theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has she made of the potential impact of Farming in Protected Landscapes funded projects on children; and whether she will bring forward policy proposals to fund these projects beyond 2026. \p Mary Creagh: Since its launch in 2021, the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme has provided funding for nearly 11,000 farmers and land managers to work in partnership with National Parks and National Landscape bodies to deliver projects that benefit the countryside for climate, nature, people and place. The FiPL programme has engaged over 2,000 schools and delivered more than 8,000 school educational visits helping children to get involved and learn about nature.

The FiPL programme is due to end March 2026, and decisions on the future of the programme will be made as part of departmental business planning.
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Laura Kyrke-Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure that food labelling accurately reflects animal welfare practices. \p Dame Angela Eagle: The UK maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy. All food sold on the UK market must comply with food labelling rules, which include the requirement for specific information to be presented in a specific way. An underpinning rule of existing legislation is that food information, whether it be mandatory or is provided voluntarily, must not mislead.

The Government is considering the potential role of method of production labelling reform as part of the ongoing development of our wider animal welfare strategy, which we will publish later this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-08)

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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of plans to reduce vehicle generated air pollution in Greater Manchester as an alternative to the now cancelled charging Clean Air Zone proposal. \p Emma Hardy: We agreed in January 2025 an £86m plan for Greater Manchester to help reduce pollution from vehicles and clean up the region’s air. The plan includes support for cleaner buses, local traffic measures and moving Greater Manchester’s taxi fleet to cleaner vehicles. The plan was agreed by Government following assessment of evidence provided by Greater Manchester authorities that it was likely to achieve compliance with legal nitrogen dioxide limits in the shortest possible time, including in comparison to the alternative of a Clean Air Zone.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-08)

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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding for canal maintenance. \p Emma Hardy: Canal maintenance, and ensuring funding for it, is the responsibility of navigation authorities. The Government provides the largest navigation authority, the Canal and River Trust, with an annual grant of £52.6 million to support the Trust’s network maintenance programme. This represented 22% of the Trust’s total income of £232 million last year.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Department has established measurable targets for rural business productivity improvements supported by public funding in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency. \p Dame Angela Eagle: We have not set productivity targets specifically for businesses in rural areas. Defra provides funding to rural businesses via the Rural England Prosperity Fund. Each individual eligible local authority is responsible for running their own rounds of funding and establishing their own delivery targets based on local priorities.

The Fund is devolved to local authorities, and they have been given responsibility for delivery of REPF – including setting priorities and delivery targets for the funding they have been allocated, assessing and approving project applications, processing payments and the day-to-day monitoring of delivery. Each eligible local authority reports every 6 months on spend and outcomes via the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, who administer the Fund on Defras’ behalf.

The Department provided Buckinghamshire with an allocation of £1.828m in financial years 2023/24 & 2024/25 and a further £548k in financial year 2025/26 via the Rural England Prosperity Fund.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, (b) developers and (c) local government on the adequacy of tree planting and open space provision in housing developments in England. \p Mary Creagh: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 25 November 2025 to Question 91614 by the Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government).

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.
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Euan Stainbank:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential for accelerating asylum hotel closures in the nations and regions of the United Kingdom that will be hosting large military site accommodation for Asylum seekers. \p Alex Norris: Hotel closure will be prioritised based on a wide range of criteria. The hotel exit plan will continue to be carefully managed to ensure that all supported asylum seekers are accommodated in suitable alternative accommodation, including large sites, elsewhere in the estate.
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Stuart Andrew:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total cost has been to the public purse of housing asylum seekers in hotels located in the West Northamptonshire Council area since July 2024; and if she will provide a breakdown by hotel. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office publishes all available information on asylum expenditure in the Home Office Annual Report and accounts at: Home Office annual report and accounts: 2024 to 2025 - GOV.UK. There are no plans to publish a breakdown of expenditure by premises or location.
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Sir Julian Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2025 to Question 91895 on Undocumented Migrants: Nationality and Proof of Identity, and with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum of 17 November, Official Report column 468, for what reason that information is not available in an easily accessible format; if he will make it his policy to collect that information in an easily accessible format, particularly with reference to illegal arrivals on small boats; and whether he still plans to write to the Rt hon. Member for New Forest East with the specific percentages. \p Alex Norris: Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, taking into account a number of factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data. These reviews allow us to balance the production of our regular statistics whilst developing new statistics for future release.

