Written questions by Campbell.

If she will make an assessment of whether the National Wealth Fund is operating on an equitable basis throughout the UK.

The National Wealth Fund (NWF) identifies investment opportunities across the UK and has dedicated directors in each of the four nations to support its view of markets across the country. 80% of the NWF's portfolio is outside of London and the South-East.The NWF's success is assessed across a range of measures, including that it should have a good geographical spread of its activity across the nations and regions of the UK

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2025 to Question 62537 on Crown Estate: Northern Ireland, for what reason the rent income received from public authorities in Northern Ireland was higher in 2020 than any of the dates listed.

The higher rental income received from public authorities in Northern Ireland in 2020, compared to the years listed in the response to Question 62537, was due to a one-off backdated rent payment. Specifically, in 2020, a backdated rent invoice was issued covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 5 April 2020. This resulted in a significant uplift in reported income for that year.

When she expects to receive the conclusions of the Payment Vision Delivery Committee.

The National Payments Vision, published in November 2024, set out the government’s ambition for a trusted, world-leading payments ecosystem delivered on next generation technology, where consumers and businesses have a choice of payment methods to meet their needs. To drive forward the activities required to achieve this, the government established the Payments Vision Delivery Committee – a senior cross-authority group, chaired by HM Treasury and comprising senior representatives of the Bank of England, FCA and PSR. The Committee is supported by the Vision Engagement Group including over 30 representatives from across the sector. The Committee will shortly update on its first deliverable to set out an approach for the development and delivery of the UK’s retail payments infrastructure needs and the required governance and funding model to achieve it. It will also publish the Payments Forward Plan by end-2025, including a sequenced plan of future initiatives, and a recommended monitoring approach.

What steps she if taking to help ensure that funding from the National Wealth Fund benefits t(a) nations and (b) regions across the UK.

This government has set a strong mandate for the National Wealth Fund to deliver on priorities across all the regions and nations of the UK. The National Wealth Fund also works collaboratively with the Scottish National Investment Bank, Development Bank of Wales, and the Northern Ireland Executive. It has dedicated directors in each of the UK’s four nations to support the NWF’s view of markets across the country.

What information her Department holds on the annual rent paid by public authorities in Northern Ireland to the Crown Estate in each year between (a) 2014 and (b) 2024.

The table shows Crown Estate rent income received from public authorities in Northern Ireland. This uses a broad definition of public authority which captures any organisations considered by The Crown Estate to be responsible for public money.2014217,736.842015262,345.542016262,430.362017261,275.192018272,004.522019265,668.972020458,805.482021319,659.652022326,046.472023352,876.812024382,650.18Grand total 3,381,500.01

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2025 to Question 59297 on Civil Servants, if she will make an assessment of the reasons for which the number of people employed in Northern Ireland is smaller than in England, Scotland and Wales.

The distribution across the United Kingdom, of Civil Servants employed as Government Social Researchers, is comparable to the distribution across the United Kingdom of the wider Civil Service. Excluding those on the Fast Stream programme, Government Social Researchers are all directly employed by Departments, Devolved Administrations, and other UK Civil Service organisations. They are recruited on the basis of demand from individual Departments, Devolved Administrations, and other UK Civil Service organisations, to employ Government Social Researchers. The regional distribution of the Civil Service reflects the diverse functions and geographic locations of government departments and agencies.

Whether she plans to review the progress made in the roll-out of the 10 year infrastructure strategy before the end of this Parliament.

Departments will be responsible for implementing the Strategy, with NISTA overseeing the implementation, and leading on subsequent refreshes of the Strategy every two years and the monitoring of progress against commitments. The Strategy is just the starting point, and government will continue to work with businesses, investors, workers, trade unions and regional and local leaders to drive up ambition and improve delivery.

With reference to the Spending Review, published on 11 June 2025, whether the funding allocated to Casement Park is a (a) grant or (b) loan; whether a payment will be made to the (i) Gaelic Athletic Association or any body associated it or (ii) the Northern Ireland Executive or any Department associated wth it; and whether the UK Government will require any subsequent repayments or returned profits from activities at the Stadium when completed.

The UK Government has provided £50m of Capital Financial Transactions funding to redevelop Casement Park. The UK Government will continue to work with the Northern Ireland Executive, however it is up to the Executive to design and implement the Financial Transaction. The Financial Transaction will be provided to the Executive on a net basis, it does not need to be repaid to the UK Government and the Executive can recycle any repayments indefinitely.

Pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 56735 on Cars: Credit, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the banking sectors' resilience in ensuring the scale of regulated motor finance is manageable.

HM Treasury works in close coordination with the Bank of England, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), monitoring the resilience of the banking sector and the overall stability of consumer credit markets, including motor finance. Regular stress testing by the Bank of England shows the UK banking system remains strong, resilient, and well capitalised. HM Treasury continuously monitors risks across the financial sector and escalates its response where appropriate in coordination with the independent financial authorities.

How she plans to allocate the accruing interest on the assets of the previous Libyan regime.

