Written questions by Snowden.

What recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of maintaining annual increases in Vehicle Excise Duty for private cars while reducing rates for heavy goods vehicles on drivers.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of Government policies on house prices in (i) Fylde constituency and (ii) Lancashire.

Awaiting answer.

What steps she is taking to ensure the VAT cut on summer activities will be passed onto consumers.

Awaiting answer.

If she will extend the VAT relief on summer activities to hospitality businesses such as hotels, bars and restaurants.

Awaiting answer.

What monitoring mechanisms are in place to ensure that reductions in fuel duty are reflected in pump prices.

Awaiting answer.

Whether the Government intends to maintain current levels of fuel duty beyond the end of 2026 if fuel prices remain elevated.

Awaiting answer.

What discussions she has had with the Governor of the Bank of England on the inflationary effects of higher fuel prices.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed Growth Allowance within the ring-fencing reforms on the availability of finance for small and medium-sized enterprises across the UK.

Awaiting answer.

What discussions she has had with the Prime Minister on the remit of the Special Reviewer on Global Finance and Cooperation.

The Prime Minister’s Special Reviewer on Global Finance and Cooperation will advise on how global finance cooperation can build a stronger Britain, boosting the country’s security and resilience. The Chancellor has a range of positive discussions with the Prime Minister and colleagues on such issues.

What recent estimate she has made of the total annual VAT payments by further education colleges in England.

Education services supplied by an “eligible body” are exempt from VAT. For VAT purposes, an “eligible body” broadly refers to most regulated, publicly funded, or not-for-profit education providers. This means no VAT is charged on supplies of education made by further education colleges, nor are further education colleges able to recover the VAT they have incurred on their expenditure.

If she will make an assessment of the impact of the war in Iran on household budgets in Fylde.

The Government keeps the impact of global developments on household budgets under close review. The economic impact of the situation in the Middle East will depend on its severity, duration and the extent of disruption to energy supplies. The Government does not produce constituency level assessments of the impact of specific geopolitical events on household budgets. Official forecasts are published by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility. Living standards have now risen 2.1% this Parliament, after falling over the last Parliament, and real household disposable income per capita is £700 higher in the last 12 months compared to the final year of the last Parliament. More of the decisions the Government has made to ease pressures on the cost of living have now come into effect this month. The energy price cap fell, taking £117 off the average household bill. The National Minimum and Living Wage both went up – worth up to £1,500 a year for full-time young workers. Millions of pensioners are now getting up to a £575 boost on their State Pension thanks to our Triple Lock commitment. The two-child limit has been scrapped, lifting half a million children out of poverty.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring banks to implement stronger safeguards or alerts for recurring payments initiated after free trials.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCCA) 2024 sets out new consumer protection rules for subscription contracts. Once the rules are in force, traders will have to provide clear information about subscription contracts before a consumer signs up, ensure that arrangements to exit the contract are straightforward, and provide a 14-day cooling-off period after a 12month+ contract or trial auto-renews. Secondary legislation is required to implement the regime. We consulted on proposals and the Government Response can be found here: Consultation on the implementation of the new subscription contracts regime - GOV.UK The new protections will save the average consumer £14 per month for every unwanted subscription they cancel. The Department for Business and Trade published an Impact Assessment alongside the DMCCA: Subscription traps: annex 2 impact assessment The DMCCA requirements will apply to traders offering subscriptions and the Government currently has no plans to introduce new requirements on banks to tackle subscription traps. The Government will keep the effectiveness of the new rules under review.

Whether he has assessed the adequacy of financial support for residents of park homes in relation to heating costs.

The government has acted quickly to provide £53m in timely, targeted support to low-income households struggling with the rising price of heating oil and at risk of losing access to heating and hot water.

Whether interest will be paid on delayed pension payments owed to retired members of public service pension schemes due to delays in implementing the McCloud remedy.

Scheme managers of the individual public service pension schemes are responsible for ensuring the effective delivery of the McCloud remedy to affected members. This is a complex and wide-ranging exercise and I acknowledge that some schemes have not made as much progress as we’d wish. I have written to scheme managers to remind them of their responsibilities to implement the remedy as quickly as possible and ensure that scheme members and the Pensions Regulator are kept informed of progress and plans. I can confirm that schemes pay interest to members on amounts owed as a result of the remedy.

What assessment he has made of the time taken to implement pension recalculations required following the judgment in McCloud v Lord Chancellor across public service pension schemes.

