Written questions by Dewhirst.

Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2024 to Question 16604 on 11 Downing Street: Art Works, if she will publish a corresponding list of the reference numbers of Government Art Collection works that have been (a) added and (b) removed from the (i) 10 Downing Street and (ii) the Prime Minister’s Ministerial residence since 4 July 2024.

No. It is standard practice, as followed by the previous government, for new ministers to select works from the Government Art Collection for their ministerial offices. All such changes of displays of works from the Government Art Collection constitute 'business as usual' for the Collection. All artworks in the Government Art Collection are on the website and their present locations can readily be searched and identified. The Collection does not publish the history of the locations of artworks.

Pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024, to Question 5280, on Senior Civil Servants: Recruitment, if he will list each of the (a) job titles and (b) associated unit of the Senior Civil Service roles that were not open to external candidates.

I refer the honourable member to the answer provided on 11 November. We are unable to provide a more detailed breakdown without individuals potentially being identifiable.

How much his Department has spent on carbon offsetting for Ministerial travel since 5 July 2024.

As was the case under the previous administration, the Cabinet Office does not offset business travel, choosing to reduce rather than offset carbon emissions. However, official Prime Ministerial flights are carbon offset as part of the contractual arrangement for the GBNI flight.

Who provided the lectern used by the Prime Minister for his press conference at Pinewood Studios on 5 December 2024.

The lectern was loaned by the Labour Party.

With reference to his Department's publication entitled Special adviser data releases: numbers and costs, November 2024, published on 28 November 2024, for what reason his Department has not published the list of special adviser salaries for the current administration; and if he will publish the current list of special advisers before the end of the calendar year.

As was the case under the previous administration, annual reports on special advisers relate to the preceding financial year.The Annual Report on Special Advisers published on 28 November 2024, therefore relates to the 2023/24 financial year.The 2025 Annual Report on Special Advisers, which will relate to the 2024/25 financial year, will be published before the end of this year.

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2024 to Question 8637 on Cabinet Office: Vacancies, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the length of the application window on the effectiveness the recruitment process.

The vacancy adhered to the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles, which state: “the time allowed for advertising must be suitable for attracting a sufficiently strong and diverse field of applicants, taking account of the nature of the role and the relevant job market.”

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief on the profitability of farming businesses.

The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms. It is expected that up to around 2,000 estates will be affected by the changes to APR and BPR in 2026-27, with around half of those being claims that involve AIM shares. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) are expected to be unaffected by these reforms. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the delinked basic payment scheme on the profitability of farming businesses.

The Government has committed to support farmers through a farming budget of £5 billion over two years, including £2.4 billion in 2025/26. Accelerating the phase out of Direct Payments will allow us to focus more of this funding on Environmental Land Management schemes, which will boost nature and sustainable food production. This will enable farmers to make their businesses more sustainable and resilient, including those who have been often ignored such as small, grassland, upland and tenant farmers. We publish regular statistics on farm income in England and other data related to farm businesses. For example, on 14 November 2024, we published our Farm Business Income statistics (Farm business income - GOV.UK), which looked at how farm business income has changed in 2023/24, including the contribution of Direct Payments and agri-environment payments to farm incomes, including analysis by farm type. Farming evidence packs have been recently updated including key statistics and farm performance (Farming statistics evidence packs - GOV.UK). These set out an extensive range of data to provide an overview of agriculture in the UK, and the contribution of farm payments to farm incomes, including analysis by sector, location in England and type of land tenure. We will continue to carry out appropriate and timely assessments of our interventions to inform policy development.

Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department had with farmers before freezing the capital grant scheme.

The Capital Grants scheme has been closed to new agreements following unprecedented demand this Autumn, which would use all the available funding. We are forecast to spend more on capital grants this year than ever before. This is only possible because we allocated the largest ever budget for sustainable food production through the farming budget. In the first week of December, we paid £343 million into the rural economy, benefiting more than 31,000 farmers. We currently are reviewing the Capital Grants offer to ensure funding goes further to improve outcomes for food security and nature conservation and will provide an update in early 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of accelerated changes to delinked payments on farming businesses.

