Written questions by Fuller.

Whether his Department has made an assessment of the suitability of adopting similar international government models including the (a) US Office of Management and Budget and (b) Department for Government Efficiency in the UK.

Departments have agreed a 2% productivity, efficiency and savings target in the first phase of the Spending Review and have been set a stretching 5% target in the second phase. This target is to be delivered via efficiencies and savings from innovative technology-driven approaches, such as Artificial Intelligence; more effectively joining up services; and a more strategic approach to government processes, including procurement. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has also asked each department to carry out a line-by-line review of existing day-to-day budgets to identify where spending is no longer aligned with this government’s priorities or is poor value for money. The Office for Value for Money, led by an independent Chair, will work with departments to assess where and how to root out waste and inefficiency, including agreeing plans to deliver technical efficiencies through the Spending Review period. It will also develop recommendations for system reform, informed by lessons learned from the past, international best practice, and the views of external organisations. This will underpin a ruthless focus within government on realising benefits from every pound of public spending.

Whether the Government has plans to introduce a Minister for Government Efficiency in the Cabinet Office to oversee cross-departmental efficiency initiatives.

The Cabinet Office is driving reform to deliver cross-departmental efficiencies, including through better use of data and technology. I have ministerial responsibility for public sector reform, which includes driving cross-departmental work to improve efficiency in government.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing structural changes to efficiency oversight as part of the 2025 Spending Review.

This government is committed to spending taxpayers’ money efficiently. At the first phase of the Spending Review for 2025-26 it set a 2% target for efficiency, productivity and savings for all departments. Phase 2 of the Spending Review (2026-2029) goes further with departments undertaking a line-by-line review of existing day-to-day budgets for the first time in 17 years. Departments are expected to identify a minimum of 5% savings and efficiencies against their current budgets freeing up funding to achieve the government’s priorities. The Office for Value for Money is also advising the Chancellor and me on decisions for the Spending Review, which will include conducting an assessment of where and how to root out waste and inefficiency. The government will set out its plans on efficiencies at the conclusion of the Spending Review.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) inheritance tax payments on Defined Contribution pensions and (b) the loss of the Residence Nil Rate Band on marginal tax rates.

The Government considers inheritance tax policy carefully and has due regard to several factors, including marginal inheritance tax rates.

With reference to page 4 of the report by the NAO entitled The Administrative Cost of the Tax System, published on 10 February 2025, if she will instruct HMRC to update its £15.4bn estimate of the cost to businesses of complying with the tax system.

The £15.4bn estimate of the cost to businesses of complying with the tax system contains in the NAO report comes from HMRC’s Standard Cost Model (SCM). This uses an internationally recognised approach to estimating these costs. The SCM contains data on approximately 2,500 obligations across 27 policy areas, and is largely based on data collected from businesses and agents on the time and costs of complying with regulations. HMRC is looking to reduce the complexity of the model so it is easier to update which may enable it to produce a more timely estimate of the cost to business.

With reference to the report by the NAO entitled The Administrative Cost of the Tax system, published on 10 February 2025, what steps she plans to take to reduce the annual cost to VAT registered traders.

HMRC have acknowledged the findings of the NAO report and emphasised the ongoing efforts to modernise and streamline tax administration. An HMRC Transformation Roadmap will be published in 2025. This will set out HMRC’s vision to be a digital first organisation and outline our plans to extend digital services and tools to provide better customer service for customers, including small businesses, and agents.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed discontinuous electrification of East West Rail on (a) capital costs and (b) operating costs of the railway.

The cost of discontinuous electrification is already included in the publicised capital cost range of the project and the option of full electrification is still under consideration. However, electrification (discontinuous or full) is expected to significantly reduce operating costs for the line over its whole life.

If she will publish the sources of funding for each public sector pension scheme including balancing payments made by her Department for each fiscal year between 2020-21 and 2023-24.

Figures showing the net Exchequer balancing payments for unfunded Public Service Pension Schemes (PSPS), along with details on contribution income and scheme expenditure, are regularly published as part of the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), including outturn figures for the previous fiscal year. For example, the March 2022 EFO includes Exchequer balancing figures for each major PSPS for 2020-21 in the table labelled “March 2022 Economic and fiscal outlook – supplementary fiscal tables: expenditure”: Economic and fiscal outlook - March 2022 - Office for Budget Responsibility The latest publication is included in the October 2024 EFO.

What (a) policies and (b) procedures are in place across NHS Trusts to ensure that medical records are (i) accurate and (ii) evidence-based.

Each National Health Service trust is a data controller under the Data Protection Act 2018, and therefore responsible for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of their records. To assist trusts in fulfilling these responsibilities, a range of guidance and assurance is in place.For example, NHS England publishes a Code of Practice on Records Management for all NHS trusts to follow. This covers all aspects of records management, including the accuracy and reliability of medical records. Each trust is responsible for following the principles and guidance set out in the code, which may include local measures, such as a record keeping audit, or monitoring the availability of records.In addition, in line with the Code of Practice, NHS trusts are responsible for ensuring they have appropriate policies and procedures in place to manage their records. This will usually be a standalone records management policy, with associated procedures, such as how to destroy records.Furthermore, NHS England’s Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) requires NHS trusts to understand legal and professional obligations for records management. The DSPT involves a periodic audit in which trusts have to demonstrate they are adhering to this requirement.Regulators also set out professional standards for health and care professionals. For example, the General Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice requires doctors to make sure that formal records of their work, including patients' records, are clear, accurate, contemporaneous, and legible.The Care Quality Commission has powers, under section 63(2)(b) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to access records held by the service that they are inspecting, where necessary, as part of their regulatory functions.

What steps his Department is taking to monitor NHS Trusts' adherence to (a) General Medical Council and (b) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance on patient records.

Each National Health Service trust is a data controller under the Data Protection Act 2018, and therefore responsible for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of their records. To assist trusts in fulfilling these responsibilities, a range of guidance and assurance is in place.For example, NHS England publishes a Code of Practice on Records Management for all NHS trusts to follow. This covers all aspects of records management, including the accuracy and reliability of medical records. Each trust is responsible for following the principles and guidance set out in the code, which may include local measures, such as a record keeping audit, or monitoring the availability of records.In addition, in line with the Code of Practice, NHS trusts are responsible for ensuring they have appropriate policies and procedures in place to manage their records. This will usually be a standalone records management policy, with associated procedures, such as how to destroy records.Furthermore, NHS England’s Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) requires NHS trusts to understand legal and professional obligations for records management. The DSPT involves a periodic audit in which trusts have to demonstrate they are adhering to this requirement.Regulators also set out professional standards for health and care professionals. For example, the General Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice requires doctors to make sure that formal records of their work, including patients' records, are clear, accurate, contemporaneous, and legible.The Care Quality Commission has powers, under section 63(2)(b) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to access records held by the service that they are inspecting, where necessary, as part of their regulatory functions.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a requirement for insurance providers to request images of the front and back of an applicant’s driving licence as part of the quotation process.

Motor Insurers already have the option to sign up to the MyLicence service run by DVLA, where a motor insurer can check the electronic driver record of an applicant for all the relevant information. This service is predicated on direct consent from the individual seeking a policy quote.

What steps he is taking to ensure that NHS Trusts adhere to national guidelines on the (a) accuracy and (b) reliability of medical records.

Each National Health Service trust is a data controller under the Data Protection Act 2018, and therefore responsible for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of their records. To assist trusts in fulfilling these responsibilities, a range of guidance and assurance is in place.For example, NHS England publishes a Code of Practice on Records Management for all NHS trusts to follow. This covers all aspects of records management, including the accuracy and reliability of medical records. Each trust is responsible for following the principles and guidance set out in the code, which may include local measures, such as a record keeping audit, or monitoring the availability of records.In addition, in line with the Code of Practice, NHS trusts are responsible for ensuring they have appropriate policies and procedures in place to manage their records. This will usually be a standalone records management policy, with associated procedures, such as how to destroy records.Furthermore, NHS England’s Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) requires NHS trusts to understand legal and professional obligations for records management. The DSPT involves a periodic audit in which trusts have to demonstrate they are adhering to this requirement.Regulators also set out professional standards for health and care professionals. For example, the General Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice requires doctors to make sure that formal records of their work, including patients' records, are clear, accurate, contemporaneous, and legible.The Care Quality Commission has powers, under section 63(2)(b) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to access records held by the service that they are inspecting, where necessary, as part of their regulatory functions.

With reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Summary of reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief published on 30 October 2024, how many estates she expects to be affected from the combined reforms to the two reliefs on which the £495 million estimate in revenue is derived in 2027-28.

2021-22 is the latest available year for outturn statistics on APR and BPR claims. Further details around the timing of data releases for statistics around Inheritance Tax liabilities can be found in the ‘timeliness and punctuality’ section of the statistics’ Background Quality Report at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics-background-quality-report#timeliness-and-punctuality. 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 2,000 estates will be affected by the changes to APR and BPR. Up to around 520 of these are expected to relate to claims for APR (including those that also claim for BPR), and this number falls to around 430 when claims that include AIM shares are excluded. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) each year are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.

With reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Summary of reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief, published on 30 October 2024, what equivalent figures HMRC hold on claims for the two reliefs for years after the 2021-22 tax year.

2021-22 is the latest available year for outturn statistics on APR and BPR claims. Further details around the timing of data releases for statistics around Inheritance Tax liabilities can be found in the ‘timeliness and punctuality’ section of the statistics’ Background Quality Report at:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics-background-quality-report#timeliness-and-punctuality. 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 2,000 estates will be affected by the changes to APR and BPR. Up to around 520 of these are expected to relate to claims for APR (including those that also claim for BPR), and this number falls to around 430 when claims that include AIM shares are excluded. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) each year are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.

With reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Summary of reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief, published on 30 October 2024, whether the £1 million threshold for the two reliefs will be uprated over this Parliament by inflation.

The allowance will be £1 million from 6 April 2026. Decisions about future increases will be taken in the same way as for other inheritance tax reliefs.

Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with the Charity Commission on when the Commission plans to provide a substantive reply to the letter from the Conservative Party to the Commission of 14 June 2024, acknowledged by the Commission on 12 July 2024.

The Charity Commission responded to the Conservative Party’s Legal Officer on 15th August 2024, providing a full update on the case in question.