During an oral contribution in Parliament on 17 November I committed to follow up in writing in reference to a question posed by the Rt Hon Member and plan to do this as soon as possible.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much has been spent on contract termination for hotels originally commissioned for asylum seeker accommodation since 2023. \p Alex Norris: We have not terminated any hotels outside of the contract terms.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to strengthen the UK-France Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys to ensure that deported migrants do not return to the UK. \p Alex Norris: We are continuously monitoring and evaluating the Agreement to ensure its continuing effectiveness, with a full evaluation to be completed at the end of the pilot period.

As of Friday 28 November, 153 returns have taken place under the exchange agreement. Anyone who re-enters illegally may face immediate detention and, where appropriate, we will seek to expedite removal. This will not count as a new removal in the reciprocal scheme.

We continue close cooperation with France to strengthen border security and disrupt criminal smuggling gangs. Our ongoing partnership with French law enforcement has prevented over 21,000 crossing attempts to the UK this year.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to encourage countries with the highest numbers of asylum seekers to accept the return of failed applicants. \p Alex Norris: Strengthening international cooperation is key to improving returns and redocumentation processes to enable quick, safe, and dignified returns.

The Home Office, working in collaboration with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, has prioritised engagement with countries where we want to see improved returns co-operation including those countries with high rates of those with no legal basis to remain in the UK.

There are some countries, including those with high small-boat arrivals, that have challenging country situations that either prevent the practicalities of return (routing and escorting) or have credible asylum and protection considerations. However, the Home Office, continues to progress returns of all those with no legal right to be in the UK.

The Home Office keeps the returns cooperation of all its international partners under close and regular review and will not hesitate to take action to secure cooperation. This includes the use of visa penalties, where necessary, when a country fails to cooperate.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to further raise fines levied against businesses found to be employing illegal workers. \p Alex Norris: Clamping down on illegal working is a critical part of this government’s Plan for Change, and as part of the strategy to tackle Organised Immigration Crime. Ensuring fairness, order and control within the immigration and asylum system.

Where an employer is found to have employed someone without the right to work, fines will be levied against the business. The Home Office has no current plan to further raise these fines at present.

Under this government has been a significant increase in immigration enforcement activity in the UK, including more than 8,000 arrests during illegal working visits in the year up to October 2025 – a 63% increase on the same period 12 months prior.

The Government is extending the Right to Work Scheme to ensure companies conduct right to work checks to prevent illegal working when they contract workers to provide services under their company name, this will include agency workers or self-employed individuals working in the gig economy. These new measures are included in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act.

These new legislative measures will restrict the ability of employers to take advantage of illegal workers and encourage businesses to provide work opportunities to only those permitted to work in the UK. It will provide parity across industries and will set a level playing field for businesses to uphold their responsibilities to prevent illegal working in the UK.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made on the potential impact of digital ID on the number of illegal immigrants already residing in the UK. \p Alex Norris: The Digital ID programme is part of a broader strategy to tackle illegal immigration. By making it harder for people without the right to work to gain employment, the government plans to reduce incentives for unlawful entry.   The digital ID will build on the existing digital right to work checks for foreign nationals where eVisa share codes are currently used, further streamlining the process. Digital IDs will:

o Make it easier for employers to comply by standardising and simplifying right to work checks

o Make it easier for British citizens to demonstrate a right to work

Removing the reliance on physical documents in the UK, making it harder for forged documents to be used as proof of right to work.

