Written questions by O'Brien.

Pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2026 to WPQ 104190, how many estates were liable to inheritance tax by constituency over the last five years aggregated.

As stated in my previous answer, these statistics are publicly available. The estimated number of estates liable to Inheritance Tax, broken down by UK (Westminster) Parliamentary Constituency, is published annually as part of HMRC’s Inheritance Tax Liabilities statistics, and is available in Table 12.9 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to MHCLG's Annual Report 2024/5, if he will publish a breakdown of the Gross Outturn and Income of CDEL in the Housing and Planning Estimate Line in FY 2024/5.

Please see table below for a breakdown of income and expenditure on the requested estimate rows and DEL control totals. Estimate RowMain Expenditure StreamsGrossIncomeNetCommunities DEL Estimate Rows24/25 £k £k £kB: Housing and Planning CDEL Affordable Housing Programme642,249-642,249 Building Safety Fund278,770-278,770 Local Authority Housebuilding199,897-199,897 Housing Infrastructure Fund102,517-102,517 Planning Stewardship63,781-63,781 Brownfield Housing Fund59,728-59,728 Disabled Facilities Grant711,000-711,0000 Other131,732-25,408106,324Total2,189,675 -736,408 1,453,267 I: Housing and Planning (ALB)(Net) CDEL Affordable Homes Programme 2,398,482 Existing Homes England Delivered Programmes 847,683 Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land Fund 298,720 Cladding Safety Scheme 150,599 Other 18,197Total 3,713,681 C: Local Growth and Devolution RDEL Programme UK Shared Prosperity Fund1,012,406-1,012,406 Investment Funds167,774-167,774 European Regional Development Fund101,533-101,755-222 Devo Deals69,233-69,233 Place Based Funding36,891-36,891 Levelling Up Fund19,540-19,540 Other59,509-38759,122Total1,466,886 -102,142 1,364,744

What was the a) mean and b) median amount of housing support claimed by people in each local authority who were on i) Housing Benefit ii) the Housing Element of UC and iii) either Housing Benefit or the Housing Element of UC.

I) The information requested for Housing Benefit (HB) mean amounts are available on Stat-Xplore (link below). II) Universal Credit (UC) is a single integrated benefit made up of different elements, such as Housing. Benefit units receive one combined monthly payment, and any deductions apply to the total award, not individual elements. Breakdowns of the UC Housing Element are available at national level in the Benefit Expenditure Tables (link below). However, the underlying data is not sufficient to produce these breakdowns at a sub-national level, such as local authorities. As a result, it is not possible to robustly estimate mean or median element of UC at a local authority level. III) Due to data quality limitations that prevent calculation of (ii), it is not possible to estimate the population receiving either HB or the housing element of UC.Stat-XploreBenefit Expenditure and Caseload Tables: Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2025 - GOV.UK

With reference to his Answer of 12 January 2026 to WPQ 101070, of the over 100,000 people that the Government estimates could benefit from mobility and partnership opportunities from Erasmus+ participation in 2027-8, how many he expects to be UK students.

Erasmus+ is open to learners, trainees and staff in higher education, further education, vocational education and training, schools, adult education, youth programmes and sport programmes. The department will have detailed information on the UK’s Erasmus+ beneficiaries after our first year of participation.

How many people started apprenticeships who were aged a) 16, b) 17, c) 18, d) 19, e) 20, f) 21, g) 22, h) 23, i) 24 in each year since 2017-18.

Apprenticeship starts in England for the individual ages requested are available in the accompanying file. Further information on apprenticeship starts can be found in the department’s apprenticeships statistics publication, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships.

With reference to Question 100498, how many households on Housing Benefit and Universal Credit who have flowed off the benefit cap are in the Other outcome category by reason of receiving an exempting benefit during the quarter to (a) August 2025, (b) May 2025, (c) February 2025 and (d) November 2024.

The Department publishes Official Statistics on the number of households in Great Britain on Housing Benefit (HB) or Universal Credit (UC) that have flowed off the benefit cap, including outcome at off-flow, in the HB Cumulative Caseload dataset and the UC Cumulative Caseload dataset, which are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore, with monthly off-flows data currently available to July 2025. The HB statistics do have an Outcome at off-flow category for ‘Household receiving other exempt benefit (Employment Support Allowance support group / Disability Living Allowance / Industrial Injuries / Personal Independent Payment).’ However, statistics on the number of exempting benefit outcomes for UC are included in the Outcome at off-flow category of ‘Other outcome’, and to produce a further breakdown of this group would incur disproportionate cost. Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access general guidance on how to extract the information required.

