Written questions by Cartlidge.

Whether her department plans to review the Small Business Rates Relief threshold in line with inflation.

Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) is available to businesses with a single property below a set RV. Eligible property under £12,000 will receive 100 per cent relief, which means around a third of properties in England pay no business rates at all. There is also tapered support available to properties valued between £12,000 and £15,000. The Government is supporting small businesses to grow. At Budget, the Government announced the extension of SBRR so that businesses opening second premises after Budget day can retain their SBRR for three years, tripling the current allowance.

Whether she plans to maintain the current 5 pence per litre fuel duty cut and freeze on Vehicle Excise Duty to support businesses operating in and around the Port of Felixstowe.

At Budget 2025, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut until the end of August 2026. Rates will then gradually return to previous levels. The planned increase in line with inflation for 2026-27 will not take place, with the government increasing fuel duty rates in line with RPI from April 2027. This will save the average van driver £100 next year compared to previous plans, and the average HGV driver more than £800The Government also announced that VED rates for cars, vans and motorcycles will be uprated by RPI in 2026-27 as in previous years.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of rising rateable values from April 2026 on small community pubs currently exempt from Business Rates through Small Business Rates Relief.

If a business only occupies one property, and the property’s rateable value (RV) is lower than £12,000 from 2026, it will be eligible for 100% Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) and will pay nothing in business rates. SBRR is also available if RV is between £12,001 and £15,000, and the rate of relief tapers from 100% to 0%. The 2026 revaluation began under the previous government to update values since the pandemic. If the property loses some or all of its SBRR or Rural Rate Relief (RRR) as a result, then its bill increase will be capped at £800 for the year or the relevant transitional relief caps (5% or 15%), whichever is higher. That is part of this government’s support to pubs to insulate them from the effects of the revaluation. 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. You can find more detail on these changes at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2025-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-factsheet/budget-2025-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-factsheet

Whether she plans to increase Small Business Rate Relief thresholds to prevent closures of pubs.

The Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in the manifesto.The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since COVID. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.Around a third of properties pay no business rates as they receive 100 per cent Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR), with an additional 85,000 benefiting from reduced bills as this relief tapers.If a property loses eligibility for SBRR at the 2026 revaluation because their rateable value exceeds the threshold, the Supporting Small Business scheme will cap their bill increases for three years at the higher of £800 per year, equivalent to £65 per month, or the relevant Transitional Relief caps. These caps are applied before changes in other reliefs and local supplements.

Whether she plans to increase Small Business Rate Relief thresholds to prevent closures of pubs.

The Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in the manifesto.The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since COVID. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.Around a third of properties pay no business rates as they receive 100 per cent Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR), with an additional 85,000 benefiting from reduced bills as this relief tapers.If a property loses eligibility for SBRR at the 2026 revaluation because their rateable value exceeds the threshold, the Supporting Small Business scheme will cap their bill increases for three years at the higher of £800 per year, equivalent to £65 per month, or the relevant Transitional Relief caps. These caps are applied before changes in other reliefs and local supplements.

What assessment she has made of the impact of changes to employer National Insurance Contributions on pubs in South Suffolk.

The government published a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) which set out the impact of the changes, including for businesses, to employer NICs alongside the introduction of the Bill. The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from these changes by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change. It means employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage without paying employer NICs.  Businesses will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under-21s and under-25 apprentices. At Budget 2025, the government asked licensing authorities in England and Wales to explicitly consider the need to promote growth and deliver economic benefits in their decisions and set this out in the first National Licensing Policy Framework.

If she has made an assessment of the impact of reducing beer duty by 5% across (a) draught, (b) packaged and (c) lower-strength beer on (i) growth and (ii) investment in the sector.