Interest accrued on frozen assets is still subject to an asset freeze to be frozen immediately by the person in possession or control of them, but there is no change in ownership of the frozen funds or economic resources, and they are not transferred to HM Treasury. The Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury published in its 2023-2024 Annual Review that £13.4 billion in assets relating to the Libya sanctions regime have been reported as frozen as of September 2023. As there is no obligation for a relevant institution to inform OFSI when it has credited interest to a frozen account, OFSI does not hold this information.

How many people were employed under the Government Social Research Profession in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland as of 1 January 2025.

The following estimates were made following a data collection exercise in February 2025. (a) England, 2020(b) Scotland, 220(c) Wales, 340(d) Northern Ireland, between 1 and 9 There are an additional 65 members of the Government Social Research where a full record is not available.

How many people claimed the Blind Person's Allowance in the 2023-24 financial year.

The most recent estimates of the number of individuals claiming the Blind Person’s Allowance are published as part of HMRC’s statistics publication ‘Tax Reliefs Statistics’ within the file ‘Estimated cost of non-structural tax reliefs (December 2024)’ under the IT tab: Non-structural tax reliefs - GOV.UK https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6749e1adebabe47136b3a295/non_structural_cost_estimates_december_2024.ods

What steps she plans to take to roll out banking hubs beyond the lifetime of the existing programme.

The Government recognises the importance of face-to-face banking to communities, businesses and high streets in East Londonderry and across the UK. This is why the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 220 hubs have been announced so far, and over 160 are already open. Banking hubs offer everyday counter services provided by Post Office staff, allowing people and businesses to withdraw and deposit cash, deposit cheques, pay bills and make balance enquiries. They also contain dedicated rooms where customers can see community bankers from their own bank to carry out wider banking services. The banking hub initiative does not have a set end date. Where a branch closure is announced or a community has submitted a cash access assessment request, LINK, the independent industry coordinating body responsible for making access to cash assessments, assesses a community’s access to cash needs, and will recommend appropriate solutions where it considers that a community requires additional cash services, such as a banking hub or deposit service. Alternative options to access everyday banking services can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and via the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows personal and business customers to withdraw and deposit cash, check their balance, pay bills and cash cheques at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.

What information her Department holds on the extent of the liability for consumer credit debt on car purchases that major banks are exposed to.

The government engages with a broad range of stakeholders such as financial regulators, industry, debt advice charities and consumer groups to monitor trends in consumer debt.In the 12 months to September 2024, consumers used regulated motor finance to purchase over 2 million vehicles, borrowing a total of £37.7bn.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 February 2025 to Question 30578 on Individual Savings Accounts, what steps her Department plans to take to inform Cash ISA holders of the potential merits of participating in capital markets for the long-term financial security and returns that investing can provide.

The Government recognises the important role that cash savings, including those held in Cash ISAs, play in helping households build a financial buffer for a rainy day. The Government wants to see more people benefit from the returns and long-term financial resilience that investing can provide. To support this, the Government is working closely with the Financial Conduct Authority on the Advice Guidance Boundary Review to deliver a system of Targeted Support to give people the confidence to invest.

Whether she has made an estimate of the annual amount saved in National Insurance contributions by working people aged over 66.

Estimates of the amount saved by those over State Pension age not being liable to National Insurance contributions (NICs) are published as part of HMRC’s statistics publication ‘Tax Reliefs Statistics’ within the Structural tax reliefs section under the NICs tab:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6749e4196f60e77679723aee/structural_cost_estimates_december_2024.ods Structural tax reliefs - GOV.UK

If she will make it her policy to hold discussions with the International Monetary Fund on any future changes to the functions of the Office of Budget Responsibility.

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) independent scrutiny, via its economic and fiscal forecasts, underpins the credibility of the government’s fiscal policy. On coming into office, one of the first bills this Government passed was the fiscal lock to ensure that no future Government can sideline the Office for Budget Responsibility. As part of ongoing engagement with many different stakeholders relevant to the conduct of economic and fiscal policy, the Government engages regularly and constructively with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and values their independent advice.

Pursuant to the Answer of 19 May 2025 to Question 52199 on Taxation: Self-assessment, if she will add an option to specify national identity as British to the taxpayer residency status section of the online Self-Assessment tax return.

HMRC collects data for Self Assessment returns in compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). These rules require that any personal data collected must be adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed. National identity is not required for determining an individual’s residency status for tax purposes, and therefore is not collected as part of the Self Assessment process. This applies to the taxpayer residency status section as well as the return more broadly.

Pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2025 to Question 53009 on Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands, for what reason her Department does not hold this information.

Every individual in the UK has a Personal Allowance which they can set against their own income, for Income Tax purposes. The Personal Allowance is the amount of income a person can get before they pay tax. The Personal Allowance threshold was set at £12,570 is for the 2024 to 2025 tax year. HMRC does not hold the information on the number of taxpayers with earnings below the Personal Allowance for 2024 to 2025 because the Self Assessment filing deadline of 31 January 2026 has not yet been reached and it has not yet received complete end of year reconciliation information for individuals in PAYE.

Pursuant to the Answer of 24 March 2025 to Question 39391 on Cars: Credit, whether she has had discussions with stakeholders on the future sustainability of the motor finance market.

The government recognises the critical role the motor finance market plays in allowing people to own their own vehicle. The government is engaging with a broad range of stakeholders to monitor issues in the motor finance market.