Written questions by Hayes.

How many people resident in the European Economic Area claimed Guardian's Allowance in each year since 2020.

The information is only available at disproportionate cost.

How many people living in Switzerland claimed Child Benefit in each year since 2020.

The information is only available at disproportionate cost.

How many people resident in the European Economic Area claimed Child Benefit in each year since 2020.

The information is only available at disproportionate cost.

Whether the National Infrastructure Commission has offered apprenticeships in each year since it was set up.

Since its inception, the National Infrastructure Commission has successfully trained and developed a number of apprentices. As a small organisation, the number of apprentices trained and developed has been determined by business needs, balanced against obligations. On 1st April 2025, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) and the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) merged to become the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA). NISTA is a unit of HM Treasury, reporting to both HM Treasury and Cabinet Office.

How many apprenticeships HM Revenue and Customs has offered since 2010, by year.

HMRC has made use of apprentices since 2013. This table shows the number of apprenticeships that have been offered and started in HMRC since 2010. It equates to 13,394 apprenticeships over 15 years. Financial YearApprentices starting an Apprenticeship2010/1102011/1202012/1302013/14572014/1502015/16462016/178692017/1811882018/1935332019/2036462020/2118762021/225222022/235892023/247642024/25304 In October 2023, HMRC launched a new strategy to embed apprenticeships across the Department. Since then, outcomes have improved, with successful completions increasing from 43% in 2022 to over 74% now.

What steps her Department is taking to support small businesses impacted by a reduction in (a) local bank branches and (b) in-person banking services in South Holland and the Deepings constituency.

The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities, businesses and high streets in the South Holland and Deepings constituency and across the UK, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. 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 135 are already open. 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.

If she will make an estimate of the amount of money lost by people in the UK to cryptocurrency fraud since 2019.

The Financial Conduct Authority’s most recent consumer research publication provides indications of the levels of cryptoasset related fraud in the UK. This research is available online at: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/research-notes/cryptoasset-consumer-research-2024-wave-5.pdf. The Government take these fraud risks very seriously, and that is why it is proceeding with proposals to introduce a comprehensive UK financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets.

Whether her Department has banned the use of DeepSeek.

The Government has a robust set of security policies in place to oversee how information is handled, within our buildings, on our IT, and by our staff. We keep these policies under constant review to ensure they are applicable to new technologies. The AI Playbook for the UK Government outlines that only corporately assured Generative AI tools should be used to process HMG information. Everyone who works in government has a duty of confidentiality and a responsibility to safeguard any government information or data that they process, access or share, and all government departments are required to meet a range of mandatory security standards.

What steps her Department is taking to tackle cryptocurrency fraud.

Fraud is the most common crime in the UK and the Government takes this issue very seriously. That is why we are committed to updating and expanding the UK fraud strategy to tackle the full range of threats. We are working with law enforcement and industry to reduce fraud and better protect the public and businesses from this devastating crime. Further, the Financial Conduct Authority commenced enforcement of the cryptoassets financial promotion regime in October 2023. This requires firms to ensure that promotions for cryptoasset products and services are fair, clear and not misleading; meaning cryptoasset promotions are now held to the same standards financial services products with similar risk. The Government is also proceeding to introduce a comprehensive UK financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets, and intends to bring forward legislation for this as soon as possible this year.

What proportion of Enterprise Investment Scheme funding was provided to companies in Lincolnshire in each of the last ten years.

% of EIS Investment2017/182018/192019/202020/212021/222022/230.1%0.2%0.2%0.2%0.1%0.2% It is not possible to provide this information for the last 10 years as administrative data is not available.

How many businesses in South Holland and the Deepings constituency applied to use the Enterprise Investment Scheme in each of the last ten years.

The information cannot be provided as it could lead to a breach of taxpayer’s confidentiality.

What estimate she has made of the potential savings to the public purse for abolishing the Payment Systems Regulator.

The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has carried out important work to support the UK’s world leading payments sector. However, moving forward, the Government wishes to see a more streamlined regulatory environment with minimal overlap between regulators’ responsibilities. That is why the Government has announced its intentions to consolidate the PSR and its functions primarily within the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The Government will consult on the detail of this proposal in the summer and legislate as soon as possible. The Payment Systems Regulator is funded by fees levied on industry.

Pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 32918 on Agriculture and Business: Inheritance Tax, how much revenue the Treasury has modelled a clawback mechanism for agricultural property relief and business property relief would raise if it was implemented (a) seven, (b) 10 and (c) 15 years after death.

The Office for Budget Responsibility has not certified costings for the revenue that would be raised by a clawback mechanism since it is not Government policy. However, a clawback mechanism would raise significantly less than the reforms announced by the Government at Autumn Budget 2024 for the reasons outlined in the previous answer.

What proportion of food procured by her Department is sourced in the UK.

To date the Government has not held information on where publicly procured food is sourced from. For the first time ever, this government will review the food currently bought in the public sector to determine the standards that it is meeting, where it is bought from, and look to introduce monitoring for transparency and accountability within those supply chains to ultimately get the best food for the consumer. This work will be a significant first step to inform any future changes to public sector food procurement policies as we want to help make it an equal playing field for British producers to bid into the £5 billion spent each year on public sector catering contracts.

What steps her Department is taking to support small businesses impacted by a reduction in in-person banking services in Lincolnshire.

The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to constituents and businesses in Lincolnshire and across the UK and is committed to championing sufficient access for all. 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 200 hubs have been announced so far, and over 100 are already open. FCA guidance expects firms to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and put in place alternatives where reasonable. This seeks to ensure that branch closures are implemented in a way that treats customers fairly. 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. The Government protects the Post Office network by setting minimum access criteria. These include ensuring that 99% of the UK population lives within three miles of a Post Office and 90% of the population within one mile. To stimulate local economic growth the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with rateable values below half a million pounds from 2026 – 2027 and later this year, the Government will publish a Small Business Strategy, setting out our vision for small businesses. Taken together, these actions will support businesses in Lincolnshire and across the country to drive local economic growth.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a clawback mechanism into proposed 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. A “clawback” would mean inheritance tax would only be due if the relevant assets are sold within a specified time period after a death. Introducing this mechanism, as some have suggested, could mean some of the wealthiest estates pay less inheritance tax compared to the proposed reforms. The Government disagrees with suggestions that a clawback would raise the same revenue as the reforms being introduced from 6 April 2026; it would raise much less, which would mean raising taxes elsewhere or lowering public spending. It would also add complexity to the tax system and continue to attract the very wealthiest to tax plan since beneficiaries could hold onto the assets over the specified clawback period just to escape the tax.

How many officials from her Department attended the World Economic Forum 2025.

It is commonplace for key officials to travel with the Chancellor in order to support her at events and visits.Five officials from HM Treasury accompanied the Chancellor to the 2025 World Economic Forum annual meeting.

What steps she is taking to increase access to banking hubs in rural and remote communities.

The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities, high streets, and rural areas across the UK, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to delivering these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 200 hubs have been announced so far, and over 100 are already open.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.Some banks also provide their own community banking services via pop-ups in community centres and libraries or operate mobile banking vans to serve more remote areas, and the Government supports these initiatives.

For what purposes the Government Actuary’s Department has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months.

The Government Actuary’s Department has made use of artificial intelligence in the last twelve months primarily by focusing on internal efficiencies and department wide communications and team meetings. Where appropriate the Government Actuary’s Department has also used AI to help provide more value to clients, for example by summarising responses to technical consultations. This is compliant with Central Digital and Data Office guidance. The department continues to seek opportunities where the innovative use of artificial intelligence can drive efficiency and add value to clients within Government, whilst safeguarding public data and information.

For what purposes National Savings and Investments has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months.

NS&I is currently making use of artificial intelligence (AI) across its business.NS&I has used AI in the last 12 months for its customer service chatbot, a tool used by NS&I customers to obtain answers to product and service queries that they may have. NS&I has also used AI for a digital voice assistant tool for its telephone serviceIn addition, NS&I has been piloting the use of the Government Communications Service generative AI tool called ‘Assist’, developed to support people working across government in communications roles. NS&I has also used AI to support its coding activities, researching publicly available economic data, and there is an AI component in the wider ongoing work by its operational partners to modernise NS&I's service delivery to customersFurther details about NS&I’s chatbot service will be published in due course online, as part of the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard.