Written questions by Duncan-Jordan.

What consideration she has given to introducing a reduced rate of Vehicle Excise Duty for motorcycles.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment her department has made on the potential impact of the changes to umbrella company regulations on non-profit umbrella providers.

From 6 April 2026, recruitment agencies are responsible for ensuring that Pay As You Earn and National Insurance contributions obligations are met when they choose to use an umbrella company to engage a worker. Where these obligations are not met, HMRC will recover underpayments from the recruitment agency. If there is no recruitment agency involved in an arrangement with an umbrella company, this responsibility will fall to the end client business. These rules apply to all umbrella companies, regardless of corporate structure. They do not change the amount that umbrella companies, including not-for-profit umbrella companies, have to account for under Pay As You Earn when they pay their employees. The government keeps tax policies under review. However, there are no plans to change the treatment of not-for-profit umbrella companies within these rules.

Whether her department has any plans to formally recognise not-for-profit umbrella models within the new regulations.

From 6 April 2026, recruitment agencies are responsible for ensuring that Pay As You Earn and National Insurance contributions obligations are met when they choose to use an umbrella company to engage a worker. Where these obligations are not met, HMRC will recover underpayments from the recruitment agency. If there is no recruitment agency involved in an arrangement with an umbrella company, this responsibility will fall to the end client business. These rules apply to all umbrella companies, regardless of corporate structure. They do not change the amount that umbrella companies, including not-for-profit umbrella companies, have to account for under Pay As You Earn when they pay their employees. The government keeps tax policies under review. However, there are no plans to change the treatment of not-for-profit umbrella companies within these rules.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of ensuring that tax is not paid on state pensions.

Exempting the State Pension from income tax entirely would reduce tax receipts substantially undermining the public services we all rely on – especially the NHS. However, I can confirm that those whose sole income is the basic and full new State Pension, without any increments, will not pay any income tax this tax year or next.

What assessment she has made of the value-for-money of the Loan Charge.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 February 2026 to UIN 109841.

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

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 February 2026 to UIN 109841.

What assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Loan Charge and HMRC’s approach to dealing with so-called disguised remuneration schemes.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 9 February 2026 to UIN 109841.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of exempting the state pension from taxation.

Exempting the State Pension from income tax entirely would undermine the public services we all rely on, including the NHS.

Whether she plans to extend VAT relief to community-based services like The Filo Project, that provide socialising activities and support for those with dementia.

Supplies of welfare services, including the provision of care for people with permanent disabilities and dementia, are exempt from VAT if they are supplied by eligible bodies, such as public bodies or charities. Because community interest companies (CICs) are not charities in law, they must meet the criteria of being state-regulated in order to provide VAT-exempt care services. This is to ensure that the VAT relief is carefully targeted at private providers offering safe and high-quality welfare services. The Government recognises that there are private organisations that bring value to the care sector without being regulated, but extending the VAT relief to include these would have to be carefully balanced against the risks that it poses More generally, VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a fixed 4% stamp duty on the purchase of properties.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is charged using a rate structure which rises as properties get more valuable. This means that lower-value properties benefit more from the nil rate band, with the first £125,000 of any property not being charged SDLT at all. This ensures that those who can afford to pay more do so. SDLT continues to be an important source of Government revenue, raising around £14 billion each year to help pay for the essential services the Government provides.

Whether she plans to remove VAT from refurbished building work.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations. Residential renovations are subject to a reduced rate of VAT of five per cent if they meet certain conditions. These include conversions of buildings from one residential use to another, conversions from commercial to residential use, and the renovation of properties that have been empty for two or more years. The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of the overall public finances.

Whether she is taking steps to regulate credit card providers to ensure they lend to those who are (a) vulnerable and (b) persistently in debt in a responsible way.

Lenders offering credit are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This oversight ensures that lending practices are fair and that consumers are protected – firms regulated by the FCA must comply with its strict lending affordability rules, lending only to those who can afford repayments based on a thorough assessment of their financial situation. Under the FCA’s Consumer Duty, firms are required to take steps to identify and respond to signs of vulnerability, support customers to disclose their needs, and make them aware of available assistance. The Government is committed to supporting people who are experiencing problem debt. Through the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), the Government funds a range of national and community-based debt advice services in England, so households can access the specialist support they need to get their finances back on track.

Whether she plans to end the sale of written-off consumer debts to third-party debt purchasers.

The Government expects that consumers are treated fairly by firms purchasing and collecting debt, and recognises the importance of responsible debt recovery practices.Firms that purchase or collect consumer credit debts must be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and comply with its rules, including requirements to treat customers fairly and to offer appropriate forbearance options to customers in financial difficulty. The FCA has a broad range of supervisory and enforcement powers to address misconduct.The Government remains committed to supporting individuals in financial difficulty and keeps the regulatory framework under review.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of reducing the rate of VAT on retail, hospitality and leisure from 20% to 13% on that sector.

