Written questions by Dhesi.

What recent steps she has taken to prevent sanctioned individuals from using trusts to conceal their (a) identities and (b) assets.

The government is committed to preventing sanctioned individuals from misusing trusts to conceal their identities and assets. To this end, we have strengthened the transparency of the beneficial ownership of trusts through our various registers, including our world-leading People with Significant Control (PSC) register, our Trust Registration Service (TRS), and the Register of Overseas Entities (ROE). As of 1 September 2025, any individual can apply to Companies House for disclosure of trust information held on the ROE. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) continues to enhance its implementation and enforcement capabilities. OFSI has opened a record number of investigations this year, reflecting a commitment to robust financial sanctions enforcement. In 2025 OFSI also published a series of reports assessing sectoral threats and vulnerabilities relating to financial sanctions, including a Legal Services Threat Assessment, to help industry implement sanctions where trusts are being misused. In response to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the UK has imposed robust sanctions designed to disrupt funding streams to the Russian regime and prevent those supporting it from benefiting from UK services. Under the UK’s trust services sanctions, trust services must not be provided to or for the benefit of designated persons. Since 16 December 2022, it is also prohibited to provide new trust services to or for the benefit of persons connected with Russia. For the Legal Services Threat Assessment Report, click here: OFSI_Legal_Services_Threat_Assessment.pdf

What recent discussions she has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the adequacy of the regulation of peer-to-peer banking.

Treasury Ministers and officials meet with their counterparts at the Financial Conduct Authority often, as part of their regular engagement on various topics. This includes peer-to-peer lending, which the FCA is responsible for regulating. Peer-to-peer investments are a higher risk investment where customers put their own capital at stake, without recourse to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The FCA has investigative and enforcement powers and has commenced investigations into particular peer-to-peer collapses, certain of which are ongoing. This is also an area in which the Financial Regulators Complaints Commissioner has taken an interest and that work is ongoing.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of compliance with international tax standards by the Overseas Territories.

The inhabited Overseas Territories are largely self-governing jurisdictions with democratically elected governments, and are responsible for fiscal matters. All Overseas Territories with financial centres have committed to upholding international tax standards, including those on tax transparency and exchange of information, and Base Erosion and Profit Shifting. Compliance with international standards is assessed through a system of peer reviews and monitoring within the G20/OECD Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting and the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes. The UK also works bilaterally with the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories on issues of mutual concern. For example, on 27 May 2025, the UK and Isle of Man issued a joint statement, agreeing to explore ways to further enhance information flows, joint working and other ways in which tangible benefits for both jurisdictions can be achieved, noting our shared objective of combatting tax avoidance and evasion.

What recent estimate she has made of the number of property management companies that have (a) delivered services for and (b) made payments on behalf of sanctioned individuals for the (i) maintenance and (ii) management of property in the UK.

OFSI has not made an estimate for the information requested but robustly enforces UK sanctions where breaches are identified. OFSI imposed a penalty in September 2024 against a firm for breaches of Russia sanctions relating to property management. Through OFSI’s enhanced capabilities and increased collaboration between government agencies, OFSI is able identify breaches proactively and is not reliant on self-reported breaches. Since February 2022, just over 1% of all suspected breach reports submitted to OFSI were reported by property and related services firms. Meanwhile, 7% of all suspected breaches reported to OFSI by other types of firms involved property and related services firms in some capacity.OFSI is taking concrete action to increase sanctions awareness within the sector, through direct engagement with the sector and publication of its Threat Assessment Report and guidance for letting agents.For the Threat Assessment Report, click here: OFSI_Property_and_Related_Services_Threat_Assessment.pdfFor OFSI’s letting agents guidance, click here: Financial sanctions guidance for letting agents - GOV.UK

What recent steps she has taken to help prevent people who have been sanctioned from concealing property assets in the UK.

In April, OFSI released a Property Threat Assessment Report. The report identifies key evasion threats, red flags that businesses should be aware of, and observations on areas where compliance could be strengthened.For the Threat Assessment Report, click here: OFSI_Property_and_Related_Services_Threat_Assessment.pdf OFSI also has specific guidance for letting agents. This guidance helps to facilitate OFSI’s aim of encouraging better sanctions compliance, raising impacted businesses’ awareness of their sanctions obligations, and assisting OFSI in identifying potential circumvention gaps and financial sanctions breaches. For OFSI’s letting agents guidance, click here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-sanctions-guidance-for-letting-agents/financial-sanctions-guidance-for-letting-agents Since 2022, OFSI has significantly increased its headcount and capability, including procuring leading tools and training, which means OFSI is able to undertake proactive, intelligence-led sanctions enforcement.

Whether she plans to reassess the mileage reimbursement rate.

The Government keeps the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) rate under review and HMRC use a variety of information in estimating typical motoring costs per business mile. This includes information from the AA, the National Travel Survey, the Association of British Insurers, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.As with all taxes and rates, the Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at Budget in the context of public finances.

What discussions she has had with (a) the Payment Systems Regulator and (b) representatives of the payments industry on merchant interchange fees.

