Every parliamentary written question tabled by Shaun Davies this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 1–20 of 22 · Treasury
If she will publish a policy to disregard VAT for the construction of budlings for the public benefit and services by charities.
The Government maintains a zero rate of VAT for the construction of new buildings that will be used solely for a relevant charitable purpose. Information on the definition of a relevant charitable purpose for the purpose of the zero rate of VAT can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buildings-and-construction-vat-notice-708
What assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the Orchestra Tax Relief scheme to include a cappella choirs.
The Government recognises the importance of the creative industries, including orchestras, and supports them through funding and through the tax system. Orchestra Tax Relief (OTR) provides tax relief on production costs and provided around £50 million of support in 2023‑24. There is currently no other country in the world which offers such a tax relief for orchestras. In considering any changes to existing tax reliefs or introducing new ones, Government has to consider a wide range of factors, including the specific aims of the relief, the costs and complexity of designing and administering new provisions, and fairness. Decisions on tax are taken by the Chancellor at fiscal events, in the context of overall public finances.
What steps her Department is taking to use technological innovation to simplify the process of filing tax returns.
The government is investing in HMRC’s digital services to simplify tax filing, improve accuracy and reduce burdens on taxpayers. Improvements to digital journeys will make it easier for taxpayers to register, deregister or manage their obligations online, reducing the need for phone contact. Making Tax Digital for Income Tax will give sole traders and landlords an up-to-date view of their tax position during the year and reduce errors at the year end. HMRC is also expanding the use of third-party data and pre-population across Income Tax Self Assessment, allowing returns to be completed more quickly without re-entering information HMRC already holds. Where tax affairs are straightforward, HMRC also uses third-party data to issue Simple Assessments, removing the need for an Income Tax Self Assessment return altogether.
What assessment she has made of the efficacy of the Government's efforts to reduce tax evasion.
HMRC is committed to closing the tax gap further and tackling non-compliant behaviours such as tax evasion, tax avoidance, criminal attacks, error, failure to take reasonable care, hidden economy activity, legal interpretation issues, and non-payment. In 2024 to 2025, HMRC’s compliance work contributed to record tax revenues of £875.9 billion, collecting and protecting £48 billion of tax that would have gone unpaid if HMRC hadn’t stepped in – up from £41.8 billion the previous year. At the Autumn Budget 2025, the government announced a package of measures that will raise a further £2.4 billion in additional tax revenues in 2029 to 2030. This builds on announcements at Autumn Budget 2024 (£6.5 billion), and Spring Statement 2025 (over £1 billion) and brings the total revenue from closing the tax gap announced this Parliament to £10 billion in 2029 to 2030.
What assessment she has made of the potential for AI and digital technology to reduce a) tax evasion and b) tax avoidance.
HMRC is expanding its use of AI to help tackle the tax gap and The Hon gentleman’s Telford constituency is an important hub for HMRC’s digital and AI work. HMRC’s expansion includes how they focus their compliance work through new risk-targeting capabilities to identify cases for investigation, improving case selection. It also means using AI to identify nascent issues with the tax system, so they can act rapidly to prevent them before they grow. This year, HMRC has also significantly invested in partnering with the private sector to explore the use of novel analytical techniques and data to identify deliberate evasion. HMRC is harnessing artificial intelligence to deliver a more efficient and professional service for customers. They will use new technology as a tool to help them to do their jobs more effectively. Greater use of AI will mean that staff spend less time on admin and more time helping taxpayers. It will also help HMRC better target their action against fraud and evasion, to bring in more money for public services. Artificial intelligence supports some of their processes but never replaces human decision-making and oversight. HMRC remains committed to the safe use of these technologies, underpinned by strict data protection, security and ethical standards. In cases where AI is used in a way that could impact customer outcomes, HMRC ensures that results are explainable and that there is always human oversight. This means that even when AI is used to support decision-making, final decisions are always made by experienced, trained case workers.
If she will publish a breakdown of a) the number of claims and b) the total value of statutory paternity pay and shared parental pay between the public and private sectors for each of the last three years.