Food and Rural Affairs, what the mean size in hectares was of businesses ranked in the top 4% of SFI annual revenue payments by October 2025.

The mean size of a businesses ranked in the top 4% of Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) annual revenue payments as of October 2025 is 803 hectares.

Food and Rural Affairs, what the mean and median total income per business for the Sustainable Farming Incentive was in the year to October 2025.

Farm businesses can hold multiple Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements under the SFI scheme. As of October 2025, there were 44,474 Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) agreements including SFI 23 and SFI 24. Over the full term of the agreement the mean value of these agreements was £57,000 and the median value of these agreements was £32,000.

Food and Rural Affairs, as of 1st October 2025 how many SFI agreements included actions SAM1, NUM1, HRW1 and IPM1 broken down by individual action.

As of 1st October 2025, there were 32,405, Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements which included actions (C)SAM1, (C) NUM1, (C)HRW1 or (C)IPM1. The number of agreements containing these actions and the value of these actions broken down by individual action are shown in the table below. option codeNumber of AgreementsTotal Value of Action within Agreement (£)CHRW15,7668,754,000CIPM17,16224,258,000CNUM17,59314,852,000CSAM19,17917,963,000HRW110,19121,709,000IPM115,65653,025,000NUM116,58332,435,000SAM118,42151,638,000 To Note: An Agreement can have multiple options so for example may have NUM1, SAM1 & IPM1 so may be counted multiple times under number of agreements in the table above.

Food and Rural Affairs, what the total annual payments made to businesses under the SFI for actions SAM1, NUM1, IPM1 and HRW1 (broken down by individual action) were at 1 October 2025.

As of 1st October 2025, there were 32,405, Sustainable Farming Incentive agreements which included actions (C)SAM1, (C) NUM1, (C)HRW1 or (C)IPM1. The number of agreements containing these actions and the value of these actions broken down by individual action are shown in the table below. option codeNumber of AgreementsTotal Value of Action within Agreement (£)CHRW15,7668,754,000CIPM17,16224,258,000CNUM17,59314,852,000CSAM19,17917,963,000HRW110,19121,709,000IPM115,65653,025,000NUM116,58332,435,000SAM118,42151,638,000 To Note: An Agreement can have multiple options so for example may have NUM1, SAM1 & IPM1 so may be counted multiple times under number of agreements in the table above.

How many estates were liable to inheritance tax passing on death in each parliamentary constituency, over the last five year period taken as a whole.

The estimated number of estates liable to Inheritance Tax, broken down by UK (Westminster) Parliamentary Constituency, is published annually as part of HMRC’s Inheritance Tax Liabilities statistics, and is available in Table 12.9 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics. The latest tax year for which statistics are available is 2022-23; data for earlier years are available on the National Archives website. Data for 2023-24 is scheduled to be published in July 2026 in the normal way.

Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the drivers of and reasons for the almost trebling of the wage and salary costs of Arts Council England since April 2017.

Arts Council England (ACE) is an arms-length body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). As such, ACE is responsible for its own operational matters, including wage and salary costs. Nevertheless, they are in scope of the Cabinet Office annual pay remit guidance and, as the sponsoring department, DCMS oversees ACE's activities to ensure adherence to that central guidance and the principles of Managing Public Money.It is important to note that an accounting adjustment impacts any comparison between reported staff costs between April 2017 and March 2025 as presented in the accounts. The accounts in 16/17 are not directly comparable to other years, as the figure is reduced by £3m due to an unutilised pension provision.Nevertheless, staff costs have increased over the period. This reflects some headcount growth (in part to support new funding initiatives as well as improved approaches to counter-fraud, cyber security, governance, and data reporting), and pay awards limited to those allowable by the Cabinet Office pay remit.

What assessment his Department has made of the drivers of and reasons for the more than doubling of the wage and salary costs of the Mining Remediation Authority since April 2017.

Forecast headcount at the Mining Remediation Authority for the end of March 2026 is c460 full time equivalent posts which has increased since April 2017 in line with the growth in the complexity and number of 24/7 incidents. Pay cases submitted by the Mining Remediation Authority during the period have been considered by the Department alongside Civil Service pay remit guidance. More information about the Mining Remediation Authority’s funding and programmes can be found in its latest Annual Report and Accounts. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mining-remediation-authority-annual-report-and-accounts-2024-to-2025

For what reason wage and salary costs have increased at Ofgem since April 2017.

