theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_10
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_10

Ruth Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what criteria his Department uses to determine which countries are monitored for violations of freedom of religion or belief. \p Stephen Doughty: The UK remains strongly committed to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) for all abroad. It is our firm opinion that no one should live in fear because of what they do or do not believe in. We are championing the right to FoRB and promoting tolerance and mutual respect through our engagement in multilateral fora including the UN and Article 18 Alliance, our bilateral work, working collaboratively with the Special Envoy for FoRB, David Smith and our programme funding.

Our network of diplomatic posts around the world monitor and report on human rights, including FoRB. We also draw on other information sources including the regular reports of the United Nations Special Rapporteur for FoRB.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Steve Witherden:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of supporting the Fund for International Co-operative Development. \p Stephen Doughty: The Government recognises the important contribution cooperatives have made in serving local communities around the world. Cooperatives are a tried-and-tested model in international development, that can enable citizens and producers to access services or markets and strengthen their voice in local processes. Cooperatives can enable sustainable and inclusive development centred on self-help, democratic ownership, and concern for the community. The UK has supported cooperatives and producer organisations in developing countries, including, for example in agriculture through funding to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP), which supports producer organisations, and the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness Programme (CASA), which partners with cooperatives and small agribusinesses in low-income countries to improve smallholder farmers' access to markets. We will set out our spending plans following the completion of the spending review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Tonia Antoniazzi:To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2025 to Question 40390 on Data, Statistics and Research on Sex and Gender Independent Review, what steps his Department is taking to implement the recommendations of the Sullivan Review of Data, Statistics and Research on Sex and Gender, published on 19 March 2025. \p Stephen Doughty: The government has now published the independent review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender commissioned by the previous government. We are considering the findings in light of ongoing policy work in this area.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office recognises that high quality disaggregated data is needed to meaningfully understand and evaluate our impact across our broad portfolio of international work. Our Inclusive Data Action Plan details our approach to ensure that data is disaggregated by age, disability, sex and geography.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Alison Griffiths:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what funding has been allocated to the employment tribunal system in each of the last three financial years; and what proportion of that funding has been spent on digital case management systems. \p Sarah Sackman: £M

22/23

23/24

24/25

Employment Tribunals

67.8

74.9

77.7

The table above gives the total allocated budget for the Employment Tribunals in the years shown in £m. This includes all staff costs, judicial salaries and fees, and other direct costs from the operation of the tribunals and the specific IT systems relating to Employment Tribunals, though excludes wider overheads such as the costs of buildings and other general IT systems.

It is not possible to identify separately the full running cost of the Employment Tribunals digital case management systems, as all maintenance, development and analysis work is carried out by HM Courts & Tribunals Service’s centrally-managed digital and data teams.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Alison Griffiths:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent representations she has received from legal professional bodies on the performance of employment tribunals. \p Sarah Sackman: Ministers and officials have regular meetings with legal professional bodies to discuss a range of matters about the justice system.

To address the demands the Employment Tribunals are facing, their capacity is being increased. Following recruitment, in 2024 we had 21 more salaried judges in the Employment Tribunals than in 2023, and further recruitment for up to 36 salaried Employment Judges commenced in March 2025. 50 fee paid employment judges were appointed in 2024 and recruitment will commence for another 50 in early 2026.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service continues to invest in improving tribunal productivity through the recruitment of additional judges, deployment of Legal Officers to actively manage cases, the development of modern case management systems, and the use of remote hearing technology. A ‘Virtual Region’ of judges has delivered over 1,500 extra sitting days.

As a result, the Lord Chancellor was able to announce on 5 March a sitting day allocation for the Employment Tribunals of 33,900 in 2025/26, the maximum allocation they are able to sit.

We do recognise that there remain significant challenges for the performance of the Employment Tribunals. We are therefore continuing to monitor demand on Employment Tribunals and are working with the judiciary, HMCTS and the Department for Business and Trade on any further actions needed to alleviate pressures on the Employment Tribunals, improve efficiency and reduce waiting times to ensure timely access to justice for claimants and respondents.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of (a) prison and (b) probation staff have undertaken suicide prevention training. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: All new prison officers receive training in suicide and self-harm prevention as part of their seven-week Foundation training course.

For existing prison staff, there is a dedicated training module on suicide and self-harm. The training provides an understanding as to the context of self-harm and suicide within prisons, as well as the purpose and implementation of the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork (ACCT) process which is used to support prisoners identified as being at risk of suicide or self-harm.

