Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications for the capital grant scheme were received by his Department in each month since July 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) received a total of 5,470 applications for the capital grant scheme between July and November 2024 with 1,884 Agreements offered during this period with an average value of £14,011.
Across the summer, a much larger volume of applications, than expected, were received meaning more time was required to process.
In light of these higher volumes, offers on new applications were not made to allow monitoring of the impact on the intended scheme outcomes and to investigate the implications of the increased value of some applications
The monthly breakdown is as follows:
| July | August | September | October | November | Total |
Applications Received | 963 | 937 | 978 | 1,403 | 1,189 | 5,470 |
Agreements Offered* | 904 | 961 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 1,882 |
Average Value of Claims Paid** | £12,952 | £13,323 | £14,006 | £14,420 | £15,094 | £14,011 |
* The application may have been received prior to July 2024.
** This relates to all claims paid within July to November regardless of when the agreement started. Agreement holders have up to 3 years from start date to submit their claim.
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average award received through his Department's capital grant scheme was in (a) July, (b) August, (c) September, (d) October and (e) November.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) received a total of 5,470 applications for the capital grant scheme between July and November 2024 with 1,884 Agreements offered during this period with an average value of £14,011.
Across the summer, a much larger volume of applications, than expected, were received meaning more time was required to process.
In light of these higher volumes, offers on new applications were not made to allow monitoring of the impact on the intended scheme outcomes and to investigate the implications of the increased value of some applications
The monthly breakdown is as follows:
| July | August | September | October | November | Total |
Applications Received | 963 | 937 | 978 | 1,403 | 1,189 | 5,470 |
Agreements Offered* | 904 | 961 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 1,882 |
Average Value of Claims Paid** | £12,952 | £13,323 | £14,006 | £14,420 | £15,094 | £14,011 |
* The application may have been received prior to July 2024.
** This relates to all claims paid within July to November regardless of when the agreement started. Agreement holders have up to 3 years from start date to submit their claim.
Asked by: Victoria Atkins (Conservative - Louth and Horncastle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications for the capital grant scheme were approved by his Department in each month since July 2024.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Rural Payments Agency (RPA) received a total of 5,470 applications for the capital grant scheme between July and November 2024 with 1,884 Agreements offered during this period with an average value of £14,011.
Across the summer, a much larger volume of applications, than expected, were received meaning more time was required to process.
In light of these higher volumes, offers on new applications were not made to allow monitoring of the impact on the intended scheme outcomes and to investigate the implications of the increased value of some applications
The monthly breakdown is as follows:
| July | August | September | October | November | Total |
Applications Received | 963 | 937 | 978 | 1,403 | 1,189 | 5,470 |
Agreements Offered* | 904 | 961 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 1,882 |
Average Value of Claims Paid** | £12,952 | £13,323 | £14,006 | £14,420 | £15,094 | £14,011 |
* The application may have been received prior to July 2024.
** This relates to all claims paid within July to November regardless of when the agreement started. Agreement holders have up to 3 years from start date to submit their claim.
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.