To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consideration has the Government made of providing free software for low income self employed people to assist with compliance as part of the roll out of Making Tax Digital.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what consideration has the Government made of providing free software for low income self employed people to assist with compliance as part of the roll out of Making Tax Digital.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the readiness of HMRC-recognised bridging software and agent software for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax ahead of the April 2026 mandation date for taxpayers with qualifying income over £50,000; and what recourse is available to taxpayers...

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the readiness of HMRC-recognised bridging software and agent software for Making Tax Digital for Income Tax ahead of the April 2026 mandation date for taxpayers with qualifying income over £50,000; and what recourse is available to taxpayers...

My honourable friend the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Dan Tomlinson) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Today the government sets out further reforms to simplify and modernise the tax and customs system, building on the commitment first made in the HMRC Transformation Roadmap published in July 2025 and...

My honourable friend the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Dan Tomlinson) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Today the government sets out further reforms to simplify and modernise the tax and customs system, building on the commitment first made in the HMRC Transformation Roadmap published in July 2025 and...

Today the government sets out further reforms to simplify and modernise the tax and customs system, building on the commitment first made in the HMRC Transformation Roadmap published in July 2025 and confirmed at Budget 2025.

The measures announced today simplify rules, improve taxpayer guidance, and ensure more taxpayers can...

Today the government sets out further reforms to simplify and modernise the tax and customs system, building on the commitment first made in the HMRC Transformation Roadmap published in July 2025 and confirmed at Budget 2025.

The measures announced today simplify rules, improve taxpayer guidance, and ensure more taxpayers can...

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of HMRC-recognised software available for the Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment, including the availability of free and low-cost options; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of...

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of HMRC-recognised software available for the Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment, including the availability of free and low-cost options; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of...

To ask His Majesty's Government how many active users the GOV.UK App has, as of the most recent date for which data exists; what targets they have set for user growth in 2026-27; and what assessment they have made of the digital skills support required to increase uptake among digitally...

To ask His Majesty's Government how many active users the GOV.UK App has, as of the most recent date for which data exists; what targets they have set for user growth in 2026-27; and what assessment they have made of the digital skills support required to increase uptake among digitally...

To ask His Majesty's Government how much they have spent on the development, testing, marketing and maintenance of the GOV.UK App to date, broken down by financial year.

To ask His Majesty's Government how much they have spent on the development, testing, marketing and maintenance of the GOV.UK App to date, broken down by financial year.

Lords statement on launching a national conversation on how we will build and use digital ID as the means to access public services digitally on a mobile phone or computer.

Lords statement on launching a national conversation on how we will build and use digital ID as the means to access public services digitally on a mobile phone or computer.

My Lords, this Statement was delivered just one week ago and has already run into some serious difficulty. Reports in the press suggest that both the Health Secretary and the Education Secretary have made it clear that their departments will not provide some of the data required for the scheme....

My Lords, this Statement was delivered just one week ago and has already run into some serious difficulty. Reports in the press suggest that both the Health Secretary and the Education Secretary have made it clear that their departments will not provide some of the data required for the scheme....

My Lords, I thank the Minister for this opportunity to respond to last week’s Statement and, indeed, for his personal engagement with us at that time.

The Chief Secretary told the Commons on Tuesday that he was continuing the proud Labour tradition of building public services for the many. He invoked...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for this opportunity to respond to last week’s Statement and, indeed, for his personal engagement with us at that time.

The Chief Secretary told the Commons on Tuesday that he was continuing the proud Labour tradition of building public services for the many. He invoked...

I thank the noble Earl and the noble Lord for their contributions. The noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, is asking me questions to which, as he very well knows, I am not going to give the answer. That is the whole point of the consultation, and across the Chamber, everyone knows...

I thank the noble Earl and the noble Lord for their contributions. The noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, is asking me questions to which, as he very well knows, I am not going to give the answer. That is the whole point of the consultation, and across the Chamber, everyone knows...

My Lords, first, I take it from what the Minister has just said about costs that no sum has been earmarked in the current three-year expenditure review for the development of the scheme—can he confirm that? Secondly, will people in Scotland have to access the Government’s proposed ID scheme for...

My Lords, first, I take it from what the Minister has just said about costs that no sum has been earmarked in the current three-year expenditure review for the development of the scheme—can he confirm that? Secondly, will people in Scotland have to access the Government’s proposed ID scheme for...

We will consult the devolved authorities on this; they will be a major part of the consultation. There is no definite cost for the

programme because the design of what we are building has not been decided yet. Noble Lords should not just look at one line item on the...

We will consult the devolved authorities on this; they will be a major part of the consultation. There is no definite cost for the

programme because the design of what we are building has not been decided yet. Noble Lords should not just look at one line item on the...

My Lords, I declare an interest as the co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Digital Identity. The Minister said that he will consult widely on this and on what support there might be for it. Nearly 3 million people have signed the petition. If they have not already convinced...

My Lords, I declare an interest as the co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Digital Identity. The Minister said that he will consult widely on this and on what support there might be for it. Nearly 3 million people have signed the petition. If they have not already convinced...

On the noble Baroness’s last point, how we look at inclusion and accessibility is really important in tackling those issues of discrimination. It is very important that the consultation looks at that. The noble Earl also raised a question about the NHS app which I did not explicitly address. That...

On the noble Baroness’s last point, how we look at inclusion and accessibility is really important in tackling those issues of discrimination. It is very important that the consultation looks at that. The noble Earl also raised a question about the NHS app which I did not explicitly address. That...

I very much welcome the deliberative aspect of this consultation. It is good to see the Government doing that, and I hope it goes into other areas. I want to associate myself with many of the questions that the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, asked. Hopefully over this consultation period they...

I very much welcome the deliberative aspect of this consultation. It is good to see the Government doing that, and I hope it goes into other areas. I want to associate myself with many of the questions that the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, asked. Hopefully over this consultation period they...

I cannot be too prescriptive, but I can reassure the noble Baroness on her first point; a number of noble Lords have raised this issue. This will be a sovereign-based scheme. We will develop it in-house through government services. It will not be contracted out. On her other point on...

I cannot be too prescriptive, but I can reassure the noble Baroness on her first point; a number of noble Lords have raised this issue. This will be a sovereign-based scheme. We will develop it in-house through government services. It will not be contracted out. On her other point on...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his update. First, can I take him back to a slightly more fundamental question that we are yet to address in this exchange? Why do the Government feel it is necessary at all to have a consultation, given the visceral public reaction to...

My Lords, I thank the Minister for his update. First, can I take him back to a slightly more fundamental question that we are yet to address in this exchange? Why do the Government feel it is necessary at all to have a consultation, given the visceral public reaction to...

I keep coming back to the point that when we are looking at public services and people’s access to them, there is a solution here that most people would be very happy about—but we will not determine that unless we have a fuller consultation.

On the value-for-money element, the deliberative process...

I keep coming back to the point that when we are looking at public services and people’s access to them, there is a solution here that most people would be very happy about—but we will not determine that unless we have a fuller consultation.

On the value-for-money element, the deliberative process...