Responsibility for delivering this training sits locally with prisons, therefore it is not possible to accurately assess the overall numbers who have received this training, due to local variations in how training is recorded.

There are two suicide prevention learning packages for Probation Staff as part of the current core national offer. One is a Zero Suicide Alliance package for all staff. The other is a package aimed at new entrant learners undertaking Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) and new Probation Service Officers which was developed internally as part of a broader Introduction to Mental Health.

The Introduction to Mental Health learning is designated as required for those undertaking the Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) and new Probation Service Officers (PSOs) in sentence management, both in custody and the community and is also accessed by established staff. The product contains knowledge modules around suicide and self-harm awareness.

The core national offer referenced is a comprehensive learning package which was recently introduced. Staff who were in post prior to this would have completed other core learning programmes.

It is important to note that whilst we collate completion figures for the current core learning, this does not represent the totality of suicide and self-harm prevention learning received by staff.

This is due to regionally organised activities and previous learning opportunities where data is not nationally held.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_16

Ayoub Khan:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is providing suicide prevention training to (a) all and (b) newly recruited (i) prison and (ii) probation staff. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: All new members of prison staff with prisoner contact receive training on suicide and self-harm prevention, and all staff who undertake key roles relating to risk assessment and case management also receive specific training relating to those roles.  An e-learning module has recently been made available for all staff to access on postvention support following a self-inflicted death in custody.

There are two suicide prevention learning packages for probation staff: a Zero Suicide Alliance package for all staff, and a package aimed at new entrant Professional Qualification in Probation and Probation Service Officers which was developed internally as part of a broader introduction to mental health.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Lisa Smart:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral answer of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice on 11 March 2025 to Question 903119 on Female Offenders, whether that specialised training is available to all staff. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The Foundation training programme for all new prison officers includes learning in relation to suicide and self-harm.  For officers working in the female estate, there is an additional week of Foundation training which gives officers an understanding of the potential for increased risk factors for women in custody in relation to self-harm and suicide.

There is additional Suicide and Self Harm training that deals specifically with suicide prevention across the custodial estate, the target audience of which is all staff across HM Prison & Probation Service.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Kanishka Narayan:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the impact of missed probation appointments by high-risk offenders on public safety; and what steps she is taking to ensure consistent enforcement of breach protocols. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The Probation service was left on its knees after 14 years of Conservative Government. The Probation Service that this Government inherited from the previous administration has struggled under increased workloads. It was a service that the previous Conservative Government privatised and then partly renationalised putting our Probation Service officers, who do vital work every single day, under significant strain.

This Lord Chancellor has recently announced a number of changes to the probation service to prioritise where they focus and ensure more time can be spent managing high risk offenders.

A primary aim of the probation service is to protect the public through the supervision and rehabilitation of offenders. Those assessed as posing a high risk of serious harm are subject to increased levels of oversight and are a priority focus for the Probation Service, as reaffirmed by the Lord Chancellor in her speech on 12 February.

Probation supervision appointments are essential for the monitoring and the management of offenders.Any failure to comply could indicate an increased risk of harm and will result in swift enforcement action in line with HM Prison & Probation Service enforcement policy, this could include sanctions on the offender and even recall to prison. The Probation service employs a case management system to track and manage attendance alongside which Probation regional Performance and Quality teams work to ensure that the expected enforcement standards are consistently applied.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Kanishka Narayan:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to improve managerial oversight in the Probation Service. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: We know that effective management oversight contributes to the best outcomes, and ensures probation is able to reduce reoffending and protect the public. The Chief Probation Officer has set management oversight as one of her key priorities for the year 2025/2026.

In February 2025, HMPPS launched a new management oversight framework in the Probation Service which allows for a more responsive and targeted approach. The aim is to ensure that management oversight is sought and provided where it is most needed and in particular this means an increase in management oversight for new and inexperienced staff.

