theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many education, health and care plans have been withdrawn for children in (a) mainstream and (b) SEN schools in each of the last five years. \p Catherine McKinnell: There were 3,317 education, health and care (EHC) plans for children and young people aged 0-25 which ceased during 2023 because the child or young person’s needs were being met without an EHC plan. This was out of a total number of 517,048 EHC plans active at January 2023. There are several other reasons an EHC plan might cease, for example, moving between local authorities, moving outside England or accessing an apprenticeship, employment or higher education. The full breakdown of ceased plans by reason for the calendar years 2022 and 2023 can be found in the publication, ‘Education, health and care plans’ (reporting year 2024) which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2024.

Information on the number who attended mainstream schools or special schools and the number ceasing an EHC plan for this reason prior to the 2022 calendar year is not available.
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of students taking heritage language GCSEs in the academic year 2024-25. \p Catherine McKinnell: Provisional data on GCSE entries for the 2024/25 academic year will be published by Ofqual on 12 June 2025.

The department will publish provisional key stage 4 performance statistics for the 2024/25 academic year in October 2025.
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to introduce a Ukrainian language GCSE. \p Catherine McKinnell: Decisions about which languages to offer at GCSE in England are taken by four independent awarding organisations – AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel and WJEC – rather than by central government. These organisations have the freedom to create a Ukrainian GCSE based on the subject content for modern foreign language set by the department. We have recently written to these organisations to ask them to consider introducing a Ukrainian GCSE.

​The British government stands steadfast behind the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian government. The department is proud to support children and families from Ukraine during their transition to a new life in the UK. To do our part to support the Ukrainian people, we are supporting the Ukrainian Ministry of Education and Science in policy development and this year have launched a UK-Ukraine Schools Partnership Programme, twinning 100 schools in the UK and Ukraine.
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average time taken was to get an Education, Health and Care Plan in place for a child in each of the last five years; and what steps she is taking to reduce this time. \p Catherine McKinnell: Information for each of the last 5 years on the number and percentage of education, health and care (EHC) plans issued within the statutory 20-week deadline, with and without statutory exceptions to that deadline applying, is published as part of the statistical release, ‘Education, health and care plans’ (reporting year 2024), which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2024.

Local authorities identified as having issues with EHC plan timeliness are subject to additional monitoring by the department, who work with the specific local authority. Where there are concerns about the local authority’s capacity to make the required improvements, the department can secure specialist special educational needs and disabiltiies advisor support to help identify the barriers to EHC plan process timeliness and put in place practical plans for recovery.

​When inspections indicate that there are significant concerns with local authority performance, the department will intervene directly. This may mean issuing an improvement notice, statutory direction and/or appointing a commissioner, deployment of which is considered on a case-by-case basis.
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Ruth Cadbury:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to help support schools to educate parents on safeguarding children in respect to online content. \p Stephen Morgan: Keeping children safe is an absolute priority for this government, and schools play a critical role in this.   The department’s statutory safeguarding guidance, ‘Keeping children safe in education’ makes clear that schools and colleges should adopt a whole-school approach to safeguarding. This includes considering how online safety is reflected in relevant school policies and processes, and strategies for engaging parents in conversations about online safety. It also signposts to resources specifically aimed at parents to help them keep their children safe online.   Alongside this, the department is conducting a research project to help us understand what more we can do to support parents to keep their children safe online.
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Claire Hazelgrove:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of childcare for children under the age of two. \p Stephen Morgan: The government’s Plan for Change sets out a commitment to give children the best start in life, breaking the link between background and opportunity.

In the 2025/26 financial year alone, we plan to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements. This is a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements, so eligible working parents of children aged from nine months can access 30 hours of funded childcare.

Since September 2024, eligible parents have been able to access 15 hours of government-funded childcare (over 38 weeks a year) from the term after their child turns 9 months. This will double to 30 hours from September 2025.

The department continues to monitor the sufficiency of childcare places. The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children.

Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action the local authority is taking to address those issues and, where needed, support the local authority with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract.
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Dan Norris:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve SEND provision in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency. \p Catherine McKinnell: The government’s ambition for all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is that they will achieve and thrive, and lead happy, healthy and productive lives. The department is working closely with experts on SEND reforms.

The department and NHS England have been supporting local areas to improve their SEND service delivery for several years. This includes a monitoring, support and challenge relationship following an inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Where a local authority does not meet its duties, we can take action that prioritises children’s needs and support local areas to bring about rapid improvement.

