Written questions by Hayes.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the absence of in-person banking services in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire on blind and partially sighted people.

Awaiting answer.

What recent steps she has taken to help support people with the cost of living in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

Awaiting answer.

What steps she is taking to support economic growth in Lincolnshire.

Awaiting answer.

What fiscal steps he is taking to help reduce the cost of household energy bills for people in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

Awaiting answer.

If she will provide a list of training programmes used by civil servants in her department since 2020.

The diverse nature of roles in HM Treasury means training is often provided at team-level rather than being centrally managed. As such, a list of all training courses is not readily available centrally and the information requested cannot be obtained without disproportionate cost.

Whether her Department has used artificial intelligence to assist with drafting (a) legislation and (b) policy in the past 12 months.

AI is not used by the department to draft legislation. Officials use AI tools in combination with a range of evidence, collaboration, challenge and technology to deliver policy drafts. They use their judgement and a variety of data sources to apply a critical lens to their advice and analysis to ensure high quality. Officials use HMT-GPT, the department’s internal AI tool, and Copilot, which are both secure and quality assured for civil service use. Guidance and training for responsible AI usage is provided to staff, making it clear that tools are designed to assist with work, not to replace colleagues in decision making processes.

Whether her Department has paid for followers on social media platforms it uses.

HM Treasury does not pay for followers on any social media platforms.

How much her Department has spent on special severance payments in each of the last three years.

As per HM Treasury’s Annual Report and Accounts (ARA), the department spent £41,770 on special severance payments in 2023/24 and £206,772 in 2024/25. The figures for 2025/26 are not yet finalised and will be published in the next ARA.

Whether any civil servants hired by her Department were recruited over another person on the basis of a protected characteristic in each of the last three years.

Civil Service recruitment is governed by the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act (CRaGA) 2010, which requires that all appointments to the Civil Service are made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition. HM Treasury does not recruit candidates on the basis of protected characteristics. All appointments are made on merit, in line with the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. Compliance with these principles is overseen by the independent Civil Service Commission.

How many staff in her Department are reliant on a visa for employment.

We do not disclose the exact number of staff with visas for data privacy reasons, but can confirm that fewer than five staff members at HM Treasury are reliant on a visa for their right to work in the UK.

On how many days in 2025 did the Pride Flag fly on the main Whitehall building operated by her Department.

During 2025 the Pride Flag was not flown on 1 Horse Guards Road on behalf of HM Treasury HM Treasury is only one department in GOGGS (Government Offices Great George Street, encompassing 1 Horse Guards Road and 100 Parliament Street). Flag flying is administered by DCMS and Government Property Agency.

Whether it is her Department's policy that (a) Ministers and (b) special advisers use the disappearing messages function on Whatsapp on Government devices.

The department’s policy is to follow the Cabinet Office’s published guidance on the use of non-corporate communication channels.

How many public sector pensions have been forfeited due to convictions for violent crimes in each of the last 10 years.

HM Treasury does not administer public sector pension schemes, and does not hold this information.

How much is owed in uncollected taxes from businesses that liquidated when their owed taxes were attempted to be recovered in 2025.

HMRC publishes quarterly updates that report on the total debt balance at the end of each quarter. The most recent update was published on 8 January 2026 and can be found at www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates.HMRC publishes data on individual tax heads but does not publish an aggregated dataset on business taxes.

What data her Department has regarding the amount of unpaid taxes by businesses that is awaiting recovery.

HMRC publishes quarterly updates that report on the total debt balance at the end of each quarter. The most recent update was published on 8 January 2026 and can be found at www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates.HMRC publishes data on individual tax heads but does not publish an aggregated dataset on business taxes.

If she will take steps to remove business rates for early years providers.

Business rates are a broad-based tax on the value of non-domestic properties, including nurseries. To protect small businesses, the Government has frozen the small business multiplier for 2025-26. Taken together with Small Business Rates Relief, this intervention ensures that over a million properties will be protected from inflationary increases. More broadly, in 2026-27, we expect to provide over £9.5 billion for the early years entitlements. We are investing over £1 billion more in the early years entitlements this year compared to 2025-26, to deliver a full year of the expanded entitlements, and an above inflation increase to entitlements funding rates.

How many full time equivalent HMRC staff are working on unpaid (a) VAT and (b) corporation tax recovery.

Our debt management workforce is deployed flexibly across all taxes to ensure efficient collection of debts owed and are not allocated to specific taxes. It is therefore not possible to provide a separate figure for staff working solely on VAT or corporation tax recovery. HMRC publishes information on VAT and corporation tax losses in its Annual Report and Accounts, of which the most recent can be found here: HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25. HMRC does not hold a separate breakdown of companies dissolved with unpaid VAT or corporation tax.

What is the total cost to the public purse of money owed to HMRC in the form of unpaid (a) VAT and (b) corporation tax accrued since July 2024.

Our debt management workforce is deployed flexibly across all taxes to ensure efficient collection of debts owed and are not allocated to specific taxes. It is therefore not possible to provide a separate figure for staff working solely on VAT or corporation tax recovery. HMRC publishes information on VAT and corporation tax losses in its Annual Report and Accounts, of which the most recent can be found here: HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25. HMRC does not hold a separate breakdown of companies dissolved with unpaid VAT or corporation tax.

How many companies owing unpaid (a) VAT and (b) corporation tax have been dissolved since July 2024.

Our debt management workforce is deployed flexibly across all taxes to ensure efficient collection of debts owed and are not allocated to specific taxes. It is therefore not possible to provide a separate figure for staff working solely on VAT or corporation tax recovery. HMRC publishes information on VAT and corporation tax losses in its Annual Report and Accounts, of which the most recent can be found here: HMRC Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25. HMRC does not hold a separate breakdown of companies dissolved with unpaid VAT or corporation tax.

How many full-time equivalent staff in her Department have been employed for the purpose of making social media content in each of the past three years.

Due to the difficulty of disaggregating the number of staff who are employed to produce social media content from staff who are employed to work on broader digital communications, it is not possible to report exact figures in response to this question.