Dan Tomlinson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 4 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  At the Budget we will set out clearly our proposals for the future of the energy profits levy and the oil and gas mechanism. We will ensure that we can provide the certainty to business on the future regime as soon as we can.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue. The Government are fully committed to doing all they can to supporting the UK car industry to grow, invest and provide employment in constituencies such as his and in other important sites across the country. Specifically on the employee car ownership scheme, we should be clear that private use of a company car is a valuable benefit to an employee but it is also right that company car tax is paid on it, ensuring fairness with other taxpayers who pay tax on cars provided by their employers. That said, I would be happy to meet—

• 4 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The House will be aware that the 5p cut to fuel duty is set to expire in March 2026, and as with other tax policies, the Chancellor will make a final decision on fuel duty rates at the Budget in the context of the public finances.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  One important thing about the business rate reforms that the Government will undertake is that we support small businesses in growing and investing. They are the backbone of our communities and our country. The reforms that we will set out at the Budget—and on which we will continue to have conversations with Members across the House and with businesses—will, I hope, continue to support and enable investment in our small businesses.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Scotch Whisky Industry · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for his question, and I remind him of the landmark trade deal that this Government secured with India. He criticises the Government for not doing enough, but we have secured a trade deal with India, the EU and the US. We are also reducing tariffs to support industry and investing in Scotland with a record-breaking Budget to support jobs, investment and growth, and the public sector across the whole of Scotland.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Scotch Whisky Industry · Hansard source

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  The Government value our world-leading distilling industry and recognise that the spirits sector has found recent economic conditions challenging because of both tariff uncertainty and high energy costs. The Scotch industry is set to be among the biggest beneficiaries from the landmark trade deal that this Government secured with India, which is set to reduce tariffs from 150% to 75% initially, and then to 40% over time.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Scotch Whisky Industry · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is a strong advocate for the businesses and industry in her constituency and in the areas nearby. As she is aware, the vast majority of Scotch is exported, so it is not subject to UK excise taxes. Nevertheless, the Government appreciate the importance of the domestic market to Scotch producers, and I do acknowledge the wider pressures facing the industry. On her specific question, the Government’s baseline assumption remains that alcohol duties will be increased with inflation each year to maintain their real-terms values, which means that any cut or freeze would come at a cost to the Exchequer. Of course, as with all taxes, the Chancellor—not a junior Treasury Minister—will confirm her decisions on alcohol duty as part of the Budget process in the normal way.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Agricultural and Business Property Relief: Impact on Farmers · Hansard source

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  I have already answered the question about the CenTax proposals, but it is clear from its analysis that the number of estates that would pay more inheritance tax would be more than double the number contained in the proposals that the Government have put on the table. I understand that changes in inheritance tax are always difficult, but last year the Government had to make the decision to raise more revenue to ensure that we could fund our public services adequately, and this change raises half a billion pounds in a fair way.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Agricultural and Business Property Relief: Impact on Farmers · Hansard source

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  I would be happy to meet the hon. Member and Members from across Cornwall to discuss the issues raised in the letter to the Chancellor.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Agricultural and Business Property Relief: Impact on Farmers · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her question, and for her time last week—it was good to meet her to talk about important issues affecting farmers and rural communities. On balance, the Government believe that the policy position that was set out at last year’s Budget is the right one, and we will be continuing with it.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Agricultural and Business Property Relief: Impact on Farmers · Hansard source

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  The Government have assessed the impact of this policy. According to the estimates that we issued at the time of last year’s Budget, about 500 farms would pay additional tax as a result of the changes; those numbers were contested by all Opposition Members, but the CenTax report—which the hon. Member has said that he and others are interested in reading—backs them up and confirms the Government’s estimates.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Agricultural and Business Property Relief: Impact on Farmers · Hansard source

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  Ministers from Government Departments have met organisations including the National Farmers’ Union, the Tenant Farmers Association, the Country Land and Business Association, the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers, the Ulster Farmers’ Union, and the NFU in Scotland and Wales. I also met farmers in the north-east of England only last month. After listening and considering the independent Centre for the Analysis of Taxation report, the Government believe that the approach we have set out is an appropriate one.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Agricultural and Business Property Relief: Impact on Farmers · Hansard source

