Written questions by Wrigley.

Whether her Department holds information on the proportion of Russian oil (a) imports and (b) exports insured by UK financial instruments.

The Oil Price Cap was designed to meet two core objectives: to bear down on Russian revenues that could otherwise be used to fund its illegal war, whilst also maintaining global energy security and flows of affordable oil to countries that need it. The measure has been effective partly thanks to the prevalence of highly sought after G7+ service providers, which means it is very difficult to make major oil trades or gain significant market share without using G7+ services at all. Where G7+ services are involved in the shipping of Russian oil and oil products to third countries, these trades must be conducted at or below the relevant price cap – constraining Putin’s ability to use inflated oil revenues to sustain his war machine. This is why the UK, alongside G7+ partners, has provided extensive guidance to industry to advise service providers, including insurers, on how they can move Russian oil in compliance with the price cap. While the cap allows UK service providers to continue to be involved in the shipping of Russian oil and oil products to third countries, it is important to note that since 5 December 2022 the UK has banned the import, acquisition, supply and delivery of Russian oil and oil products into the UK.

If she will bring forward legislative proposals to allow a portion of the fines collected by (a) Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation and (b) other enforcement agencies to be directed toward reparations.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) is responsible for issuing civil monetary penalties for breaches of financial sanctions.The money collected from monetary penalties is deposited into the Consolidated Fund, in line with the general principles applying to the treatment of fines or other penalties imposed by public bodies in central government.

If the Government will extend the beer duty freeze for pubs.

Pubs make an enormous contribution to our economy and society, and this is recognised in the tax system. Beer producers benefitted from a freeze to alcohol duty from 1 February 2024 until 1 February 2025. At the Autumn Budget, the Chancellor cut alcohol duty on qualifying draught products – approximately 60% of the alcoholic drinks sold in pubs. This represents an overall reduction in duty bills of over £85m a year and is equivalent to a 1p duty reduction on a typical pint. This reduction increased the relief available on draught products to 13.9%.  This came into effect on 1 February 2025.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to business property relief on the construction plant-hire sector in Devon.

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. Information from claims is not recorded to enable regional breakdowns of the number of estates expected to be affected. However, the Government has 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.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of proposed changes to business property relief on the construction plant-hire sector in (a) Devon, (b) the South West and (c) the UK.

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. Information from claims is not recorded to enable regional breakdowns of the number of estates expected to be affected. However, the Government has 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.

If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of proposed changes business property relief on family-run businesses in (a) Devon, (b) the South West and (c) the UK.

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. Information from claims is not recorded to enable regional breakdowns of the number of estates expected to be affected. However, the Government has 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.

Whether her Department has plans to make changes to its policy on sending remittances to Ukraine.

There are no plans to change the policy on remittances to Ukraine. How remittances are sent to Ukraine is determined by individual UK banks. We appreciate the hardships citizens face as a result of the ongoing conflict and note that increasing financial regulation from the National Bank of Ukraine has made it difficult to provide remittances to the people of Ukraine, including via UK banks. The UK reaffirms its unwavering support to Ukraine for as long as it takes. We are facing a once in a generation moment for the collective security of Europe. Securing a lasting peace in Ukraine that safeguards its sovereignty for the long-term is essential if we are to deter Russia from further aggression in the future. Ukraine is paying the ultimate price in Russia’s illegal invasion – with the lives of its citizens – to defend the values and freedoms we hold dear.The UK has committed £12.8bn in military, humanitarian and economic support to Ukraine since February 2022. The UK will continue to honour the PM’s commitment on 10 July 2024 which provides Ukraine with £3bn of military support per annum until 2030/31 or for as long as needed.

Whether her Department has plans to improve the process for sending remittances to Ukraine.

His Majesty’s Government has no legislation which blocks the process for sending remittances to Ukraine. How remittances are sent to Ukraine is determined by individual UK banks. We appreciate the hardships citizens face as a result of the ongoing conflict and note that increasing financial regulation from the National Bank of Ukraine has made it difficult to provide remittances to the people of Ukraine, including via UK banks. The UK continues to reaffirm its unwavering support to Ukraine. The UK has committed £12.8bn in military, humanitarian and economic support to Ukraine since February 2022. The UK will continue to honour the PM’s commitment on 10 July 2024 which provides Ukraine with £3bn of military support per annum until 2030/31 or for as long as needed.

If she will make a comparative assessment of the price of (a) non-alcoholic drinks and (b) alcoholic ones.

The independent Office for National Statistics is responsible for measuring prices. Further information on the prices of commonly bought goods and services, including alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, can be found on the ONS’s shopping prices comparison tool. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/shoppingpricescomparisontool/2023-05-03

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of new US tariffs on the UK economy.

HMT continuously monitors external developments and potential impacts on the UK economy, but it will not comment on hypotheticals. The US is one of the UK’s closest partners with a trading relationship worth £304 billion and representing 18% of total UK trade. We look forward to working with the new US administration in office, including on their policy priorities and to improve UK-US trading relations to support businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to (a) agricultural property relief and (b) business property relief on farm business productivity.

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...