Written questions by Heylings.

What assessment she has made of the potential merits of implementing a clawback mechanism into the proposed changes to APR and BPR.

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.

What steps her Department is taking to improve the effectiveness of the initial assessment process for research and development tax relief claims.

All Research and Development (R&D) claims go through a risk screening process to determine which need further checking, with the majority paid without a formal compliance check. Where risks are identified, HMRC opens compliance checks to investigate the claims, within established legislative time limits and with wider taxpayer safeguards such as appeal rights. Where a check is opened into a claim that on further investigation is found to be fully eligible, HMRC aims to close its check and approve the claim as quickly as possible. HMRC has required claimants to submit an Additional Information Form as part of their claim since August 2023. The information provided in these forms enhances HMRC’s risking process by helping to more accurately identify claims that may not be compliant and reduces the risk of valid claims being picked up for a compliance check. To strengthen the administration of the reliefs and provide businesses with greater certainty the Government announced at the Autumn Budget that it will explore widening the use of advance clearances for R&D reliefs.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing compensation for small shareholders for the loss of shares in Northern Rock Plc.

An independent valuer determined that Northern Rock shares were of no value immediately prior to the company being taken into public ownership, and therefore no compensation was due. This independent valuation was upheld in the both the Upper Tribunal in 2011 and the Court of Appeal in 2013. HM Treasury considers this matter settled.

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes made to employer's National Insurance contributions at the Autumn Budget 2024 on agency workers under IR35.

The Government publishes Tax Information and Impact Notes (TIINs) for tax policy changes. TIINs give a clear explanation of the policy objective and an assessment of the impacts including on the Exchequer, individuals and families, businesses including civil society organisations and others. The TIIN for the employer NICs changes was published on 13 November 2024.

If she will hold discussions with the Financial Conduct Authority on the regulation of family trusts sold by building societies.

Treasury Ministers and officials meet with their counterparts at the Financial Conduct Authority often, as part of their regular engagement on various topics.The Financial Conduct Authority is an independent body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry across the UK. It monitors firms to make sure they provide products that are fair value, and where necessary, it will take action.Whether a financial services activity is regulated is decided by the Government and Parliament and set out in legislation. The boundary between what is regulated and what is not is called the regulatory perimeter. The Government keeps the regulatory perimeter under constant review, and it engages with the regulators where there are developments which suggest a new activity should be brought within the regulatory perimeter. In addition to this regular engagement, the Financial Conduct Authority publishes an annual perimeter report, which sets out its views on the perimeter.

Whether she has made a recent assessment with the Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of the potential merits of making the Listed Places of Worship Scheme (a permanent grant to help support (a) historic buildings central to local communities and (b) the livelihoods of skilled crafts people.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport continues to closely monitor the implementation and impact of the grant scheme through the regular reporting of the grant administrator, EMB. Since 2010, the Government has returned over £350 million to listed places of worship such as churches, synagogues, mosques and temples through the grant scheme. This has helped protect our listed places of worship and enabled them to continue their work as centers of worship and community assets. The Chancellor has now set departmental budgets for 2025-26, further decisions around individual schemes such as these will be considered by standard departmental allocation processes later this financial year. Funding beyond 25-26 will be set at Phase 2 of the Spending Review.