The Government will start a public consultation on the new digital ID in the coming weeks, and has already begun engaging key stakeholders.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy, updated on 21 November 2025, what estimate she has made of the average contribution per asylum claimant under the proposed contributions mechanism in each of the five years following its implementation. \p Alex Norris: The Government’s Asylum Policy Statement outlines the current challenges, the Government’s objectives, and a comprehensive package of measures to restore order, control, fairness and public confidence in the UK’s system.

As part of this, we will require individuals to contribute towards the cost of their asylum support where they have some assets or income, but not enough to support themselves independently. Further details on asylum reform, including support and contributions, will be announced in due course.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's policy paper entitled Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy, updated on 21 November 2025, if she will make it her policy to implement safeguards as part of the proposed refugee sponsorship reforms. \p Alex Norris: The government is committed to transforming our approach to safe and legal routes, including how the UK offers opportunities to refugees and relevant local authorities. Work is underway to operationalise these new routes, and further details will be provided in due course.

Safeguarding requirements are already in place under the government’s existing schemes. This includes the current Community Sponsorship scheme, where all sponsors must have robust safeguarding procedures in place.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum caseworkers have (1) left and (2) joined her Department since July 2024. \p Alex Norris: The number of full time equivalent (FTE) asylum caseworkers employed at the Home Office per month until September 2025 is published in the ASY_05(M) tab of the published migration transparency statistics, located here: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK (Immigration and Protection data; July to September 2025)

At the end of July 2024, there were 2,455 FTE asylum caseworkers.

The latest published data shows that at the end of September 2025, there were 2,113 FTE asylum caseworkers. Attrition will have occurred since that time.
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David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department made of potential changes in the cost of local authority temporary accommodation from asylum seekers moving across to refugee status. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office has not made such an assessment as costs to local authorities would not be in our remit.
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David Simmonds:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much funding was allocated to the London Borough of Hillingdon for asylum costs in the 2024-2025 financial year. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office does not publicly publish grant payment levels by local authority, we do however provide funding to Local Authorities under the following grant agreements Asylum, Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking children & former unaccompanied asylum-seeking children Care Leavers

Please see the link below to the relevant Funding Instructions:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/unaccompanied-asylum-seeking-children-uasc-grant-instructions

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-dispersal-grant-funding-instruction/funding-instruction-for-local-authorities-asylum-grant-2025-2026
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many individual properties are being used as dispersal accommodation for asylum seekers. \p Alex Norris: The Home Office publishes data on the number of asylum seekers at a regional and local level. The department does not publish data at a property level, but at a person level.

The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers. These statistics can be found at: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.
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Dr Caroline Johnson:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which police forces carry naloxone on the front line. \p Sarah Jones: The Government is supportive of police carriage and administration of naloxone - a lifesaving medicine that reverses the effects of opioid overdose.

The latest available data on which police forces carry naloxone can be found here: Police carriage of naloxone - monitoring data - GOV.UK.

The NPCC and the Home Office are in ongoing dialogue with all police forces on this topic.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps are being taken to ensure police officers are trained to identify and help tackle instances of online abuse. \p Sarah Jones: The College of Policing sets standards for police training and development, including the national policing curriculum and accreditations for those who work in high risk or specialist roles. It also works with police forces to support standards of ongoing training and development.

On 2 February 2025, we announced a step-change in approach to the way that policing responds to VAWG crimes, through a new National Policing Centre for VAWG and Public Protection. The new centre launched in April 2025, and we are investing £13.1 million pounds this financial year (25/26). This funding includes an uplift of nearly £2 million to enable policing to better target these crimes – including online VAWG - demonstrating the government’s steadfast commitment to halving violence against women and girls in a decade.

The new Centre provides coordinated, national leadership within policing to tackle VAWG and child sexual abuse. Centralising policing expertise to tackle these crimes will drive national coordination, with the development of strengthened specialist training for officers across the country ensuring they offer consistent protection for victims and relentlessly pursue of these vile crimes.

Under the Online Safety Act, platforms are required to take steps to remove content where it is illegal, including violent material, to protect users and our communities from online harms.