Managers within the Probation Service have undergone training to enable the successful adoption of this framework. Staff and managers work together proactively to secure effective management oversight which is responsive to the unique demands of an individual case, and the skills, knowledge and experience of the probation practitioner.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Sarah Champion:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps she is taking to improve data capture on the (a) number of private law proceedings that involve allegations of child sexual abuse and (b) outcomes of these cases. \p Alex Davies-Jones: HM Courts and Tribunals Service will be introducing a new case management system for private law children‘s cases, Manage Cases. This system will identify each type of abuse or harm allegation made by an applicant, including child sexual abuse. This will support data capture of the number of proceedings in which child sexual abuse is a factor and the outcome of these cases. The national roll out of the new digital system is expected to begin later this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many staff were signed off absent due to stress in his Department in the most recent week for which data is available. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Information about sickness absence in the Cabinet Office is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-sickness-absence-2024/civil-service-sickness-absence-2024-report#by-organisation
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has issued guidance on (a) the (i) determination and (ii) authorisation of ex officio membership of pay review bodies, (b) whether people can sit on multiple pay review bodies and (c) other relevant matters on ex officio membership of pay review bodies. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Cabinet Office does not hold any guidance in relation to those appointed to a pay review body as an ex-officio member. The Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) is the only pay review body with ex-officio members. All members of pay review bodies are public appointments, who adhere to the governance code sent out by the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 39120 on 10 Downing Street: Repairs and Maintenance, what the budget is for the works; whether the works (a) required planning permission and (b) are structural; and what the nature of the repair works is other than to the external window frames. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: A repair project is underway to preserve the integrity of this Grade 1 listed building. Maintenance of the roof will be carried out alongside repair of exterior window frames. This followed a survey in December 2023 which indicated that work must be completed for safety reasons, with the work commencing in January 2024. The repairs are not structural and did not require planning permission. The cost of these works will be published in due course in Cabinet Office transparency returns.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2025 to Question 25454 on 9 Downing Street: Media, whether his Department has paid OCS; and in which month's transparency data will the cost of the works be published. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: Payment will be made through the Government Property Agency, and the cost of these works will be published in due course in Cabinet Office transparency returns.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2025 to Question 32268 on Freedom of Information and Parliamentary Questions: Impact Assessment, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that information which is routinely disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act regime is disclosed to Parliament when similar requests for information as made through Parliamentary Questions. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The information that is published in response to Parliamentary Questions is handled on a case by case basis, as is the information that is published in response to any request under the Freedom of Information Act. The Cabinet Office takes seriously both its obligations to Parliament and its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2025 to Question 27913 on 10 Downing Street: Shops, whether the goods manufactured in China and sold in the Downing Street Gift Shop are produced in Xinjiang. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: None of the products sold in the Downing Street gift shop are produced in Xinjiang.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Andrew Griffith:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Prime Minister plans to respond to the letter of 25 February 2025 from the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: A response will be issued in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mark Pritchard:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will establish a cross-Government expert group to help (a) innovate responses and (b) devise policy counter-measures to (i) non-traditional and (ii) hard-to-trace grey-zone activities of (A) malign state actors and (B) their proxies who are seeking to undermine UK national (1) economic and (2) security interests. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: As set out in the Plan For Change, this Government’s first duty is to make the UK safer, more secure, and resilient against the growing and interconnected threats from state, state-linked and non-state actors. We are committed to working across Government, as well as with partners internationally and in the private sector and academia, to prevent harm; deter and disrupt threats; respond effectively to incidents; and recover swiftly.

Work is already underway across Government to deliver this commitment, and requirements for any new structures or groupings will be kept under review, including in the context of the ongoing development of the National Security Strategy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, in what circumstances new public bodies do not have to meet the last resort test in the Approvals Process guidance for new Arm's Length Bodies. \p Georgia Gould: An ALB needs to pass at least one of three tests: (1) it is a technical function that requires external expertise (2) it needs to be delivered with political impartiality, or (3) it needs to be delivered independently from Ministers to establish facts and figures with integrity. The Cabinet Office makes an assessment based on the information provided by the department.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much his Department has spent on recruitment consultants for public appointments regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments since 4 July 2024; and on which firms. \p Georgia Gould: Since 4 July 2024, the Cabinet Office has spent £17,600 on recruitment consultants for public appointments regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. This was paid to Hays Recruitment Agency to retain their services for the recruitment of a Judicial Member to the Senior Salaries Review Body.

The appointment of Hays Recruitment Agency was agreed by a Minister of the previous administration in March 2024, in accordance with the Governance Code on Public Appointments. The contract concluded in October 2024, following the appointment of a new Judicial Member.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the (a) framework agreements and (b) memorandums of understanding between his Department and (i) the UK Statistics Authority and (ii) Office for National Statistics on (A) how Parliamentary Questions about those organisations should be answered and (B) other matters. \p Georgia Gould: The 2020 MoU between Cabinet Office and the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) is published on gov.uk (here). The Office for National Statistics is part of UKSA and does not have its own MoU. There is no separate Framework Agreement.

