Written questions by Stephenson.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2025 to Question 36218 on Film: Business Rates, if she will make an estimate of how many film studios have a rateable value of less than £500,000.

This data is published on gov.uk as at 31 March 2024. In the 2024 stock of properties publication, the following zip file contains counts (rounded to the nearest 10) for each special category code, including film and tv studios, broken down by rateable value band in England and Wales:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67a2038f7da1f1ac64e5fe4e/ndr_stock_scat_la_2024.zip

If she will make an estimate of the expected contribution of the National Wealth Fund to economic growth in Bedfordshire between 4 July 2024 and 4 July 2029.

Growth is the government’s number one mission, and the National Wealth Fund is a key lever for helping to deliver the investment underpinning this. The National Wealth Fund is committed to supporting the Government's growth and clean energy missions. Importantly, the impact and long-term benefits of many of its investments will be felt UK-wide, not just in the location where the individual deal is situated. Since July 2024, the NWF has committed £1.8 billion, supporting almost 10,000 jobs across the UK. The National Wealth Fund has not estimated its expected impact in Bedfordshire specifically, but further detail on the National Wealth Fund’s impact can be found in its Annual Report & Accounts.

With reference to HMRC's policy paper entitled Private school fees — VAT measure, last updated on 15 November 2024, for what reasons the Government didn't model the potential impact of the policy on economic growth.

At the Budget the Government published the costing methodology for the measure. This included thorough analysis of the static costing and behavioural effects of the measure. In addition, the economic impact of the measure is included in the Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN), also published at the Budget. The OBR's economic forecast in October modelled the macroeconomic impacts of the Budget package, including the private schools measure.

How many and what proportion of pensioners will pay income tax in each of the next five years.

The Government is committed to ensuring that older people are able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve, and the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people. The Government is committed to the Triple Lock for the duration of this parliament, and in April 2025, the basic and new State Pension will increase by 4.1%. This means that pensioners on a full new State Pension will get a boost of £470 to their incomes from April this year. Over the course of this Parliament, as per the forecast at Autumn Budget 2024, the yearly amount of the full new State Pension is currently forecast to go up by around £1,900, based on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s latest forecast. The previous Government made the decision to freeze the income tax Personal Allowance at its current level of £12,570 until April 2028. At our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze on personal tax thresholds and, as a result, they will rise with inflation from April 2028, meaning people will keep more of their income.

If she will make an estimate of the cost to the (a) housebuilding and (b) construction industry of her proposed changes to the level of employer National Insurance contributions.

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.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a clawback option for agricultural property relief and business property relief where 100% relief is reinstated but inheritance tax is applied where assets are disposed of and the resulting wealth is not re-invested in the business.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to UIN 32918.

With reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 25 February 2025 on Defence and Security, Official Report, columns 631-634, if she will make an estimate of the savings to the public purse by reducing the amount spent on official development assistance as a proportion of gross national income.

We are facing a once-in-a-generation moment for the collective security of Europe and must increase our security and defence spending now. To fund this increase, the government has taken the difficult decision to reduce Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the equivalent of 0.3% of GNI by 2027. Future ODA allocations will be decided at Phase 2 of the Spending Review and the ODA savings trajectory will be set out in due course.

With reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 25 February 2025 on Defence and Security, Official Report, columns 631-634, if she will provide a breakdown of the funding sources for the proposed increase in defence spending.

The Prime Minister’s announcement in February is fully funded - we are reducing ODA to the equivalent of 0.3% of GNI to fund the additional spend required to ensure we reach 2.5% of GDP on defence spending in 2027-28.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2025 to Question 29957 on Bank Services and Banking Hubs, if her Department will direct the Financial Conduct Authority to require the creation of banking hubs in new towns without banking services.

Banking has changed significantly in recent years with many customers benefiting from the ease and convenience of remote banking. However, the Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets in new towns and across the UK and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. This is why the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 220 hubs have been announced so far, and over 135 are already open. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 granted the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) the responsibility and powers to seek to ensure the reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities. Under the FCA’s regime, LINK, the operator of the UK’s largest ATM network, is responsible for undertaking access to cash assessments. When a cash access facility such as a bank branch closes, or if LINK receives a request directly from a community, including in new towns, LINK independently assesses a community’s access to cash needs and can recommend a new service, such as a banking hub. A community request can be submitted to LINK via its website. Alternative options to access everyday banking services can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking and via the Post Office.

Pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2025 to Question 28608 on Employers' Contributions: Public Sector, whether the funding provided will offset the full impact.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government set aside funding to support the public sector with the additional cost of employer National Insurance Contributions. This support funding amounts to £4.7 billion in 2025-26, inclusive of Barnett consequentials. This funding was based on an estimate of the proportion of employer NICs receipts paid by public sector organisations, using the Office for National Statistics (ONS) classification of the public sector boundary. This funding has since been allocated to departments and other public sector employers, with shares based on data covering headcount, wage and salary costs, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way. The Government plans to publish the allocations for departments alongside departmental budgets for 2025/26 as part of Mains estimates.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2025 to Question 29193 on Hospitality Industry: Employment, whether her Department has done a sector specific analysis of the projected impact of the Autumn Budget 2024 on employment in hospitality.

The Government has taken a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the public finances and fund public services.The Government has set out the impacts of the policy changes from Autumn Budget 2024 in the usual way.For example, 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.As set out previously, the Office for Budget Responsibility also published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances.