Ofcom have set out their expectations for platforms to adhere to: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/online-safety/illegal-and-harmful-content/open-letter-to-uk-online-service-providers/

The government funds an online hate crime reporting portal - True Vision - that was designed so that victims of all types of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report.

The government also funds the National Online Hate Crime Hub which supports individual local police forces in dealing specifically with online hate crime – the Hub provides expert advice to police forces to support them in investigating these abhorrent offences.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing a publicly searchable register of individuals convicted of sexual offences. \p Jess Phillips: There are no plans to create a public sex offender registry. The current system allows for targeted disclosures where necessary to manage risk and protect individuals.

Through the Crime and Policing Bill, we are introducing a range of legislative changes to strengthen the management of registered sex offenders. This gives the Home Secretary a power to publish statutory guidance for police on disclosing information to prevent sexual harm. By putting sexual harm disclosure schemes on a statutory footing, their implementation will be more consistent nationally, ensuring a uniform approach to protecting the public.

Making information publicly available would undermine this approach, risk exposing victims, and make it harder for offenders to be monitored by the police and other agencies. Existing legal frameworks already provide effective safeguards and disclosure mechanisms where appropriate.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of modern slavery adherence by employers who have published Modern Slavery statements. \p Jess Phillips: The government is committed to tackling modern slavery, ensuring that victims are provided with the support they need to begin rebuilding their lives and that those responsible are prosecuted.

All businesses should monitor their supply chains with rigour to uncover, report where appropriate, and remedy any instances of modern slavery they may find in their operations and supply chains. Under section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, commercial businesses who operate in the UK and have a turnover of £36m or more must produce annual modern slavery statements setting out the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.

The Home Office does not routinely review the quality or accuracy of individual modern slavery statements or assess compliance with the section 54 requirements. Section 54 was designed to increase transparency, allowing scrutiny by consumers, investors, and civil society. Section 54 has helped bring greater awareness of modern slavery in boardrooms across the country, but it is clear a decade after the Act, the UK’s approach needs to evolve. The government is considering how it can strengthen the section 54 regime, including penalties for non-compliance.

Significant long-term reform will take time, and in the interim, the Home Office published new section 54 statutory guidance in March. This new guidance is more comprehensive, practical and ambitious – calling on businesses to go further and faster.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support victims of modern slavery in Devon. \p Jess Phillips: The UK is committed to ensuring victims can access the necessary support to assist in their recovery from their experiences of exploitation or trafficking.

Adult victim support is provided on a national basis, across England and Wales. The Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract provides specialist support to adult victims of exploitation and trafficking who have been identified through the National Referral Mechanism (NRM).

The MSVCC provides safe accommodation where necessary, financial support and a support worker to help victims access other support services such as the NHS and legal aid.

With regards to support for child victims, local authorities are responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children in their area.

The Government-funded Independent Child Trafficking Guardianship (ICTG) service provides advocacy and support to child victims of exploitation and trafficking who have been referred to the NRM. In September 2025, we launched an invitation-to-tender for the national contract which will expand the service to provide national coverage in England and Wales, including Devon. The tender process is now underway.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made on reducing the prevalence of modern slavery in the UK. \p Jess Phillips: Modern slavery crimes are often described as “hidden” crimes: we know these crimes to be underreported and difficult to detect. For this reason, we do not know with certainty the true prevalence of the crime or the number of victims in the UK. It is a vicious crime: victims of modern slavery may experience multiple forms of abuse and exploitation, usually involving some element of coercion or abuse of power. This means that victims may not recognise themselves as such or may be too traumatised or in fear of their exploiters or the authorities to report the crime or support prosecutions.

