theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an estimate of savings from halving levels of benefit fraud and error by 2030. \p Andrew Western: Since Autumn Budget 2024, including the new announcements at Autumn Budget 2025, the Government have committed to gross savings of £14.6bn up to the end of 2030/31 from fraud, error and debt activity in Great Britain.

Estimates of the levels of fraud and error in the benefit system for the financial year 2024-25 can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2024 to 2025 estimates - GOV.UK and cost of fraud and error in the benefit system for the past five financial years can be found at: Fraud and error in the benefit system - GOV.UK
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Sir Julian Lewis:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2025 to Question 92953 on State Retirement Pensions: Women, if he will make an estimate of the number of women born in the 1950s who have died since the publication of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's findings (HC 638) on 21 March 2024. \p Torsten Bell: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and National Records Scotland (NRS) publish annual data on deaths by sex and age group on their websites.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that all assistant dog handlers are treated consistently by (a) employers and (b) service providers regardless of how their dog was trained. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Assistance dogs are not funded or provided by the Government, and assistance dogs are not regulated or defined in law.

There are well established dog training organisations which have international accreditation and are members of the umbrella coalition Assistance Dogs UK (ADUK). Following a Government initiative in 2017/18, a new charity was established - the Assistance Dogs Assessment Association (ADAA) - which offers a test and certificate for assistance dogs trained through sources without international accreditation. It is now possible for assistance dogs to be tested and certified as having reached a set standard, even where they are trained by a body without international accreditation.

The Equality Act 2010 places a general duty on businesses and service providers to make reasonable adjustments to allow disabled people, including people with assistance dogs, access to goods and services so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled people. Duties and protections under the Equality Act are ultimately enforceable through the courts, and anybody who thinks that they have been discriminated against - including where access to an assistance dog has been refused - can take legal action to seek to resolve the issue.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is responsible for enforcing the Equality Act, and has published guidance on ‘Assistance Dogs: a guide for businesses and service providers’.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what is His Department's standard response time for resolving official complaints submitted to Access to Work. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Complaints received about Access to Work are handled in line with the overall Departmental complaints process published on Gov.uk. We aim to contact customers within 15 working days to clear the complaint or agree how to investigate it if it will take longer.
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Luke Akehurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether government departments meet duties to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled staff. \p Andrew Western: All government departments are subject to the Equality Act 2010, which places a legal duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments for disabled staff and job applicants where they would otherwise be at a substantial disadvantage. Government Departments meet this duty by providing adjustments such as assistive technology, flexible working arrangements, specialist furniture, interpreters, and accessible workplaces. The Department for Work and Pensions leads the Disability Confident scheme in its capacity supporting disabled people into work, which encourages all employers, including government departments, to recruit, retain and develop disabled people and those with health conditions.
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Vicky Foxcroft:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2025 to Question 87803 on Access to Work Programme, whether his Department holds data on the (a) number and (b) proportion of Access to Work applications that have closed in each financial year from 2022-2023 to 2025-26 to date by (i) stage of the claim and (ii) reason for closure. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Department for Work and Pensions does not close Access to Work applications. Instead, applications may be approved or not approved following assessment. The Department holds data on the number of applications that were not approved at the application outcome stage for each financial year as follows:

This represents a total of 108,314 applications not approved between April 2022 and October 2025, accounting for 28% of all decisions made during that period.

Data on non-approvals is only recorded at the application outcome stage.

The reasons for non-approval include:
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Freddie van Mierlo:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to respond to the letter of 17 October 2025 from the Hon. Member for Henley and Thame to the Rt Hon Sir Stephen Timms regarding Access to Work delays. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The letter dated 17 October 2025 was responded to on 29 October 2025. The response was sent to the Member’s office on 29 October 2025.
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Gill Furniss:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Disability Unit is taking to embed deaf awareness across Government services. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Disability Unit within Cabinet Office has responsibility for the British Sign Language (BSL) Act 2022, which has created a greater recognition and understanding of BSL and deaf awareness.

