Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the number of farmers, tenants, partnerships, or limited companies, who do not use agricultural property relief but rely on business property relief, and who will be impacted by the reduction of business property relief for inheritance tax.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
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.
The reforms are expected to affect around 2,000 estates in 2026-27. Around 500 of these are expected to claim agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief. Around 1,500 are expected to claim business property relief. Around 1,000 of these are expected to only hold shares designated as “not listed” on the markets of recognised stock exchanges. This means around 500 estates are expected to claim business property relief on a range of other eligible business assets and pay more inheritance tax.
The reforms mean that around three-quarters of estates claiming business property relief in 2026-27 (excluding those only relating to holding shares designated as “not listed” on the markets of recognised stock exchanges) will not pay any more inheritance tax, nor will around three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including where they also claim business property relief.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration the examining authorities gave to the impact on farming in considering consent for the Cottam, Mallard Pass and Gate Burton solar farms recently approved by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
For each of these cases, the Examining Authorities’ Reports have been published alongside the Secretary of State’s Decision Letters on the Planning Inspectorate project pages. The consideration given to the impact on farming, as well as all other relevant matters, are set out in those documents.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to make exemptions from the seven-year potentially exempt transaction rule in order to allow farmers and family business owners to gift their businesses without risk of payment of inheritance tax.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief will be affected by these reforms. 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.
In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the investment that will be lost within family-owned businesses now subject to inheritance tax as a result of changes to the reliefs announced in the Budget.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief will be affected by these reforms. 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.
In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan for machinery, buildings and energy infrastructure to be valued at market value or depreciated value for the purposes of business property relief for inheritance tax.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The approach to valuations for inheritance tax purposes is well-established. Valuations are based on the open market value of an asset, in line with the provisions of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to value family businesses for inheritance tax based on the net asset value or their profitability.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The approach to valuations for inheritance tax purposes is well-established. Valuations are based on the open market value of an asset, in line with the provisions of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether renewable energy infrastructure will be taxed as a business asset for inheritance tax purposes.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
Any renewable energy infrastructure and equipment owned by a person liable to inheritance tax will be an asset of their estate for inheritance tax purposes. These assets can qualify for business property relief if (1) the assets are part of a business qualifying for business property relief and (2) if they are used in a qualifying business.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of losing agricultural property relief and business property relief for inheritance tax on the long-term ownership of land by private farmers and landowners, as opposed to UK and overseas-controlled corporate and institutional ownership.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
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 up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief will be affected by these reforms. Almost three quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) are expected to be unaffected.
In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they intend to replace investment in farm businesses lost as a result of the reduced agricultural and business property inheritance tax reliefs with an increase in the DEFRA capital budget.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government took a number of decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to restore economic stability, fix the public finances, and support public services. These were tough decisions given the situation we inherited from the previous administration, but the Government has done so in a way that makes the tax system fairer and more sustainable. This includes the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief.
Despite the fiscal constraints, the Farming and Countryside Programme budget has been protected at £5 billion across the next two years. This includes the largest ever proportion of the budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history. This will accelerate the transition to a more resilient and sustainable farming sector, supporting investment in farm businesses and boosting Britain’s food security.
Asked by: Lord Roborough (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to keep monthly data on farmer, landowner and family business owner suicides and suicide attempts.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.
The Lord Roborough
House of Lords
London
SW1A 0PW
29 November 2024
Dear Lord Roborough,
As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking whether we plan to keep monthly data on farmer, landowner and family business owner suicides and suicide attempts (HL2859).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes annual suicide death registration statistics for England and Wales[1]. Also published regularly are provisional statistics on suicide death registrations by quarter in England[2]. As these statistics are based on death registrations, they do not inform us about suicide attempts. The ONS holds death registrations for England and Wales only; separate figures for Scotland and Northern Ireland and are available from the National Records of Scotland (NRS)[3] and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA)[4], respectively.
Suicide deaths are few enough in number that disaggregating them by age group or region in our quarterly provisional statistics for England presents very small numbers for some groups. Statistics such as change in rates of suicide deaths for small groups can therefore be volatile and uncertain. As such, while the ONS is committed to continuing its quarterly publication of suicide statistics and analysing suicide deaths by occupation using annual data[5], a more regular presentation of suicide deaths by occupation is not planned.
The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) produce a statistical report on near to real-time suspected suicide surveillance (nRTSSS) for England[6], which is revised monthly, but does not present suicides by occupation.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
[3]https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/publications/probable-suicides-2023/
[4]https://www.nisra.gov.uk/statistics/cause-death/suicide-deaths