The UK Government continues to work with a wide range of partners to raise awareness, increase resilience, and reduce public tolerance of exploitative behaviour. We have worked closely with NGOs and law enforcement partners to develop an Action Plan on Modern Slavery. The Action Plan sets out the Department’s commitments to tackling Modern Slavery for the 25/26 financial year and was an agreed objective from the 2024 Anti-Slavery Week roundtables. It includes actions around prevention of modern slavery both in the UK and upstream overseas, including our work on tackling forced labour.
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Sorcha Eastwood:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her earned settlement proposals would apply to the family members of Irish citizens. \p Mike Tapp: The earned settlement model is currently subject to a public consultation. Full details on earned settlement will be finalised following the conclusion of that public consultation.
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, (a) what assessment has the Department made of the impact that delays in UK Visas and Immigration processing times are having on the ability of hospitality businesses to recruit seasonal and skilled workers, and (b) what steps she is taking to help reduce these delays to support employers during peak trading periods. \p Mike Tapp: UKVI are not currently experiencing any delays against our published service standards for either Seasonal or Skilled Workers.

These can be found at:

Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK

Visa processing times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK
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Jo White:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether any future uplift in the settlement requirement for English will apply to those on the BN(O) visa route. \p Mike Tapp: The Government remains steadfast in its support for members of the Hong Kong community in the UK.

BN(O) visa holders will attract a 5-year reduction in the qualifying period for settlement, meaning they will continue to be able to settle in the UK after 5 years’ residence, subject to meeting the mandatory requirements.

The new mandatory requirements for settlement are basic requirements that we think are reasonable for people to meet if they want to settle here. However, we are seeking views on earned settlement through the public consultation A Fairer Pathway to Settlement and will continue to listen to the views of Hong Kongers. Until that concludes, we cannot confirm whether any future uplift in the English language requirement will apply to those on the BN(O) route.

In the meantime, the current rules for settlement under the BN(O) route will continue to apply.
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle violence against (a) women and (b) girls in (i) Surrey Heath constituency and (ii) Surrey. \p Jess Phillips: Tackling violence against women and girls (VAWG) is a top priority for this Government with a manifesto mission to halve VAWG in a decade. We will deliver a cross-government transformative approach, underpinned by a new strategy which we aim to publish as soon as possible.

In advance of the strategy, we have already introduced measures designed to strengthen the police response to VAWG, protect victims and hold perpetrators to account. These include: funding to rollout Drive Project to tackle high-risk and high-harm domestic abuse perpetrators across England and Wales; embedding the first domestic abuse specialists in 999 control rooms in five police forces; measures to tackle spiking; measures focusing on preventing and tackling ‘honour’-based abuse (HBA), and launching the new Domestic Abuse Protection Orders in selected police forces and courts which go further than any existing orders.

The Home Office has provided the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Surrey with an annual funding allocation of £998,248 for 2025/26 for interventions around perpetrators of domestic abuse. PCCs in England and Wales receive annual grant funding from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims of all crime types.

Furthermore, this government has increased funding to local authorities, which includes Surrey Heath constituency, to £160 million for 2025-26, an uplift of £30 million from the previous year, to provide further support in safe accommodation for domestic abuse survivors, including tailored support for protected groups.
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Vikki Slade:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether telephone bookmakers will be subject to the increase to Remote Gaming Duty to 40% from 1 April 2026. \p Dan Tomlinson: Telephone bookmakers will be subject to the new General Betting Duty rate of 25% for remote bets from 1 April 2027. This rate will not include telephone bets placed on UK horseracing, pool bets or spread bets.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to the publication of the draft Rating List of 26 November 2025, if he will publish the changes in average Rateable Values for each Special Category Code, compared to the previous Rating List, according to information held by the Valuation Office Agency. \p Dan Tomlinson: Statistics on changes in the rateable value of non-domestic properties as a result of the 2026 Revaluation and publication of the draft 2026 Rating List are published here: Change in rateable value of rating lists, 2026 Revaluation
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate the Valuation Office Agency has made of the number of hereditaments that will pay the high-value multiplier by (a) sector type and (b) Special Category Code in 2026-27 based on the new Rating List. \p Dan Tomlinson: Statistics by sector type and special category code (Scat) as a result of the 2026 Revaluation and publication of the draft 2026 Rating List are published here: Change in rateable value of rating lists, 2026 Revaluation (CSV)

The government has also, on Budget Day, published information on the effects of the business rates retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers, and the high value multiplier.

