Written questions by Gibson.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of increasing the (a) Plastic Packaging Tax rate and (b) recycled content requirement to promote domestic recycling.

The Plastic Packaging Tax was introduced in April 2022 under the previous government and provides a price incentive for businesses to use recycled plastic in the manufacture of plastic packaging – thereby stimulating the collection and recycling of plastic waste. All tax rates and thresholds are reviewed at fiscal events.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of fiscal incentives to encourage capital investment in (a) hydrogen and (b) fuel cell manufacturing facilities.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer is supporting a range of incentives to encourage capital investment in hydrogen. The Government has awarded contracts to 11 projects through the first hydrogen allocation round and £500mn was allocated for the development of the first hydrogen transport and storage network through the spending review. At Spring Statement 2025, the government committed to removing Climate Change Levy costs from electricity used in electrolysis to produce hydrogen. This will lower costs and support the growth of low carbon hydrogen production, which will play an important role in decarbonising hard-to-electrify industrial sectors. UK Export Finance also aims to deliver £10bn in clean growth financing by 2029; DRIVE35, the government’s programme of capital and R&D funding for the automotive industry, will provide £2.5bn for zero-emission vehicle manufacturing, including fuel cells; and the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme offers grants to UK fuel cell manufacturers investing in UK-based research and development.

What estimate her Department has made of the (a) staffing, (b) system, (c) compliance and (d) other costs of (i) implementing and (ii) administering the proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief; and if she will take steps to publish an estimate prior to the reforms taking effect in April 2026.

I refer to the answer given on 5 September 2025 at UIN 70546 :https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-08-29/70546

What recent steps her Department has taken to strengthen consumer protection in relation to investments in unbacked cryptocurrencies.

Since January 2020, certain cryptoasset firms have been required to register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the UK’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations (MLRs). To date, 51 cryptoasset firms have been registered with the FCA under the MLRs and there are 49 firms with current registration. On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets that will protect consumers while supporting growth by giving industry the certainty it needs to invest in the UK. The Government is seeking to bring forward final legislation before the end of the year. The FCA is operationally independent from Government and is a self-financing organisation funded via a levy on financial services firms. Any costs incurred under the forthcoming cryptoasset regulatory regime will therefore be recovered by the FCA through authorisation fees and the annual levy.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of (a) funding and (b) resourcing for the Financial Conduct Authority for effective regulation of the cryptoasset sector.

Since January 2020, certain cryptoasset firms have been required to register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the UK’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations (MLRs). To date, 51 cryptoasset firms have been registered with the FCA under the MLRs and there are 49 firms with current registration. On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets that will protect consumers while supporting growth by giving industry the certainty it needs to invest in the UK. The Government is seeking to bring forward final legislation before the end of the year. The FCA is operationally independent from Government and is a self-financing organisation funded via a levy on financial services firms. Any costs incurred under the forthcoming cryptoasset regulatory regime will therefore be recovered by the FCA through authorisation fees and the annual levy.

What data her Department holds on the number of UK-based firms registered with the Financial Conduct Authority to provide cryptoasset services.

Since January 2020, certain cryptoasset firms have been required to register with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under the UK’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Regulations (MLRs). To date, 51 cryptoasset firms have been registered with the FCA under the MLRs and there are 49 firms with current registration. On 29 April, HM Treasury published draft legislation for a comprehensive financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets that will protect consumers while supporting growth by giving industry the certainty it needs to invest in the UK. The Government is seeking to bring forward final legislation before the end of the year. The FCA is operationally independent from Government and is a self-financing organisation funded via a levy on financial services firms. Any costs incurred under the forthcoming cryptoasset regulatory regime will therefore be recovered by the FCA through authorisation fees and the annual levy.

What assessment she has made of the potential cost to the public purse of not insuring Government debt repayments against inflation.

The government’s financing strategy is designed to align with the Debt Management Objective, which is to minimise over the long term, the cost of meeting the Government’s financing needs, taking account of risk, while ensuring that debt management policy is consistent with the aims of monetary policy. To meet its financing requirement for each financial year, the government issues an appropriate balance of conventional and index-linked gilts over a range of maturities. Issuing index-linked gilts has historically brought cost advantages for the government due to strong investor demand and has historically helped to underscore the credibility of the government’s commitment to low and stable inflation. As set out in HM Treasury’s Debt Management Report 2025-26, analysis by the Debt Management Office shows that, for gilts that matured since their introduction in 1981 but prior to January 2025, the government generated direct savings of around £90.8 billion in total from the issuance of index-linked gilts if valued at maturity, or £184.7 billion in 2025 terms.

