Every parliamentary written question tabled by Lee Dillon this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 1–20 of 43 · Treasury
What steps the Government is taking to connect the 758,000 unclaimed adult-owned Child Trust Fund accounts with their owners; and what timeline she has set for addressing this, particularly for account-holders from
The Government is aware of proposals for the automatic release of funds in unclaimed matured Child Trust Fund (CTF) accounts, where the account was opened by HMRC. These savings belong to the account holders and are held by private sector providers. The G...
What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Share Foundation's proposal for an automatic release process for HMRC-allocated Child Trust Fund accounts; and whether the Government will introduce such a process
The Government is aware of proposals for the automatic release of funds in unclaimed matured Child Trust Fund (CTF) accounts, where the account was opened by HMRC. These savings belong to the account holders and are held by private sector providers. The G...
What assessment she has made of the potential impact methodology used to set interest rates on tax underpayments and repayments on levels of parity between taxpayers and HMRC.
HMRC treats interest in line with other tax authorities and financial institutions by having a differential between the interest it pays, and the interest charged. This differential is currently 5ppt, with both Repayment Interest and Late Repayment Intere...
What recent progress she has made on the review of the methodology used to value pubs and hotels for business rates purposes; and when she expects that review to conclude.
The Government committed in January 2026 to review the methodologies used to value pubs and hotels for business rates, following concerns raised by ratepayers and representative bodies around the 2026 revaluation. Since then, officials have been progressi...
What steps she is taking to modernise HMRC's internal systems and reduce administrative errors.
The government is strengthening its use of data and modernising its systems to improve accuracy in its administration of tax and customs.HMRC’s Transformation Roadmap was published on 21st July 2025. The roadmap sets out HMRC’s plans to transform the tax ...
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to (a) business rates, (b) alcohol duty and (c) employment costs on pubs since 2025.
To support pubs and hospitality venues, the Government has extended opening hours in England and Wales for Home Nations Men’s World Cup games and are supporting “pavement pints” by cutting red tape so venues can serve outdoors. The Government has also dou...
Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the use of turnover-based evaluations for pubs for business rates purpose to include (a) operating costs and (b) seasonal and weather-dependent
The Government committed in January 2026 to review the methodologies used to value pubs and hotels for business rates, following concerns raised by ratepayers and representative bodies around the 2026 revaluation. Since then, officials have been progressi...
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the difference between the interest rates charged by HMRC on late tax payments and the interest rates paid by HMRC on tax refunds owed on taxpayers.
HMRC treats interest in line with other tax authorities and financial institutions by having a differential between the interest it pays, and the interest charged. This differential is currently 5ppt, with both Repayment Interest and Late Repayment Intere...
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of Electric Vehicle Excise Duty on the transition to zero-emission vehicles.
The Government remains firmly committed to the Electric Vehicle (EV) transition and has carefully considered the potential impact of electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) on consumer uptake of electric vehicles. The rate of eVED for EVs will be half of the ...
What assessment she has made of changes in acceptance rates for Theatre Tax Relief claims since the rate increased from 20% to 50%.
The Government recognises the importance of the creative industries, including the key role they play in driving economic growth. We support our world-leading theatre sector through the tax system and through funding. Since 1 April 2025, Theatre Tax Reli...
What assessment she has made of the potential merits of reducing VAT rates for small hospitality businesses.
The Government recognises the significant contribution made by hospitality businesses to economic growth and social life in the UK.From 25 June to 1 September the Government is introducing a temporary reduced rate of VAT on family leisure activities and c...
What support she is providing to small hospitality businesses, including cafés, for VAT costs.
The Government recognises the significant contribution made by hospitality businesses to economic growth and social life in the UK.From 25 June to 1 September the Government is introducing a temporary reduced rate of VAT on family leisure activities and c...
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Valuation Office Agency’s decision to value serviced offices as single buildings, rather than separately valuing the premises occupied by each company, on
The Valuation Office (VO) is responsible for valuing non-domestic property for business rates purposes. They are required to maintain accurate rating lists in England impartially and independently of central Government, and must consider developments in r...
What assessment she has made of the potential impact on households of extending the 0% VAT rate on energy efficiency measures and domestic renewable installations beyond March 2027.
This Government is committed to improving the quality and sustainability of our housing stock, through improvements such as low carbon heating, insulation, solar panels and batteries. This will be vital to making the UK more energy resilient and meeting o...
What assessment she has made of the level of equitability of applying the Expensive Car Supplement to second-hand vehicles purchased below the £50,000 threshold but originally registered above that threshold.
The Expensive Car Supplement (ECS) is an additional charge payable on top of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) for cars with an original list price above £40,000, or £50,000 for zero emission vehicles. The supplement is charged at a flat rate of £440 per year and...
What assessment has been made of the potential impact of Stamp Duty Land Tax, particularly the Higher Rates for Additional Dwellings, on the ability of residential property traders to provide liquidity to the housing market, especially among transactions relating to housing stock where no Stamp Duty Land Tax relief is available for those traders.
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government increased the higher rates of SDLT by two percentage points and set out the impacts of this change. This information can be found here on page 130: Autumn Budget 2024 - GOV.UK
What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of larger housing transaction volumes arising from changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax for residential property traders, particularly the Higher Rates for Additional Dwellings, on fiscal receipts.
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government increased the higher rates of SDLT by two percentage points and set out the impacts of this change. This information can be found here on page 130: Autumn Budget 2024 - GOV.UK
What support her Department is providing to help first-time buyers access mortgage finance and enter the housing market.
The most sustainable long-term method to improve housing affordability and help people into homeownership is to increase the supply of housing. The government is committed to building 1.5 million homes this parliament. The Government is bringing forward ambitious reforms to streamline and improve the planning system to deliver on its Plan for Change. We have announced major changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility to deliver 170,000 additional homes and add £6.8bn to the economy by 2029/30. The Government recognises the difficulties some prospective first-time buyers face in buying a home and is committed to helping them get on the housing ladder. To address these issues, we introduced a new permanent Mortgage Guarantee Scheme in July 2025. It is designed to support and sustain the availability of low deposit mortgage products for credit-worthy borrowers. The government will also consult on introducing a new, first-time buyer only ISA product that will provide a government bonus when a person uses it to buy a house, removing the need for a withdrawal charge and giving savers flexibility in case their circumstances change. It will remain possible to open a Lifetime ISA until the new product becomes available and for account holders to continue to save into their Lifetime ISA in line with the existing rules indefinitely. This sits alongside our work with the financial regulators to give mortgage lenders more flexibility, including on how they assess affordability, which means borrowers can now borrow 10% more than they could at the start of last year. Thanks to our work with the Bank of England, lenders also have more flexibility to offer larger loans. They estimate this could help as many as 36,000 more customers become first time buyers in the first year. Those looking to buy their first home should speak with a mortgage broker to learn more about what’s available to them.
What discussions her Department has had with industry representatives on alternatives to the business rates system.
The Call for Evidence on business rates and investment closed on 18 February. As part of this process, the Government engaged industry representatives for more detailed evidence on how the business rates system influences investment decisions, with questions on the business rates system’s tax structure, small business rates relief, improvement relief and empty property relief. The Government is carefully considering representations we’ve received, and a response to the Call for Evidence will be published in due course.
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of bank branch closures in rural areas on customers reliant on in-person banking services.
Banking is changing, with many customers benefitting from the convenience and flexibility of managing their finances remotely. However, the Government understands the importance of in-person banking services to communities and high streets and is committed to supporting the financial services industry’s roll-out of 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 270 hubs have been announced so far, and more than 225 are already open.Where banks make commercial decisions to reduce their branch network, they are required by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to carefully consider the impact on customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and to put appropriate alternative arrangements in place, where needed.Banking hub locations are independently recommended by LINK, the operator of UK’s largest ATM network. When a bank branch closes, or there is a material change to a cash service, or a community request is received, LINK conducts an access to cash assessment under the access to cash regime set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023. In its assessments, LINK takes into consideration a wide range of criteria, including population demographics and public transport links. The criteria also differentiate between rural and urban areas, with a wider three-mile catchment applied in rural locations to recognise that villages often depend on nearby market towns.Customers can also access everyday banking services through the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows personal and business customers to withdraw and deposit cash, check balances and pay bills at over 10,000 Post Office branches across the UK.Some banks also provide points of access through initiatives such as pop-up services in libraries and community centres, or mobile banking vans serving rural and remote areas. The Government supports initiatives which give customers access to in-person banking, as well as digital access. The Government keeps the effectiveness of current arrangements under review through regular engagement with stakeholders to ensure they meet the needs of local communities.