A revised MoU is due to be published in 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has issued guidance to other Departments on reducing spending on leadership training. \p Georgia Gould: The Cabinet Office has not issued any guidance to departments about reducing spending on leadership training. Good leadership and management skills will be needed to deliver the Plan for Change and realise the government’s ambition to reshape the state. A cross-Civil Service leadership and management curriculum is being developed to support the standards expected for leadership and management. We are working to ensure this is delivered in the most impactful and cost effective way.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the headcount of the civil service was in (a) June 2024 and (b) the latest period for which data is available. \p Georgia Gould: Headline civil service employment statistics on both an headcount and full-time equivalent basis (FTE) are published quarterly by Office for National Statistics (ONS) as part of their Public Sector Employment Statistics release and are available at the following web address:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/publicsectorpersonnel/bulletins/publicsectoremployment/previousreleases

These statistics show that as at June 2024 civil service headcount stood at 546,000. The latest figures available are as at December 2024 where headcount was 548,000.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will place in the Library a copy of the request from FDA for voluntary recognition of a trade union for special advisers. \p Georgia Gould: The government does not publish such information.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 31 March 2025 to Question 40911 on Government Departments: Social Media, if he will make it his policy to update the guidance for (a) special advisers and (b) senior officials to define senior media executives as those from (i) X, (ii) Meta and (iii) Tiktok. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: I refer the honourable member to the answer provided on 31 March in response to Question 40911.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2025 to Question 30828 on 9 Downing Street: Media, and with reference to the Cabinet Office: spend data over £25,000 - February 2025, published on 27 March 2025, whether the £122,086.70 entry for OCS UK&I Limited is the full cost of the No.9 media room refurbishment; and if he will publish the associated invoices. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The referenced entry is unrelated to the 9 Downing Street media room. The cost of these works will be published in due course in Cabinet Office transparency returns.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what proportionate reduction in spending will be required in each (a) Department and (b) arm’s length bodies in (i) 2024-25, (ii) 2025-26, and (iii) 2026-27. \p Georgia Gould: The Cabinet Office does not hold details about the spending plans of other government departments. Plans can be found in HM Treasury’s Estimate publications and fiscal statement documentation. Departments, including the Cabinet Office, publish forward plans in the annual reports and accounts.

The Prime Minister has announced that the Government is committed to cutting bureaucracy across the state, in order to focus government on the priorities of working people and shift money to the frontline. As part of this, the Prime Minister announced the abolition of the arms-length body NHS England. The Government has also announced the first zero-based review of government spending in 17 years, with departments expected to go line-by-line to find savings and efficiencies, including in bodies and agencies that they sponsor.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 September 2024 to Question 5035 on Civil Servants: Muslims, how many hours of network time his Department allocates to that network; and who the senior sponsors are that have been appointed. \p Georgia Gould: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Staff Network time allocation is agreed between networks and departments as the employer. The majority of staff time spent on diversity staff networks is voluntary and unpaid. The Cabinet Office doesn’t allocate any hours of network time to the Civil Service Muslim Network.

The current senior sponsor for the Civil Service Muslim Network is the Director of Civil Service Employee Engagement & People Performance, Government People Group.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2024 to Question 6416 on Cabinet Office: Building, who owns 36 Whitehall; for what reasons the building is unused; and whether he has considered re-occupying the building. \p Georgia Gould: 36 Whitehall is not in use and there are no current plans to bring it back into use. Its return to use is regularly reviewed. There are no plans to dispose of the property.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many photographers are employed by Government Departments. \p Georgia Gould: Departments may employ photographers in order to support government’s priorities, enable effective operation of public services and improve people’s lives.

The Cabinet Office Communications team employs two Digital Media Officers who support government work in Departments and undertake photography as a small part of their duties.

There are also 2 full time, dedicated photographers in the No10 team. Although they are funded by the Cabinet Office, their work is managed by No10.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how his Department monitors the attendance of civil servants in Departmental headquarters outside of London. \p Georgia Gould: Line Managers are expected to be aware of, and ensure compliance with, the minimum 60% expectation for their direct reports. This approach is the same both in and outside of London.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many full-time civil servants in his Department work a four day working week using compressed hours. \p Georgia Gould: Compressed working arrangements are agreed and recorded at a team level. The information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to publish a further round of the UK National Action Plan for Open Government; and which department is the lead for progress on previous action plans. \p Georgia Gould: The Cabinet Office holds responsibility for coordinating the UK National Action Plan for Open Government 2024-2025, including leading progress on actions set out in the current plan. Named departments hold responsibility for specific commitments, as set out on gov.uk.