A rise in rateable value (RV) may not result in a similar rise in bills. Local councils calculate business rates bills by taking the rateable value and multiplying this by a value known as a multiplier and then applying any reliefs. Confirmation of the Budget package and the Non-Domestic Rating Multipliers for 2026/2027 is also published on gov.uk.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-08)

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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the new council tax surcharge bands on property prices at the thresholds of each band. \p Dan Tomlinson: Various factors affect the sale price of residential properties. In its recent Economic and Fiscal outlook, the independent Office for Budget Responsibility forecast that house prices will rise every year, growing by ‘just under 3 per cent in 2025 and average 2 ½ percent annual growth from 2026’.

The policy costing for the surcharge assumes an average price impact on affected properties of 2.5% with greater effects around the band thresholds.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to require HMRC to review 2010 mileage rates to reflect 2025 costs. \p Dan Tomlinson: The Approved Mileage Allowance Payment rates are used by employers to reimburse an employee's expenses, tax free, for business mileage in their private vehicle. These rates are also used by self-employed drivers to claim tax relief on business mileage (when using simplified motoring expenses), and can be used by organisations to reimburse volunteers who use their own vehicle for voluntary purposes.

Employees can claim up to 45p/mile for the first 10,000 miles annually, followed by up to 25p/mile thereafter. An additional 5p/mile can be claimed for each passenger transported.

The AMAP rates are not mandatory, and employers can choose to pay more or less than the AMAP rate. It is therefore ultimately up to employers to determine the rate at which they reimburse their employees.

The Government keeps the Approved Mileage Allowance Payments (AMAPs) rate under review and HMRC use a variety of information in estimating typical motoring costs per business mile. This includes information from the AA, the National Travel Survey, the Association of British Insurers, and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-08)

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Paul Davies:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she will take to increase levels of investment into community finance organisations such as credit unions. \p Lucy Rigby: The Government is taking concrete steps to increase investment into community finance organisations. In November 2024, the British Business Bank launched the Community ENABLE Funding (CEF) Programme. This will channel £150 million over the next two years to not-for-profit lenders, including Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs), to widen access to affordable credit for underserved consumers and businesses.

The Government also recognises the important role of credit unions in providing savings and affordable loans to their members and in supporting local communities throughout the country. It is therefore taking action to support credit unions to grow and scale into the future, including a package of growth‑focussed reforms to the credit union common bond.

These reforms were announced in the Financial Inclusion Strategy, published last month, which also outlines a number of measures aimed at improving access to affordable credit — including a Credit Union Transformation Fund to support the sector in England to scale. The Government will work closely with stakeholders to deliver on these interventions.
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Paul Davies:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she will take to measure the impact of the Financial Inclusion Strategy in supporting the credit union sector. \p Lucy Rigby: The Government recognises the value that credit unions bring to their members and their key role in supporting financial inclusion, particularly through the provision of savings products and affordable credit.

I published the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy last month which sets out a range of ambitious measures to improve financial inclusion and resilience across the UK. This includes interventions to support the credit union sector scale and serve its members more effectively, through the launch of a new £30 million transformation fund for credit unions in England and growth-focused reforms to the common bond to support the growth of credit unions in Great Britain.

We have engaged closely with a range of stakeholders, including credit union sector representatives, to develop the Strategy, and will continue to do so to ensure it has a meaningful impact. The Strategy’s implementation will be reviewed in two years’ time to provide an update on progress and relevant outcomes-based metrics.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has been made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the annual subscription limit of ISA savings for under-65s on the range of building society lending products. \p Lucy Rigby: This government’s number one priority is growth, putting more money in people’s pockets and creating an economy that both works for and rewards working people.

A key part of this is people’s savings, which are not working hard enough for them or the economy because hundreds of millions of pounds are sitting in low-interest earning accounts.

We want to get more people investing so they can also benefit from the growth of the FTSE which has grown by 50% in the last 5 years.

