Written questions by Maguire.

What steps her Department is taking to make it easier for current and former start-up employees to realise the value of their equity, including through secondary share sales.

The Government has taken significant steps to allow more employees to acquire shares in their employer's company. At Autumn Budget 2025, the Government announced a major expansion of the Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) scheme eligibility limits, which is expected to support around 1,800 high-growth scale-up companies and allow them to reward an estimated 70,000 employees with tax-advantaged share options. In May 2025, the government legislated to establish PISCES, making private secondary markets more transparent and efficient, enabling employees, founders and early-stage investors to realise and reinvest their gains. The Government also legislated in the 2026 Finance Bill to allow employers, with employee consent, to amend existing EMI and CSOP contracts to allow employees to exercise their share options on PISCES platforms while retaining the tax advantages of EMI and CSOP.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the overseas scale rates for employees travelling outside the UK and cost of living pressures.

Where employers reimburse allowable travel expenses, tax relief is available provided the expenses are wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred for work purposes. Ordinarily, employers must hold evidence of the employee’s actual expenditure. However, to reduce administrative burdens on employers, HMRC allows expenses for travel outside the UK to be reimbursed without evidence up to the levels contained within the Overseas Scale Rates. Where the Overseas Scale rates do not cover the expense incurred by employees, employers can still reimburse and provide tax relief provided they have appropriate evidence. The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy‑making process.

If she will conduct a review of overseas scale rates for employees travelling outside the UK.

Where employers reimburse allowable travel expenses, tax relief is available provided the expenses are wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred for work purposes. Ordinarily, employers must hold evidence of the employee’s actual expenditure. However, to reduce administrative burdens on employers, HMRC allows expenses for travel outside the UK to be reimbursed without evidence up to the levels contained within the Overseas Scale Rates. Where the Overseas Scale rates do not cover the expense incurred by employees, employers can still reimburse and provide tax relief provided they have appropriate evidence. The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy‑making process.

How many outstanding Loan Charge cases she expects will be settled as a result of the McCann Review.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers I gave on 9 February 2026 to UIN 109841, 109843 and 109842.

What assessment her Department has made of the (a) effectiveness of the loan charge and (b) adequacy of HMRC’s approach to dealing with disguised remuneration schemes.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers I gave on 9 February 2026 to UIN 109841, 109843 and 109842.

What assessment her Department has made of the value-for-money of the loan charge.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers I gave on 9 February 2026 to UIN 109841, 109843 and 109842.

What estimate she has made of the number of people subject to the loan charge who will have their cases settled following the independent review of the loan charge.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers I gave on 9 February 2026 to UIN 109841, 109843 and 109842.

What assessment has her Department made of the effectiveness of (a) the Loan Charge and (b) HMRC’s approach to dealing with disguised remuneration schemes.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers I gave on 9 February 2026 to UIN 109841, 109843 and 109842.

What assessment has her Department made of the value-for-money to the taxpayer of the Loan Charge.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answers I gave on 9 February 2026 to UIN 109841, 109843 and 109842.

If she will make it her policy to (a) publish and (b) notify the House of Commons when licences are issued for accessing frozen Libyan assets.

Specific licensing purposes are provided for under the Libya (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. Where these purposes apply and where the conditions in those grounds have been met, HM Treasury may authorise activity involving frozen assets. OFSI releases the OFSI Annual Review each year which provides information about the number of licences issued under each regime. The figures are presented only in anonymised, aggregate form and do not provide information on individual accounts, entities or licences for confidentiality purposes. OFSI does not publish information about individual licence applications or decisions. Details are kept confidential, save where disclosure is required by law or ordered by a court. This is to ensure and maintain confidentiality and to comply with UK data protection law. It would not be appropriate to publicise information about specific licences.

If her Department will publish information on the taxable status of, and taxes collected from, Libya’s frozen assets.

We do not have this specific information. The UK’s tax system is not able to target specific tax rates at specific pots of money. The UK tends to apply tax to classes of transactions, rather than assets in situ. Under all UK sanctions regimes, including the Libya Regulations, taxes and other payments may be made under licences and exceptions from frozen funds, subject to strict conditions. However, specific licence or exception related information is not available for publication to ensure and maintain confidentiality and to comply with UK data protection law.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of VAT on taxis and private hire cars in rural areas.

Private hire vehicle (PHV) services provided by VAT-registered businesses are, and always have been, subject to the standard rate of VAT (20%). The Government’s announcement at Autumn Budget 2025 puts an end to the exploitation of a VAT administration scheme, designed for the tour operator sector, by a small number of large private hire vehicle operators seeking to pay a lower rate of VAT than others. This won’t affect smaller operators outside London whose drivers contract directly with passengers, or black cabs, neither of which have attempted to exploit this scheme.

How many e-bikes have been imported from China in (a) 2022, (b) 2023, (c) 2024 and (d) 2025.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK which includes data on imports of e-bikes. HMRC releases this information monthly, as an Accredited Official Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com).From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria.Classification codes (according to the Harmonised System) are available to assist you in accessing published trade statistics data in the UK Global Tariff. Goods moving to and from the UK are identified by commodity codes. These are publicly available from the UK Trade Tariff at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff. E-bikes are classified within commodity codes 87116010 and 87116090. However, these commodity codes will also include similar types of electric transportation such as e-scooters.If you need help or support in constructing a table from the data on uktradeinfo, please contact uktradeinfo@hmrc.gov.uk.