We will share a further update in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2025 to Question 23884 on 10 Downing Street: Repairs and Maintenance, if he will publish the Freedom of Information Act response with reference FOI2025/01530. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: A copy of the response to FOI2025/01530  has now been deposited in the House Library. The media suite is in a listed part of 9 Downing Street.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Helen Morgan:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Office for National Statistics will publish the quarterly and annual under-18 conception data for (a) 2022: England and Wales, Local Authority and District level and (b) 2023: England and Wales, Local Authority and District Level. \p Georgia Gould: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman or lady Parliamentary Question of 26th March is attached.

ONS response (pdf, 106.7KB)

Letter from the National Statistician (pdf, 108.5KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

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Helen Morgan:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Office for National Statistics will make the (a) 2022 and (b) 2023 under-18 conception data ward level data available for local authorities. \p Georgia Gould: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 26th March is attached.

Letter from the National Statistician (pdf, 106.7KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_47

Helen Morgan:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Office of National Statistics will publish the quarterly England and Wales and Local Authority under-18 conception data for 2024. \p Georgia Gould: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon lady’s Parliamentary Question of 26th March is attached.

Letter from the National Statistician (pdf, 106.7KB)

Letter from the National Statistician (pdf, 108.5KB)
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_48

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the transitional relief scheme for the 2026 business rates revaluation will be financed by (a) direct funding, (b) downward phasing and (c) a higher multiplier. \p James Murray: The Government is legally required to introduce transitional relief for ratepayers to support those seeing the biggest increases at revaluations.

The Non-Domestic Rating Act 2023 removed the requirement for transitional relief schemes to be self-funding.

Only once we understand the complete 2026 revaluation picture will the Government be in a position to make final decisions, at Autumn Budget 2025, on the transitional relief scheme
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_49

Wendy Chamberlain:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of removing VAT from children's bikes on levels of take up of cycling among children and young people. \p James Murray: VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Taxation is a vital source of revenue that helps to fund vital public services.

Evidence suggests that businesses only partially pass on any savings from lower VAT rates. In some cases, reliefs do not represent good value for money, as there is no guarantee that savings will be passed on to consumers.

The Government has no plans to remove VAT on children’s bikes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_50

Afzal Khan:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps her Department is taking to support the growth of small and micro businesses in the hospitality sector. \p James Murray: Small businesses are vital to our high streets and communities. The Government is committed to supporting the hospitality sector and we recognise the significant contribution they make to the UK economy.

The Government will introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. In the meantime, the Government has prevented RHL relief from ending in April 2025 by extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business and frozen the small business multiplier.

The Government has protected the smallest businesses from the impact of the increase to employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no employer NICs at all next year.

The Government has committed £250m in 25-26 for the British Business Bank’s small business loans programmes, including Start Up Loans and the Growth Guarantee Scheme.

To drive further progress on our manifesto commitments, as part of the growth mission, the Government will bring forward a Small Business Strategy this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_51

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of business rates on the rate at which new (a) 5G and (b) 5GSA infrastructure is being rolled out. \p James Murray: Digital infrastructure will play a key role in the Government’s forthcoming 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy, which will set out the long-term ambitions for rollout of 5G and Standalone 5G.

Eligible plant and machinery used on 5G are exempt from business rates from 1 April 2022 until 31 March 2035.   At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government published a Discussion Paper setting out priority areas for business rates reform and inviting industry to co-design a fairer business rates system. In summer, the Government will publish an interim report that sets out a clear direction of travel for the business rates system, with further policy detail to follow at Autumn Budget 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_52

Mohammad Yasin:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an estimate of the potential revenue raised by removing the 2 percent NI on earnings over the threshold and charging a flat rate of 8 percent. \p James Murray: The impact of raising the additional rate of employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) by 6 percentage points to 8 percent has not been directly evaluated.

