theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Terry Jermy:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on steps to help create skilled jobs in South West Norfolk constituency. \p Alison McGovern: South-West Norfolk Jobcentres Plus engage directly with local businesses as well as employment and skills forums across the region to both understand local labour market need and to influence the delivery of skills provision in line with these requirements, including training provision needed to deliver our successful Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAPs).

As outlined in the Get Britain Working White Paper, the Government is committed to creating in England a new single universal service that will provide a stronger focus on skills and careers by bringing together Jobcentre Plus and the National Careers Service. The service will be crucial in ensuring more of our domestic workforce, especially those in regions of higher unemployment and economic inactivity can take full advantage of the opportunities and job creation that the Industrial Strategy and Government’s wider sectoral priorities will bring.

As the HR department for the Government’s growth mission, the DWP ministerial team and officials work closely with colleagues across to help employers including those in sectors crucial to growth, including Industrial Strategy sectors, to help meet their recruitment needs and break down barriers to opportunity across the country.

This includes the steps announced by DWP Secretary of State to overhaul our relationship with employers https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dedicated-team-to-serve-businesses-amongst-dwp-overhaul-of-employer-support-to-get-britain-working and the forthcoming joint ministerial Get Britain Working sectoral workforce summits, starting with construction, health and social care and clean energy.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to promote and support the active participation of older people in society. \p Alison McGovern: The Government knows that work can help older people play active and fulfilling roles in society, improve physical and mental wellbeing and build towards a financially comfortable retirement.

The Department already offers employment support through Jobcentres and tailored one-to-one engagement for eligible over 50s on Universal Credit. Midlife MOT reviews, delivered in Jobcentres across the UK and online also support older people to review their health, finances and skills.

Getting more older people who are economically inactive but want to work into employment is crucial to meeting our long-term ambition of an 80 per cent employment rate. Our Get Britain Working White Paper sets out our approach to the employment support system to target and tackle the root causes of unemployment and inactivity and better join up health skills and employment support based on the needs for all, including older people.

The Government has also launched an independent review into the role of UK employers in promoting healthy and inclusive workplaces which will run until Summer 2025.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she plans to take to support (a) the right to work and (b) financial security for older people. \p Alison McGovern: On 26 November 2024, the Government published the Get Britain Working White Paper which sets out fundamental reforms to employment support to help people into good work and create an inclusive labour market in which everyone can get into and on at work.

Increasing the proportion of older people returning to work and staying in work reduces the risk of later life poverty as it increases pensions saving and improves physical and mental wellbeing. On an individual scale it ensures people can fulfil their potential into later life and save towards a financially resilient retirement.

The Equality Act 2010 is very clear on the need for employers to recruit the best talent based on merit, irrespective of a person’s age. The Department for Work and Pensions therefore works across government, and through regular engagement with employers to encourage positive attitudes towards older workers.

The Department already offers employment support through Jobcentres and tailored one-to-one engagement for eligible over 50s on Universal Credit. Midlife MOT reviews, delivered in Jobcentres across the UK and online also support older people to review their health, finances and skills.
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Andrew Bowie:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which employment sectors have the highest number of Skills Passport users securing jobs. \p Alison McGovern: Some sectors and organisations use skills passports as a way of recognising accredited training relevant to that sector or organisation, for example, the recently developed Hospitality Skills Passport by UKHospitality and deployed as part of the DWP/UKH Destination Hospitality Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAPs) offer. DWP does not issue or collect data on skills passport. However, DWP does offer tailored, flexible advice and support through Jobcentre Plus as part of its core offer.

Jobcentre Work Coaches offer jobseekers a comprehensive menu of help, including referral into skills provision and job search support. Skills are essential to helping customers secure, retain, and progress in work. Work Coaches help customers to access a broad range of provision including Apprenticeships, Skills Bootcamps, vocational and essential English, maths, digital skills training and ESOL, as well as careers advice and Sector-based Work Academy Programmes (SWAPs).

DWP Work Coach brokered skills interventions help claimants gain the skills they need to enter and progress in employment, providing the means to enhance career prospects and earnings in line with labour market needs. Creating a highly skilled workforce and contributing to Government’s overall growth ambitions.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-12)

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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the Child Maintenance Service to (a) increase protections for the victims of domestic abuse and (b) to prevent the withholding or artificial reduction of child maintenance payments being used as a form of economic abuse. \p Andrew Western: A consultation on proposed reforms to the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) was published by the previous Government on 8 May 2024. This included:

This follows the Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act receiving royal assent in July 2023. The consultation was extended by this Government at the end of July and ran until 30 September 2024. We are currently analysing the responses we have received, and the Government will publish a response in due course.