Ofsted and CQC undertook a joint local area SEND inspection of Bath and North East Somerset in March 2019 and received a positive outcome (the local area was not required to produce a written statement of action). We expect the area will be re-inspected within 5 years from January 2023, when the new Ofsted and CQC’s SEND inspection framework was introduced. Officials from the department and NHS England meet annually with partners from the local area (including health, education, agencies, parent/carer, children and young people representatives) to review and reflect on the SEND services.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 54081 on Schools: Fylde, whether her Department has made an estimate of the real-terms change in per pupil funding in (a) Lancashire local authority and (b) the Fylde constituency between 2024-25 and 2025-26 financial years. \p Catherine McKinnell: The overall core schools budget is increasing by £3.7 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, which is a 6% overall increase in cash terms. The data which the department holds on the real terms increase in schools funding is at a national level. The latest schools funding statistics release was published on 30 January 2025. It showed school funding for pupils aged 5 to 16 was projected to increase by 1.2% in real terms in the 2025/26 financial year at a national level.

This analysis does not include the additional funding provided to support schools with the cost of National Insurance contributions (NICs) increases in March 2025, nor the extra funding announced alongside the teacher pay award on 22 May. Schools will, on average, be expected to find approximately the first 1 percentage point of pay awards through improved productivity and smarter spending. The government will fund the pay award above this level through new and existing funding increases. The department will be further developing the current suite of initiatives to support schools with their workforce, commercial and asset management.

Through the dedicated schools grant (DSG), Lancashire local authority is attracting on average, £6,348 per pupil (excluding growth and falling rolls funding) in the 2025/26 financial year. This represents an increase of 2.4% per pupil compared to the 2024/25 financial year (excluding growth and falling rolls funding) when it attracted £5,863 per pupil. These figures do not include the additional funding provided to support schools with the cost of NICs and the Schools Budget Support Grant funding alongside the teacher pay award. The actual funding that individual schools in Lancashire receive is determined by the operation of Lancashire’s local formula.

We cannot provide the equivalent figures for Fylde constituency as the DSG is allocated at local authority level.

The figures above are provided on a cash basis. We also publish real-terms statistics on schools funding at the national level. We use the GDP deflator to calculate real-terms funding levels.
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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase funding certainty for schools over a multi-year period. \p Catherine McKinnell: The overall core schools budget is increasing by £3.7 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, meaning that it will total £65.3 billion, compared to £61.6 billion in the 2024/25 financial year. This is a 6% overall increase.

The government is considering how it can support schools to plan their budgets from the perspective of both their funding and their costs. The teacher pay award this year has been announced two months earlier than last year as part of the government’s ambition to improve the pay round process. This is alongside £615 million of additional funding to support schools with their overall costs, including staff pay awards.

Budgets for the 2026/27 financial year and beyond are still to be agreed and this includes the 2026/27 Core Schools Budget. This will be subject to the multi-year spending review, which the department expects to be concluded later this month.
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Mike Reader:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of implementing the Equality and Human Rights Commission's revised code of practice for services, public functions and associations on single-sex school admissions policies. \p Catherine McKinnell: I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Northampton South to the answer of 09 June 2025 to Question 55359.
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David Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support local authorities with (a) preventative and (b) early-years support for ECHPs in the North East. \p Catherine McKinnell: This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed and thrive in their education and as they move into adult life.

Early intervention is critical to prevent unmet needs from escalating. To support early years educators to meet emerging needs, the department has launched new training resources to help educators support children with developmental differences. We have also announced 1,000 further funded training places for Early Years Special Educational Needs Coordinators in the 2025/26 financial year, which will be targeted at settings in the most disadvantaged areas.

The department, in partnership with NHS England, continues to improve access to speech and language therapy in early years settings and primary schools through the Early Language and Support for Every Child pathfinder project. This is being delivered through nine regional pathfinder partnerships within the department’s change programme. In the North East, this is being led by Hartlepool Local Authority.

The department’s North East Regions Group also maintains regular engagement with all 12 local authorities in the area, providing tailored support to individual authorities, as well as regionally.
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Adam Dance:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessments she has made of the merits of implementing a teacher retention strategy that addresses key factors driving staff to leave the profession. \p Catherine McKinnell: High-quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child or young person’s outcome in schools and colleges. Recruiting and retaining more qualified, expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and boost the life chances for every child. This is why the government’s Plan for Change has committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers in secondary and special schools, and in our colleges, over the course of this Parliament.

The best recruitment strategy is an effective retention strategy. The department recently announced a 4% pay award for teachers and leaders in maintained schools from September 2025. This builds on the 5.5% pay award for the 2024/25 academic year, resulting in a near 10% pay award since this government came to power, ensuring teaching is once again a valued profession and keeping high-quality teachers in schools. In addition, we invested around £700 million across schools and further education this year, which included increasing our targeted retention incentives, worth up to £6,000 per year for early career teachers teaching in disadvantaged schools, and resources to improve teachers’ workload and wellbeing.

Our investment is starting to deliver. The workforce has grown by 2,346 full-time equivalent, between 2023/24 and 2024/25 in secondary and special schools, with leaver rates dropping to 9.1%, one of the lowest on record.

To further support teacher retention, the department has established a new way of working through ‘Improving Education Together’, which brings together employer representative organisations, unions and government to help inform policy design and approaches to implementation across key reform priorities.
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Dan Aldridge:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the legal costs of implementing the EHRC’s proposed Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations for schools. \p Catherine McKinnell: I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Weston-super-Mare to the answer of 09 June 2025 to Question 55359.
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Clive Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Patients and pupils to benefit from school and hospital repairs, published on 30 May 2025, how much funding will be allocated to schools in each (a) constituency and (b) local authority. \p Stephen Morgan: This government has increased investment for improving our school buildings to £2.1 billion for the 2025/26 financial year, almost £300 million more than last year. As part of that, close to £470 million has been made available to eligible schools and sixth-form colleges through the Condition Improvement Fund.

The department has published details of successful projects and applicants to the Condition Improvement Fund for the 2025/26 financial year, including by local authority, and constituency. We do not, however, publish amounts of funding awarded at project, school, constituency or local authority level to protect the commercial interests of schools in getting best value from the market. We have published the aggregated amount allocated to projects at regional level.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Young Futures Hubs will there be in (a) Lancashire and (b) Fylde constituency. \p Janet Daby: The government has committed to the creation of a new Young Futures Programme, which will establish a network of Young Futures Hubs and Young Futures Prevention Partnerships. Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes and enabling them to thrive.

To roll-out Young Futures Hubs, building on the success of existing infrastructure and provision, the department will establish a number of early adopter hubs, the locations of which will be determined by where they will have the most impact. These early adopter hubs and work in local areas will inform the longer-term development of the programme, including how quickly we move to a greater number of hubs and where they may be located.

The department will set out more details on timelines and locations in due course.
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David Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with local authorities to help reduce the time taken for ECHP tribunals to be heard in the North East. \p Catherine McKinnell: The department is working closely with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to help reduce the time families wait for appeal hearings about education, health and care (EHC) plan appeals.

MoJ recently recruited 70 new judges and increased administrative staffing by 10% to help process appeals. The use of judicial case management powers to settle cases earlier has also been expanded, and the Tribunal Procedure Committee have recently amended its rules to allow individual judges to determine whether appeals against a refusal to conduct an EHC needs assessment should be conducted in writing (known as ‘on paper’), which is quicker than a full oral hearing.

The tribunal always prioritises phase transfer appeals for children and young people who are moving school/placement in September and offers parents and young people the opportunity to have appeals heard throughout school holidays and paper hearings when there is capacity.

As the tribunal are hearing 99.5% of appeals remotely, all regions across England are served equitably.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps her Department is taking to support pensioners with the cost of living in South Holland and the Deepings constituency. \p James Murray: This Government remains committed to supporting pensioners and giving them the dignity and security they deserve in retirement.

On 9 June the Government announced that, from this winter 2025-26, Winter Fuel Payment eligibility will be expanded in England and Wales. Pensioners with incomes below or equal to £35,000 will benefit from a Winter Fuel Payment. This will mean that the vast majority of pensioners over three quarters, or 9 million—will benefit from a Winter Fuel Payment. This change ensures that the means-testing of winter fuel payments has no effect on pensioner poverty.

Through our commitment to protect the Triple Lock around 26,000 pensioners in South Holland and the Deepings constituency benefitted from a 4.1% increase to their basic or new State Pension in April 2025. Over the course of this Parliament, the full yearly rate of the new State Pension is expected to increase by around £1,900 based on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s latest forecast.

Support available beyond the State Pension includes: free eye tests; NHS prescriptions; and free bus passes. Some pensioners may also qualify for means tested benefits including Pension Credit and Housing Benefit.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will meet with private sector cash machine operator Link to discuss additional face to face banking services for rural areas. \p Emma Reynolds: Banking has changed significantly in recent years with many customers benefitting from the ease and convenience of digital banking. The Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets across the UK, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority. This is why the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 220 hubs have been announced so far, and over 160 are already open.