HMRC collects data on statutory paternity and shared parental pay. HMRC also holds data on the legal status of organisations and their Pay As You Earn schemes, which does include whether the organisation is a private sector or public sector organisation. However, to match the two together would be a significant analytical task and so the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
What data her Department holds on the (a) number of claims and (b) value of payments made for statutory paternity leave and shared parental leave each year by economic sector and industry.
HMRC does not collect data on statutory paternity leave or shared parental leave. HMRC does collect data on statutory paternity pay and shared parental pay which may closely approximate leave in both cases. HMRC also holds data on economic sector, but to match the two together would be a significant analytical task and so the relevant data could only be collated and verified for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
How many people claimed (a) Statutory Maternity Leave, (b) Statutory Paternity Leave and (c) Statutory Parental Leave by income decile in the 2024/25 financial year.
Numbers of individuals in receipt of statutory payments, including breakdowns by income decile, are published here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/parental-leave-and-pay-evidence-hmrc-data-covering-april-2014-to-march-2025
How many child trust funds are unclaimed in (a) Telford constituency, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England.
Information on Child Trust Funds is available in HMRC’s Annual Savings Statistics.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2024HMRC does not hold information on the geographical locations of Child Trust Fund account holders, therefore the requested regional breakdowns cannot be provided.
If she will provide a breakdown of statutory maternity leave claims by income decile of the recipient for each of the last three years.
The table below shows the number of claimants of Statutory Maternity Pay, by recipient’s income decile, where income deciles have been calculated across the whole Real Time Information (RTI) population for each given tax year.Income DecileDate12345678910Total 2022-232,0005,00036,00068,00089,00093,00091,00092,00085,00066,000Total 2023-242,0005,00036,00062,00088,00092,00091,00094,00084,00068,000Total 2024-252,0006,00038,00063,00087,00092,00091,00094,00086,00071,000 Notes:1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in August 2025. RTI is subject to revision or updates.2) Claim numbers have been rounded to nearest 1000.
How much and what proportion of parental leave payments were paid to employers claiming Small Employers Relief in each of the last five years.
Data for the financial year 2024/25 has not yet been fully analysed as the financial year has only recently ended. Data for financial years 2020/21 until 2023/24 is provided below. The table below shows the number of PAYE schemes who claimed compensation for any of the four Statutory Parental Payments, qualifying them for Small Employers’ Relief. DateStatutory Maternity Pay Scheme CountStatutory Paternity Pay Scheme CountShared Parental Pay Scheme CountStatutory Adoption Pay Scheme CountTotal20/2162,80010,20050030073,80021/2263,00014,60060030078,50022/2361,00015,70060040077,70023/2458,60015,00060040074,600 Notes:1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.2) PAYE scheme counts have been rounded to nearest 100.3) The table shows the count of PAYE schemes who claimed Small Employers’ Relief, with schemes used as a proxy for business count. The table below shows how much compensation was paid to PAYE schemes claiming Small Employers’ Relief but not the entire value of parental payment claims. DateStatutory Maternity Pay Compensation (£000’s)Statutory Paternity Pay Compensation (£000’s)Shared Parental Pay Compensation (£000’s)Statutory Adoption Pay Compensation (£000’s)Total (£000’s)20/2110,50020010010010,90021/2212,40030020010013,00022/2313,4001,40020040015,40023/2417,40040020020018,200 Notes:1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.2) Claims values have been rounded to nearest £100,000. The table below shows the proportion of claims for Small Employers’ Relief compensation against total parental pay reclaims. DateTotal Compensation Count Total Recovery CountProportion19/2077,000202,00038%20/2174,000185,00040%21/2279,000196,00040%22/2378,000196,00040%23/2475,000196,00038% 1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.2) Total number of claims rounded to nearest 1000.3) The proportion calculation assumes all schemes claiming compensation are also counted within number of claims for recoveries. Further breakdowns of information by income decile or of employees by region are not currently available from published statistics, and collating and verifying the relevant data solely for the purpose of answering this question would incur disproportionate cost. Some related information may be found in this call for evidence: Parental leave and pay review: call for evidence - GOV.UK, including the number of claimants by income decile and region up to 2023/24.
