Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2026 to WPQ 104190, how many estates were liable to inheritance tax by constituency over the last five years aggregated.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As stated in my previous answer, these statistics are publicly available. The estimated number of estates liable to Inheritance Tax, broken down by UK (Westminster) Parliamentary Constituency, is published annually as part of HMRC’s Inheritance Tax Liabilities statistics, and is available in Table 12.9 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many estates were liable to inheritance tax passing on death in each parliamentary constituency, over the last five year period taken as a whole.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The estimated number of estates liable to Inheritance Tax, broken down by UK (Westminster) Parliamentary Constituency, is published annually as part of HMRC’s Inheritance Tax Liabilities statistics, and is available in Table 12.9 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/inheritance-tax-liabilities-statistics. The latest tax year for which statistics are available is 2022-23; data for earlier years are available on the National Archives website. Data for 2023-24 is scheduled to be published in July 2026 in the normal way.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many disciplinary cases were concluded against civil servants in (a) her Department and (b) its agencies by (i) outcome and (ii) whether the primary allegation related to (A) performance and (B) conduct in the last twelve months.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMT don’t hold the information for disciplinary cases in agencies. Where there is an issue in staff performance, HMT have a managing poor performance policy to manage any concerns. Our disciplinary policy covers issues with conduct.
In the last twelve months, there have been six disciplinary cases concluded against civil servants. We consider that providing an exact breakdown of outcome would constitute the disclosure of personal data. This is because section 40(2) of the FOI Act, by virtue of section 40(3A) provides an absolute exemption for third party personal data, where disclosure would contravene any of the data protection principles set out in Article 5 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The first data protection principle requires the disclosure of third-party personal data to be lawful, fair and transparent. We believe that releasing the information would breach the first data protection principle, since it would be unlawful and unfair to release the information.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of staff in each grade were rated in the top performance category in the last year.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Performance management reviews are conducted in accordance with the relevant policies and procedures within HM Treasury. The table below presents the percentage of staff in each grade who achieved the highest performance rating in the 2024–25 end-of-year performance management process, which concluded on 31st March 2025:
Grade | Number of those in each grade that received the highest performance rating | Percentage of those in each grade that received the highest performance rating |
AO | Less than 30 | N/A |
EO | 58 | 28% |
HEO | 117 | 26% |
SEO | 91 | 32% |
Grade 7 | 209 | 32% |
Grade 6 | 91 | 32% |
SCS Grades | 41 | 30% |
For delegated grades the high performance category is defined as delivering exceptional performance, consistently exceeding expectations in both the achievement of objectives (‘what’ is delivered) and the demonstration of organisational values and behaviours (‘how’ the work is carried out).
For SCS the exceeded performance category is defined as exceeding outcomes, exceeding expected competency and behavioral standards. The members of the SCS should have consistently performed above and beyond all of their agreed stretching objectives throughout the performance year.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of staff were promoted (a) in-grade and (b) to a higher grade in the last year by (i) performance marking in the previous year and (ii) grade.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
(a) This information is not held centrally due to there being no definition of an “in-grade promotion”.
(b) Please see below a table which sets out promotions in the year 2024-25 by box marking in the previous year (2023-24) .
| Promotions in year 2024-25 by Box Marking in Previous Year (2023-24) | ||
Grade promoted from | 1/Top | 2/Achieving | Unknown/No box marking |
Range B (AO) | <30 | <30 | <30 |
Range C (EO) | <30 | <30 | <30 |
HEO | 39 (2%) | 40 (2%) | <30 |
SEO | <30 | <30 | <30 |
Range E (G7) | <30 | <30 | <30 |
Range E2 (G6) | <30 | <30 | <30 |
SCS 1 | <30 | <30 | <30 |
Please note that data that could identify individuals has been suppressed. All proportions have been rounded to the nearest whole percentage; and any proportions based on less than 30 employees have been suppressed.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the average number of working days lost to sickness absence per full-time equivalent member of staff was in (a) her Department and (b) its executive agencies in the last year; and how many formal performance warnings were issued to staff whose absence exceeded departmental triggers.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Information on the average number of working days lost to sickness within the department for 2024 - 2025 is published annually through the HM Treasury annual report and accounts at the following web address: HM Treasury annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK (Page 102).
This information can also be found for HM Treasury’s executive agencies at the following web addresses:
Government Internal Audit Agency: GIAA Annual Report and Accounts 2024-2025 - GOV.UK (Page 78);
UK Debt Management Office: UK Debt Management Office and Debt Management Account annual report and accounts, 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK (Page 67).
HM Treasury does not issue performance warnings to those who exceed the absence trigger point as absence triggers are managed under the attendance management policy.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the cost was of (a) settlement agreements and (b) special severance payments made to departing staff in the last year.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
There have been zero settlement agreements made to departing staff in the last year.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the cost of VAT relief for Motability in (a) 2025 and (b) each year of the Budget forecast.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC publishes estimates of the costs of tax reliefs in its annual publication: Non-structural tax reliefs - GOV.UK. The VAT relief “Vehicles and other supplies to disabled people (vehicles only)” includes the cost of VAT reliefs for supplies of vehicles to disabled people, including but not limited to Motability. The next release of this publication will be on 22 January 2026 and will include an estimate for 2024-25 and a forecast for 2025-26.
At Budget 2025 the government announced tax changes to the Motability scheme which will save over £1 billion over the next five years. The VAT relief for top-up payments made to lease more expensive vehicles will be removed for new leases from 1 July 2026, and Insurance Premium Tax will apply at the standard rate to insurance contracts on the Scheme from 1 July 2026. The tax changes will not apply to vehicles designed, or substantially and permanently adapted, for wheelchair or stretcher users. These tax changes ensure Motability can continue to deliver for its customers, for example through the continued provision of a broad range of vehicle models available without any top-up payments.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2025 to Question 87382 on Treasury: Employment Tribunals Service, how many employment tribunal claims have been lodged against her Department in the last 12 months.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury have had one employment tribunal claim lodged against them in the last 12 months.Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people were employed by the (a) Financial Conduct Authority and (b) Prudential Regulation Authority in each year since 2005.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
These are matters for the Financial Conduct Authority, the Prudential Regulation Authority, the Payment Systems Regulator and the Financial Ombudsman Service , which are operationally independent from Government. These organisations will each respond to the Honourable Member by letter, and a copy of the letters will be placed in the Library of the House of Commons.