Where a branch closure is announced or a community has submitted a cash access assessment request, LINK, the independent industry coordinating body responsible for making access to cash assessments, assesses a community’s access to cash needs, and will recommend appropriate solutions where it considers that a community requires additional cash services, such as a banking hub or deposit service.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules require designated firms to consider a range of factors in their assessments which will account for challenges in cash access faced in rural areas. For example, firms are required to consider the actual travel times and costs to reach cash access facilities and identify gaps in provision where these are unreasonable, which may be particularly the case in rural areas.

Whilst the Government meets with LINK to discuss a variety of matters, any decisions on changes to LINK’s independent assessment criteria are a matter for LINK and the financial services sector.

The Government works closely with the FCA, the independent regulator of the UK’s financial services sector, to ensure that all customers get the right support with their financial products and services.

The FCA requires firms to provide a prompt, efficient, and fair service to all of their customers. This includes special considerations for vulnerable customers, including the elderly and disabled customers.

Furthermore, under the Equality Act 2010, banks must make reasonable adjustments to ensure their services are accessible to all.

Alternative options to access everyday banking services can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking, and via the Post Office. The Post Office Banking Framework allows personal and business customers to withdraw and deposit cash, check their balance, pay bills and cash cheques at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of removing the requirement for armed forces personnel to pay (a) Income Tax and (b) Council Tax when deployed on overseas operations. \p James Murray: Whilst there is no income tax exemption for the salaries of armed forces personnel serving overseas, there are a number of exemptions for specific payments or expenses including for UK accommodation, uniform laundering, and some travel expenses and professional fees.

The Ministry of Defence also pays a tax-free allowance called Council Tax Relief for certain Service personnel on specified operations or assignments.

This demonstrates the Government's commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant and supporting our vital Armed Forces personnel.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2025 to Question 54343 on Tobacco: Smuggling, how many and what proportion of those referrals resulted in a penalty; and what the average penalty was. \p James Murray: Of the 312 referrals received by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) from local authority Trading Standards, 87 have so far progressed through casework to the issuing of a financial penalty for breaches of the Tobacco Track and Trace requirements. The average penalty charge to date has been £6,005.

The progression of the remaining, and future referrals are expected to result in additional penalty charges being issued.
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Mrs Sharon Hodgson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of extending exemptions to the proposed lactose allowance for milk-based drinks to equivalent milk-substitute drinks as part of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy. \p James Murray: At Autumn Budget 2024 the Chancellor announced her intention to review the Soft Drinks Industry levy (SDIL) – which has incentivised producers to remove almost half (46%) the sugar in relevant drinks – to further drive product reformulation.

The ‘Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy’ consultation, published last month, therefore sets out proposals to reduce the minimum sugar content threshold at which the levy applies, and to remove the current exemptions for milk-based drinks and milk substitute drinks with added sugar.

To account for the naturally occurring sugar in the milk component of these milk-based drinks, the consultation proposes the introduction of a lactose allowance. This will be calculated based upon the milk content of each drink.

The Government is also consulting on the treatment of milk substitute drinks, and proposes only to extent the SDIL to milk substitutes with no added sugar. In a similar fashion to the lactose allowance, drinks with sugars only released from their principal, or ‘core’ ingredient will be out of scope of the levy.

This is to maintain consistency of treatment between milk substitute drinks and plain animal milk-based drinks, whilst bringing into SDIL milk substitutes with added sugar, including the flavoured varieties that could be consumed as alternatives to flavoured milk-based drinks. Under these proposals, if any sugars other than the principal ingredient are added to a milk substitute drink the SDIL thresholds will apply, based on total sugar content (g) per 100ml.
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Lee Anderson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 3 June 2025 to Question 54343 on Tobacco: Smuggling, how many and what proportion of those referrals resulted in the revocation of the business's economic operator registration. \p James Murray: The majority of referrals received so far have been in respect of businesses who do not hold an economic operator registration because they do not sell, or intend to sell, any legitimate tobacco products.

Under The Tobacco Products (Traceability and Security Features) Regulations 2019, a valid Economic Operator ID (EOID) holder who breaches the requirements on a second or subsequent occasion, may have their EOID registration revoked for either 6 months or 5 years. No referrals have met this criterion so far.
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Dan Norris:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of her proposals for reducing business rates for shops, pubs and leisure businesses on SMEs in North East Somerset and Hanham constituency. \p James Murray: From April 2026, the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support.