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  Just a few weeks ago, I met farmers to discuss this and other important issues. The Government believe that even though this tax is a difficult change—I do not shy away from that fact—it is the right change to make, because it is a method of raising revenue in a fair way that helps contribute to restoring the public finances.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Agricultural and Business Property Relief: Impact on Farmers · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his question—he is a strong advocate in this place for his constituency and for farming communities. Just last week, he made the point to me that our farmers and farming communities are crucial to economic and social and cultural life. Along with other Labour colleagues from rural constituencies, he has been working hard to raise the points that matter to farmers, and this Government are doing all we can to support our farming industry. On the specific point about CenTax’s proposals on minimum share, I do not need to direct officials to look at them, because I have read the proposals. It is worth noting that the number of losers from the proposed policy would be more than double the number of people affected by the changes that this Government are making. Over 1,000 estates would be affected by the proposals put forward by CenTax.

• 4 Nov 2025 · HMRC Customer Service · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is a very strong advocate for Telford, both for jobs in the private sector and for those in the public sector that we are able to support in his community. I am glad to hear that he, like me, is proud of HMRC’s Telford campus and wants to see it play a key role in improving customer experience through innovation, AI and digital technology. I will be very happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss those issues.

• 4 Nov 2025 · HMRC Customer Service · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for her service on the Treasury Committee; she is doing a sterling job as its Chair. This is a really important issue. Last year HMRC undertook a pilot to try to find a way to reduce fraud in the child benefit system. That measure is expected to save £350 million over the next five years, and we have already managed to prevent £17 million in wrongful payments, but my hon. Friend is right to say that a very small number of claimants had their child benefit incorrectly removed. I am really sorry that that happened. HMRC is writing to those who have been affected and ensuring that people who should get their child benefit payments do receive them.

• 4 Nov 2025 · HMRC Customer Service · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for raising her constituent’s issue, and I would be happy for her to write to the Department about it. Even though it is not appropriate for me to get involved in an individual taxpayer’s affairs, I hope the Department can improve on that service. We have improved the response rates for both people making phone calls and people getting in touch via the post, but of course there is always more we can do.

• 4 Nov 2025 · HMRC Customer Service · Hansard source

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  I am not sure that the matter that the right hon. Member just raised has much to do with HMRC.

• 4 Nov 2025 · HMRC Customer Service · Hansard source

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  HMRC is committed to improving day-to-day performance and the customer experience. Call waiting times in the first quarter of this year were half as long as in the same period last year, which is good news for customers. At the 2025 spending review, the Government allocated £500 million to make HMRC a digital-first organisation, and that transformation is well under way.

• 28 Oct 2025 · Family Farming in Northern Ireland · Hansard source

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  I do not agree that £1 million is nothing. It is a significant increase and a significantly higher threshold than that for anyone who does not have access to APR or BPR. I understand the point about land values in Northern Ireland, but at the same time, as far as I am aware, farms in Northern Ireland are smaller than those elsewhere. It is also worth bearing in mind that the £1 million relief comes on top of the spousal exemptions and nil-rate bands, so, depending on individual circumstance, up to £3 million can be passed on by two people, free of inheritance tax, and, as has been mentioned, the payment can be spread over 10 years, interest free. That policy design is not seen anywhere else in the inheritance tax system.

• 28 Oct 2025 · Family Farming in Northern Ireland · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention and hope that today we have been able to have that open and public discussion to share the different views on this policy. I would be happy to continue the discussion with her and others who think that the issue is important. Just last week, I made sure to speak to individual farmers to understand their perspectives on the policy. I will continue to engage with people who will be affected by the changes, and with Members in this place. I hope that we can continue those conversations across the aisle. Let me make progress—I can see the time is slipping away from us. Overall, the reforms are expected to result in up to around 520 estates claiming UK agricultural property relief, including those also claiming BPR, paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. Almost three quarters of such estates will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes, based on the data. As I have already mentioned, CenTax has looked at the Government’s figures and has reached a similar conclusion. Its work concludes that of the estates that are affected, half will see an increase in their effective inheritance tax rate of less than 5 percentage points, and 86% of those estates could pay their entire inheritance tax bill out of non-farm assets.