How much was paid in parental leave by recipient's income decile for each of the last five years.
Data for the financial year 2024/25 has not yet been fully analysed as the financial year has only recently ended. Data for financial years 2020/21 until 2023/24 is provided below. The table below shows the number of PAYE schemes who claimed compensation for any of the four Statutory Parental Payments, qualifying them for Small Employers’ Relief. DateStatutory Maternity Pay Scheme CountStatutory Paternity Pay Scheme CountShared Parental Pay Scheme CountStatutory Adoption Pay Scheme CountTotal20/2162,80010,20050030073,80021/2263,00014,60060030078,50022/2361,00015,70060040077,70023/2458,60015,00060040074,600 Notes:1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.2) PAYE scheme counts have been rounded to nearest 100.3) The table shows the count of PAYE schemes who claimed Small Employers’ Relief, with schemes used as a proxy for business count. The table below shows how much compensation was paid to PAYE schemes claiming Small Employers’ Relief but not the entire value of parental payment claims. DateStatutory Maternity Pay Compensation (£000’s)Statutory Paternity Pay Compensation (£000’s)Shared Parental Pay Compensation (£000’s)Statutory Adoption Pay Compensation (£000’s)Total (£000’s)20/2110,50020010010010,90021/2212,40030020010013,00022/2313,4001,40020040015,40023/2417,40040020020018,200 Notes:1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.2) Claims values have been rounded to nearest £100,000. The table below shows the proportion of claims for Small Employers’ Relief compensation against total parental pay reclaims. DateTotal Compensation Count Total Recovery CountProportion19/2077,000202,00038%20/2174,000185,00040%21/2279,000196,00040%22/2378,000196,00040%23/2475,000196,00038% 1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.2) Total number of claims rounded to nearest 1000.3) The proportion calculation assumes all schemes claiming compensation are also counted within number of claims for recoveries. Further breakdowns of information by income decile or of employees by region are not currently available from published statistics, and collating and verifying the relevant data solely for the purpose of answering this question would incur disproportionate cost. Some related information may be found in this call for evidence: Parental leave and pay review: call for evidence - GOV.UK, including the number of claimants by income decile and region up to 2023/24.
How many employers claimed parental leave pay through Small Employers Relief in each of the last five years.
Data for the financial year 2024/25 has not yet been fully analysed as the financial year has only recently ended. Data for financial years 2020/21 until 2023/24 is provided below. The table below shows the number of PAYE schemes who claimed compensation for any of the four Statutory Parental Payments, qualifying them for Small Employers’ Relief. DateStatutory Maternity Pay Scheme CountStatutory Paternity Pay Scheme CountShared Parental Pay Scheme CountStatutory Adoption Pay Scheme CountTotal20/2162,80010,20050030073,80021/2263,00014,60060030078,50022/2361,00015,70060040077,70023/2458,60015,00060040074,600 Notes:1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.2) PAYE scheme counts have been rounded to nearest 100.3) The table shows the count of PAYE schemes who claimed Small Employers’ Relief, with schemes used as a proxy for business count. The table below shows how much compensation was paid to PAYE schemes claiming Small Employers’ Relief but not the entire value of parental payment claims. DateStatutory Maternity Pay Compensation (£000’s)Statutory Paternity Pay Compensation (£000’s)Shared Parental Pay Compensation (£000’s)Statutory Adoption Pay Compensation (£000’s)Total (£000’s)20/2110,50020010010010,90021/2212,40030020010013,00022/2313,4001,40020040015,40023/2417,40040020020018,200 Notes:1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.2) Claims values have been rounded to nearest £100,000. The table below shows the proportion of claims for Small Employers’ Relief compensation against total parental pay reclaims. DateTotal Compensation Count Total Recovery CountProportion19/2077,000202,00038%20/2174,000185,00040%21/2279,000196,00040%22/2378,000196,00040%23/2475,000196,00038% 1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.2) Total number of claims rounded to nearest 1000.3) The proportion calculation assumes all schemes claiming compensation are also counted within number of claims for recoveries. Further breakdowns of information by income decile or of employees by region are not currently available from published statistics, and collating and verifying the relevant data solely for the purpose of answering this question would incur disproportionate cost. Some related information may be found in this call for evidence: Parental leave and pay review: call for evidence - GOV.UK, including the number of claimants by income decile and region up to 2023/24.
