Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings she has had with the (a) National Farmers Union, (b) Country Land and Business Association, (c) Countryside Alliance, (d) Tenant Association Farmers and (e) Central Association for Agricultural Valuers since 30 October 2024.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer 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 Government takes into account all representations, and HM Treasury officials and Ministers meet with stakeholders on a regular basis.
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what meetings she had with the (a) National Farmers Union, (b) Country Land and Business Association, (c) Countryside Alliance, (d) Tenant Association Farmers and (e) Central Association for Agricultural Valuers before 30 October 2024.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer 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 Government takes into account all representations, and HM Treasury officials and Ministers meet with stakeholders on a regular basis.
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12741 on Business: Inheritance Tax, how many and what proportion of the estates that claimed both agricultural property relief and business property relief (a) were family farms and (b) would have paid inheritance tax under the changes made at the Autumn Budget 2024.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
When estates include a claim for both APR and BPR, the estate may not consist entirely of a farming business and its working capital. HMRC estimates that of the population of estates that claimed both APR and BPR in 2021-22, almost a quarter included a BPR claim for shares on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). It is likely that those particular assets contained within those estates represent, at least in part, investment portfolios set up in order to minimise inheritance tax liabilities, rather than being comprised solely of farming businesses. It is also possible that any claim for BPR is for a business unconnected to any farming activities.
More information is available in the Chancellor's recent letter to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/45691/documents/226235/default/.
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12741 on Business: Inheritance Tax, how many and what proportion of the estates that claimed both agricultural property relief and business property relief were (a) working farms and (b) other claimants.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
When estates include a claim for both APR and BPR, the estate may not consist entirely of a farming business and its working capital. HMRC estimates that of the population of estates that claimed both APR and BPR in 2021-22, almost a quarter included a BPR claim for shares on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). It is likely that those particular assets contained within those estates represent, at least in part, investment portfolios set up in order to minimise inheritance tax liabilities, rather than being comprised solely of farming businesses. It is also possible that any claim for BPR is for a business unconnected to any farming activities.
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2024 to Question 12741 on Business: Inheritance Tax, what the combined value of assets qualifying for relief was in the estates that claimed both agricultural property relief and business property relief.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In 2021-22, the total combined value of agricultural and business property relief (APR, BPR) from those estates that claimed both reliefs was £1.6 billion.
When estates include a claim for both APR and BPR, the estate may not consist entirely of a farming business and its working capital. HMRC estimates that of the population of estates that claimed both APR and BPR in 2021-22, almost a quarter included a BPR claim for shares on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM). It is likely that those particular assets contained within those estates represent, at least in part, investment portfolios set up in order to minimise inheritance tax liabilities, rather than being comprised solely of farming businesses. It is also possible that any claim for BPR is for a business unconnected to any farming activities.
More information is available in the Chancellor's recent letter to the Chair of the Treasury Select Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/45691/documents/226235/default/.
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department’s publication entitled Summary of reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief, published on 30 October 2024, how many Agricultural Property Relief claims in the reference period also included claims for Business Property Relief.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has 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.
In 2021-22, 782 estates making agricultural property relief claims also made business property relief claims.
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many procedures were delivered by surgical hubs opened since 27 October 2021 in (a) January, (b) February, (c) March, (d) April, (e) May, (f) June and (g) July 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between October 2021 and 4 July 2024, 18 new Targeted Investment Fund (TIF2) funded surgical hubs have opened. Elective Hub data is only available from April 2024, when the Elective Hub dashboard was established.
Of the 18 new TIF2 funded surgical hubs, only 11 surgical hubs are reporting data. The data shows that 6,302 surgical procedures were delivered by the 11 reporting hubs in April 2024; 6,142 in May 2024, and; 5,959 in June 2024. There were 7,572,563 pathways on the elective waiting list in April 2024; 7,603,812 in May 2024; 7,622,949 in June 2024 and 7,624,600 in July 2024.
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) checks, (b) tests and (c) scans were carried out at community diagnostic centres opened since the 2021 Spending Review in (i) January 2024, (ii) February 2024, (iii) March 2024, (iv) April 2024, (v) May 2024, (vi) June 2024 and (vii) July 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of the end of June 2024, community diagnostics centres (CDCs) had delivered 9,292,578 tests, checks and scans since the 2021 Spending Review at the end of October. Over this period, the diagnostic waiting list has increased from 1,428,415 as at the end of October 2021 where 356,784 (25.0%) people were waiting over six weeks, to 1,639,813 at the end of June 2024 where 375,416 (23.9%) people were waiting over 6-weeks for a diagnostic test. 2024/25 NHS Operational Planning Guidance set an objective for just 5% to be waiting six weeks. Due to seasonal effects, some care should be exercised when comparing six week wait percentages figures in different months of the year.
CDC activity data is published monthly and cannot be provided up to a specific date within that month. Published CDC activity data details activity from July 2021 to August 2024. This is available at the following link:
Monthly activity and waiting list data for diagnostics is published monthly and is available at the following link:
The following table lists the number of checks, tests and scans delivered in each of the requested months across 2024:
Month | CDC activity delivered since Oct-21 Spending Review | CDC activity delivered in each month |
Jan-24 | 6,841,026 | 393,742 |
Feb-24 | 7,279,148 | 438,122 |
Mar-24 | 7,826,454 | 547,306 |
Apr-24 | 8,263,510 | 437,056 |
May-24 | 8,718,759 | 455,249 |
Jun-24 | 9,292,578 | 573,819 |
Jul-24 | 9,771,674 | 479,096 |
Source: NHS England
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) first stage and (b) second stage cancer patients received a diagnosis following an appointment at a community diagnostic centre opened since the 2021 Spending Review.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Data on the routes to diagnosis for cancer, which is collated and published by the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS) does not specify the setting where the diagnostic test took place, so we do not hold the information on diagnoses following appointments in CDCs.
As of the end of August 2024, the diagnostic waiting list was 1,559,284, where 373,126 (23.9%) patients were waiting over six weeks. This compares to 1,428,415 as at the end of October 2021, following the 2021 Spending Review, where 356,784 (25%) patients were waiting over 6-weeks for a diagnostic test. 2024/25 NHS Operational Planning Guidance set an objective for just 5% to be waiting six weeks. Due to seasonal effects, some care should be exercised when comparing six week wait percentages figures in different months of the year.
In August 2024, performance against the Faster Diagnosis Standard was 75.5%, 0.5 percentage points above the operational standard. Due to the impact of working days per month and seasonality, impacting the amount of activity per month, we cannot directly compare performance to October 2021.
Monthly activity and waiting list data for diagnostics is published monthly and is available at the following link:
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many procedures were delivered by surgical hubs opened since the 2021 Spending Review, as of 4 July 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between the 2021 Spending Review and 4 July 2024, 18 new Targeted Investment Fund (TIF2) funded surgical hubs have opened. Elective Hub data is only available from April 2024, when the Elective Hub dashboard was established.
Of the 18 new TIF2 funded surgical hubs, only 11 surgical hubs are reporting data. This data shows that between 1 April 2024 and 1 July 2024 the 11 reporting surgical hubs have delivered 18,403 procedures.
Between 30 April 2021 and 30 June 2024, the elective waiting list increased by 2,499,232 from 5,123,717 to 7,622,949.