Ofgem is governed by its Board (the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority - GEMA) and is directly accountable to Parliament for the performance of its functions and duties. Operational decisions regarding wage and salary costs are a matter for Ofgem.

For what reason wage and salary costs have increased at the Committee on Climate Change since April 2017.

Pay arrangements for the CCC’s permanent staff are governed by the Cabinet Office pay remit guidance and process. The CCC has a vital role providing independent, expert advice on reducing emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change, and staff numbers have risen to manage the increased demands from the CCC's work programme.

Media and Sport, for what reason employment and wage costs have increased at the Gambling Commission since April 2017.

Since April 2017, the Gambling Commission’s headcount has increased to maintain its capacity and capability to regulate a growing sector, which is subject to heightened public scrutiny. The Commission has also, like other public bodies, awarded its staff inflationary pay increases which are consistent with the Civil Service Pay Remit. Costs have also increased due to higher statutory pension and National Insurance contributions. Other factors which have created an increase in employment costs include the Fourth National Lottery Licence competition and transition, and the Commission's delivery of commitments from the 2023 Gambling White Paper In recent years the Commission has also increased its investment in enforcement and intelligence to tackle illegal gambling, and strengthened its anti-money laundering and sports betting integrity functions.

For what reason employment and wage costs have increased at the Nuclear Decommisioning Authority since April 2017.

The NDAs mission involves complex and hazardous nuclear decommissioning, requiring advanced technical engineering and project management skills. These roles command higher than average salaries due to scarcity and competition for nuclear expertise. Since 2017 the NDA receive funding from HMG each year which reflects the NDAs mission. This funding has led to operations to accelerate hazard reduction at sites like Sellafield and Dounreay. This acceleration has meant an increase in employment and wages at the NDA who continually review how they operate to ensure value for money to the taxpayer whilst keeping the UK safe and secure.

Innovation and Technology, for what reason employment and wage costs have increased at the Intellectual Property Office since April 2017.

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) is an executive agency of the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), with delegated responsibility for operational matters including salaries. Salary costs have increased since 2017 due to two main factors. Headcount has increased over this period, driven both by a sustained increase in demand for IP Services plus investment in a Transformation programme aimed at delivering better digital services to our customers and internal frontline staff. The second reason is the application of the annual pay awards. IPO complies fully with the Cabinet Office annual pay remit guidance and annual pay cases are approved by HMT through a rigorous business case process.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the drivers of and reasons for the doubling of the wage and salary costs of the Planning Inspectorate since April 2017.

The Planning Inspectorate deals with a range of planning and environmental casework from across government including: planning and environmental appeals, including against refusals of planning related applications by Local Planning Authorities and refusals of applications by other bodies including the Environment Agency.advising on and examining applications for nationally significant infrastructure and other infrastructure orders including large scale energy infrastructure and power generation, large road and other transport schemes like airports, and reservoirs.examining local plans for compliance with legal tests and national policy.deciding or making recommendations on a range of casework on behalf of Secretaries of State including 'called in' planning applications, Crown Development applications, Compulsory Purchase Orders, planning applications in Local Planning Authorities designated for poor performance, Drought Orders and Permits and Necessary Wayleaves.deciding a range of casework for Defra relating to access to the countryside, including new rights of ways, changes to existing rights of way, village and town greens and the regime to protect and manage Common Land. Since 2017 the Planning Inspectorate has increased its employees by approximately 60%, including an increase in full time equivalent Inspectors providing advice, decisions, and recommendations from 261 to 421 (61%). This reflects the significant increase and complexity in the Planning Inspectorate's casework over that period as well as a significant investment in digital services which has been necessary for the organisation to fulfil its critical role in delivering the agendas of successive governments. Inflation accounts for about a third of the increase in costs over the period.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the drivers of and reasons for the doubling of the wage and salary costs of the Land Registry since April 2017.

HM Land Registry’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2016-17 and 2024-25 respectively show that staff costs for permanent HMLR employees have increased from £168 million to £326 million. The drivers of this increase are a combination of the compound interest of annual pay increases, plus the increase in permanent employees from 4,148 at the end of March 2017, to 6,907 at the end of March 2025. The principal reason for the staff increase at the Agency has been the need to invest in its people and systems to improve the services it provides following a period of historic underinvestment following the property market crash in 2007-08, prior to which HMLR had over 8,000 permanent employees.