Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many employees of arm's-length bodies receive more than £100,000 in salaries and other benefits.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The Cabinet Office does not hold the information requested. Pay for senior officials in arms-length bodies (ALBs) is set by the employing ALB and/or the sponsor department.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government how much they expect to contribute to the European Union under the trade agreement reached on 19 May.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

There will be implementation costs associated with the UK-EU reset agreement, which will be confirmed in due course once we have negotiated the details of the agreement. This will include proportionate contributions in specific and limited areas, such as where access to specific IT systems will help to remove trade barriers for UK firms or manage biosecurity risks. The UK will also negotiate fair financial contributions to the Erasmus+ programme which will reflect the benefits of participation. We will not be making general contributions to the EU budget.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications of their policy of inheritance taxation for agricultural land on (1) family farms in Northern Ireland, and (2) the United Kingdom's food security.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free.

Information from claims is not recorded to enable regional or national breakdowns of the number of estates expected to be affected. However, the Government has set out that the reforms are expected to result in up to around 520 estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.

The Government’s decisions at Autumn Budget 2024 provided £5 billion over two years for farming and land management in England, which will restore stability and confidence in the sector, strengthening food security alongside nature’s recovery. This is the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether customs declarations will be required for goods covered by the EU-UK 'reset' agreement; and whether Northern Ireland will be subject to continuing ‘dynamic’ alignment with EU rules for such goods.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The new Windsor Framework customs arrangements introduced on 1 May will remain in place, in addition to the arrangements put forward for sanitary and phytosanitary goods (SPS) at the UK-EU Summit. The arrangements introduced on May 1 ensure that goods sent to or from consumers will not be subject to customs declarations or duty. We have also introduced a range of schemes to support businesses by removing unnecessary checks and paperwork; over 10,000 businesses are already signed up to the UK Internal Market Scheme.

The new UK-EU Common Understanding agrees to remove a broad and wide-ranging set of requirements for sanitary and phytosanitary goods and plants moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

When implemented, there will be no need for SPS paperwork such as health certificates to move agrifood or plant products to Northern Ireland, no mandatory identity or physical checks on those goods, no need for Plant Health Labels when moving plants for planting, seed potatoes, and used agricultural machinery, and no bans on ‘high risk’ plants.

The continued application of the Windsor Framework would provide for Northern Ireland maintaining its privileged unique dual access to both the European Union Single Market and the United Kingdom internal market.