CMS Domestic Abuse training has been updated with input from external stakeholders and wider DWP to ensure caseworkers recognise and respond safely and appropriately to customers who are experiencing domestic abuse or are survivors of domestic abuse. This package includes an understanding of abuse, including economic abuse, and, of course, given the context, covers post separation abuse.

The CMS will use its strong enforcement powers to pursue those who willfully avoid their financial obligations to their children. Cases involving complex income can be investigated by the Financial Investigation Unit (FIU). This is a specialist team which can request information from financial institutions (such as banks, investment companies and mortgage companies) to check the accuracy of information the CMS is given.
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Jayne Kirkham:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the HSE plans to expedite its assessment of the European Chemicals Agency Risk Assessment Committee proposal to reclassify lithium salts as Category A reproductive toxicants. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The three lithium substances (lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide and lithium chloride) referred to above, do not currently have mandatory classification and labelling in Great Britain (GB). HSE specialists are considering the need to fully evaluate the available data using the Article 37A process under the GB Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation (GB CLP) following publication of the Agency Opinion by HSE in August 2023 to determine whether mandatory classification and labelling is warranted.
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Graeme Downie:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of fraudulent claims there were for the Personal Independence Payment in each (a) nation and (b) region in each of the last five years. \p Andrew Western: We publish annual estimates of fraud and error levels in the benefit system in Great Britain, however as these figures are produced using sample data, they are not available below the national level.
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Shaun Davies:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish data on levels of child poverty in Telford constituency for each year that data is available. \p Alison McGovern: Statistics on the number of children living in absolute and relative poverty on a before housing costs basis by parliamentary constituency are published annually in the “Children in low income families: local area statistics” publication and can be found in tabs “6_Absolute_ParlC” and “5_Relative_ParlC” at Children in low income families: local area statistics 2014 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The latest statistics published on 21 March 2024 are for the financial period 2022/23. The figures provided for parliamentary constituencies are on the 2010 boundaries.

The latest available data can also be found on Stat-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/) in the Children in low income families dataset. Figures on both the 2010 and 2024 parliamentary constituency boundaries are available here.

Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: Getting Started (dwp.gov.uk). An account is not required to use Stat- Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.
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Danny Kruger:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to accelerate the rollout of Universal Credit. \p Sir Stephen Timms: I refer the Hon Member to the Statement of 12 November (Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament)
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Rebecca Smith:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he is taking steps with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to enable banking hubs to offer postal services. \p Gareth Thomas: The Department for Business and Trade continues to engage with His Majesty's Treasury on the Government’s commitment to roll out 350 banking hubs. Banking hubs are a voluntary service which were developed by the financial services sector to protect access to cash under the Financial Services Act 2023. Their rollout is overseen by Cash Access UK and funded by the banks for the purpose of coordinating banking hub delivery.

The Government-set Access Criteria ensures that however the network changes, Post Office delivers essential services, including banking and cash services, within local reach of all citizens.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the condition of the UK cycling industry. \p Sarah Jones: No formal assessment has been completed; however, the Department has engaged with key industry brands on issues and will continue to do so moving forward. The industry has recently faced significant headwinds, impacting growth and profitability. Despite this, the industry is stabilising with some retailers reporting positive financial performance. There are signs of recovery and potential growth in key high-demand areas such as Road, Gravel, and Electric Mountain Bikes.
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Jamie Stone:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help SMEs adopt digital technology. \p Gareth Thomas: To support more small businesses’ digitisation efforts, we announced at Budget 2024 that we would extend the work of the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce. The Taskforce is made up of industry experts and focuses on addressing the challenge of how to support SMEs to adopt and implement productivity-enhancing technologies, such as customer relationship management, accountancy, and resource planning software. We intend to publish a summary of the Taskforce’s draft recommendations soon and their full report will be published later this year.

We will be announcing further measures shortly.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support businesses which export bicycles. \p Gareth Thomas: Under the umbrella of the recently announced Business Growth Service, UK businesses can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises an online support offer and a wider network of support including the Export Academy, UK Export Finance, the International Markets network and one-to-one support from International Trade Advisers.