How many businesses (a) claim Small Employers Relief and (b) have more than 100 employees in each (i) region and (ii) nation.
Data for the financial year 2024/25 has not yet been fully analysed as the financial year has only recently ended. Data for financial years 2020/21 until 2023/24 is provided below. The table below shows the number of PAYE schemes who claimed compensation for any of the four Statutory Parental Payments, qualifying them for Small Employers’ Relief. DateStatutory Maternity Pay Scheme CountStatutory Paternity Pay Scheme CountShared Parental Pay Scheme CountStatutory Adoption Pay Scheme CountTotal20/2162,80010,20050030073,80021/2263,00014,60060030078,50022/2361,00015,70060040077,70023/2458,60015,00060040074,600 Notes:1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.2) PAYE scheme counts have been rounded to nearest 100.3) The table shows the count of PAYE schemes who claimed Small Employers’ Relief, with schemes used as a proxy for business count. The table below shows how much compensation was paid to PAYE schemes claiming Small Employers’ Relief but not the entire value of parental payment claims. DateStatutory Maternity Pay Compensation (£000’s)Statutory Paternity Pay Compensation (£000’s)Shared Parental Pay Compensation (£000’s)Statutory Adoption Pay Compensation (£000’s)Total (£000’s)20/2110,50020010010010,90021/2212,40030020010013,00022/2313,4001,40020040015,40023/2417,40040020020018,200 Notes:1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.2) Claims values have been rounded to nearest £100,000. The table below shows the proportion of claims for Small Employers’ Relief compensation against total parental pay reclaims. DateTotal Compensation Count Total Recovery CountProportion19/2077,000202,00038%20/2174,000185,00040%21/2279,000196,00040%22/2378,000196,00040%23/2475,000196,00038% 1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.2) Total number of claims rounded to nearest 1000.3) The proportion calculation assumes all schemes claiming compensation are also counted within number of claims for recoveries. Further breakdowns of information by income decile or of employees by region are not currently available from published statistics, and collating and verifying the relevant data solely for the purpose of answering this question would incur disproportionate cost. Some related information may be found in this call for evidence: Parental leave and pay review: call for evidence - GOV.UK, including the number of claimants by income decile and region up to 2023/24.
How many households stopped receiving child benefit following the introduction of (a) the two child benefit cap and (b) means testing in (i) Telford constituency, (ii) the West Midlands and (iii) England.
Child Benefit is a non-means tested benefit payable to families as a contribution towards the cost of raising children. The High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) is a tax charge for families in receipt of Child Benefit payments on higher individual incomes, of £60,000 or more. These families can either get the Child Benefit payments and pay the tax charge or opt out of receiving the payments, and not have to pay the HICBC. The number of families opting out of Child Benefit payments by Westminster Parliamentary Constituency, region and country can be found in table 12 in the latest annual Child Benefit statistics release: Child Benefit Statistics: annual release, August 2024 - GOV.UK. The number of those paying the tax charge by region and country can be found in table 17 of the same publication. These figures relate to 2022 to 2023 tax year when the HICBC threshold was £50,000. The policy to provide support for a maximum of two children in Universal Credit does not apply to Child Benefit.
How much money is held in dormant bank accounts, broken down by (a) bank and (b) region.
HMT does not hold information on the level of dormant assets across UK bank accounts as this would be client information held by the banks themselves. However, the Government does have information on the level of funds pertaining to the UK’s official Dormant Assets Scheme. The Dormant Assets scheme – legislated for in 2008, and updated in 2022 – creates a voluntary mechanism for taking dormant funds transferred from the financial sector to spend on charitable causes. The scheme was designed as a public/private partnership. The transferred funds come largely from the UK’s banking and building society sectors and are administered by a body called Reclaim Fund Limited (RFL). Total transfers into the scheme since inception, from across the financial services sector, was £1.98bn as of March 2024. Of this total, £241m was transferred to the scheme in the financial year 2023/2024 alone, of which £219m came from the banking and building societies sectors, demonstrating the large amount of Dormant Assets held by these institutions. There are currently 36 banks and building societies participating in the Dormant Assets Scheme, including many large banks.