The rates for these new business rate multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context.

Ahead of these changes being made, we have 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.

When the new multipliers are set at Budget 2025, HM Treasury intends to publish overall analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.
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Katie Lam:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the increase in (a) employer National Insurance contributions and (b) the National Minimum Wage on hospitality businesses in (a) Kent and (b) Weald of Kent constituency. \p James Murray: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs). The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy, including the impact on businesses and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-the-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-secondary-threshold-the-secondary-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-rate-and-the-empl/changes-to-the-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-secondary-threshold-the-secondary-class-1-national-insurance-contributions-rate-and-the-empl

The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from these changes by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.

The Impact Assessment for the National Living Wage (NLW) and National Minimum Wage (NMW) rates was published alongside the minimum wage legislation and can be found here: The National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2025 - Impact Assessment.

DBT estimated that 460,000-500,000 workers would benefit from the 2025 NLW and NMW increases in the hospitality sector. DBT also estimated that the total costs to businesses would be: £397m for micro-businesses, £499m for small businesses, and £354m for medium businesses.
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Saqib Bhatti:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of business rates relief on supply of serviced office buildings. \p James Murray: The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is responsible for valuing non-domestic property for business rates purposes. At present many serviced offices are valued as separate units. This means that businesses occupying serviced office units are liable for business rates. Where eligible, these businesses may claim Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR). SBRR provides 100 per cent rate relief for properties with rateable values below £12,000, and tapered support to those with rateable values below £15,000.
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Ian Roome:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Spending Review will fund all of the recommendations of the 2025 Strategic Defence Review. \p Darren Jones: The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was published on 2 June 2025, and the recommendations within it have been accepted by the government. Full details of the departmental budgets for the spending review period will be published on 11 June 2025.
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Lincoln Jopp:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the publication of the Strategic Defence Review on trading of shares in UK-listed defence companies. \p Darren Jones: The Strategic Defence Review was published on 2 June 2025. It is not government policy to comment on the market impacts of policy announcements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

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Andy McDonald:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of public sector pay awards in the 2025-26 financial year on trends in the (a) recruitment and (b) retention of public sector staff. \p Darren Jones: Pay for most public sector workforces is set based upon recommendations produced by respective independent Pay Review Bodies (PRBs). The PRBs consider a range of evidence when forming their recommendations, including the need to recruit, retain and motivate suitably able and qualified people; the financial circumstances of Government; the Government's policies for improving public services; and the Government's inflation target.

The last government neglected public sector pay for 14 years, leaving public services unable to recruit and keep the staff they need. That is why going forward, we want to make sure our public services can attract and keep the talent they need, as to ensure that those services provide a firm foundation for economic growth.

As part of achieving this, every 2025/26 pay award announced by the Government to date is above forecast inflation over the 2025/26 pay year, delivering another real-terms pay rise on top of the one the Government provided for 2024/25.

Furthermore, this Government remains committed to the independent Pay Review Body process as the established mechanism for determining pay uplifts for most public sector workers. It has operated for over four decades, provides independent advice and is a neutral process in which all parties play a role; which the unions campaigned to establish in the first place.

However, we recognise that faith in the Pay Review Body process had fallen in recent years, and so we are committed to bringing pay awards earlier in the pay year. That is why this Government announced pay awards for many workforces over two months earlier than last year. Additionally, we will be remitting PRBs for the next pay round shortly to put an end to pay awards being delivered late, ensuring that our valued public sector workers receive pay awards closer to the start of the pay year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_413

Blake Stephenson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increased NICs on the financial viability of Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire. \p James Murray: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs). The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

The Government decided to protect the smallest businesses from these changes by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that this year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all, and more than half of all employers will either gain or will see no change.

While retail, hospitality and leisure are devolved responsibilities, the UK Government is committed to supporting the Welsh tourism and hospitality sectors. In February, the Government announced a £15 million investment for Venue Cymru and the Newport Transporter Bridge. These are two key projects that will help boost the tourism and culture sectors in Wales.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_414

Ms Diane Abbott:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding has been transferred from the international aid to the defence budget in cash terms. \p Darren Jones: In February this year, the Prime Minister announced that NATO qualifying defence spending will increase to 2.5% GDP by 2027-28. It will be fully funded by reducing Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 0.5% to 0.3% GNI by the same year. Further details of cash terms savings from reducing ODA can be found in the Spring Statement 2025 document here:

CP1298 – Spring Statement 2025

Individual departmental budgets will be confirmed at the conclusion of the spending review on 11 June.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_415

Lizzi Collinge:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what lessons her Department has learnt from the covid-19 pandemic support schemes to ensure that adequate protection is provided to for (a) directors of small limited companies and (b) shielding households. \p Darren Jones: Decisions on eligibility for Covid-19 financial support were taken by the previous Government.