This support is available to all UK businesses including those that sell and wish to export bicycles.
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Saqib Bhatti:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has conducted an impact assessment into Invest 2035. \p Sarah Jones: The Green Paper ‘Invest 2035’ set out the vision for the government’s Industrial Strategy to engage key stakeholders and invite their contributions to the consultation process. As such it does not set out individual policies which can be subject to an impact assessment. Consistent with best practice, policies in the Government’s forthcoming Industrial Strategy will have impact assessments carried out where relevant.
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Saqib Bhatti:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what publications are available for Invest 2035. \p Sarah Jones: “Invest 2035”, the Industrial Strategy Green Paper, was published 14 October 2024, setting out our vision for a modern Industrial Strategy. The Invest 2035 Prospectus was published alongside this, which sets out the UK’s pitch to investors and a roadmap detailing how the Industrial Strategy will help secure investment and kickstart growth across the country. The Industrial Strategy, alongside Sector Plans for the growth-driving sectors, will be published in Spring 2025, aligned with the multi-year Spending Review.
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Mike Reader:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help support businesses to compete with direct-to-consumer online retailers that are based offshore. \p Gareth Thomas: We intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including those on the high street, from 2026-27. This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we intend to apply a higher rate from 2026-27 on the most valuable properties - those with a Rateable Value of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but include the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants.

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.

We are also working with businesses to understand their barriers to growth and High Streets will be a key pillar of our forthcoming Small Business Strategy.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for what purposes the Insolvency Service has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Justin Madders: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country.

The Insolvency Service has used AI for three Proof of Concepts of internal chatbots which utilise a Large Language Model.

It is working with the Cabinet Office to publish Algorithmic Transparency Reporting Standards (ATRS) on two of its services. These relate to our Director Conduct Reporting Service and our Redundancy Payments Service Calculation Engine.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on recent trends in economic growth. \p Justin Madders: My department has published a set of Impact Assessments that provide a comprehensive analysis on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This analysis includes consideration of impacts on economic growth. This analysis is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments

This represents the best estimate for the likely impacts, including on economic growth, given the current stage of policy development. We expect that the majority of reforms will take effect no earlier than 2026. We plan to refine our analysis as policy development continues, working closely with external experts, businesses and trade unions.
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Mary Glindon:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what his planned timeline is for the review of the implementation of unpaid carer's leave. \p Justin Madders: The Plan to Make Work Pay set out a commitment to review the implementation of Carer’s Leave, and that work is now underway. To deliver on this, we are bringing forward the Post Implementation Review of this legislation to complete before the end of this parliament.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to monitor companies responsibilities and duties to their employees. \p Justin Madders: The Director of Labour Market Enforcement oversees and assesses the work of three enforcement bodies: HMRC’s National Minimum Wage Enforcement Team, DBT’s Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EAS), and Home Office’s Gangmaster and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA). The DLME is required to report annually to both the Business Secretary and the Home Secretary on the scale and nature of labour market (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/673236dc0d90eee304badb89/uk-labour-market-enforcement-strategy_2024-25-accessible.pdf) to address it.
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Julia Buckley:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many sub-postmasters in the Group Litigation Order Compensation Scheme have (a) not received any compensation payments and (b) have received above the minimum payment of £75,000. \p Gareth Thomas: As of 31 January, the Department had received 408 completed claims from eligible GLO postmasters. 257 claimants have agreed full and final redress, of whom 153 accepted the £75,000 fixed offer. A further 229 individuals have received partial or interim redress payments, including people who have not yet submitted full claims.

The government remains committed to issuing first offers in 90% of cases within 40 working days of receiving complete claims. The same target applies to offers which are challenged after 1 December 2024.
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Sir Ashley Fox:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the average length of wait has been to receive the result of an application for a Standard Individual Export Licence using the new LITE system since it was launched. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: LITE is being introduced gradually as we design, build and iteratively improve the system. It was initially introduced in 2021 for a small number of exporters and this gradual increase in cases continued through 2022. The then Government concluded a total of 384 cases in LITE over 2021 and 2022 and the median processing time was 38 days.

In 2023, the then Government paused the reporting of LITE processing times whilst new functionality was developed. The Government is planning to return to publishing LITE data during 2025 once this functionality is implemented.
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Sir Ashley Fox:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the average length of wait was to receive the result of an application for a Standard Individual Export Licence using the SPIRE system between January to July 2024. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: Between 1 January and 30 June 2024, the median processing time for Standard Individual Export Licence (SIEL) applications submitted on SPIRE and processed to first outcome was 16 working days.

