The estimated cost of private residence relief in the 2025 to 2026 tax year was forecast as £32.9 billion.

The estimated cost of private residence relief from this year and from previous tax years can be found online here: Tax relief statistics (January 2026) - GOV.UK

The estimated cost of this relief does not represent the yield if it were to be abolished, as consequential behavioural effects could substantially reduce yield.

The Government's ambition is to support good growth across all parts of the United Kingdom. As set out in the Prime Minister's recent Machinery of Government Statement, No10 North will be responsible for driving good growth through devolution and working in close partnership with local leaders, businesses, and communities to strengthen place-based growth

The Government is considering how best to assess progress against its growth ambitions and will provide further details as policy development progresses.

The Prime Minister has set out his commitment to end decades of political drift on social care and fix the system with a National Care Service that gives people dignity, security and the support they deserve.

Reforms to social care will be fully and sustainably funded – the government will meet its fiscal rules. However, it is right that Baroness Casey’s Commission, which will now report in summer 2027, considers all options for the National Care Service. Funding options will be an important part of that conversation, and the government is not going to pre-empt Baroness Casey’s work.

The Prime Minister has set out his commitment to end decades of political drift on social care and fix the system with a National Care Service that gives people dignity, security and the support they deserve.

Reforms to social care will be fully and sustainably funded – the government will meet its fiscal rules. However, it is right that Baroness Casey’s Commission, which will now report in summer 2027, considers all options for the National Care Service. Funding options will be an important part of that conversation, and the government is not going to pre-empt Baroness Casey’s work.

The Government remains committed to its manifesto which pledged to protect working people by not increasing rates of income tax.

HM Revenue and Customs regularly publishes estimates of the effects of illustrative tax changes on tax receipts. The most recent update from June 2025, is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/direct-effects-of-illustrative-tax-changes

Decisions on taxes are taken at the Budget by the Chancellor.

Tax changes announced at Budget are accompanied by a Tax Information and Impact Note which sets out the expected revenue impact.

As announced at Autumn Budget 2025, Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) will be introduced from April 2028. Drivers of electric and plug-in hybrid cars will pay for their mileage alongside their existing Vehicle Excise Duty (VED).

The Government has carefully considered the impact of eVED on rural motorists, disabled motorists and those without access to off-street charging. The Government has confirmed eVED should apply to these groups on a consistent basis, as it is designed to mirror the contribution made by drivers of petrol and diesel vehicles through fuel duty, from which these groups are not exempt.

While those living in rural areas tend to drive more than those in urban areas, they are also significantly more likely to have access to lower-cost home charging. According to 2025 Department for Transport survey data, 84% of rural electric vehicle drivers have access to a dedicated home charger.

Support for disabled motorists continues to be available through existing schemes. Individuals in receipt of the higher rate mobility component of disability benefits, including Personal Independence Payment (PIP), qualify for a VED exemption. A 50 per cent reduction in VED is also available to those in receipt of the standard rate mobility component of disability benefits.

New multipliers for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) were announced at Budget 2024. Government has been clear that the intention was for their scope to broadly reflect the scope of the RHL relief, which was centred around RHL properties that are “reasonably accessible to visiting members of the public”. As recording studios are not generally open to members of the public, they were unlikely to be receiving RHL relief.

In recognition of the impact of the 2026 revaluation on bills, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion at Budget 2025 to protect ratepayers against large overnight increases in bills. Additionally, many recording studios are also likely to benefit from Small Business Rates Relief (SBRR). SBRR is available to businesses with a single property below a set rateable value. Eligible properties under £12,000 receive 100 per cent relief, which means around a third of properties in England pay no business rates at all. Tapered support is available to properties valued between £12,000 and £15,000.

The Government does not comment on tax speculation. Decisions on tax policy are taken by the Chancellor at the Budget.

The revenue implications of the English levy will largely be determined by local decisions. Local leaders will decide whether to implement a levy and, if so, consult with local businesses and their communities on specific proposals.

The Government has announced a cut in VAT on electricity bills to give millions of households breathing space on the cost of living. These changes to VAT apply and are funded for this winter (from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027).

The Windsor Framework provides the legal basis and mechanism for changes to VAT on goods in Northern Ireland, and the Government has begun discussions about with the European Union on applying this mechanism for these changes.