The impact of a 1 percentage point increase in the additional rate of employee NICs has been published. HMRC regularly publish statistics relating to the direct effects of illustrative tax changes, including changes to NICs rates in section 9. The most recent version of this publication can be found on GOV.UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/direct-effects-of-illustrative-tax-changes
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_53

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she will take steps to amend Gift Aid regulations to allow charitable (a) zoos and (b) aquariums to claim on the price of admission. \p James Murray: The Government recognises the important work the charity sector does in the UK, which is why we currently provide tax reliefs to charities and their donors worth over £6 billion per year, including over £1.6 billion in Gift Aid.

Gift Aid is intended to be claimed only on freely given donations rather than on payments for goods or services such as admission fees. This is why charitable zoos or aquariums may not claim gift aid on the price of a single admission. However, they can claim gift aid on donations that go beyond the 'goods and services' element of a single admission and are given freely to support the charity's purpose. Such charities may claim Gift Aid on the sale of a ticket where either: the ticket gives the buyer access to view charity property (which by definition includes plants and animals) for a full year; or the buyer pays a freely given 10% Gift Aid ‘premium’ on top of the standard admission price.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_54

Sarah Gibson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief on trends in levels of agricultural employment. \p James Murray: The Government believes its 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 in a fair way. 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.

The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief are forecast to raise a combined £520 million in 2029-30. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) certified this costing at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact. The OBR published information about the costing in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook on 30 October 2024. The OBR published more detail on the costings on 22 January 2025. This material is all available on the OBR’s website.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_55

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Aggregates levy on the marine environment. \p James Murray: Aggregates Levy is an environmental tax which aims to encourage the more efficient extraction and use of all aggregates. There are no current plans to undertake a specific assessment of its impact on the marine environment, but the government keeps all taxes under review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_56

Marsha De Cordova:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will hold discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of including information on the Access to Work scheme in correspondence from HMRC to employers. \p James Murray: We want to support more disabled people into work and to stay in work. In doing so, we need to get the balance right between supporting employers to understand and provide reasonable adjustments as part of their legal duties, and interventions that go beyond this to enable employment.

As announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper, we are consulting on the future of the Access to Work scheme so that it better helps people to start and stay in work through reasonable adjustments and making use of assistive technology. The government will consider next steps on Access to Work following the consultation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_57

Mike Wood:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 27 December 2024 to Question 20833 on 10 Downing Street: Art Works, whether she plans for the portrait of Queen Elizabeth I to be permanently installed in 11 Downing Street. \p James Murray: The Government Art Collection is a working collection, used across government buildings in the UK and the global estate, which means that artworks may change their display location from time to time in response to new display steers and requests.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_58

Andrew Ranger:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to (a) reduce income inequality and (b) improve social mobility for people from lower-income backgrounds. \p James Murray: Distributional analysis shows that the expected impacts of government decisions from Autumn Budget 2024 onwards are progressive and benefit households in the lowest income deciles the most, on average, as a percentage of income in 2028-29.

The Government is committed to making sure the wealthiest in our society pay their fair share of tax. That is why the Chancellor announced a series of reforms at Autumn Budget 2024 to help fix the public finances in as fair a way as possible. The increases in tax are concentrated on the highest income households. Overall, on average, all but the richest 10% of households will benefit from policy decisions in 2028-29.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_59

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made a recent assessment of the international competitiveness of Air Passenger Duty rates. \p James Murray: Air Passenger Duty (APD) applies to airlines and is the principal tax on the aviation sector. It is expected to raise £4.2 billion in 2024-25.  At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced APD rates for 2026-27, including a partial adjustment to help compensate for two recent years of inflation that was higher than expected. APD rates are set in advance using forecasts of inflation, and so with actual inflation being significantly greater than forecast in 2022 and 2023, APD rates fell in real terms.  The Government is clear that APD is an appropriate tax that ensures airlines make a fair contribution to the public finances, particularly given that tickets are VAT free and aviation fuel incurs no duty. Other countries also have different forms of aviation taxes.  The Government keeps all taxes under review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-10 conversation_60

Euan Stainbank:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of reducing the headline rate of Digital Services Tax by the end of this Parliament. \p James Murray: The Digital Services Tax (DST) is an interim tax measure to ensure that digital services providers pay UK tax on digital services that reflects the value they derive from UK users.  The UK remains committed to reaching a global solution on the taxation of the digital economy through Pillar 1 of the G20-OECD Inclusive Framework project. It is UK’s intention to repeal our Digital Services Tax (DST) when this international solution is in place.

The OBR’s latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook publication sets out forecasts of Digital Services Tax revenues.