Written questions by Hinchliff.

When HMRC plans to respond to the consultation on Reform of Air Passenger Duty for private jets, which closed on 22 January 2025.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced that APD rates would be partially adjusted in 2026-27 to help compensate for recent years of below-inflation uprating. The higher rate for private jets will therefore rise by a further 50 per cent on top of the general increase made to all APD rates. You can find the Tax Information and Impact Notice (TIIN) for the 2026/27 rates here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-air-passenger-duty-rates-from-1-april-2026/air-passenger-duty-rates-from-1-april-2026-to-31-march-2027 The TIIN sets out the environmental and revenue impacts of the changes. The Government also published a consultation on the extension of the higher rate to cover all private jets already within scope of the APD regime. At present, the higher rate only applies to larger private jets, and so many private jet passengers pay the same rates as commercial airline passengers. The consultation closed on 22 January, the Government is considering the responses and will respond in due course.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the higher rate of Air Passenger Duty by more than the proposed 50% in 2026-27 on (a) the public purse and (b) the UK's greenhouse gas emissions.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced that APD rates would be partially adjusted in 2026-27 to help compensate for recent years of below-inflation uprating. The higher rate for private jets will therefore rise by a further 50 per cent on top of the general increase made to all APD rates. You can find the Tax Information and Impact Notice (TIIN) for the 2026/27 rates here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-air-passenger-duty-rates-from-1-april-2026/air-passenger-duty-rates-from-1-april-2026-to-31-march-2027 The TIIN sets out the environmental and revenue impacts of the changes. The Government also published a consultation on the extension of the higher rate to cover all private jets already within scope of the APD regime. At present, the higher rate only applies to larger private jets, and so many private jet passengers pay the same rates as commercial airline passengers. The consultation closed on 22 January, the Government is considering the responses and will respond in due course.

How much was spent on (a) maternity, (b) paternity and (c) adoption leave in the most recent period for which data is available.

HMRC hold information on the amounts paid by employers to employees for Statutory Parental Pay, but do not hold this for additional ‘occupational’ pay offered by employers.The table below shows the amounts paid for statutory pay in 2023/24 (the latest complete year available). Value of Employee Claims (£Million)Statutory Maternity Pay3,338.3Statutory Paternity Pay69.0Statutory Adoption Pay25.1 Notes:1) Data collected using HMRC Real Time Information (RTI) and extracted in December 2024. RTI is subject to revision or updates.2) Total value of claims rounded to nearest £100,000.

If her Department will publish the modelling used to set changes to (a) Agricultural Property Relief and (b) Business Property Relief.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. The reforms are expected to result in up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, in 2026-27 paying more inheritance tax. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data. The Government has also set out that around 1,500 estates across the UK only claiming business property relief are expected to be affected in 2026-27, with around 1,000 of these expected to only hold shares designated as “not listed” on the markets of recognised stock exchanges, such as the Alternative Investment Market. The remaining 500 estates will include business assets from sectors across the economy that are eligible for business property relief. These reforms mean that around three-quarters of estates claiming business property relief in 2026-27 (excluding those only relating to holding shares designated as “not listed”) will not pay any more inheritance tax in 2026-27. The tax base consists of all estates subject to inheritance tax that are projected to claim agricultural property relief or business property relief across the scorecard period. The tax base is estimated using HMRC administrative data, and is grown over the forecast in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast for inheritance tax receipts. More detail on the Government’s estimates, including why these projections should be viewed as a maximum, are also available in a letter from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee in November 2024, which is available at committees.parliament.uk/publications/45691/documents/226235/default/. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent OBR certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024 and this is available at https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-october-2024/. The OBR recently published more detail in January 2025 on the costings at https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/IHT-APR-and-BPR-supplementary-release-Jan-2025.pdf. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

If she will publish a response to the report by the National Farmers Union entitled An impact analysis of APR reforms on commercial family farms, published on 25 November 2024.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. The reforms are expected to result in up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, in 2026-27 paying more inheritance tax. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data. The Government has also set out that around 1,500 estates across the UK only claiming business property relief are expected to be affected in 2026-27, with around 1,000 of these expected to only hold shares designated as “not listed” on the markets of recognised stock exchanges, such as the Alternative Investment Market. The remaining 500 estates will include business assets from sectors across the economy that are eligible for business property relief. These reforms mean that around three-quarters of estates claiming business property relief in 2026-27 (excluding those only relating to holding shares designated as “not listed”) will not pay any more inheritance tax in 2026-27. The tax base consists of all estates subject to inheritance tax that are projected to claim agricultural property relief or business property relief across the scorecard period. The tax base is estimated using HMRC administrative data, and is grown over the forecast in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast for inheritance tax receipts. More detail on the Government’s estimates, including why these projections should be viewed as a maximum, are also available in a letter from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee in November 2024, which is available at committees.parliament.uk/publications/45691/documents/226235/default/. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent OBR certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024 and this is available at https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-october-2024/. The OBR recently published more detail in January 2025 on the costings at https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/IHT-APR-and-BPR-supplementary-release-Jan-2025.pdf. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of the findings of the report by the National Farmers Union entitled APR and BPR reform alternative, published on 19 February 2025, on changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief.

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given to UIN 32918.

If she will publish her Department's impact assessments of changes to (a) Agricultural Property Relief and (b) Business Property Relief.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. The reforms are expected to result in up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, in 2026-27 paying more inheritance tax. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data. The Government has also set out that around 1,500 estates across the UK only claiming business property relief are expected to be affected in 2026-27, with around 1,000 of these expected to only hold shares designated as “not listed” on the markets of recognised stock exchanges, such as the Alternative Investment Market. The remaining 500 estates will include business assets from sectors across the economy that are eligible for business property relief. These reforms mean that around three-quarters of estates claiming business property relief in 2026-27 (excluding those only relating to holding shares designated as “not listed”) will not pay any more inheritance tax in 2026-27. The tax base consists of all estates subject to inheritance tax that are projected to claim agricultural property relief or business property relief across the scorecard period. The tax base is estimated using HMRC administrative data, and is grown over the forecast in line with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast for inheritance tax receipts. More detail on the Government’s estimates, including why these projections should be viewed as a maximum, are also available in a letter from the Chancellor of the Exchequer to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee in November 2024, which is available at committees.parliament.uk/publications/45691/documents/226235/default/. The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent OBR certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024 and this is available at https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-october-2024/. The OBR recently published more detail in January 2025 on the costings at https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/IHT-APR-and-BPR-supplementary-release-Jan-2025.pdf. In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the Sovereign Grant for the 2026-27 financial year.

The rules governing the Sovereign Grant have been set by Parliament in the Sovereign Grant Act 2011. The Grant will be reviewed again in 2026 and the government is committed to bring forward legislation to reset the Grant to a lower level from 2027-28 once Buckingham Palace reservicing works are completed.

What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of draught duty relief for (a) beer and (b) cider.

The current alcohol duty system supports the industry through Draught Relief, which ensures eligible products served on draught pay less duty. Draught Relief helps to level the playing field between pubs and supermarkets, allowing pubs and brewers to price their on-trade products more competitively. The Government is closely monitoring the impact of the recent reforms and rates that took effect on 1 August 2023. As with all taxes, the Government keeps the alcohol duty system under review during its yearly Budget process.