The previous Government decided to provide support through the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) based on two principles: a) targeting support at those who needed it most; and b) guarding against error, fraud and abuse, whilst reaching as many individuals as possible.

People may have been eligible for the other elements of the financial support provided by the Government, including the welfare system. This package included Restart Grants, the Recovery Loan scheme, business rates relief, and other business support schemes.

The previous Government evaluated the COVID-19 labour market support schemes. These were published in 2023 and can be found on Gov.uk. The Government will continue to learn lessons through formal evaluations and reports by independent bodies, such the National Audit Office, and through the work of the UK COVID-19 Public Inquiry.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_416

Ms Diane Abbott:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding has been transferred from the aid budget to the defence budget. \p Darren Jones: In February this year, the Prime Minister announced that NATO qualifying defence spending will increase to 2.5% GDP by 2027-28. It will be fully funded by reducing Official Development Assistance (ODA) from 0.5% to 0.3% GNI by the same year. Further details of cash terms savings from reducing ODA can be found in the Spring Statement 2025 document here:

CP1298 – Spring Statement 2025

Individual departmental budgets will be confirmed at the conclusion of the spending review on 11 June.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_417

Ben Lake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much additional funding through the Barnett Formula will the Welsh government receive from regional transport infrastructure funding in England announced on 4 June 2025. \p Darren Jones: The Barnett formula is applied when departmental budgets change – not when departments announce how they are spending their budgets.

When changes to the Department for Transport’s budget are confirmed at Spending Review 2025 on 11 June, the Barnett formula will be applied in the usual way.

The published Block Grant Transparency document provides a detailed breakdown of how the block grants are calculated and the next version will be published in due course.
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_418
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_418

Jack Rankin:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposals outlined in the consultation entitled The Tax Treatment of Remote Gambling, last updated on 6 May 2025, on black market gambling. \p James Murray: The Government is consulting on proposals to simplify the current gambling tax system by merging the three current taxes that cover remote (including online) gambling into one.

If any changes are made to gambling duties at a future Budget following the consultation, they will be accompanied by a Tax Information and Impact Note which will set out the expected impacts.
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_419
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_419

Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people claimed the Blind Person's Allowance in the 2023-24 financial year. \p James Murray: The most recent estimates of the number of individuals claiming the Blind Person’s Allowance are published as part of HMRC’s statistics publication ‘Tax Reliefs Statistics’ within the file ‘Estimated cost of non-structural tax reliefs (December 2024)’ under the IT tab:

Non-structural tax reliefs - GOV.UK

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6749e1adebabe47136b3a295/non_structural_cost_estimates_december_2024.ods
wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_420
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_420

Mr Will Forster:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will review the role of the Financial Conduct Authority. \p Emma Reynolds: The government has no plans to review the role of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). It is working closely with the FCA to support the growth mission and maintain high standards of regulation in financial services.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-10)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-10 conversation_421

Callum Anderson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what analysis was conducted on the potential impact of ending public ownership of NatWest Group on the resilience of the financial sector. \p Emma Reynolds: On 30 May 2025, the government sold its remaining shares in NatWest Group (formerly Royal Bank of Scotland, RBS), bringing to an end the public ownership of banks resulting from the 2007-2009 global financial crisis.

It is not government policy to pursue state ownership of firms in the financial services sector. The government provided support to RBS, as part of a series of interventions in the financial sector, to protect ordinary savers and businesses from the collapse of a bank which was vital to the functioning of the UK economy and financial system.

With the original policy objective - to preserve financial and economic stability at a time of crisis – achieved, returning NatWest to the private sector was the right choice for both taxpayers and the bank, helping to promote financial stability and a more competitive banking sector in the UK.

Regarding the resilience of the sector, since the global financial crisis, the government has successfully implemented reforms to strengthen the ability to manage bank failures safely, and to do so in a way that protects the wider economy and minimises the need for taxpayer support. In addition, the development of a more robust regulatory framework since the financial crisis has helped strengthen the resilience and stability of both individual firms and the wider financial system.