What steps her Department is taking to (a) enforce the Plastic Packaging Tax and (b) prevent illegal imports.
To ensure a level playing field, importers and UK manufacturers must provide the same level of evidence to claim relief from the Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT). The government continues to assess the prevalence of PPT non-compliance on imported plastic packaging and are considering options to further safeguard against this. In the meantime, HMRC continues to develop their data and risk driven approach to compliance as the tax matures and more data comes available to profile, identify and target error and non-compliance. HMRC has a range of sanctions to promote compliance and deter non-compliance, such as penalties of up to 100% of the tax due and compulsory registration. In 2023/24 HMRC completed inquiries into 690 PPT cases with a tax yield of almost £18m. HMRC lead tax compliance and work in policy partnership with HM Treasury officials. HMRC are committed to working closely with Defra and the Environment Agencies to share data and insight, alongside continued engagement with the sector on a range of PPT issues.
If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Plastic Packaging Tax on imports.
To ensure a level playing field, importers and UK manufacturers must provide the same level of evidence to claim relief from the Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT). The government continues to assess the prevalence of PPT non-compliance on imported plastic packaging and are considering options to further safeguard against this. In the meantime, HMRC continues to develop their data and risk driven approach to compliance as the tax matures and more data comes available to profile, identify and target error and non-compliance. HMRC has a range of sanctions to promote compliance and deter non-compliance, such as penalties of up to 100% of the tax due and compulsory registration. In 2023/24 HMRC completed inquiries into 690 PPT cases with a tax yield of almost £18m. HMRC lead tax compliance and work in policy partnership with HM Treasury officials. HMRC are committed to working closely with Defra and the Environment Agencies to share data and insight, alongside continued engagement with the sector on a range of PPT issues.
Whether (a) she and (b) officials in her Department have met with (i) the Environment Agency and (ii) His Majesty's Revenue and Customs to discuss the enforcement of the Plastic Packaging Tax on imports.
To ensure a level playing field, importers and UK manufacturers must provide the same level of evidence to claim relief from the Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT). The government continues to assess the prevalence of PPT non-compliance on imported plastic packaging and are considering options to further safeguard against this. In the meantime, HMRC continues to develop their data and risk driven approach to compliance as the tax matures and more data comes available to profile, identify and target error and non-compliance. HMRC has a range of sanctions to promote compliance and deter non-compliance, such as penalties of up to 100% of the tax due and compulsory registration. In 2023/24 HMRC completed inquiries into 690 PPT cases with a tax yield of almost £18m. HMRC lead tax compliance and work in policy partnership with HM Treasury officials. HMRC are committed to working closely with Defra and the Environment Agencies to share data and insight, alongside continued engagement with the sector on a range of PPT issues.
What discussions she has had with representatives of the UK plastics industry on the enforcement of the Plastic Packaging Tax on imports.
To ensure a level playing field, importers and UK manufacturers must provide the same level of evidence to claim relief from the Plastic Packaging Tax (PPT). The government continues to assess the prevalence of PPT non-compliance on imported plastic packaging and are considering options to further safeguard against this. In the meantime, HMRC continues to develop their data and risk driven approach to compliance as the tax matures and more data comes available to profile, identify and target error and non-compliance. HMRC has a range of sanctions to promote compliance and deter non-compliance, such as penalties of up to 100% of the tax due and compulsory registration. In 2023/24 HMRC completed inquiries into 690 PPT cases with a tax yield of almost £18m. HMRC lead tax compliance and work in policy partnership with HM Treasury officials. HMRC are committed to working closely with Defra and the Environment Agencies to share data and insight, alongside continued engagement with the sector on a range of PPT issues.