To ensure that households in Northern Ireland receive the same support as quickly as the rest of the UK, the Northern Ireland Executive will receive comparable funding to enable it to support households in Northern Ireland with the cost of living this winter.

The Government has announced a cut in VAT on electricity bills to give millions of households breathing space on the cost of living. These changes to VAT apply and are funded for this winter (from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027).

The Windsor Framework provides the legal basis and mechanism for changes to VAT on goods in Northern Ireland, and the Government has begun discussions about with the European Union on applying this mechanism for these changes.

To ensure that households in Northern Ireland receive the same support as quickly as the rest of the UK, the Northern Ireland Executive will receive comparable funding to enable it to support households in Northern Ireland with the cost of living this winter.

I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given on 5th August 2026 to UIN HL2396.

The number of individual income taxpayers over State Pension Age can be seen in the table below^[1]:

The previous Conservative Government made the decision to maintain income tax thresholds at their current levels from April 2021 until April 2028 and this is reflected in the numbers.

The current Government has set out that individuals whose only income is the basic or new State Pension, without increments, will not pay income tax over this Parliament. Further details on this will follow.

^[1] Income Tax liabilities statistics: tax year 2022 to 2023 to tax year 2025 to 2026 - GOV.UK

The Government has announced a cut in VAT on electricity bills to give millions of households breathing space on the cost of living.

These changes to VAT apply and are funded for this winter (from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027).

Any further decisions will be taken at the Budget alongside an OBR forecast, and will be consistent with the Government’s fiscal rules.

The Government has announced a cut in VAT on electricity bills to give millions of households breathing space on the cost of living.

These changes to VAT apply and are funded for this winter (from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027).

Any further decisions will be taken at the Budget alongside an OBR forecast, and will be consistent with the Government’s fiscal rules.

The government recognises the vital contribution that the UK defence sector makes to national security and has been clear that investing in defence can be consistent with ethical investing and environmental, social and governance principles.

Last year the government laid secondary legislation to bring the provision of Environmental, Social and Governance ratings into scope of the FCA’s rule making powers. This will allow provide greater transparency around ESG ratings methodologies, support greater investor awareness – including for opportunities relating to defence companies.

The upcoming Defence Finance and Investment Strategy will look at how barriers to investment in defence can be removed while making the sector more attractive for private investment, including venture capital, private equity and pension funds.

The new hub building in Darlington is being delivered by the Government Property Agency and is currently under construction. Once complete in early 2028, it will be the home of more than 1600 civil servants from across multiple departments, including HM Treasury.

HM Treasury’s commitment to at least 335 staff being based in Darlington remains in place, as does the commitment to Darlington being HMT’s second headquarters.

The government believes that the safe adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by the financial services sector is a major strategic opportunity, with the potential to power growth across the UK. As set out in the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, it is the government’s ambition to make the UK ”the world’s most technologically advanced global financial sector”, leveraging our dual strengths in Financial Services (FS) and AI to drive growth and productivity, and deliver consumer benefits.

The FS AI Adoption Plan, authored by the FS AI Champions, Harriet Rees and Rohit Dhawan, is an important step towards achieving that aim, and sets out the next steps for industry, regulators, and government to grasp the opportunities for safe adoption of AI in FS.

The government works closely with the Financial Conduct Authority, the Prudential Regulation Authority, and the AI Safety Institute to monitor developments in AI capability and access across the sector.

The government is aware that access constraints may arise for a number of reasons, however it is not currently concerned about the availability of frontier models for UK FS firms.

The government will continue to monitor this issue and will consider what further steps may be necessary to ensure that the UK financial services sector can access the AI capabilities it needs to remain globally competitive. We are also supporting the UK’s own sovereign AI capabilities through the Sovereign AI Unit backed by £500mn of funding.

The table below shows the number of P85 forms submitted to HMRC electronically from June 2024 to May 2026:

Figures are rounded to 100. Counts of submitted P85 forms in September 2024 and April 2026 are labelled as [x] due to incomplete data.

Individuals can use the online system to submit a digital P85 or fill in a paper form and submit it by post. The counts provided in the table above are for digital forms only. Postal form data for this period is not available. Data for June 2026 is not yet available.

P85 forms are submitted by taxpayers who are not intending to submit a self-assessment tax return. Individuals who file through Self-Assessment do not need to submit a P85 form.