At Autumn Budget 2025 the Chancellor confirmed that alcohol duty will be uprated by Retail Price Index (RPI) on 1 February 2026 to main its current real-terms value. The government considers uprating to be a prudent decision for the public finances that balances the important contribution of alcohol producers, pubs and the wider hospitality sector, with the tax’s role in supporting public health. The Chancellor heard a range of perspectives ahead of the Budget, including from beer producers, and considered the impact of alcohol duty rates on all affected groups. An assessment of these impacts is published within the Tax Impact and Information Note (TIIN), available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/alcohol-duty-rates-change/alcohol-duty-uprating#summary-of-impacts

Whether she plans to reduce business rates multipliers for pubs.

The Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in the manifesto.The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since COVID. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.Around a third of properties pay no business rates as they receive 100 per cent Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR), with an additional 85,000 benefiting from reduced bills as this relief tapers.If a property loses eligibility for SBRR at the 2026 revaluation because their rateable value exceeds the threshold, the Supporting Small Business scheme will cap their bill increases for three years at the higher of £800 per year, equivalent to £65 per month, or the relevant Transitional Relief caps. These caps are applied before changes in other reliefs and local supplements.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 July to Question 66215 on Defence: Finance, what is the total financial quantum of the amount of money which will count towards Defence spending in 2027 as a result of the inclusion of the Single Intelligence Account in the Defence budget from 2027.

The Government has committed to spending 2.6% GDP on NATO qualifying defence spending by 2027. By 2027, the full Single Intelligence Account (SIA) budget will count towards NATO qualifying defence spending. Details of the SIA budget from 2026 to 2030 can be found in the Spending Review 2025 document, available here: Spending Review 2025 (HTML) - GOV.UK Annual NATO expenditure by country is reported to NATO and published on the NATO website.

Pursuant to the Answer of 14 July to Question 66218 on Defence: Finance, whether all of the £5.1 billion stated under the column for 2027/28 as the Single Intelligence Account budget, in Table 5.1 of the document referred to, will be included in the defence budget from 2027.

I direct the Hon. Member to my answer to question 66218, which sets out that the Single Intelligence Account budget is not being added to the defence budget.However in 2027/28, the Single Intelligence Account budget will counted as NATO qualifying defence spending.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2025 to Question 65293 on Defence: Finance, if she will publish the percentage of GDP spent on defence for each financial year since 2018/2019.

Historic NATO qualifying defence spend as a percentage of GDP is published on the NATO website: 240617-def-exp-2024-en.pdf

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2025 to Question 65293 on Defence: Finance, if she will publish the average increase as a percentage of GDP spent on defence expenditure from 2027, excluding the addition of intelligence and security services spend.

NATO qualifying defence expenditure is calculated using standardised NATO definitions of defence spending, as agreed by NATO allies. Annual defence expenditure per country is reported to NATO on a regular basis and is published on their website.

With reference to the Prime Minister's Oral Statement of 25 February 2025 on Defence and Security, Official Report, column 633, referencing spending 2.6% on defence from 2027, how much will be spent out of the defence budget on increasing capacity in the intelligence and security services from 2027.

The Intelligence and Security Services are funded through the Single Intelligence Account (SIA), which is separate from the Ministry of Defence's budget.The budget for the SIA from 2027 onwards is set out in the Spending Review 2025 document - GOV.UK.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 July 2025 to Question 65293 on Defence: Finance, what the total quantum of spend on the Chagos settlement is, for each remaining year of the current Parliament.

The UK’s financial obligations under the UK-Mauritius Treaty can be found in the document ‘UK/Mauritius: Agreement concerning the Chagos Archipelago including Diego Garcia’, which is available on Gov.uk. Payments will be managed responsibly within the government’s fiscal framework and reported in annual accounts in the usual way. Obligations within MOD and FCDO budgets have been agreed through the recently published Spending Review. No payments will be made until the treaty is legally binding.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 July to Question 62701 on Defence: Finance, when the Single Intelligence Budget was last included in the core defence budget.

The Single Intelligence Account is not included in the Ministry of Defence’s budget.Historically, the SIA’s budget has included elements of NATO-qualifying defence expenditure. In order to recognise the important contribution the intelligence agencies play in national defence, by 2027, we will consider the whole of the SIA to be NATO-qualifying, in line with our allies. It will be included towards the 2.6% target for core defence spending.

