Written questions by Holden.

What assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of abolishing business rates.

The government will create a fairer business rates system that protects the high-street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century. Autumn Budget 2024 announced the first steps including an intention to introduce permanently lower multipliers for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties from April 2026. To fund this sustainably the government also intends to introduce a higher multiplier on properties with Rateable Values (RV) of £500,000 or more. During the interim period, for 2025-26, RHL properties will receive a 40% relief on business rates bills up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business. The small business multiplier paid by properties with RVs below £51,000 will also be frozen for a further year. The government published a discussion paper at Budget which sets out priority areas for further reform and invites stakeholders to a conversation about transforming the system over the Parliament.

What proportion of people no longer eligible for the winter fuel allowance are higher or additional rate taxpayers.

The Winter Fuel Payment continues to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit . This means that the Winter Fuel Payment will be better targeted to low income pensioners who need it. Winter Fuel Payments are paid on a household basis whereas taxpayer status is on an individual basis.455,000 individuals over the state pension age are estimated to pay higher rate income tax, and 39,300 additional rate income tax.

Pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 9237 on Pensioners: Tax Rates and Bands, for what reason does Government not publish this data.

The Winter Fuel Payment continues to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. This means that the Winter Fuel Payment will be better targeted to low income pensioners who need it. This was a tough decision, but the right decision given the public finances. The Winter Fuel Payment is paid by the Department for Work and Pensions on a household basis whereas taxpayer information is held by HMRC on individual basis. As such HMT does not hold this data at a household level. DWP does however publish data on pensioner incomes; this can be found at Pensioners' Incomes Series: Financial year 2021 to 2022.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 October 2024 to Question 6585, how much and what proportion of the money accruing to the Treasury as a result of changes to eligibility for the Winter Fuel Payment she expects to come from people paying the (a) higher and (b) additional rate income tax.

The Government does not publish such data.

What discussions she has had with the insurance industry on ensuring that premiums for homeowners do not increase substantially.

Treasury Ministers and officials have regular meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors on an ongoing basis.Insurers make commercial decisions about pricing and the terms of cover they offer based on their assessment of the relevant risks. This is usually informed by the insurer’s claims experience and other industry-wide statistics. The respective capabilities of insurers to assess risk is a key element on which they compete and the Government does not intend to intervene in these commercial decisions as this could damage competition in the market. However, the Government is determined that insurers should treat all customers fairly and insurance companies are required to do so under the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) rules. The FCA is an independent body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry. The FCA monitors firms to make sure they provide products that are fair value, and, where necessary, it will take action.

What steps she is taking to help reduce the impact of off-payroll working rules on the financial services sector and those working in it; and whether she plans to review those rules.

The Government keeps all tax policy and legislation under review. The Government and HMRC published both external research and internal analysis on the impacts of the 2021 reform in the private and voluntary sectors here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/short-term-effects-of-the-2021-off-payroll-working-rules-reform-for-private-and-voluntary-sector-organisations https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impacts-of-the-2021-off-payroll-working-rules-reform-in-the-private-and-voluntary-sectors/impacts-of-the-off-payroll-working-rules-reform-in-the-private-and-voluntary-sectors HMRC will continue to provide support and guidance to individuals and businesses operating the rules, including those in the financial services sector, and will continue to look for opportunities to improve the way these rules work in practice.

How many and what proportion of pensioner households have at least one (a) higher rate and (b) additional rate taxpayer.

The number of individuals over the state pension age paying higher and additional rate Income Tax in 2021 to 2022 is estimated as 455,000 and 39,300 respectively. These estimates account for the whole of the UK and are based on the 2021 to 2022 Survey of Personal Incomes, which is the latest outturn year available. HMRC does not hold household level data.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 July 2024 to Question 1812 on Pay: Young People, if she will make these calculations.

I refer the Rt Hon. member to the publicly-available data sources listed in response to his previous question, from which further calculations can be made. The statistics requested can be calculated for a typical worker on the minimum wage using the following data sources: average hours from ONS dataset HOUR01; inflation from ONS CPI series D7BT; historic Income Tax liabilities from HMRC, “Income Tax Personal Allowances and Reliefs”; historic National Insurance liabilities from HMRC, “Main Features of National Insurance Contributions”. Links can be found on the GOV.UK Website here: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/datasets/actualweeklyhoursworkedseasonallyadjustedhour01sa https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/timeseries/d7bt/mm23 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rates-and-allowances-income-tax/income-tax-rates-and-allowances-current-and-past https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-features-of-national-insurance-contributions