Investing generates better returns over the long term, and this is about getting the balance right cash savings and investment. If you invested £1,000 a year in an average stocks and shares ISA every year from 1999, you would be £50,000 better off compared to having saved the same amount in a cash ISA

This policy will affect those aged under 65 from April 2027, but the overall ISA limit will remain at £20,000 for all savers when the annual Cash ISA limit is set at £12,000. It will not affect existing cash ISA savings.

The government regularly engages with the building societies sector to understand how best to support its growth.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-08)

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Paul Davies:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of enabling Credit Unions to offer Help to Save accounts. \p Lucy Rigby: The Help to Save scheme supports financial resilience for working people on low incomes by encouraging consistent, long-term saving and helping them build a financial buffer to plan and prepare for the future. The scheme is currently available to working individuals in receipt of Universal Credit, ensuring it remains targeted at its intended population.

As announced at Autumn Budget 2025, the government will make the Help to Save scheme permanent and, from April 2028, will expand eligibility to include all Universal Credit claimants who receive the child element, the caring element or both.

The government has recently consulted on reforms to the future delivery of Help to Save and has engaged with a range of third-party financial institutions, including credit unions, as part of this process. While a decision on the future delivery model has not yet been made, the government will continue working with credit unions and other interested financial institutions as these proposals are developed further.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she collects data on the number and proportion of first-time buyers using the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme. \p Lucy Rigby: 95% loan-to-value mortgage products can be beneficial for first-time buyers who may struggle to raise larger deposits, and the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme aims to support this segment of the UK mortgage market.

The new Mortgage Guarantee Scheme recently launched in July 2025 and remains permanently available to lenders who wish to participate in the scheme. The Treasury will be collecting data about the scheme over its lifespan, including data on first-time buyers taking out mortgages under the scheme.
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Gareth Davies:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on what date the National Wealth Fund Board was informed of the Government’s intention to allocate £200 million to Grangemouth community; and whether the Board formally approved any such commitment in accordance with its statutory governance and investment processes. \p James Murray: The Government made a major intervention to ensure the long-term future of the Grangemouth site. As part of that, £200 million has been made available from the National Wealth Fund’s existing capitalisation for investible projects at Grangemouth.

The National Wealth Fund will be responsible for approval of specific investments, in line with its regular governance and investment processes, including Board approval where appropriate.
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Sir Mel Stride:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether there will be a Spring Statement in 2026 to accompany the OBR's Spring Forecast 2026; and whether the OBR's Spring Forecast 2026 will include the scoring of new measures announced since Autumn Budget 2025. \p James Murray: The Chancellor will set out her plans for the Spring forecast in due course.
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Gareth Davies:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how the £14.5 million for Grangemouth announced at the Budget relates to the previous commitment from the Prime Minister that £200 million from the National Wealth Fund would support the transition of the Grangemouth site; and whether the £14.5 million announced at the Budget is additional to the previous £200 million commitment. \p James Murray: The £14.5 million of investment to support industrial projects in Grangemouth announced at Autumn Budget 2025 is in addition to the National Wealth Fund commitment.
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Ben Lake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 2 December 2025 to question 95185, what the updated average annual change in the Welsh Government’s capital budget is between 2025-26 and 2029-30; and whether that budget will increase. \p James Murray: As a result of decisions at Budget 2025, the Welsh Government will receive an additional £185m CDEL through the operation of the Barnett formula on top of the record settlement provided at Spending Review 2025. This will ensure the Welsh Government are funded above their independently assessed level of need in all years of the Spending Review 2025 period.
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Mark Garnier:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Section 4.167 of the Autumn Budget 2025, when her Department plans to publish the solution ensuring that pensioners who only receive the state pension will not (a) have to fill out a tax return and (b) pay income tax. \p Torsten Bell: As the Chancellor has said, over this Parliament those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax.

As announced at the Budget, the government will ease the administrative burden for pensioners whose sole income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments so that they do not have to pay small amounts of tax via Simple Assessment from 2027-28.