Written questions by Ferguson.

Whether her Department plans to review the criteria used to ascertain which communities require a banking hub.

The Government understands the importance of banking services to communities and is committed to supporting the financial services industry’s roll-out of 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 275 hubs have been announced so far, and more than 230 are already open. Banking hub locations are independently recommended by LINK, the operator of UK’s largest ATM network. When a bank branch closes, there is a material change to a cash service, or a community request is received, LINK conducts an access to cash assessment under the access to cash regime set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023. In its assessments, LINK takes into consideration a wide range of criteria, including population demographics and public transport links. Any decisions on changes to LINK's assessment criteria are a matter for LINK, the financial services sector, and for the FCA, which oversees the access to cash regime. The Government keeps the effectiveness of current access to cash and banking arrangements under review through regular engagement with industry and the FCA to ensure they meet the needs of local communities.

If she will (a) review and (b) update the Overseas Scale Rates during 2026.

Overseas Scale Rates are an administrative easement that employers can use to pay or reimburse accommodation and subsistence expenses incurred by employees who have to travel outside the UK without the need to check receipts. Where the rates do not cover the expense incurred employers can check employee receipts to reimburse these costs. The government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process.

Whether she plans to change the proportion of pensioners' tax-free lump sums that are exempt from tax.

The Government wishes to encourage pension saving to help ensure that people have funds to draw on throughout retirement. Up to 25 per cent of an individual’s pension can be taken-tax free, subject to a cap of £268,275 for most. Although the Government keeps all tax rules under review, there are no current plans to make changes to the tax-free lump sum.

How much funding the Scottish Government will receive through Barnett consequentials as a result of highway maintenance funding being provided to England and Wales.

At Phase 1 of the 2025 Spending Review, the UK Government allocated an additional £500 million to the Department for Transport for local highways maintenance in 2025-26. The Barnett formula was applied in the usual way to changes in the Department for Transport’s Delegated Expenditure Limit (DEL) budget.At Spending Reviews, the Barnett formula is applied to changes to each UK Government department’s overall DEL budget, not to individual programmes.The Scottish Government is receiving over £47.7 billion in 2025-26 following Phase 1 of the Spending Review 2025. This is the largest in real terms of any settlement since devolution and ensures that the Scottish Government continue to receive at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK.The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. The most recent report was published in July 2023. An update to Block Grant Transparency to include Autumn Budget 2024 changes will be published in due course:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-july-2023

If she will (a) review and (b) update the Overseas Scale Rates.

As with all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps flat rates expenses, including Overseas Scale Rates, under review.Any decisions on future changes in this area will be taken in the context of the wider public finances.

What guidance her Department will issue to non-agricultural businesses on the changes to Inheritance Tax announced in the Autumn Budget 2024.

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. As with other tax changes, HM Revenue and Customs will update its guidance in due course in the usual way.