Scheme managers of the individual public service pension schemes are responsible for ensuring the effective delivery of the McCloud remedy to affected members. This is a complex and wide-ranging exercise and I acknowledge that some schemes have not made as much progress as we’d wish. I have written to scheme managers to remind them of their responsibilities to implement the remedy as quickly as possible and ensure that scheme members and the Pensions Regulator are kept informed of progress and plans. I can confirm that schemes pay interest to members on amounts owed as a result of the remedy.

Whether her Department has issued guidance to HM Revenue and Customs on implementing the recommendations of the independent review of the loan charge.

The Government commissioned an independent review of the loan charge to bring the matter to a close for those affected, ensure fairness for all taxpayers and ensure that appropriate support is in place for those subject to the loan charge. The Government accepted the review’s conclusion that the loan charge was an extraordinary piece of Government policy which necessitated an exceptional response, and is now legislating a new settlement opportunity that will assist those who have not yet settled to do so. As a result, most individuals could see reductions of at least 50% in their outstanding loan charge liabilities, and an estimated 30% of individuals could have these liabilities written off entirely. To encourage more people to settle, the Government will write off the first £5,000 of liabilities in addition to the proposals put forward by Ray McCann. The Government’s response to the review represents a fair and proportionate attempt to provide a route to resolution for those who have not yet been able to settle with HMRC. In turn, this requires those individuals to now come forward and engage with HMRC in good faith.

Whether HM Revenue and Customs has conducted a recent assessment of vulnerabilities in the Government Gateway system relating to unauthorised changes to personal account details.

HM Revenue and Customs keeps the security of the Government Gateway under continual review. As part of its standard cyber security and risk management processes, HMRC regularly undertakes security risk assessments, vulnerability management activity and testing to identify and mitigate potential threats, including risks associated with unauthorised changes to customer account details. These activities are complemented by fraud prevention controls, monitoring and investigation arrangements designed to detect and respond to suspicious or potentially fraudulent account activity. Where issues are identified, they are prioritised and addressed in line with HMRC’s security governance and incident management arrangements. For security reasons, HMRC does not comment publicly on the detail or outcomes of specific security assessments.

What steps her Department is taking to pursue enforcement action against promoters of tax avoidance schemes in connection with the loan charge.

This government recognised that concerns continued to be raised about the loan charge and that some felt strongly that it had not been handled appropriately. The Government therefore commissioned an independent review of the loan charge to bring the matter to a close for those affected, ensure fairness for all taxpayers and ensure that appropriate support is in place for those subject to the loan charge. The Government is introducing new powers in Finance Bill 2025/26 to close in on promoters of marketed tax avoidance and the other professionals who market or enable tax avoidance schemes. These new powers will go further and include more criminal sanctions. This shows the Government’s clear determination to close in on the few remaining promoters by strengthening deterrents and introducing significant additional consequences for promoters who continue promoting tax avoidance schemes. At the Budget, the Government announced action to tackle tax avoidance by umbrella companies, where most disguised remuneration now takes place. The Government will introduce legislation, effective from April 2026, to make recruitment agencies using umbrella companies legally responsible for accounting for PAYE on workers’ pay. Where there is no agency in the supply chain, this responsibility will fall to the end client. This along with the measures on promoters will help prevent disguised remuneration in the future.

What security checks are undertaken before an address change is accepted on a taxpayer’s Government Gateway account.

When a taxpayer requests an address change on their Government Gateway account, a range of security checks are applied to help protect the account and prevent unauthorised access.These checks include confirming the user’s identity through their Government Gateway credentials, monitoring for unusual or suspicious activity, and applying additional verification measures where appropriate. HMRC also uses automated controls and risk‑based assessments to help detect and prevent potential fraud.The precise nature of these checks is kept under review and is not disclosed in detail, as doing so could undermine their effectiveness.

What discussions her Department has had with the Financial Conduct Authority regarding the regulation of equity crowdfunding schemes such as the Equity for Punks programme operated by BrewDog.

The Government has regular conversations with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on a range of topics, including the regulation of equity crowdfunding.In 2024, the government delivered the Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations which enabled the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to reform the UK Prospectus Regime.This new regime took effect on 19 January 2026, and gives investors access to better quality information to support their investment decisions.The regulations also created a new regulated activity of operating a Public Offer Platform (POP). Companies seeking to make public offers of securities outside a public market to a broad investor base, where the value exceeds £5 million, will now need to do so via a POP, ensuring investors receive better information about their investments.