The Government has committed to support farmers through a farming budget of £5 billion over two years, including £2.4 billion in 2025/26. Accelerating the phase out of Direct Payments will allow us to focus more of this funding on Environmental Land Management schemes, which will boost nature and sustainable food production. This will enable farmers to make their businesses more sustainable and resilient, including those who have been often ignored such as small, grassland, upland and tenant farmers. We publish regular statistics on farm income in England and other data related to farm businesses. For example, on 14 November 2024, we published our Farm Business Income statistics (Farm business income - GOV.UK), which looked at how farm business income has changed in 2023/24, including the contribution of Direct Payments and agri-environment payments to farm incomes, including analysis by farm type. Farming evidence packs have been recently updated including key statistics and farm performance (Farming statistics evidence packs - GOV.UK). These set out an extensive range of data to provide an overview of agriculture in the UK, and the contribution of farm payments to farm incomes, including analysis by sector, location in England and type of land tenure. We will continue to carry out appropriate and timely assessments of our interventions to inform policy development.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support people affected by changes made to (a) agricultural property relief, (b) Business Property Relief and (c) capital grants at the Autumn Budget 2024 in rural communities.

From 6 April 2026, 0% inheritance tax will be due on the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property. Above this amount, landowners will access 50% relief from inheritance tax and will pay inheritance tax at a reduced effective rate up to 20%, rather than the standard 40%. This tax can be paid in instalments over 10 years interest free, rather than immediately, as with other types of inheritance tax. This is on top of all the other spousal exemptions and nil-rate bands that people can access for inheritance tax too. This means that two people who share ownership of a piece of farmland, depending on their circumstances, can pass on up to £3 million without paying any inheritance tax. Furthermore, if land is transferred 7 years before death, farmers pay no inheritance tax at all. Data from HMRC and supported by the independent Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) indicates that around 500 estates a year will be impacted. The majority of those will be able to adapt their businesses. The exact number will depend on a wider range of factors based on their individual circumstances. It is not broken down to specific constituencies. With 73% of claims being for less than £1 million, the majority of estates will be unaffected, and they will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done. This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on. As an outcome of the recent Spending Review, we have also committed £5 billion in the agricultural budget over the next two years – the biggest ever budget for sustainable food production and nature recovery in this country’s history. This enables us to keep momentum on the path to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector. In the first week of December, we paid £343 million into the rural economy, benefiting more than 31,000 farmers. Any farmer or land manager who received Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) payments at least up until October 2022 in England is also eligible for support from the Farming Resilience Fund (FRF). The FRF provides free business support (and mental health support, where appropriate) to farmers and land managers in England to help them through agricultural transition. It does this by awarding grants to organisations who help farmers and land managers to understand the changes that are happening, identify how, what and when they may need to adapt their business models, and access tailored support to adapt. The support is offered free of charge to farmers and land managers by organisations known and trusted in the farming community. The support will run until March 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, what the overall (a) capital and (b) running costs are of the Inland Border Facility at Sevington; and what the budget is for that facility.

This is commercially sensitive information and therefore may not be released. We are planning to publish some information regarding operating costs in the near future. The information will be published on GOV.UK.

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the development of large-scale solar farms.

As outlined in the clean power action plan last week, solar power will be vital to meeting our mission and bringing down energy bills for good. Solar is one of the cheapest and most-readily available sources of energy we have, and whilst rooftop and other installations will play a role, we are clear that to protect families in the future, large scale solar will need to be built.

What information her Department holds on the firearms licensing departments that have taken a year or more to process applications for (a) grants and (b) renewals in each of the last five years.

The issuing of firearms certificates and the efficiency of police forces is a matter for individual Chief Constables, who are held to account by Police and Crime Commissioners.However, the performance of forces in this space is being actively monitored by the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s lead for firearms licensing, Deputy Chief Constable David Gardner, and both he and his predecessor have been working actively with forces on performance related issues.