Whether her Department holds data on the tax gap disaggregated by (a) local authority and (b) parliamentary constituency.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimates the size of the tax gap, which is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid. The tax gap statistics and details of the estimate methodologies are published annually and are available at: Measuring tax gaps 2024 edition: tax gap estimates for 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK. HMRC does not estimate the tax gap by local authority or by parliamentary constituency.

What steps her Department is taking to reduce the tax gap.

At the Budget last autumn, the Government introduced the most ambitious package ever to close the tax gap, ensuring more individuals and businesses pay the taxes they owe and raising £6.5 bn in additional tax revenue per year by 2029-2030. At the Spring Statement, the Government built on this and announced a package of measures to further close the tax gap and raise over £1 billion more. The announcements since the start of this Government will see 5,500 more compliance officers, alongside 2400 staff in HMRC’s debt management teams to ensure those who can afford to pay their tax debts do so. The Government is also delivering on its commitments to prosecute more tax fraudsters, to introduce a new HMRC reward scheme for informants, to tackle ‘phoenixism’, and to overhaul HMRC’s approach to offshore tax non-compliance. The Government has also set out its plans to go further in the future to make it easier for taxpayers to pay the right tax through a modern and digital tax system.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief at the Autumn Budget on elderly farmers.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free. The reforms announced by the Government are expected to result in up to around 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on the VCSE sector.

In order to repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance contributions (NICs).A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations as well as an overview of the equality impacts.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, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all this year and more than half of employers will see no change or will gain overall from this package.More broadly, within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving, with more than £6 billion in charitable reliefs provided to charities, CASCs and their donors in 2023 to 2024.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Financial Conduct Authority's redress scheme in relation to the collapse of the Woodford Equity Income Fund.

On 19 April 2023, the FCA published a statement on their investigation into the circumstances leading up to the suspension of the Woodford Equity Income Fund, and the role of Link Fund Solutions. The statement set out a proposed settlement scheme for this investigation, where Link Fund Solutions and Link Group would provide a redress payment of up to approximately £230 million. This scheme would mean investors recovering up to 77p in the pound for the losses attributable to Link Fund Solutions. The FCA considered that the scheme was the quickest way for investors to obtain a better outcome than might otherwise be achieved. In December 2023, investors voted by an overwhelming margin to endorse the scheme. On 9 February 2024, the High Court issued a judgment approving the scheme, and the first redress payments of over £185 million were distributed by April 2024.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to Vehicle Excise Duty from April 2025 on levels of electric vehicle adoption; and what impact these changes will have on owners of zero-emission vehicles registered between 2017 and 2025 which will move from a £0 rate to the standard rate of £190-£195 per year.

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is a tax on vehicles used or kept on public roads. As announced by the Government at Autumn Statement 2022, from April 2025, zero emission and hybrid cars, vans and motorcycles will begin to pay VED in a similar way to petrol and diesel vehicles. Revenue from motoring taxes helps ensure we can continue to fund the vital public services and infrastructure that people and families across the UK expect. The Policy Costings document and Tax Information and Impact Note published alongside Autumn Statement 2022 when the change was announced both estimate the impact on zero emission vehicle take-up to be ‘minimal’. The Tax Information and Impact Note also sets out expected economic, equalities and other impacts of the changes, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/introduction-of-vehicle-excise-duty-for-zero-emission-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-from-2025/introduction-of-vehicle-excise-duty-for-zero-emission-cars-vans-and-motorcycles-from-2025. The Government is committed to supporting the transition to zero emission vehicles and announced a number of measures at Autumn Budget 2024 to support zero emission vehicle take-up. From 1 April 2025, VED First Year Rates have changed to apply higher rates to hybrid, petrol and diesel vehicles. The Government has also maintained incentives for the purchase of zero emission vehicles within the Company Car Tax and Salary Sacrifice regimes until 2030, and extended the 100% First Year Allowances for businesses purchasing zero emission cars and installing chargepoint infrastructure.

Whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief on trends in levels of agricultural employment.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information about the costing in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024. The OBR published more detail on the costings on 22 January 2025. This material is all available on the OBR’s website.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief on trends in levels of tax revenues.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information about the costing in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024. The OBR published more detail on the costings on 22 January 2025. This material is all available on the OBR’s website.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief on the trend in levels of economic growth

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information about the costing in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024. The OBR published more detail on the costings on 22 January 2025. This material is all available on the OBR’s website.

What recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of the UK’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements: and whether the Government plans to publish an updated review timeline.

The government is committed to leading the world in sustainable finance by making the UK a global hub for green and transition finance activity, and delivering a world-leading sustainable finance regulatory framework. The government will provide further information about its plans to support growth and integrity in the UK sustainable finance landscape, including sustainability disclosures, in due course.