The Export Control Joint Unit’s (ECJU) current performance targets are to complete 70% of applications for SIELs within 20 working days, and 99% within 60 working days.

The Export Control Joint Unit publish comprehensive statistics every quarter about export licence applications, which includes our median processing times. The most recent publication covers the quarter up to June 2024. This data is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a free trade agreement with the Southern African Development Community. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: None of our partner governments in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have requested a collective UK-SADC FTA. There are two customs unions within the SADC grouping, which our existing agreements aim to align with.

Our UK-Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) is with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa, and our UK-Eastern and Southern African EPA is with Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe. The remaining SADC countries (Angola, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo , Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia) are not currently covered by our FTAs, but there are provisions available should they wish to join These remaining countries are eligible for duty-free quota-free access to the UK (on nearly all goods) through our Developing Countries Trading Scheme.
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Robert Jenrick:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has conducted a value for money assessment of the proposed agreement with Mauritius on the Chagos Islands. \p Darren Jones: HMT has been working with the FCDO and the MOD on the agreement who, as the lead departments, are responsible for assessing its value for money under the Managing Public Money framework.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the total net fiscal impact of no longer paying fees associated with EU membership on overall UK public expenditure. \p Darren Jones: The Government has no overall estimate of the impact of the UK’s exit from the EU on public finances and it is not possible to accurately estimate the UK’s hypothetical contributions to the EU had it remained a Member State.

As part of the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, the UK agreed the Financial Settlement, which is a methodology for settling pre-existing UK financial obligations to the EU. The European Union Finances Statement 2023 (available in the library of the House and on Gov.uk) sets out HM Treasury’s estimates of the size of these obligations. As at December 2023, the UK is estimated to have paid £23.8bn (€27.4bn) in net liabilities to date as part of the EU financial settlement. Estimated UK outstanding net liabilities as of December 2023 were £6.4bn (€7.4bn).

In the next iteration of the EU Finances Statement, expected in Spring 2025, HM Treasury will publish details of UK payments under the Financial Settlement in 2024 and its latest estimate for outstanding UK liabilities as at 31st December 2024.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the total net fiscal impact of no longer paying fees associated with EU membership on overall UK public expenditure in each remaining financial year this Parliament. \p Darren Jones: The Government has no overall estimate of the impact of the UK’s exit from the EU on public finances and it is not possible to accurately estimate the UK’s hypothetical contributions to the EU had it remained a Member State.

As part of the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, the UK agreed the Financial Settlement, which is a methodology for settling pre-existing UK financial obligations to the EU. The European Union Finances Statement 2023 (available in the library of the House and on Gov.uk) sets out HM Treasury’s estimates of the size of these obligations. As at December 2023, the UK is estimated to have paid £23.8bn (€27.4bn) in net liabilities to date as part of the EU financial settlement. Estimated UK outstanding net liabilities as of December 2023 were £6.4bn (€7.4bn).

In the next iteration of the EU Finances Statement, expected in Spring 2025, HM Treasury will publish details of UK payments under the Financial Settlement in 2024 and its latest estimate for outstanding UK liabilities as at 31st December 2024.
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Claire Hanna:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will list all Barnett consequentials that her Department plans to allocate to the Northern Ireland Executive that include additional funding to reflect the public sector cost of increased Employer NIC contributions. \p Darren Jones: At Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor agreed to provide funding to the public sector to support them with the additional cost associated with changes to employer National Insurance Contributions policy.

The Northern Ireland Executive will receive funding through the Barnett formula for any changes to UK Government department budgets, including on this support, in the usual way at Main Estimates 2025-26. This is the normal operation of the funding arrangements as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.

This funding will be in addition to the Northern Ireland Executive’s record Spending Review settlements for 2025-26, which are the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution. The Northern Ireland Executive are funded above their independently assessed level of relative need in 2024-25 and 2025-26 when including funding from the 2024 restoration financial package.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will hold discussions with the devolved Administrations on the adequacy of (a) funding and (b) devolved powers for the provision of public services. \p Darren Jones: The UK Government regularly engages with officials and ministers from the devolved governments on a wide range of issues, including their funding to deliver public services.

The devolved governments’ settlements for 2025-26 are the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution. Each devolved government is receiving at least 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK, amounting to over £16 billion more in 2025-26. In total, the devolved governments will receive over £86 billion in 2025-26, including an additional £6.6 billion through the Barnett formula.