The government is committed to ensuring a world-leading payments ecosystem that meets the needs of all businesses and consumers, as reflected in the National Payments Vision. This includes support for regulation of interchange fees. Government ministers and officials meet regularly with payments firms and their representatives on this and other issues. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis and available on gov.uk. Domestic interchange fees are capped at 0.2% for consumer debit cards and 0.3% for consumer credit cards. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is responsible for enforcing these caps. The PSR is independent of the Government. However, the Government engages with them regularly on their important work, including on card fees. The PSR has recently conducted a market review into cross-border interchange fees. These are fees charged when an EEA issued card is used to make a purchase from a UK merchant. It published its final report in December 2024 and is now considering its next steps.

What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the maximum reimbursement limit for victims of authorised push payment fraud.

The Government is committed to tackling fraud and protecting victims from this appalling crime. The Government has committed to introduce a new and expanded fraud strategy to create a unified and co-ordinated response from government, law enforcement and industry to better protect the public and businesses from fraud. In October 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) introduced a mandatory reimbursement regime for authorised push payment (APP) scams which take place over the Faster Payments system. This requires payment service providers to reimburse victims for losses up to £85,000. The details of the reimbursement regime are a matter for the independent PSR, but it has committed to carry out an independent evaluation of the reimbursement requirement after the rules have been in place after 12 months. The Government has also introduced legislation to allow payment service providers more time to investigate payments where there are reasonable grounds to suspect APP fraud. This gives firms more time to engage potential victims and break the spell of fraudsters. The Government also recognises the importance of working with the technology and telecommunications sectors to prevent fraudsters abusing their platforms and networks. In November 2024, the Chancellor wrote to leading companies in these sectors to challenge them to go further and faster to reduce the scale of incidents and losses from fraud taking place on their platforms and networks. The Government will continue to work with these sectors as part of its upcoming fraud strategy.

What recent steps she has taken to help protect consumers from authorised push payment fraud.

The Government is committed to tackling fraud and protecting victims from this appalling crime. The Government has committed to introduce a new and expanded fraud strategy to create a unified and co-ordinated response from government, law enforcement and industry to better protect the public and businesses from fraud. In October 2024, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) introduced a mandatory reimbursement regime for authorised push payment (APP) scams which take place over the Faster Payments system. This requires payment service providers to reimburse victims for losses up to £85,000. The details of the reimbursement regime are a matter for the independent PSR, but it has committed to carry out an independent evaluation of the reimbursement requirement after the rules have been in place after 12 months. The Government has also introduced legislation to allow payment service providers more time to investigate payments where there are reasonable grounds to suspect APP fraud. This gives firms more time to engage potential victims and break the spell of fraudsters. The Government also recognises the importance of working with the technology and telecommunications sectors to prevent fraudsters abusing their platforms and networks. In November 2024, the Chancellor wrote to leading companies in these sectors to challenge them to go further and faster to reduce the scale of incidents and losses from fraud taking place on their platforms and networks. The Government will continue to work with these sectors as part of its upcoming fraud strategy.

What discussions she has had with (a) the payment systems regulator and (b) representatives of the payments industry on the adequacy of interchange fee caps.

Government ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations. Details of ministerial meetings are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-giftsand-overseas-travelDomestic interchange fees are capped at 0.2% for consumer debit cards and 0.3% for consumer credit cards. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is responsible for enforcing these caps. The PSR is independent of Government. However, the government continues to engage with them on their important work, including card fees.The PSR has recently conducted a market review into cross-border interchange fees, fees charged when an EEA issued card is used at a UK merchant. It published its final report in December 2024 and is now considering its next steps.The Government recently announced its intentions to consolidate the PSR and its functions primarily within the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The PSR continues to be an independent regulator with full access to its statutory powers in the interim. There will be no immediate changes to its functions and its work will continue, including its important role in regulating card fees.

Whether the Government plans to increase the purchase limit for properties outside of London when using a Help to Buy ISA.

This Government is committed to helping first time buyers own their own home, and will do this by building 1.5 million more homes.The Government keeps savings policy under review, any changes to savings policy would be made at a relevant fiscal event.

What the total tax revenue collected from (a) business rates and (b) corporation tax was in the Slough constituency in the most recent period for which data is available.

Data on the amount of business rates collected for 2023-24, which is the more recent publicly available data, is published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) online here. Table 9 contains data at the local authority level:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/collection-rates-for-council-tax-and-non-domestic-rates-in-england-2023-to-2024. HMRC publish total Corporation Tax (CT) receipts online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/corporation-tax-statistics-2024. HMRC do not hold data on the amount of CT paid by companies in individual parliamentary constituencies.

What recent steps her Department has taken to help tackle offshore tax non-compliance.

The government has announced significant additional resource for HMRC. This includes an increase of around 400 people over the next five years to tackle offshore non-compliance by wealthy people, estimated to bring in £500 million in additional compliance yield over the same period: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-statement-2025-document/spring-statement-2025-html The government is also ensuring that HMRC has the international data it needs and is implementing the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework and amendments to the Common Reporting Standard:Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, Common Reporting Standard amendments, and seeking views on extension to domestic reporting - summary of responses - GOV.UK

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the accessibility of financial services.