How many sound moderators are held on firearms certificates.

The Home Office collects and publishes information annually on the number of sound moderators.The latest available data is for the year ending 31 March 2024 and can be accessed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/firearm-certificates-in-england-and-wales.As at 31 March 2024, 33% of the 624,245 firearms covered by a firearm certificate in England and Wales were sound moderators.

If she will make it her policy to require General Practitioners to place a marker on the medical notes of firearms certificate holders.

It is a requirement that all applicants for a firearms licence must provide relevant medical information to the police with their application, and this is supported by a new digital firearms marker which is placed on the patient/licence holder’s medical record by their GP.The marker alerts the GP to the fact that their patient is a firearms licence holder if they are being seen or treated for a medical condition that might impact on their safe possession or use of a firearm.The digital marker has been rolled out to all GP surgeries in England and GPs are asked to place the medical marker on the licence holder’s medical records when a certificate is either issued or renewed.The marker enables GPs to alert the police should their patient who is a firearms licence holder begin to suffer from a relevant medical condition and this ensures that the police can then assess whether it is safe for the individual to continue to have access to firearms.

What information her Department holds on the number and proportion of GPs who have downloaded the IT update to allow the placement of markers on the medical notes of firearms certificate holders.

It is a requirement that all applicants for a firearms licence must provide relevant medical information to the police with their application, and this is supported by a new digital firearms marker which is placed on the patient/licence holder’s medical record by their GP.The marker alerts the GP to the fact that their patient is a firearms licence holder if they are being seen or treated for a medical condition that might impact on their safe possession or use of a firearm.The digital marker has been rolled out to all GP surgeries in England and GPs are asked to place the medical marker on the licence holder’s medical records when a certificate is either issued or renewed.The marker enables GPs to alert the police should their patient who is a firearms licence holder begin to suffer from a relevant medical condition and this ensures that the police can then assess whether it is safe for the individual to continue to have access to firearms.

What recent assessment her Department has made of the (a) effectiveness and (b) efficiency of the National Firearms Licensing Management System; and whether her Department plans to update the system.

We keep the effectiveness of the National Firearms Licensing Management System under review.The system was introduced in 2007 and we are now working with policing partners to consider options for updating it to provide police forces with enhanced functionality to improve the future efficiency of the firearms licensing function.

Whether she has had meetings with representatives of (a) police, (b) gun control groups, (c) British Shooting Sports Council and (d) British Association for Shooting and Conservation to discuss firearms licensing in England, Scotland and Wales.

Home Office Ministers and officials meet with representatives of the police, the shooting community, gun control groups and others from time to time and will continue to do so.This helps to ensure that all relevant views are taken into account in ensuring that our firearms controls are both proportionate and effective in keeping the public safe.

If he will make an estimate of the potential increase in incidents of (a) violent crime, (b) physical abuse and (c) verbal intimidation against shopkeepers as a result of a generational ban on tobacco sales.

Smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, disability, and ill health. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will put us on track to a smoke-free United Kingdom, helping to reduce 80,000 preventable deaths, reduce the burden on the National Health Service, and reduce the burden on the taxpayer.The impact assessment for the bill was published on 5 November and is considered ‘fit for purpose’ by the Regulatory Policy Committee. Whilst the impact assessment was unable to provide an estimate for the number of incidents of abuse towards retail workers due to a lack of evidence, we will consider approaches to assess this specific impact, including using publicly available data, when evaluating the policy.To mitigate the risk that the smoke-free generation policy will increase the incidence of abuse towards retail workers, we are working closely with retailers and will continue to utilise the long lead-in time to best support retailers and the public in preparing for and implementing the changes to the legislation, which includes rolling out information campaigns for the public and retail workers.We will not stand for violence and abuse against shopworkers. Everyone has a right to feel safe on the job. The Government will introduce a new offence of assaulting a retail worker to protect the hardworking and dedicated staff that work in stores.