Barnett-based funding is not ringfenced for a specific policy area. This provides the devolved governments with the flexibility to allocate funding across devolved areas according to their own priorities and local circumstances, including public services. The devolved governments remain accountable to their respective devolved legislatures for these decisions.
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Written Statement of 17 January 2025 on Machinery of Government, HCWS368, whether appointments to the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority will be included in the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether she plans to classify the chair appointment as a significant appointment. \p Darren Jones: The National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) will combine the functions of the National Infrastructure Commission and Infrastructure and Projects Authority. NISTA will bring oversight of strategy and delivery into one organisation, driving more effective delivery of infrastructure across the country.

On 17 January 2025, the Prime Minister announced in a Written Ministerial Statement that NISTA will be a joint unit of HM Treasury and Cabinet Office, effective from 1 April 2025. Further detail on the work and governance of NISTA will be announced in due course.
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Mike Martin:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy to amend the definition of relevant carer in Section 23A of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 to include individuals unable to apply for Child Benefit due to (a) extenuating circumstances and (b) domestic abuse. \p James Murray: Parents and carers who claim Child Benefit automatically receive National Insurance credits until their child turns twelve. These credits count towards future State Pension entitlement.

Where HMRC is made aware that a person is a victim of domestic abuse, consideration of their Child Benefit claim will be prioritised before other, standard claims.

The Government recognises that some individuals may have missed out on entitlement towards their State Pension if they were eligible to claim Child Benefit but were unable or chose not to. This is why the Government is introducing a new NI credit for people who missed out on National Insurance credits because they did not claim Child Benefit, where no other successful claim to Child Benefit was made for the same period. The credit will be available to claim from April 2026. Transitional arrangements will be in place to ensure those affected from 2013 will be able to claim retrospectively.

Information about the full range of National Insurance credits available, the criteria that must be met to be awarded them and guidance on how to apply for them, is provided on the Government website at: www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the marginal propensity to consume of (a) all pensioners, (b) pensioners under the threshold for Pension Credit and (c) pensioners over the threshold for Pension Credit. \p Torsten Bell: HM Treasury does not hold this information.

The average award of Pension Credit is worth more than £4,200 a year, providing a safety net for pensioners on the lowest incomes. The UK Government is focused on maximising Pension Credit take-up to ensure those entitled to it are getting the support they need.

Over 12 million pensioners will benefit from our commitment to protect the Triple Lock on the new and basic State Pensions. Based on OBR Autumn 2024 forecasts, over the course of this Parliament, the full yearly rate of the new State Pension is expected to increase by around £1900.
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Bradley Thomas:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to increase the Income Tax Personal Allowance. \p James Murray: At our first Budget, we decided not to extend the freeze - implemented by the previous Government - on the Personal Allowance. As a result, the Personal Allowance will rise with inflation from April 2028.
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Bradley Thomas:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of business rate reform to incentivise retail business investment in (a) Bromsgrove constituency and (b) across the United Kingdom. \p James Murray: The Government is creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century.

At Autumn Budget 2024, we made the first step with the announcement of permanently lower tax rates for the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure properties with rateable values below £500,000 from 2026-27.

The Discussion Paper published at Budget sets out priority areas for reform and invites businesses to have a conversation with government about transforming the business rates system over the course of this Parliament, including how to incentivise investment.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the impact of her policies on employers’ National Insurance contributions on economic growth. \p James Murray: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer 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.

In their October 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimated the increase in employer NICs will reduce the level of potential output by 0.1% at the forecast horizon, by reducing labour supply by around 50,000 average hours equivalent.

Overall, once the impact of all Budget measures are taken into consideration, the OBR expect the employment level to increase from 33.1 million in 2024 to 34.3 million in 2029.

The Economic and Fiscal Outlook also sets out the costing for the employer NICs increase, including behavioural impacts, in table 3.2.

https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/OBR_Economic_and_fiscal_outlook_Oct_2024.pdf
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has provided funding from the public purse to offset the impact of changes to employers’ National Insurance contributions on public sector arms-length bodies. \p James Murray: The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance Contributions costs only. This funding will be allocated to departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way, which is in line with the approach taken under the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.

The Government plans to publish allocations for departments alongside departmental budgets for 2025/26 as part of Mains estimates.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the proposed rise in employers' National Insurance contributions on small businesses. \p James Murray: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer 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 has protected the smallest businesses and charities 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 NICs at all next year, more than half of employers will see no change or will gain overall from this package, and all eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.
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Gareth Bacon:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy to exempt GPs who provide more than 90% of their services to the NHS from the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions. \p James Murray: The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance Contributions, i.e. central government, public corporations and local government. General Practitioners are independent contractors and therefore will not be exempt from these changes.