• 28 Oct 2025 · Family Farming in Northern Ireland · Hansard source

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  The figures that I raised were from research carried out by an independent organisation, CenTax. Profitability and incomes change from year to year, of course, and can change for different types of farms—we can see that beef prices, for example, are higher this year than they have been in the past, and the Government are aware of that. Overall, we understand that the reforms to inheritance tax generate strong views from Members from Northern Ireland and from all over the country, who are here to represent their constituents. I understand that, and I respect and admire the work of Members on both sides of the House in bringing their residents’ concerns to this place. I know that the questions about inheritance and family businesses are deeply personal, and I do not pretend that such changes are not difficult, but I believe that the reforms get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses and funding our public services. They mean that assets will be taxed at a lower rate than most others, and, in this tough context, I think that the Government have made the right decision. I thank the hon. Member for Upper Bann again, as well as all the Members who have intervened today. Question put and agreed to.

• 28 Oct 2025 · Family Farming in Northern Ireland · Hansard source

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  I will happily look at any report any Member recommends I read, so I encourage the hon. Gentleman to send it my way. Since we took office, the Government have taken a range of decisions to seek to restore economic stability and raise revenue to help support our public services, because it was vital to attempt to sort out the mess we inherited, so that we can invest again in the future. The decision to reform APR and BPR was one of the decisions that enabled us to do that. Under the current system, the 100% relief on business and agricultural assets is heavily skewed towards the very wealthiest estates. According to data from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs for 2021-22, almost half of agricultural property relief across the UK—40%—was claimed by just 7% of the estates that made claims. That is £219 million in tax foregone from just over 100 estates. It is a similar picture for business property relief, which is linked and is treated in the same way under the reforms, with more than 50% of business property relief claimed by just 4% of estates. That is £558 million in tax foregone from just 158 estates. That contributes to the very largest estates paying much lower tax rates than smaller estates and everyday people up and down the country.

• 28 Oct 2025 · Family Farming in Northern Ireland · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford, for my first time speaking from this position in this fantastic Westminster Hall. I congratulate the hon. Member for Upper Bann (Carla Lockhart) on securing the debate, and she spoke with passion and with personal insight from her own family farming background. She spoke clearly about the impact on jobs and employment and on communal life in Northern Ireland, about how essential farmers are to so many of the villages, towns and communities in Northern Ireland and across the whole country, and of course about the importance of farming to family life. The decision to reform agricultural property relief and business property relief from next April was not one the Government took lightly. Over the past 12 months, the Government have listened to the concerns of the hon. Member for Upper Bann, of other hon. Members and of external organisations. The Government and I recognise the strength of feeling on this topic in Northern Ireland and elsewhere across the country. But having listened and discussed the question with a range of stakeholders, the Government believe that the approach set out at the Budget last year is the appropriate one. I recognise and deeply respect the contribution that small businesses and farms make to the economy in Northern Ireland and across the United Kingdom, but I and the Government also recognise the need to restore economic stability, fix our public finances and contribute to funding our public services. As well as all this, we need to make sure we raise taxes in a way that is fair for all of us.

• 28 Oct 2025 · Family Farming in Northern Ireland · Hansard source

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  The hon. and learned Member raises the CenTax report, and it is worth noting some points about the analysis in that report. First, the Government have consistently said that around 520 farms would be paying additional inheritance tax as a result of the reforms announced at the Budget last year. Members from all parties have been turning to the CenTax report as an independent analysis of the Government’s reforms. That report agrees with us on the number of farms that will be affected. That independent analysis conducted separately from the Government comes out with the same conclusion on the number of farms that will be affected and it says that its proposal—the minimum share proposal, which the hon. and learned Member for North Antrim mentions—would more than double the number of estates that would pay additional inheritance tax. I do not think the right way forward is to have the number of estates that would be affected increase from about 500 to, I think, about 1,200. I have looked at the report, which has been raised by Members from all parties, but I do not think it is the silver bullet that others have concluded it could be. The context I just set out is why we are changing how we target agricultural property relief and business property relief from April next year. We are doing so in a way that maintains a significant relief for estates, including smaller farms and businesses. Individuals will still get 100% relief for the first £1 million of combined business and agricultural assets. I know that Members know this, but it is worth setting out the position again. On top of that amount, there will be a 50% relief. That means that inheritance tax will be paid at a rate of up to 20% rather than the standard 40%.