Written questions by Wild.

How many matured Child Trust Funds are unclaimed.

HMRC assists young people in accessing their matured CTFs through its online tracing service and through targeted communications appropriate to the age group. It will continue its work with providers, industry representatives and other stakeholders, exploring ways of increasing the profile of CTFs and enabling account owners to be aware of and trace their accounts.HMRC encourages anyone unsure about their situation to get in touch with their account provider. If people don’t know their account provider, they can easily locate their Child Trust Fund accounts online by using the “Find my CTF” page on GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/child-trust-funds/find-a-child-trust-fundInformation on Child Trust Funds is available in HMRC’s Annual Savings Statistics.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2024

What steps regulators sponsored by her Department are taking to reduce the reporting requirements for firms.

Our Regulation Action Plan included a whole of Government target to cut the administrative costs of regulation for business, including costs posed by reporting requirements, by a quarter by the end of the Parliament.As first steps to contribute to the delivery of this target:· The Prudential Regulation Authority has committed to working with industry to deliver a more streamlined approach to banking regulatory reporting;· The Financial Conduct Authority published a consultation on removing certain reporting and notification requirements on 16 April; and,· We are considering changes to the Money Laundering Regulations, to ensure requirements are proportionate and targeted at high-risk activity. We are completing a baselining exercise in parallel to understand how much regulation is costing and where reforms can be targeted to streamline processes and remove unnecessary burdens.

With reference to her Department's consultation Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, published on 28 April 2025, what estimate she has made of the annual revenue which would be generated from the proposed changes set out in the consultation.

At Autumn Budget 2024 the Chancellor announced her intention to review the Soft Drinks Industry levy (SDIL) – which has incentivised producers to remove almost half (46%) the sugar in relevant drinks – to further drive product reformulation. The ‘Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy’ consultation follows this commitment. Specifically, it sets out proposals to reduce the minimum sugar threshold at which the levy applies from 5g to 4g sugar per 100ml, and to remove the current exemptions for milk-based and milk substitute drinks with added sugar. The government welcomes feedback on the proposed changes as part of the consultation, which is open until 21 July 2025 and will inform decisions at a future Budget. The exchequer impact of any changes to SDIL will be confirmed following the consultation and certified by the Office of Budget Responsibility as part of a Budget.

How many full time equivalent staff are employed in (a) each Ministerial office and (b) the Permanent Secretary's office.

HM Treasury has seven ministers, two of which work jointly with other departments. The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Private Office has thirteen permanent full-time members of staff. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury Private Office has six permanent full-time members of staff. The Financial Secretary to the Treasury’s Private Office has six permanent full-time members of staff. The Economic Secretary to the Treasury’s Private Office has six permanent full-time members of staff. The Exchequer Secretary’s Private Office has six permanent full-time members of staff.The Minister for Pensions works jointly with the Department of Work and Pensions. He has one permanent full-time member of staff who is a HM Treasury employee. The Minister for Investment works jointly with the Department of Trade. She has one permanent full-time member of staff who is a HM Treasury employee. The Permanent Secretary’s Office has four permanent full-time members of staff.

What her Department's budget is for (a) advertising, (a) marketing and (c) communications in each year of this Parliament.

HMT sets its budgets annually. Budgets have not been finalised for future financial years.

What discussions her Department has had with the Crown Estate on using the borrowing powers in the Crown Estate Act 2025.

The Treasury and The Crown Estate continue to have regular dialogue, including on The Crown Estate’s business plan and the use of the borrowing powers contained in the Crown Estate Act 2025.

What progress has been made on negotiating a partnership agreement between the Crown Estate and Great British Energy.

The Crown Estate and Great British Energy have maintained a continuous dialogue as the Great British Energy Bill progresses through Parliament. The partnership agreement will be finalised following the conclusion of legislative scrutiny to ensure all amendments are accounted for and the agreement aligns with the final legislative framework.

Pursuant to the Answer of 1 April 2025 to Question 40654 on Income Tax: Pensioners, what estimate she has made of the number of pensioners that will be affected in each year.

HMRC publish the number of income tax payers by age. This information can be found in Table 2.1 of the collated income tax liabilities statistics tables for the years up to 2024-25, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66798d4797ea0c79abfe4b83/Collated_Income_Tax_liabilities_statistics_tables_-_2.1_to_2.6.ods. Data on future years will be published in the usual way. As I set out in my previous answer, the Personal Allowance - the amount an individual can earn before paying tax - will continue to exceed the basic and full new State Pension in the coming tax year. This means pensioners whose sole income is the full new State Pension or basic State Pension without any increments will not pay any income tax.

What steps her Department is taking to reduce the level of compliance costs for financial services.

The government has committed to cutting the administrative costs of regulation for business by 25% by the end of the Parliament. This will take a whole-of-government approach to establish a baseline for the administrative costs of regulation and deliver an ambitious regulation reform programme, targeting reforms that remove or streamline administrative processes. No independent assessment has been commissioned for this work. The financial services regulators are required by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to undertake and publish a Cost-Benefit Analysis when consulting on any proposal to make or amend rules, to analyse the likely expected costs and benefits arising from the changes. The Treasury is working with the financial services regulators to reduce regulatory burdens on financial services firms while maintaining high regulatory standards. As part of the Regulation Action Plan, the government announced that it will consolidate the Payments Systems Regulator into the Financial Conduct Authority, to provide a more streamlined approach to regulation for businesses. The Regulation Action Plan also confirmed that the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority are taking steps to review and streamline reporting requirements for firms. The government is committed to ensuring our regulation is fit for purpose, ensuring it meets our commitments to maintaining the UK’s high standards and protections whilst ensuring we do not hold back growth with unnecessary red tape.