The Government has taken tough decisions to fix the foundations so that increased funding for the NHS in England could be announced at the Budget. Resource spending for the Department of Health and Social Care is set to increase by £22.6 billion in 2025-26 compared to 2023-24 outturn, providing a real-terms growth rate of 4% for the NHS, the largest since before 2010 excluding Covid-19 years.

Every year, the Government consults with the general practice sector about what services they provide, and about what money they are entitled to in return under their contract. As in previous years, this will be dealt with as part of that process.

The Government has announced a proposed £889m uplift for general practice in 2025-26, the largest uplift to GP funding since 2019-20. The Department of Health and Social Care have started consulting with the General Practitioners Committee in England of the British Medical Association (BMA) on the 2025-26 GP contract, and will consider a range of proposed policy changes. These will be announced in the usual way following the close of the consultation later this year.
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Claire Hanna:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 6 February 2025 to Question 27961 on Cycle to Work Scheme and the Answer of 21 November 2024 to Question 14753 on the Cycle to Work Scheme: Low Incomes, whether her Department plans to consult with the Department for Infrastructure in Northern Ireland during its evaluation of the cycle to work scheme. \p James Murray: HMRC has commissioned an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Cycle to Work scheme and will publish its findings in due course.

The government keeps all taxes under review.
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Mike Martin:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to support parents and carers who are survivors of domestic abuse that caused them to be unable to claim Child Benefit and National Insurance credits; and if she will take steps to support them. \p James Murray: Where HMRC is made aware that a person is a victim of domestic abuse, consideration of a claim for Child Benefit will be prioritised before other, standard claims. A Child Benefit claim can be backdated for a maximum of three months. However, only one person can be entitled to Child Benefit for the same period except in exceptional circumstances, those being fraud or misrepresentation.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of rises in employer National Insurance contributions on victims of domestic and sexual violence. \p James Murray: The Government recognises the important role charities play in our society and has made it a priority to reset the relationship with civil society by developing a Civil Society Covenant.

To repair the public finances and help raise the revenue required to increase funding for public services, the government has taken the difficult decision to increase employer National Insurance.

The Government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of employers with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year. Charities will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.

More broadly, within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving., with more than £6 billion in charitable reliefs provided to charities, CASCs and their donors in 2023 to 2024.
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Bradley Thomas:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing the Married Couple's Allowance. \p James Murray: The Married Couple’s Allowance allows married couples and civil partners to reduce their tax bill by 10 per cent of the allowance amount, provided that at least one partner was born before 6 April 1935.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government uprated the Married Couple’s Allowance in line with inflation, as is default policy, so that it is valued to be between £4,280 and £11,080 in 2024-25.
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Gregory Stafford:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue the Crown Estate will generate from the partnership with GB Energy. \p James Murray: Like other commercial businesses, The Crown Estate does not provide forecasts of its future profits.

As announced in July 2024, Great British Energy and The Crown Estate will work together to accelerate the development of the seabed and supporting infrastructure along the coast of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, creating a pipeline of sites for private developers to invest in.

In September 2024, The Crown Estate set out its approach to future offshore wind in a report jointly published with Great British Energy. This established early thinking on a more strategic approach to leasing the seabed for future offshore wind development.
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Gareth Bacon:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy to allow GP practices to claim Employment Allowance. \p James Murray: The government has not changed the eligibility rules on the Employment Allowance beyond removing the £100k eligibility threshold, so that business size does not dictate whether an employer can benefit from the Employment Allowance.

All the remaining eligibility criteria remain unchanged, including the exclusion of businesses whose work is wholly or mainly public in nature. The eligibility of a specific sector or organisation will depend on the make-up of an individual business's work, and organisations are encouraged to consult HMRC’s detailed guidance.
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Carla Lockhart:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what plans he has to engage with the President of the United States to promote (a) trade, (b) investment and (c) cultural links with Northern Ireland. \p Hilary Benn: I hope to visit the US soon to build on the already strong partnership between the US and Northern Ireland - and indeed the whole of the UK - including in the crucial areas of trade and investment. The US has been pivotal in supporting peace, stability and prosperity for Northern Ireland, and we will continue working together, with the support of our Embassy in the US, to make Northern Ireland a great place to live, work and do business.