How many e-scooters have been imported from China in (a) 2022, (b) 2023, (c) 2024 and (d) 2025.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK which includes data on imports of e-scooters. HMRC releases this information monthly, as an Accredited Official Statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com). From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria. Classification codes (according to the Harmonised System) are available to assist you in accessing published trade statistics data in the UK Global Tariff. Goods moving to and from the UK are identified by commodity codes. These are publicly available from the UK Trade Tariff at https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff. E-scooters are classified within commodity codes 87116010 and 87116090. However, these commodity codes will also include similar types of electric transportation such as e-bikes. If you need help or support in constructing a table from the data on uktradeinfo, please contact uktradeinfo@hmrc.gov.uk

Whether she will have discussions with her international allied counterparts to reduce the level of the Oil Price Cap applicable to Russian exports.

The UK works closely with G7 partners to increase economic pressure on Russia. On 18 July 2025, the UK lowered the Russian Oil Price Cap alongside the EU, with the aim to reduce Russian oil revenues. On the 15th October the UK also announced new sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, with the United States taking similar action on Wednesday the 22nd. We will continue to collaborate with international partners, including the reviewing the oil price cap mechanism, to find furthers ways to increase this pressure.

Whether the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism will exempt imports of in-scope raw materials that are used in the manufacture of military equipment in line with the EU UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

From 1 January 2027, the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) will apply to specific goods imported from the aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen, and iron & steel sectors. The specific goods are listed in the Government response to the consultation on the ‘Introduction of a UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism’, which is available at: Consultation on the introduction of a UK carbon border adjustment mechanism - GOV.UK. There are no plans for exemptions from this list. The UK CBAM is designed to address the risk of carbon leakage and to ensure that CBAM goods which are imported from overseas face a comparable carbon price to what is paid by manufacturers producing the same goods in the UK.

What steps her Department is taking to close chat-mediated services that facilitate the purchasing of Russian crypto assets in Britain.

Since 2020 UK cryptoasset firms have been subject to the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations, requiring strict supervision, customer checks and suspicious activity reporting. Since 2023, these firms have also been required to collect, verify and share information about the sender and receiver of transfers.The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (2023) gave law enforcement new powers to seize criminal cryptoassets. These powers, alongside the 475 new financial investigators funded by the Economic Crime Levy, new crypto track-and-trace technologies, and public-private working, empower law enforcement to tackle crypto crime, including peer-to-peer transactions between self-hosted wallets.In addition, Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) works alongside other government agencies to tackle the threats posed to sanctions by illicit cryptoasset activity. OFSI’s recent Cryptoassets Threat Assessment informs how UK cryptoasset firms can combat breaches. OFSI is fully prepared to pursue any sanctions offences, and continues to scale up its enforcement capacity.

What steps her Department is taking to prevent Russian crypto assets being purchased in Britain.

Since 2020 UK cryptoasset firms have been subject to the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations, requiring strict supervision, customer checks and suspicious activity reporting. Since 2023, these firms have also been required to collect, verify and share information about the sender and receiver of transfers.The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (2023) gave law enforcement new powers to seize criminal cryptoassets. These powers, alongside the 475 new financial investigators funded by the Economic Crime Levy, new crypto track-and-trace technologies, and public-private working, empower law enforcement to tackle crypto crime, including peer-to-peer transactions between self-hosted wallets.In addition, Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) works alongside other government agencies to tackle the threats posed to sanctions by illicit cryptoasset activity. OFSI’s recent Cryptoassets Threat Assessment informs how UK cryptoasset firms can combat breaches. OFSI is fully prepared to pursue any sanctions offences, and continues to scale up its enforcement capacity.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing an exemption for hospices and charities providing health and care services from the increase in employer National Insurance contributions.

The Government has protected the smallest businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. That means more than half of businesses with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change this year. The Government also provides support for charities via our tax regime, which is among the most generous of anywhere in the world, with tax reliefs for charities and their donors worth just over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2024. Furthermore, the government is investing £100 million to improve hospice facilities, and a further £26 million revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices this year. This is the biggest investment in hospices in a generation.

Whether she has made an assessment of the adequacy of the Financial Conduct Authority’s regulatory framework in relation to insurance companies’ use of loss adjusters; and whether she plans to regulate the conduct of loss adjusters.

Whilst loss adjusters acting on behalf of insurers are not directly regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), they are typically members of professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Loss Adjusters (CILA). CILA sets standards for ethical conduct, technical competence, and professional integrity through its Guide to Professional Conduct. Insurers are ultimately responsible for ensuring that all aspects of their claims process meet the FCA’s regulatory standards. These include requirements to handle claims promptly and fairly, provide reasonable guidance to policyholders, and avoid unreasonable claim rejections. The FCA’s Consumer Duty also requires insurers to deliver good outcomes for customers throughout the claims journey. At present, there are no plans to introduce additional regulation specifically targeting the conduct of loss adjusters. However, the FCA continues to monitor practices across the insurance sector and has robust powers to take action against regulated firms that fail to comply with its rules.