Written questions by Stride.

With reference to her Department's press release entitled Interest rate cap introduced to protect Plan 2 borrowers, published on 7 April 2026, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of capping interest on Plan 2 and 3 student loans at 6%.

The government is capping maximum interest rates on Plan 2 and Plan 3 (postgraduate) student loans at 6%, instead of the Retail Prices Index (RPI) plus 3%, for the 2026/27 academic year.This short-term protective measure will apply from the 1 September 2026 to the 31 August 2027 and removes the risk of a temporary increase in inflation causing loan balances to compound at an unsustainable rate.Student loan interest rates are ordinarily set for each academic year by reference to the RPI value for the year to the preceding March. On that basis, interest rates for the 2026/27 academic year would normally be determined using the RPI figure for March 2026, due to be published on 22 April 2026.The impact of the interest rate cap on the public purse will depend on the March RPI value.

Why the statistics publication entitled Minor tax expenditures and structural reliefs on GOV.UK has not been updated since December 2024.

Estimates of the exchequer cost of Minor tax expenditures and structural reliefs were updated in January 2026 and are now contained in a new Tax Relief Statistics publication which combines the previous Minor tax expenditures and structural reliefs publication with the related Non-structural tax relief statistics publication, and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-reliefs The change was made following feedback from stakeholders and aims to improve clarity and accessibility.

If she will list all changes to the UK tax system which will take effect from 6 April 2026, including changes to rates, thresholds, allowances and reliefs.

A full list of all tax measures introduced at recent Budgets can be found in the Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates on the gov.uk website, including the tax rates and allowances in effect from 6 April 2026.

With reference to HC Deb 9 March 2026, vol. 782 column 47, to which specific parliamentary votes was the Chancellor referring when she said opposition parties had voted against freezes in fuel duty.

As part of the debate on the “Middle East: Economic Update”, the Chancellor referred to votes relating to two Budgets, which included the policy decisions to extend the 5 pence per litre cut to fuel duty.The 5p cut extensions have been legislated via Statutory Instrument. The primary legislative vehicle for Budget policy decisions is the Finance Bill. At second readings of the Finance Bills, the House debates the whole principle of each bill. For divisions on the second readings of the Finance Bills in 2024 and 2025, a number of opposition parties voted against, including the Conservatives.

What the difference is between the 250,000 retail, hospitality and leisure businesses benefitting from business rates relief, as cited in answer to question UIN 904249, and the 750,000 businesses benefitting from the lower multiplier, as cited in answer to question UIN 111573.

More properties will benefit from the new retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) multipliers because there is no cash cap, meaning all qualifying properties in an RHL chain will benefit.

How much funding is allocated to the National Wealth Fund for each financial year from 2024-25 onward, broken down by capital spending allocations and financial transactions.

The National Wealth Fund (NWF) is capitalised with £27.8bn to make investments in support of the growth and clean energy missions. £10 billion of its capital is allocated for guarantees, £4 billion for local authority lending, and the rest is split between debt and equity. HM Treasury has not made specific allocations of this capital to each financial year. The NWF has the target of committing all its capital by 2029/30.

How the cost of the additional business rates support for pubs will be funded.

From April, every pub and live music venue will get 15% off its new business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget, ahead of their bills being frozen in real terms for a further two years. The cost of this support will not impact other sectors’ bills. Final costings will be confirmed at a fiscal event in the usual way.

How the policy to write off 90% of local authority SEND debs will be funded.

This funding relates to money that has already been spent by local authorities. The effect of the decision referred to is to transfer the accounting for that historic spending from local to central government. Any impact will be reflected in the OBR’s upcoming forecast.

How many and what proportion of student loans issued in each of the last five years for which data is available were for students with a non-Common Travel Area immigration status.

The department is not able to provide the requested data on settled status in the required timescale.Settled status is a residency category, which is data held by the Student Loans Company (SLC).However, changes in the application process over time, including the transition to electronic applications and introduction of new products, systems and processes in line with the legislation, mean that data held for earlier cohorts is held differently across multiple SLC systems.As a result, it is not currently possible to produce robust settled status data within the required timescales. The department and the SLC are undertaking work to improve the quality and consistency of data provided.Once this work is complete, the department expects to be able to provide information in response to such questions.The department is not able to provide the requested data on immigration status. The SLC does not hold immigration status data. Immigration status data is held by the Home Office and is used by the SLC as part of the assessment for loan eligibility. However, as the SLC does not hold immigration status data in their own systems, this breakdown cannot be provided.

What the student loan outlay is by immigration status of the student cohort for the last five years for which data is available.