Whether her Department has commissioned any independent assessments of the compliance costs of financial regulations since 4 July 2024.

The government has committed to cutting the administrative costs of regulation for business by 25% by the end of the Parliament. This will take a whole-of-government approach to establish a baseline for the administrative costs of regulation and deliver an ambitious regulation reform programme, targeting reforms that remove or streamline administrative processes. No independent assessment has been commissioned for this work. The financial services regulators are required by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to undertake and publish a Cost-Benefit Analysis when consulting on any proposal to make or amend rules, to analyse the likely expected costs and benefits arising from the changes. The Treasury is working with the financial services regulators to reduce regulatory burdens on financial services firms while maintaining high regulatory standards. As part of the Regulation Action Plan, the government announced that it will consolidate the Payments Systems Regulator into the Financial Conduct Authority, to provide a more streamlined approach to regulation for businesses. The Regulation Action Plan also confirmed that the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority are taking steps to review and streamline reporting requirements for firms. The government is committed to ensuring our regulation is fit for purpose, ensuring it meets our commitments to maintaining the UK’s high standards and protections whilst ensuring we do not hold back growth with unnecessary red tape.

If she will make a comparative estimate of the cost to pubs of (a) the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme, (b) VAT and (c) beer duty compared to other major European countries.

Policies related to packaging alcohol taxation vary between European countries. In October 2024, the Government published an updated assessment of the impact of introducing the pEPR scheme on packaging producers. It has worked closely with industry, including the brewing sector, throughout the development of the scheme. VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. As with all taxes, the Government keeps alcohol duty rates under review during its Budget process.

With reference to the oral contribution of the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury in the debate on the Finance Bill on 3 March 2025, Official Report, column 92, whether her Department has calculated the number of people in receipt of the full rate of the new state pension that will pay income tax in (a) 2025-26, (b) 2026-27, (c) 2027-28, (d) 2028-29 and (e) 2029-30.

The Government is committed to ensuring that older people are able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve, and the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people. The Government is committed to the Triple Lock for the duration of this parliament, and in April 2025, the basic and new State Pension will increase by 4.1%. This means that pensioners on a full new State Pension will get a boost of £470 to their incomes from April this year. Over the course of this Parliament, as per the forecast at Autumn Budget 2024, the yearly amount of the full new State Pension is currently forecast to go up by around £1,900, based on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s latest forecast. The previous Government made the decision to freeze the income tax Personal Allowance at its current level of £12,570 until April 2028. At our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze on personal tax thresholds and, as a result, they will rise with inflation from April 2028, meaning people will keep more of their income.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the tobacco duty escalator on tobacco excise revenues.

Alongside any changes to Tobacco Duty at Budget, the Government publishes a Tax Information and Impact Note, including an impact assessment, to detail the expected impacts. The summary of impacts from the latest changes to tobacco duty at Autumn Budget 2024 can be found here: Changes to tobacco duty rates from 30 October 2024 - GOV.UKAs with all taxes, the Government keeps tobacco duty rates under review during its yearly Budget process.

How many Bloomberg subscriptions her Department has.

HM Treasury has 3 subscriptions to Bloomberg News.

How many (a) strategic (b) outline and (c) final business cases were submitted to her Department in each of the last three years.

The Treasury Approvals Process requires departments and their arm's length bodies to submit business cases to HM Treasury for scrutiny when spending meets specific criteria. These criteria are detailed in Treasury Approvals Process guidance. The Treasury typically receives hundreds of different business cases for approval each year.

With reference to National Audit Office's report entitled, public service pensions, published on 19 March 2021, whether her Department plans to publish updated statistics on the balancing payments made to pensions schemes.

Figures showing the net Exchequer balancing payments for unfunded Public Service Pension Schemes (PSPS), along with details on contribution income and scheme expenditure, are regularly published as part of the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO). The latest publication is part of the October 2024 EFO, in the table labelled “October 2024 Economic and fiscal outlook – detailed forecast tables: expenditure”: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-october-2024/

Whether members of the National Wealth Fund Taskforce are remunerated.

The NWF Taskforce was established by the Chancellor before the 2024 general election to fulfil an independent advisory role on the design of the National Wealth Fund. Members have not been remunerated for their roles on the NWF Taskforce.

How much tax revenue the Digital Services Tax has raised since 2020.

The requested information is available in the statistics table published at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-ukThe information can be found in column S of Table 2. For ease, the relevant data h...

With reference to the press notice entitled New Great British Energy partnership launched to turbocharge energy independence, published on 25 July 2024, if her Department will publish the partnership agreement betwe

The partnership between The Crown Estate and Great British Energy is subject to the passing of The Great British Energy Bill. Once that Bill passes through its legislative stages, partnership will be subject to an agreement with Great British Energy. Alth...

What steps she is taking to help improve (a) public and (b) private sector productivity.

The government’s growth mission is dedicated to boosting productivity growth nationwide. After fourteen years of weak productivity growth, we are reforming the economy to increase productivity in both the public and private sectors. Public sector producti...