The Government seeks to ensure that individuals have access to the appropriate financial products and services they need. This is why I am working with a committee of consumer and industry representatives to develop a Financial Inclusion Strategy which will be published later this year. The strategy will seek to tackle a range of barriers to consumers’ ability to access products, including a focus on: (i) digital inclusion and access to banking; (ii) savings; (iii) insurance; (iv) affordable credit; (v) problem debt; and (vi) financial education and capability. As part of this work, the committee is considering the cross-cutting theme of accessibility to ensure appropriate consideration of how physical and learning disabilities and cognitive impairments can affect people’s ability to use financial services products and engage with their providers. More widely, the Government works closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the independent regulator of the UK’s financial services sector, to ensure that all customers get the right support with their financial products and services. FCA guidance outlines that firms should identify vulnerable customers and consider their needs appropriately. Additionally, under the Equality Act 2010, banks must make reasonable adjustments to ensure their services are accessible to all.

What steps she is taking to tackle financial exclusion.

The Government seeks to ensure that individuals have access to the appropriate financial products and services they need. This is why I am working with a committee of consumer and industry representatives to develop a Financial Inclusion Strategy which will be published later this year. The strategy will seek to tackle a range of barriers to consumers’ ability to access products, including a focus on: (i) digital inclusion and access to banking; (ii) savings; (iii) insurance; (iv) affordable credit; (v) problem debt; and (vi) financial education and capability. As part of this work, the committee is considering the cross-cutting theme of accessibility to ensure appropriate consideration of how physical and learning disabilities and cognitive impairments can affect people’s ability to use financial services products and engage with their providers. More widely, the Government works closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the independent regulator of the UK’s financial services sector, to ensure that all customers get the right support with their financial products and services. FCA guidance outlines that firms should identify vulnerable customers and consider their needs appropriately. Additionally, under the Equality Act 2010, banks must make reasonable adjustments to ensure their services are accessible to all.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the enforcement of legislation relating to managed service companies on chartered providers of accountancy services.

The managed service companies legislation tackles specific tax avoidance arrangements that disguise employment in order to not pay the right tax. Ordinary tax advisory and accountancy services do not come within scope of these rules. In November 2024, HMRC published Spotlight 67 explaining how the legislation works and what activities fall outside its scope.

If she will make an estimate of the impact of changing the tax free personal allowance to £20,000 on tax receipts.

The Government is committed to keeping taxes for working people as low as possible while ensuring fiscal responsibility and so, at our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze on personal tax thresholds.The Government has no plans to increase the Personal Allowance to £20,000. Increasing the Personal Allowance to £20,000 would come at a significant fiscal cost of many billions of pounds per annum. This would reduce tax receipts substantially, decreasing funds available for the UK’s hospitals, schools, and other essential public services that we all rely on. It would also undermine the work the Chancellor has done to restore fiscal responsibility and economic stability, which are critical to getting our economy growing and keeping taxes, inflation, and mortgages as low as possible.The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process. The Chancellor will announce any changes to the tax system at fiscal events in the usual way.

What the median age is of computers issued to officials in their Department.

HM Treasury does not record the age of computers.

Pursuant to the Answer of 20 December 2024 to Question 19379 on Marginal Tax Rates, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of people earning just under £100,000 (a) working additional hours and (b) receiving a pay rise on the (i) 60% effective marginal rate of taxation and (ii) loss of childcare support.

As set out previously, within the personal tax system, withdrawal of the Personal Allowance affects those with income over £100,000 a year. It was introduced in 2010-11 and occurs gradually, with £1 of allowance lost for every £2 of income above the income limit of £100,000, implying an effective marginal income tax rate of 60 per cent. This reduction continues until the Personal Allowance is completely withdrawn for those with incomes above £125,140.The Government recognises that because of this, taxpayers with incomes within the taper band face a higher a marginal tax rate and that it introduces some complexity into the tax system. However, removing this would be expensive and regressive. Families are not eligible for the 30 free hours or tax-free childcare offers if one parent earns over £100,000. The income cap is per person and aligns with an existing boundary in the tax system. This means there is no incentive for the lower earner in the household to reduce their income in order to be eligible. The Government is committed to managing the public finances in a balanced and responsible way, and this means continuing to target support at those who need it most.

Whether she plans to alter her policies on the (a) eligibility (b) use (c) thresholds for London house prices and (d) withdrawal penalties criteria for the Lifetime ISA.

The Lifetime ISA remains narrowly focused on supporting people to achieve the aspiration of home ownership, or to build up savings for later life. The property price cap supports most first-time buyers across the UK while targeting households that may find it most difficult to get onto the property ladder. Data from the latest UK House Price Index shows that while the average price paid by first-time buyers has increased since the introduction of the Lifetime ISA, it is still below the LISA property price cap in all regions of the UK except for London, where the average price paid is affected by boroughs with very high property values Any unauthorised withdrawals are subject to a 25% withdrawal charge. This recoups the Government bonus, any interest or growth arising from it, and a proportion of the individual’s initial savings. The Government keeps all aspects of savings tax policy under review.