The department is not able to provide the requested data on settled status in the required timescale.Settled status is a residency category, which is data held by the Student Loans Company (SLC).However, changes in the application process over time, including the transition to electronic applications and introduction of new products, systems and processes in line with the legislation, mean that data held for earlier cohorts is held differently across multiple SLC systems.As a result, it is not currently possible to produce robust settled status data within the required timescales. The department and the SLC are undertaking work to improve the quality and consistency of data provided.Once this work is complete, the department expects to be able to provide information in response to such questions.The department is not able to provide the requested data on immigration status. The SLC does not hold immigration status data. Immigration status data is held by the Home Office and is used by the SLC as part of the assessment for loan eligibility. However, as the SLC does not hold immigration status data in their own systems, this breakdown cannot be provided.

How many and what proportion of student loans issued in each of last five years for which data is available were for students with settled status, expressed in (a) monetary terms and (b) number of students.

The department is not able to provide the requested data on settled status in the required timescale.Settled status is a residency category, which is data held by the Student Loans Company (SLC).However, changes in the application process over time, including the transition to electronic applications and introduction of new products, systems and processes in line with the legislation, mean that data held for earlier cohorts is held differently across multiple SLC systems.As a result, it is not currently possible to produce robust settled status data within the required timescales. The department and the SLC are undertaking work to improve the quality and consistency of data provided.Once this work is complete, the department expects to be able to provide information in response to such questions.The department is not able to provide the requested data on immigration status. The SLC does not hold immigration status data. Immigration status data is held by the Home Office and is used by the SLC as part of the assessment for loan eligibility. However, as the SLC does not hold immigration status data in their own systems, this breakdown cannot be provided.

If she will make it her policy to publish the total business rates receipts from all pubs for each financial year from 2023-24 to 2029-30.

Local Authorities do not report to Central Government how much business rates revenue they raise from different types of businesses. The Government therefore does not have this data to publish and nor did the previous Government.

When he plans to answer Question 107979 on Defence: Expenditure tabled by the Rt hon. Member for Central Devon on 23 January 2026.

I will respond to the right hon. Member shortly.

Whether any of the spending included by the government in its calculation of spending 2.6% of GDP on NATO qualifying defence spending by 2027 includes financial transactions.

The Ministry of Defence's financial transactions support the retention of critical sovereign manufacturing capabilities and support our strategic objectives. As an integral part of the UK's national security they are included in the NATO qualifying defence spending figures.

With reference to the Chancellor's written statement of 5 January 2026, UIN HCWS1219, whether she plans to respond to the OBR's Spring forecast in an oral statement.

As set out in a written statement to Parliament last week, the Chancellor has asked the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to prepare an economic and fiscal forecast for publication on 3 March 2026. The Chancellor will deliver an oral statement to the House in response.

With reference to Item 13 of Table 4.1 in the Budget Document, published 26 November 2025, if she will provide a breakdown of the fiscal impacts in each financial year for each of the operational changes included in the costing.

The Government set out further details on the relevant operational changes in its press release of 18 December.

How will the cost of the Erasmus Scheme in 2027/28 be funded.

We have agreed terms with the European Commission that represent a fair balance between the UK’s contribution and the benefits the programme offers, which paved the way for UK participation.We have agreed a 30% discount compared to the default terms in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, as well as a review of the UK’s participation in the programme ten months after our association, including data concerning demand for funding in the UK. Going forward, any continued UK participation in Erasmus+ under the next Multiannual Financial Framework will be informed by our experience of association in 2027.Erasmus costs will be funded above the department’s spending review settlement and scored in the usual way at the next fiscal event.

What the outstanding value is of student loan debt owed by EU students; and how much of that debt is being actively repaid.

An EU borrower is a borrower who was originally domiciled in an EU country prior to entering higher education in England. Tuition fee funding for new EU students in England without 'settled' or 'pre-settled status' ceased in the 2021/22 academic year. However, those continuing a course remain eligible for financial support for the duration of their course, in addition to those covered by the Withdrawal Agreements, subject to meeting other residency and course requirements.The outstanding value of student loan debt owed by EU borrowers was £5.8 billion at 31 March 2025. Of EU borrowers liable to repay, 38.8% are actively repaying, have fully repaid or had their loan cancelled or written off. This data is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loans-in-england-2024-to-2025/student-loans-in-england-financial-year-2024-25.A loan becomes liable for repayment when the borrower has passed their statutory repayment due date. This is the normally the April after graduating or otherwise leaving their course, provided they are earning above the relevant income threshold.Definitions of repayment terms can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loans-in-england-2024-to-2025/definitions-england.

Whether the OBR's fiscal forecasts included the costs of the Erasmus scheme.

As usual, any changes since the last forecasts will be included in a future forecast.

What estimate her Department has made of the proportion of estates subject to paying Inheritance Tax in (a) the most recent year for which data is available and (b) each year up to 2030-31.

The statistics for the number of estates subject to paying inheritance tax (IHT) are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics. The statistics for the number of estates forecast to pay inheritance tax are available at https://obr.uk/download/november-2025-economic-and-fiscal-outlook-detailed-forecast-tables-receipts/?tmstv=1766066728.