The Government recognises the significant contribution made by retail and hospitality businesses to economic growth and social life in the UK. VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. HMRC estimates that the cost of reducing the 20 per cent Standard Rate of VAT on all accommodation and food and beverage services would be as follows in 2026-27: (a) to 15%: £5 billion, (b) to 12.5%: £8 billion (c) to 10%: £10.5 billion, (d) to 5%: £17 billion, (e) to 0%: £23.5 billion. Including retail would add to that significant cost.

If she will consider reducing the multiplier for pubs to 20p below the standard multiplier.

From April, every pub and live music venue will get 15% off its new business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget and then bills will be frozen in real terms for a further two years. Three-quarters of pubs will see bills flat or falling in April. The new relief is worth £1,650 for the average pub next year. As a sector pubs will pay 8% less in business rates in 2029 than they do right now. The Government will also launch a review on how pubs are valued for business rates.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of using the 2023 valuations for business rates with multipliers of 0.2994 up to £51,000 and 0.333 over £51,000.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties. In recognition of the impact of the revaluation on bills, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion, to protect against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills. At Budget, the Government announced wider reforms to business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, reducing tax rates paid for by a higher rate on the top one per cent of most expensive properties. The introduction of permanent, lower RHL tax rates is worth almost £1 billion to over 750,000 RHL properties. The tax rate on smaller high street businesses will be 33% lower than for businesses with the most valuable properties. Furthermore, from April, every pub and live music venue will get 15% off its new business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget, and then bills will be frozen in real terms for a further two years.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of ending the use of the approved guidance on valuation of public houses and introducing a standard RV calculation method for businesses.

The Valuation Office uses the ‘Fair and Maintainable Trade’ methodology to assess public houses. The Government recognises that a review of the methodology to value pubs for business rates purposes is needed. Therefore, the Government will launch a review which will explore how pubs are valued for business rates, and will engage extensively with valuation experts, businesses and their representatives.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of replacing the VOA’s 2026 Revaluation list with the 2023 valuations list.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties. In recognition of the impact of the revaluation on bills, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion, to protect against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills. At Budget, the Government announced wider reforms to business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, reducing tax rates paid for by a higher rate on the top one per cent of most expensive properties. The introduction of permanent, lower RHL tax rates is worth almost £1 billion to over 750,000 RHL properties. The tax rate on smaller high street businesses will be 33% lower than for businesses with the most valuable properties. Furthermore, from April, every pub and live music venue will get 15% off its new business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget, and then bills will be frozen in real terms for a further two years.

What progress the FCA has made on its investigation into the administration of Ziglu Bank in June 2025.

Ziglu Limited is an electronic money institution which has been authorised under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 since September 2020. These regulations require firms to meet important standards before they are allowed to carry out payment services and issue electronic money, and the FCA carries out supervision to ensure that it meets the required standards. Ziglu also provides cryptoasset services and is registered with the FCA for the purposes of ensuring compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.On 23 May 2025, the FCA placed restrictions on Ziglu in relation to particular products. On 17 June, Ziglu agreed to stop carrying out both payments and cryptoasset activities while allowing customers to withdraw funds. On 7 July, Ziglu entered special administration and the FCA is engaging with the special administrators as appropriate.Payments and e-money firms are required to safeguard customer funds and segregate these from funds which belong to the firm. The special administrators are working to carry out an assessment of all funds held by Ziglu to establish which are safeguarded for customers, and which belong to Ziglu. However, cryptoasset activities are currently unregulated and Ziglu is not required to safeguard funds or assets which relate to unregulated activities. This means there is no guarantee that cryptoasset customers will receive all or any of their funds or assets back.Recently, the FCA published new rules coming into force on 7 May 2026 to improve safeguarding standards across the payments sector. The Government has also recently laid legislation to create a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets.

What support she is providing to individuals who had money invested in Ziglu Bank prior to its closure in June 2025.

Ziglu Limited is an electronic money institution which has been authorised under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 since September 2020. These regulations require firms to meet important standards before they are allowed to carry out payment services and issue electronic money, and the FCA carries out supervision to ensure that it meets the required standards. Ziglu also provides cryptoasset services and is registered with the FCA for the purposes of ensuring compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.On 23 May 2025, the FCA placed restrictions on Ziglu in relation to particular products. On 17 June, Ziglu agreed to stop carrying out both payments and cryptoasset activities while allowing customers to withdraw funds. On 7 July, Ziglu entered special administration and the FCA is engaging with the special administrators as appropriate.Payments and e-money firms are required to safeguard customer funds and segregate these from funds which belong to the firm. The special administrators are working to carry out an assessment of all funds held by Ziglu to establish which are safeguarded for customers, and which belong to Ziglu. However, cryptoasset activities are currently unregulated and Ziglu is not required to safeguard funds or assets which relate to unregulated activities. This means there is no guarantee that cryptoasset customers will receive all or any of their funds or assets back.Recently, the FCA published new rules coming into force on 7 May 2026 to improve safeguarding standards across the payments sector. The Government has also recently laid legislation to create a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets.