Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Duchy of Cornwall is liable to inheritance tax.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Duchy of Cornwall is not liable to pay inheritance tax as it is a Crown body subject to Crown exemption.
The Prince of Wales receives the annual income generated by the Duchy of Cornwall, but is not entitled to the capital of the Duchy. While the Crown exemption applies to income received from the Duchy, the Prince of Wales pays tax voluntarily on his income received from the Duchy of Cornwall to the extent that is not used to meet official expenditure. The Prince of Wales is otherwise subject to taxation in the normal way. These arrangements are set out in The Memorandum of Understanding on Royal Taxation, which is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/memorandum-of-understanding-on-royal-taxation-2023
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 29 October (HL1753), whether they will place a copy of the accounts of the Duchy of Cornwall and the Duchy of Lancaster for the last 10 years in the Library of the House.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
As required by the Duchy of Lancaster and Cornwall Accounts Act 1838, the Annual Accounts of the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall are laid before Parliament every year. Copies are accessible through the Vote Office and Printed Paper Office. Copies of the accounts for recent years from both Duchies are also available on their respective websites.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have received, in each of the past 10 years, accounts for the Duchy of Cornwall and the Duchy of Lancaster, as required under the Duchy of Lancaster and Cornwall Accounts Act 1838.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
All the requirements contained in the Duchy of Lancaster and Cornwall Accounts Act 1838 have been met in each of the past ten years, with one exception. The exception was the Duchy of Cornwall Accounts for 2023-24, which could not be presented to Parliament by the 30 June 2024 deadline, due to Parliament having been dissolved ahead of the 2024 General Election. Those accounts were instead presented to the new Parliament on 23 July 2024.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the income from the Crown Estates for the past five years; what proportion of this is allocated to the Royal Family and for what purpose; and what plans they have, if any, to review this allocation.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The net revenue surplus from The Crown Estate (TCE) is in the public domain and can be obtained from the TCE annual accounts.
Information for the last five years is set out below :
The King surrenders this revenue from The Crown Estate to the government. In exchange, the King receives public funding in line with the Sovereign Grant Act 2011. The Act specifies that the Sovereign receives a grant each financial year.
Under the Act, the Grant is currently based on 25% of The Crown Estate's revenue account profit in the year two years prior to the funding year. The Act also requires that the Royal Trustees (the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Keeper of the Privy Purse) periodically review whether the percentage used remains appropriate.
The Royal Trustees’ second periodic review of the percentage value used to determine the Sovereign Grant is expected to conclude shortly. This will take account of expected changes to The Crown Estate’s revenues. Any change in the percentage value will then be used in the calculation of the Grant for 2024-25.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government on what occasions, and for what purposes, the Duchy of Cornwall has (1) sought, and (2) been given, approval to start arbitration proceedings under the Duchy of Cornwall Management Act 1863.
Answered by Baroness Penn
The requirement for the Duchy of Cornwall to seek Treasury consent before referring a matter to arbitration are contained in section 18 of the Duchy of Cornwall Act 1863.
This requirement would only arise in very specific and narrow circumstances, where both the Duchy and the counterparty with whom the Duchy has a dispute elect that the matter be settled by arbitration. Treasury consent is not required where the Duchy is otherwise statutorily bound to enter into arbitration proceedings.
Since the start of 2001, His Majesty’s Treasury has received no applications to start arbitration proceedings under the Duchy of Cornwall Management Act 1863. The costs of establishing whether any application was received prior to that date could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Penn on 28 June (HL1076), whether (1) His Royal Highness the Duke of York, (2) His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex, and (3) the Duchess of Sussex, are members of the Royal Family for the purpose of receiving Sovereign Grant funding when conducting official duties on behalf of Her Majesty.
Answered by Baroness Penn
No; only those Members of the Royal Family who currently undertake official duties on behalf of Her Majesty, The Queen receive funding from the Sovereign Grant.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they funded the return charter flight for the Duke of Sussex from the United States to the UK for the Queen's Jubilee celebrations.
Answered by Baroness Penn
No public money was used for the charter flight for the Duke of Sussex from the United States to the UK.The Government provides financial support to the Queen known as the Sovereign Grant, to fund The Queen's official duties and maintain the Occupied Royal Palaces. Funding from the Sovereign Grant only covers expenses incurred by other Members of the Royal Family when they undertake official duties on behalf of Her Majesty.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much taxation revenue was collected from each of the three cross-Solent ferry operators in each of the last five years.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
HMRC is bound by a strict duty of confidentiality, as laid down in the Commissioners for Revenue & Customs Act 2005, with respect to all the information it holds. Therefore, HMRC is unable to provide identifiable customer information in connection with its functions.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Annual Report on Major Projects 2020–21 by from the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, published on 15 July, (1) why historical data of eight years of 'amber/red' or 'red' colour ratings has been deleted, (2) why the HS2 project has been separated into Phases 1, 2a and 2b, and (3) on what (a) costs, (b) benefits, and (c) timetable, are the revised assessments of Phases 1 and 2b made; and what steps they plan to take to ensure these are assessed as 'amber' or 'green' in the 2021–22 report.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The IPA is not responsible for the individual GMPP projects, and the decisions to re-assess, or cancel a project belong to the relevant Departmental Accounting Officer.
The previous Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) rating colours for HS2 are not shown as this is the first time that the individual phases of the project have been presented in the IPA’s Annual Report, previously HS2 has been presented as a single project.
The IPA will continue to work closely with all departments and delivery bodies, including the Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd to ensure efficient and effective delivery to drive construction innovation and capture and share lessons learned.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Annual Report on Major Projects 2020–21 by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, published on 15 July, in respect of the projects categorised 'red', what plans they have (1) to reassess the need for these projects, and (2) to cancel these projects; and what estimate they have made of the savings that would result from cancelling these projects.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
The IPA is not responsible for the individual GMPP projects, and the decisions to re-assess, or cancel a project belong to the relevant Departmental Accounting Officer.
The previous Delivery Confidence Assessment (DCA) rating colours for HS2 are not shown as this is the first time that the individual phases of the project have been presented in the IPA’s Annual Report, previously HS2 has been presented as a single project.
The IPA will continue to work closely with all departments and delivery bodies, including the Department for Transport and HS2 Ltd to ensure efficient and effective delivery to drive construction innovation and capture and share lessons learned.