Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients were seen at North Cambs Diagnostic Centre in each month since its opening in June 2023.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Published data is not held in the format requested. Activity data, specifically the number of tests delivered, rather than patients seen, for community diagnostic centres (CDCs) is held centrally and published at the national level, and is available at the following link:
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many officials were working in his Department, excluding Arm’s Length Bodies, on (a) 13 November 2023, (b) 5 July 2024 and (c) 27 November 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department only holds data on the number of officials working in the Department at the end of each calendar month. The following table shows the data for the end of each calendar month from July 2022 to October 2024:
Month | Headcount | Full-time equivalent |
July 2022 | 4,037 | 3,916 |
August 2022 | 3,981 | 3,840 |
September 2022 | 4,015 | 3,874 |
October 2022 | 3,979 | 3,838 |
November 2022 | 3,978 | 3,837 |
December 2022 | 3,913 | 3778 |
January 2023 | 3,843 | 3,708 |
February 2023 | 3,730 | 3,598 |
March 2023 | 3,670 | 3,541 |
April 2023 | 3,533 | 3,407 |
May 2023 | 3,516 | 3,392 |
June 2023 | 3,456 | 3,335 |
July 2023 | 3,374 | 3,254 |
August 23 | 3,327 | 3,208 |
September 2023 | 3,306 | 3,187 |
October 2023 | 3,301 | 3,184 |
November 2023 | 3,287 | 3,165 |
December 2023 | 3,185 | 3,073 |
January 2024 | 3,185 | 3,074 |
February 2024 | 3,213 | 3,103 |
March 2024 | 3,253 | 3,146 |
April 2024 | 3,308 | 3,201 |
May 2024 | 3,336 | 3,232 |
June 2024 | 3,403 | 3,294 |
July 2024 | 3,450 | 3,340 |
August 2024 | 3,475 | 3,367 |
September 2024 | 3,544 | 3,431 |
October 2024 | 3,599 | 3,483 |
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data his Department holds on the (a) area and (b) value of (i) farms and (ii) farmland at a (A) hereditament and (B) local authority level.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Defra June Survey of Agriculture has statistical estimates of the English farmland areas at local authority level, the latest available is for 2021. Please note this survey only covers commercial holdings (defined as farms with more than five hectares of agricultural land, one hectare of orchards, 0.5 hectares of vegetables, 0.1 hectares of protected crops, 10 cows, 50 pigs, 20 sheep, 20 goats or 1,000 poultry).
Defra produces statistical estimates of the total income from farming by English county Data are only available on total fixed capital (value of land, plant and buildings) at UK level due to the calculation methodology used.
Defra do not hold financial data for farms at holding level. Some financial information is published at a farm business level (where multiple farm holdings can constitute a single farm business). This information is based on the Farm Business Survey which only covers farm businesses in England with a Standard Output of more than £21,000. Whilst the Survey captures the majority of agricultural activity, it excludes around 43,000 smaller businesses (which account for 2% of output). This means the statistics cannot be used to infer any statistical estimates for the whole population of farms. The published 2022/23 balance sheet statistics, which include the distribution of farms by net worth by region, are available in Table 6 of the Balance Sheets.
Please note that the data being asked for is already publicly available on the Defra Farming Statistics webpages: Food, Farming and Bio-security statistics - GOV.UK
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data the Rural Payments Agency holds on the (a) area and (b) value of (i) farms and (ii) farmland at a (A) hereditament and (B) local authority level.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) does not hold data at hereditament level, or any data on values of farms or farmland.
It does hold data on areas of land for businesses registered with the RPA and associated agricultural land, i.e. land registered as Arable, Pasture and Permanent Crops.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the number of farm holdings that are estimated to have a net value of (a) between £1,000,000 and £1,499,999, (b) between £1,500,000 and £1,999,999 and (c) over £2,000,000 in (i) England, (ii) Cambridgeshire and (iii) North East Cambridgeshire constituency.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold financial data for farms at holding level. Some financial information is published at a farm business level (where multiple farm holdings can constitute a single farm business). This information is based on the Farm Business Survey which only covers farm businesses in England with a Standard Output of more than £21,000. Whilst the Survey captures the majority of agricultural activity, it excludes around 43,000 smaller businesses (which account for 2% of output). This means the statistics cannot be used to infer any statistical estimates for the whole population of farms. The published 2022/23 balance sheet statistics, which include the distribution of farms by net worth by region, are available in Table 6 of the Balance Sheets: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66d0410957321cdac841840a/fbs_balancesheetanalysis_2022_23.ods. The 2023/24 data will be published in March 2025.
For the East of England, the 2022/23 data shows that 17% of Farm Business Survey farms had a net worth between £1 million and £1.49 million, and 58% had a net worth above £1.5 million.
Farm business assets are not a clear guide to inheritance tax liabilities which are due on an individual’s estate at the time of their death whereas farm businesses can have multiple ownership and can be passed on as gifts before death.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to Inheritance Tax announced in the Autumn Budget 2024 on levels of production of the five key crops by tonnage in the next five years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The level of crop production is always subject to factors such as weather conditions and prevailing prices. Beyond such normal factors, the Government does not expect the inheritance tax changes to have a material impact on crop production.
We have robust domestic production, which alongside stable trade routes and diverse supply chains ensures the country continues to benefit from high food security. With the largest ever investment in sustainable food production, through our Environmental Land Management schemes, we are securing long term food security.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what is the cost of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme; and when she plans to make a decision on the renewal of that scheme.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme providing grants towards Vat paid on reports and maintenance is a demand-led programme and operates with a total budget of up to £42m per year, funded jointly by DCMS and HMT reserve. In the financial year 23/24 a total of £29,161,870 was granted to listed places of worship.
Departmental settlements have been set following the Budget announcement on October 30. Individual programmes, such as the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, will now be assessed during the departmental Business Planning process.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on the proportion of farm holdings that are owned by a single person or entity.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In 2021, the statistical estimates for the proportion of farmers in England who have financial and legal responsibility for an agricultural holding is shown below:
Financial and legal responsibility for a holding | Proportion of holdings |
One person | 46% |
Two or more people who are close family members | 49% |
Two or more people who are not related | 1% |
An organisation (or a legal person) | 4% |
Sourced from the Defra June Survey of Agriculture
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what data HM Revenue and Customs holds on the (a) area and (b) value of (i) farms and (ii) farmland.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC receives information in relation to the agricultural value of agricultural land, buildings, and other assets as part of claims for agricultural property relief. This information relates to the agricultural property owned by the individual who may not own all of the relevant farm
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to page 118 of Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, and page 32 of the Budget Policy Costings document, if she will publish the (a) methodology and (b) data sources on how the revenue from the (i) agricultural property relief and (ii) business property relief was estimated.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has published information about reforms to agricultural property relief at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-are-the-changes-to-agricultural-property-relief.
Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) in 2026-27 are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.
Historic data published by HMRC shows that in 2021-22, 73% of estates making agricultural property relief claims did so on total amounts worth less than £1m.
HMRC is commissioned by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) at each fiscal event to produce Inheritance Tax receipts forecasts. More information behind this process is published on the OBR website: https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/tax-by-tax-spend-by-spend/inheritance-tax/.
HMRC analysis suggests that in 2026-27, 500 estates claiming agricultural property relief will receive a lower financial benefit as a result of the Government’s reforms, out of a projected total of 1,800 estates making agricultural property relief claims in that year. This means that around three-quarters of estates making agricultural property relief claims will be unaffected by this measure.