax compliance. The tool automatically flags discrepancies between submitted payslip information and calculated estimates that could indicate hidden deductions or tax avoidance.

Earlier this month, HMRC published guidance with examples of how umbrella companies can demonstrate good practice. This guidance aims to raise standards across the umbrella company sector, creating a fairer market and helping workers and businesses understand what good practice looks like. This guidance can be found online at www.gov.uk/guidance/examples-of-good-practice-for-umbrella-companies-in-the-temporary-labour-market.

The measures in the Employment Rights Bill will bring the activities of umbrella companies in scope for future regulation to ensure individuals working through them can access the rights they are legally entitled to and can receive greater transparency in the terms of their employment.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-01 conversation_228

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance (a) her Department and (b) HM Revenue and Customs has produced on income tax liability where employees claim expenses for personal gifts (i) with and (ii) without the employer’s knowledge of that gift. \p James Murray: The normal rules for employment-related benefits apply to employment-related gifts, as set out in HMRC’s guidance at www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim20020

There is an exemption for small gifts received by employees costing a total of £250 or less per year to provide, HMRC guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim21715

No tax relief is available for the purchase of personal gifts by employees under the normal rules for employment expenses, HMRC guidance can be found at https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim31630
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-01 conversation_229

Edward Morello:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what impact recent discussions with representatives from the (a) pub and (b) brewing industries on (i) the levels of duty payable on beer and (ii) fiscal support for those industries have had on her policy decisions. \p James Murray: Treasury ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at the link here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

As with all taxes, the Government welcomes representations on how the alcohol duty system can be improved. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the public finances.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-01 conversation_230

Fabian Hamilton:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the VAT threshold on the financial sustainability of small hair salons; and what steps she is taking to help ensure the consistency of the (a) tax and (b) regulatory environment for hair salons. \p James Murray: At £90,000, the UK has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU Member State and the second highest in the OECD. This keeps the majority of UK businesses out of VAT altogether. The Government will continue to bear in mind businesses’ views of this threshold.

In March the Chancellor published a regulation action plan, this set out this Government's approach to ensure regulators and regulation support growth. We are continuing to look at the regulatory environment for all businesses in the round as we implement the actions in the plan.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-01 conversation_231

Mike Wood:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 23 December 2024 to Question 20489 on Treasury: Media, on what basis Freuds Communication was given the contract for Ministerial media training; and whether there was a competitive tendering process. \p James Murray: The award of the contract complied with HM Treasury’s standard procurement procedure for requirements of this value and was awarded following a competitive process.

Guidance for the award of below-threshold contracts is publicly available on gov.uk: Guidance: Below-Threshold Contracts (HTML) - GOV.UK
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-01 conversation_232

Euan Stainbank:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of instructing the Valuation Office Agency to carry out a revaluation of commercial properties in this Parliament. \p James Murray: The Non-Domestic Rating Act 2023 and Local Government finance (Wales) Bill legislated for three yearly business rates revaluations in England and Wales from 2023. The date of completion for the next revaluation is 1 April 2026.

The VOA are responsible for assessing the rateable value of non-domestic properties in England and Wales. Scottish Assessors are responsible for the policy and legislative framework, and set the tax rates in Scotland.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-01 conversation_233

Rupert Lowe:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether their Department plans to amend its policies on access to (a) toilets, (b) changing facilities and (c) other single-sex spaces in (i) Departmental buildings and (ii) other buildings within their Department’s remit following the Supreme Court judgement in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers of 16 April 2025. \p James Murray: The Supreme Court ruling made it clear that the provision of single-sex spaces is on the basis of biological sex. Providers should note and follow the ruling.

It is important that we ensure dignity and respect for all. Trans people should have access to services they need but in keeping with the ruling.

The Equality & Human Rights Commission, as Britain’s Equalities watchdog, is developing updated guidance to support service providers. Ministers will consider the EHRC’s updated draft once they have submitted it following further work in light of this ruling.

The Government is considering the implications of the Court’s judgment, including what this means for Government buildings.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-01 conversation_234

Edward Morello:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of extending the current beer duty freeze on the pub industry. \p James Murray: At the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor cut alcohol duty on qualifying draught products, including most draught beer – approximately 60% of the alcoholic drinks sold in pubs. This represents an overall reduction in duty bills of over £85 million a year and is equivalent to a 1p duty reduction on a typical pint. This reduction, which came into effect on 1 February 2025, increased the relief available on draught products to 13.9%.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-01 conversation_235

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2025 to Question 20950 on Employers' Contributions: Public Sector, what progress she has made on estimating the assumed unit cost per (a) headcount and (b) FTE employee of the increase in National Insurance contributions on employers in the public sector. \p James Murray: At the Autumn Budget the Chancellor set aside £4.7 billion of funding for departments in order to support them with the increased costs as a result of the rise in employer national insurance contributions.

This funding has been allocated to departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way, which is in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy. Updated departmental budgets for 2025/26 including allocations were published at the Spring Statement.

The Government also plans to publish individual departments’ allocations as part of Mains estimates.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-01 conversation_236

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of employer National Insurance contributions paid by public sector organisations in (a) 2023-24, (b) 2024-25 and (c) 2025-26. \p James Murray: HM Revenue and Customs receipts figures are not separated into public and private sector employers. The requested figures are therefore not readily available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-05-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-05-01 conversation_237

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Valuation Office Agency can increase council tax bands outside the sale of a property where the property owner has not challenged the existing valuation. \p James Murray: Outside the sale of a property, there are very limited circumstances where a listing officer (LO) can alter a Council Tax band. If an LO is satisfied there is an error in the valuation list, they have a statutory duty to correct that error.

If that error results in an increase to the band, the increase would be effective from the date the list is altered. A reduction of a property’s band as a result of an error would be backdated as necessary.