The requirements for reviewing the Sovereign Grant have been set by Parliament in the Sovereign Grant Act 2011, sections 6 and 7.

The Government has also committed to bring forward legislation to reset the Grant to a lower level from 2027-28 once Buckingham Palace Reservicing works are completed.

To further improve its management of the public sector balance sheet, at Budget 2025 the Government announced a Strategic Asset Review in support of the new £1 billion asset efficiency target. The Treasury will lead the review, which will be conducted ahead of the next spending review, and will engage with departments in due course.

As with all departments, HM Treasury undertook a line-by-line review of all activity within the Department.

The Chancellor has listened to regional leaders who have said that, for too long, the Green Book has downplayed the importance of local outcomes and the potential of targeted regional investment. The Chancellor commissioned a new review of the Green Book.

The conclusions of that review were published in June, setting out a new approach to public sector appraisal that will deliver a more effective assessment of place-based interventions. This includes the introduction of place-based business cases that will galvanise departments across Whitehall and highlight the reinforcing effects of different investments within an area.

Liverpool, Plymouth, Port Talbot and Birmingham will be the first early adopters of place-based business cases. HM Treasury will also publish an updated Green Book at the start of 2026.

A cross-government taskforce has been established to develop the approach to place-based business cases and oversee their implementation. This taskforce is currently comprised of the Second Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury responsible for regional growth and devolution, the Director General for Local Government, Growth and Communities in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Director General for Public Transport and Local Group in the Department for Transport, and the CEO of the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.

Currently there are no plans to carry out a fundamental review of all broad rental market areas (BRMAs).

The BRMA Review Protocol is published on GOV.UK here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/understanding-local-housing-allowances-rates-broad-rental-market-areas

When HMRC receives an R&D relief claim, it goes through a risk assessment process. New additional information requirements mean HMRC can more accurately identify claims that may not be compliant and reduce the number of valid claims being picked for a compliance check.

The length of a compliance check will depend however on a range of factors, including the complexity of the claim and customer engagement. At Autumn Budget, HMRC published the Approach to Research and Development Tax Reliefs for 2023 to 2024, which shows that the average time to complete a compliance check for 2023-24 was 246 days, down from 269 days in 2022-23.

HMRC processed 92% of R&D claims within 40 days in 2023 to 2024. This is above HMRC’s published customer service aim to process 85% of claims within 40 days of receipt. Processing means paying the claim, making contact to request further information, or refusing the claim, and, for claims identified as high-risk, starting an appropriately targeted compliance check.

Small businesses are vital to high streets and communities, and essential to the success of the government’s growth mission. The Government recognises the important role tax reliefs, including the R&D reliefs, play in strengthening small businesses’ ability to invest and grow.

Whilst it is right that HMRC is taking action to address error and fraud, the government is committed to responding to stakeholder feedback and improving administration to ensure the R&D reliefs continue to support our most innovative businesses.

As with all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps flat rates expenses, including Overseas Scale Rates, under review. Any decisions on future changes in this area will be taken in the context of the wider public finances.

As outlined in the response to PQ UIN 15200, the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will publish further information on the model and its use in supporting the Welsh Government’s Council Tax reform ambitions on GOV.UK before April 2025.

The information that will be published will be more up to date and cover similar content to the International Association of Assessing Officers presentations from 2023, so there is no intention to publish these.

As with all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps flat rates expenses, including Overseas Scale Rates, under review.

Any decisions on future changes in this area will be taken in the context of the wider public finances.

As with all taxes and allowances, the Government keeps flat rates expenses, including Overseas Scale Rates, under review.

Any decisions on future changes in this area will be taken in the context of the wider public finances.

The Government keeps all tax policy and legislation under review as part of the Budget process.

HMRC published both external research and internal analysis looking at the impacts of the reform to the off-payroll working rules in the private and voluntary sectors, introduced in April 2021.

HMRC will continue to provide support and guidance to individuals and businesses operating the rules and will continue to look for opportunities to improve the way these rules work in practice.

This Government has outlined its ambitions through the Plan for Change, which sets out a set of milestones, across the missions, for this Parliament.

The Government continually reviews its work to ensure that it is delivering the best outcomes for the people of the United Kingdom, and that its policies continue to represent the best value for the taxpayer. Public reviews will be available on Gov.uk as they are published.

As someone actively involved in a number of businesses, unlike the majority of Front Benchers, I have spent far too much of my life trying to communicate with His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, and I am not alone. Taxpayers cumulatively spent 798 years on hold with HMRC in 2022-23, and letters often go unanswered for months. When the phone is picked up, decent British taxpayers and their advisers increasingly are treated like criminals by arrogant, petty, unaccountable bureaucrats. Will the Chancellor commit to a comprehensive review of HMRC, to make it as accountable to the taxpayer as the taxpayer is to them—

The rules governing the Sovereign Grant are set out in the Sovereign Grant Act 2011. This Act requires a review following every five-year period to ensure the percentage of Crown Estate profits used in the calculation of the Grant remains appropriate.

In addition, any unspent surplus from the Sovereign Grant goes into a reserve fund. If this reserve fund goes above 50 per cent of annual expenditure, the level of the Sovereign Grant can be reduced, requiring the Household to draw down this reserve rather than receive excessive additional funding.

The Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011 states that the Office for Budget Responsibility's (OBR's) Non-executive committee must appoint a person or body at least once in every 5-year period to review and report on the OBR.

The Chair of the Oversight Board for the OBR formally commissioned the third external review on 24 May 2024 which is published on the OBR’s website: https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/Third-OBR-external-review_commissioning-letter_24-May-2024.pdf.

Previous external reviews are published on the OBR’s website. https://obr.uk/about-the-obr/external-reviews/

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government committed to an independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers.

Further details about the review will be set out in due course.

The Government is committed to an independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers.

Further details will be set out in due course.

I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 12606 on 11 November 2024.

The Government will commission a new independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers. Further details about the review will be set out in due course.