Written questions by Johnson.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to business rates on the sustainability of commercial fitness gyms and community leisure centres serving rural communities.

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base. At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of recent and proposed changes to ISAs on the complexity of the savings landscape and household saving behaviour.

This is about making people’s savings work harder for them and for the economy. The UK has the lowest level of retail investment in the G7, with fewer than 1 in 10 people owning shares compared to 1 in 5 back in 1990. In Sweden, that figure rises to 2 in 5 people currently.That is why the government is keeping the full £20,000 ISA allowance for investment and setting the cash ISA limit at £12,000 from April 2027.This is part of our wider strategy aimed at supporting people to get into investing, including Targeted Support, which will be available from April 2026.The OBR have provided a forecast of household saving in their November Economic and Fiscal Outlook

What proportion of (a) named day questions and (b) ordinary written questions were responded to by her Department within the required timescale in (i) May 2025, (ii) June 2025, (iii) July 2025, (iv) August 2025, (v) September 2025, (vi) October 2025 and (vii) November 2025.

The Government recognises the importance of the effective and timely handling of written parliamentary questions (PQs). The relevant data based on Treasury’s own case management system reporting is as follows: MonthNo. of Named Day PQs tabled% of Named Day Answered On TimeNo. of Ordinary Written PQs tabled % of Ordinary Written Answered On TimeMay55100%292100%June118100%30199%July10399%32699%August0n/a0n/aSeptember7495%41995%October8299%42698%November16396%44894% The House of Commons Procedure Committee monitors departmental PQ performance and publishes a report of the government’s consolidated PQ data following the end of each session.

How many and what proportion of items of correspondence from Parliamentarians received by (a) her Department, (b) her and (c) her Ministers in each month since August 2024 have not yet received a substantive response.

In line with Cabinet Office guidance, HM Treasury aims to respond to ministerial correspondence from parliamentarians within 20 working days. Correspondence performance data is published within HM Treasury’s Annual Report and Accounts. The 2023-24 Report noted that 62% of replies to parliamentarians were answered within the timeframe.

What estimate her Department has made of the Government's financial liability for public sector defined benefit pensions in each of the next ten years.

The total liability for public service pensions stands at around £3 trillion, as per HM Treasury’s most recent Whole of Government Accounts report of 2021-22. This includes the unfunded public service pension liabilities of £2.6 trillion and the liabilities of the funded schemes, such as the Local Government Pension Scheme, of £449 billion. The Office for Budget Responsibility publishes forecasts of the cashflows of unfunded public service pension schemes and changes in public sector pension liabilities in their Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) reports and supporting documents

How much funding she has budgeted (a) overall and (b) for each Department to reimburse them for the increased costs they incur from the rise in employers national insurance contributions.

The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer National Insurance Contributions costs only. This funding will be allocated to departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way.This is in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.As set out in the Autumn Budget, the Government has set aside £4.7 billion in 2025-26 and plans to update Parliament on allocations by department in the usual way as soon as possible.