With reference to the Government press release entitled Government and business put forward "Team UK" approach to unleash defence sector's potential, published on 7 July 2025, how much in cash terms of the stated increase of defence spending to 2.6% is accounted for by (a) reductions in Official Development Assistance spend and (b) the addition of the single intelligence account to the defence budget.

The Chancellor’s Spring Statement 2025, table 2.1, outlines the changes to defence and Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending that will see NATO qualifying core defence spending increase to 2.5% GDP by 2027. CP1298 – Spring Statement 2025 The Single Intelligence Account (SIA) budget is not being added to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) budget, but, in line with our allies, will be considered fully NATO qualifying defence spending by 2027. The inclusion of SIA will increase defence spending by around 0.1% in 2027, meaning that NATO qualifying defence expenditure will reach 2.6% GDP in 2027. Full details of the SIA budget over the Spending Review period can be found here: Spending Review 2025 (HTML) - GOV.UK

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 July to Question 62703 on Defence: Finance, what the total financial quantum was of the elements of the single intelligence account which will be included in the Ministry of Defence budget from 2027.

The Single Intelligence Account plays a vital role in our national defence, hence it has received an increase of funding in the Spending Review, and it will make a greater contribution to the UK’s total NATO qualifying defence spending from 2027.This does not mean that the intelligence and security services will be added to the MOD budget; they remain distinct budgets reflecting spend on different departments.NATO qualifying defence spending has always included elements beyond the MOD TDEL budget.

With reference to the Government press release entitled UK to deliver on 5% NATO pledge as Government drives greater security for working people, published on 23 June 2025, whether the 1.5 percent to be allocated to resilience and security will include the costs of Sizewell C.

NATO provides reporting guidelines for the 1.5% defence and security related spending. It will include investments that raise the overall resilience of our societies, such as energy security, telecommunications, and infrastructure, as well as the execution of defence plans, expanding industrial capacity and innovation and counter hybrid actions.Our National Security Strategy confirms our belief that these types of investment are vital to national security and we are pleased that this is now recognised by NATO. As set out in the Spending Review 2025, this government is making significant investment into these areas and we are confident we will meet the 1.5% target on defence and security related spending.Along with all other NATO allies, the UK will report against the new categories of defence spending at the next NATO reporting deadline.

With reference to the Government press release entitled UK to deliver on 5% NATO pledge as Government drives greater security for working people, published on 23 June 2025, if she will list (a) all Government departments that will be included in the commitment to spend 1.5% of GDP on resilience and security and (b) the financial quantum in each case.

NATO provides reporting guidelines for the 1.5% defence and security related spending. It includes investments that raise the overall resilience of our societies, such as energy security, telecommunications, and infrastructure, as well as the execution of defence plans, expanding industrial capacity and innovation and counter hybrid actions.Our National Security Strategy confirms our belief that these types of investment are vital to national security and we are pleased that this is now recognised by NATO. As set out in the Spending Review 2025, this government is making significant investment into these areas and we are confident we will meet the 1.5% target on defence and security related spending.Along with all other NATO allies, the UK will report against the new categories of defence spending at the next NATO reporting deadline.

With reference to the Government press release entitled UK to deliver on 5% NATO pledge as Government drives greater security for working people, published on 23 June 2025, if she will publish a breakdown of the ten largest areas of government expenditure that will be reclassified under the commitment to spend 1.5 percent of GDP on resilience and security.

NATO provides reporting guidelines for the 1.5% defence and security related spending. It includes investments that raise the overall resilience of our societies, such as energy security, telecommunications, and infrastructure, as well as the execution of defence plans, expanding industrial capacity and innovation and counter hybrid actions.Our National Security Strategy confirms our belief that these types of investment are vital to national security and we are pleased that this is now recognised by NATO. As set out in the Spending Review 2025, this government is making significant investment into these areas and we are confident we will meet the 1.5% target on defence and security related spending.Along with all other NATO allies, the UK will report against the new categories of defence spending at the next NATO reporting deadline.