If she will make it her policy to publish an impact assessment on the impact of the increase in class one employer National Insurance contributions on the charity sector within the first six months of the introduction of that change.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts. The Office for Budget Responsibility also published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances.

Whether her Department has considered the marginal propensity to consume when developing policies affecting individuals since 5 July 2024.

The marginal propensity to consume influences the level of consumption in the economy, and is relevant for economic forecasting. HM Treasury considers data on household consumption published by the Official for National Statistics as part of its ongoing monitoring of the economy. HM Treasury does not prepare forecasts for the UK economy, including assessments of the impact of policy decisions on UK household consumption. These forecasts are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The OBR’s next forecast will be published on the 26th March 2025.

With reference to the second bullet point in paragraph 2.3 of the document Impact on households: distributional analysis to accompany Autumn Budget 2024 and Spending Review 2025, Phase 1, whether her Department regularly undertakes modelling on the potential behavioural impacts of policy announcements.

HM Treasury distributional analysis only includes measures if they have a clear first-order impact on the benefit income, tax paid or the benefits-in-kind received through public services by UK residents. Therefore, this excludes the behavioural impacts of most measures, for example where households might reduce consumption to reduce the amount of tax they might otherwise pay. However, estimates of behavioural impacts from policy announcements are conducted by the government, as set out below. As per the Green Book (2022), appraisals and evaluation are a key part of detailed policy development and design. HM Treasury officials, independently and in collaboration with other government departments, carry out longlist and shortlist appraisals. These include the consideration of distributional effects and consequences, such as possible changes in behaviour, that may result from an intervention. As the independent official economic and fiscal forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility have a responsibility to report on the impact of policy announcements, including behaviour impacts, which they do in their Economic and Fiscal Outlook. Additionally, Tax Information and Impact Notes, published on gov.uk, describe the 'economic impact' and 'impact on individuals, households and families'.

Pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2025 to Question 29188 on Agriculture and Business: Inheritance Tax, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing her Department's data collection methods to enable the collection of data on the number of estates containing woodlands impacted in the 2025-26 financial year.

The reforms to inheritance tax agricultural and business property reliefs come into effect from 6 April 2026.No estates, with or without woodlands, will be affected by these reforms in the 2025-26 financial year. There are no plans to review data collection on the number of estates containing woodlands for that year.

With reference to her Department’s news story entitled, Lights, Camera, Action! 40% business rates relief for film studios rolled out, published on 16 February 2025, whether her announcement on film business rates of 16 February 2025 is in addition to fiscal measures outlined in Autumn Budget 2024.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced that it intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on all properties, including film studios, with a rateable value (RV) of £500,000 and above.The Government has announced that it is proceeding with 40 per cent relief for eligible film studios in England on their gross business rates bills until March 2034. The costing was published at Spring Budget 2024.Business rates bills are calculated by applying the relevant multiplier first and so film studios will receive 40 per cent relief on their total liability.The Government will confirm the rates for the new multipliers at Budget 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025 to Question 28664, whether it is her Department’s policy to ask retail banks to keep High Street branches open during their discussions with them.

Banking has changed significantly in recent years with many customers benefitting from the ease and convenience of remote banking. While branch closures are commercial decisions for banks, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) guidance expects firms to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and put in place alternatives where reasonable. This seeks to ensure that branch closures are implemented in a way that treats customers fairly. Where firms fall short of expectations, the FCA may ask for closures to be paused or other options to be put in place. Where alternative services have been recommended, a branch cannot close until any recommended services are in place. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 granted the FCA the responsibility and powers to seek to ensure the reasonable provision of cash withdrawal and deposit facilities. Under the FCA’s regime, LINK, the operator of the UK’s ATM network, is responsible for undertaking access to cash assessments. When a cash service such as a bank branch closes, or if LINK receives a request directly from a community, LINK assesses a community’s access to cash needs and can recommend a new service, such as a banking hub. The Government has no powers to intervene in decisions to open new banking hubs, and the criteria for access to cash assessments is a matter for LINK, the financial services sector and the FCA. The FCA is required by law to keep its access to cash rules under review and is monitoring the impact of these rules on an ongoing basis to ensure they deliver the right outcomes for businesses and consumers.

Pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2025 to Written Question 25790 on London Stock Exchange, how many firms were listed on the London Stock Exchange (a) in July 2024 and (b) as of 4 March 2025.

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) releases monthly data on the number of companies listed on its markets and maintains historical data on these listings. This information is not published by the government and can be accessed at the following address: https://www.londonstockexchange.com/reports?tab=issuers

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 February 2025 to Written Question 26880 on Mortgages, whether her Department makes an assessment of the potential impact of fiscal policies on mortgage rates as part of their decision making.

The government considers the potential impact of fiscal policy on a range of factors, including the potential impact on interest rates. The pricing and availability of mortgages is ultimately a commercial decision for lenders, in which the government does not intervene. Changes in offered mortgage rates are broadly driven by changes in financial market expectations for Bank Rate. Monetary policy, including decisions on Bank Rate, is the responsibility of the independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at the Bank of England. The government remains committed to supporting the MPC to return inflation to target sustainably and does not comment on the conduct or effectiveness of monetary policy.

If she will make an estimate of the proportion of Winter Fuel Payments that fed into consumer spending in 2023-24.

HM Treasury does not hold this information. It is not possible to attribute changes in consumer spending to any changes to Winter Fuel Payments. It is not possible to disentangle these from other much larger factors that could affect consumption.