§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how often his Department carries out monitoring of land where agreements have been reached on the granting of exemptions of inheritance tax for public access; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. DorrellRegular monitoring of undertakings given in return for the conditional exemption of land from inheritance tax is carried out, on behalf of Inland Revenue, by the appropriate heritage advisory agency. As part of the regular monitoring, owners are required to submit an annual report to the agency. In addition the Inland Revenue separately review all such cases at five yearly intervals.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the number of agreements for the exemption of inheritance tax to granting public access that have been broken for each year since 1983; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. DorrellThe appropriate heritage advisory agencies monitor the operation of undertakings on public access. Any issues arising are resolved in discussion between the agencies and landowners. Where issues could not be resolved in this fashion, the agencies would notify the Inland Revenue. To date there has been no occasion on which they have had to do this.
If a land owner breaks an undertaking given in respect of conditionally exempt land, inheritance tax is chargeable on the current value of the property. This provides a powerful incentive to honour the terms of the undertaking.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what conditions are imposed on the length of time from agreement on exemptions on inheritance tax for the granting of public access to land; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. DorrellPublic access to land which has been conditionally exempted from inheritance tax is required as soon as detailed negotiations have been completed.