Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent the creation of non‑consensual sexualised images through the Grok Imagine app in the UK.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government has been clear that non-consensual intimate images are reprehensible and no service should allow their creation and distribution.
The Online Safety Act requires in-scope services to prevent such content appearing on in-scope services and to remove it swiftly when it does. Where they fail to do this, Ofcom has robust enforcement powers - including fining 10% of global revenue
Furthermore, the offence of creating intimate images without consent was signed into force last week. The Secretary of State announced it will be made a priority offence under the Online Safety Act – delivering the strongest protections in the Act for users from such content.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion Preseli)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department made of the potential impact in Wales of increasing the threshold of Agricultural Property and Relief and Businesses Property Relief to £2.5 million.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government announced that the allowance for 100 per cent rate of relief will be increased from £1 million to £2.5 million. This means a couple will now be able to pass on up to £5 million of agricultural or business assets tax-free between them, on top of the existing allowances such as the nil-rate band.
Information from claims is not recorded to enable constituency, regional or national breakdowns of the number of estates expected to be affected. However, compared to Budget 2025, the expected number of estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, forecast to pay more inheritance tax in 2026-27 halves from 375 to 185. Around 85 per cent of estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief in 2026-27, including those that also claim for business property relief, are forecast to pay no more inheritance tax on their estates under these changes.
Excluding estates only holding shares designated as ‘not listed’ on the markets of recognised stock exchanges, the reforms are also now expected to result in up to 220 estates across the UK only claiming business property relief paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. This is a reduction from up to 325 such estates forecast to pay more at Budget 2025. This means just over 80 per cent of such estates making claims are forecast to not pay any more inheritance tax.
A tax information and impact note has been published in the normal way for UK wide changes to the tax system. This is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-changes.