The Act requires the government to report on what departments listed in the Act have done to promote or facilitate the use of British Sign Language in their communications with the public, and the third BSL report was published in July 2025.

In addition to overall reporting, each ministerial department has produced a 5 year BSL Plan, published alongside the third BSL report. Within these plans, many government departments have committed to including deaf awareness training for their staff and affiliated public bodies. The Cabinet Office has also committed to raise awareness of BSL and the BSL Act 2022 across the Civil Service to support other departments to deliver their BSL commitments.

Following the passage of the BSL Act, the BSL Advisory board was created to advise the Government on key issues impacting the Deaf community in their everyday life. The Board will continue to work with the BSL Advisory Board, Deaf people and their representative organisations, and with Ministers across government, including the Lead Ministers for Disability.
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Daisy Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on how many occasions DWP staff have failed to call Universal Credit customers or their appointees at the agreed appointment time in each month of the last 12 months. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Department for Work and Pensions does not hold the requested information centrally, and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
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Marsha De Cordova:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing mandatory disability pay gap reporting for companies with over fifty employees. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We recently held a public consultation on introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting. Our consultation closed on June 10th and we are now considering those responses, including views on which employers should be in scope of the requirements, and we will report back to Parliament in due course.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of expanding the eligibility for the Severe Conditions Criteria in Universal Credit to include someone with a life-limiting, progressive condition who currently meets the criteria for Limited Capability for Work. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The Severe Conditions Criteria (SCC) have been in place since September 2017 to protect those who we do not expect will ever be able to work, due to a severe lifelong health condition or disability that is not expected to improve, from having to undergo reassessment which is unlikely to lead to a change in outcome.

To meet the SCC, a person must demonstrate that their level of functional impairment will always meet the threshold of limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA). Their condition must be a recognised medical diagnosis that is lifelong without any realistic prospect of recovery of function.

When the Universal Credit Act 2025 comes into force on 6 April 2026, Universal Credit (UC) claimants who already meet SCC and those who meet SCC in the future (along with existing LCWRA claimants) will receive the higher rate of LCWRA, and will see their combined UC standard allowance and LCWRA element increase at least in line with inflation every year for the next four years. Those who meet SCC will also be exempt from reassessment.

An individual who meets the Limited Capability for Work criteria, but not LCWRA, whilst not able to work currently, is considered able to take steps to prepare themselves for work in the future. It would not be appropriate for someone with SCC to be placed in this group as people with SCC are not expected to be able to work again. We believe that the SCC capture those who we want to protect, and there is no intention to widen the criteria any further.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure employers are supported to provide entry-level roles suitable for young people under the Youth Guarantee. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The government is taking clear steps to ensure employers are supported to provide entry-level roles for young people.

At Budget the government announced that £820 million has been committed to the Youth Guarantee over the next three years to support all young people aged 16 to 24 to earn or learn. This includes the previously announced Jobs Guarantee, which is guaranteeing six-months of paid work for every eligible 18-21 year old who has been on Universal Credit and looking for work for 18 months. Under the Jobs Guarantee we are committing to ensuring that businesses can take on these young people by funding 100% of the wages for the six months (up to 25hrs/week at the relevant minimum wage), as well as the additional employment costs and a budget for wrap around support. We recognise that the Jobs Guarantee can only succeed if businesses are part of it. That is why we will work closely with employers to develop a programme which works for businesses and young people.

More broadly this government is supporting employers to offer apprenticeships to young people. In August we introduced new foundation apprenticeships for young people in targeted sectors which are underpinned by an employer incentive payment of up to £2,000 to contribute to the extra costs of supporting someone at the beginning of their career. In addition, as my right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced at the Budget, this government will now fully fund SME apprenticeships for eligible people aged 16-24, to boost small business starts and prioritise funding to young people, starting from the next academic year.

Employers also continue to benefit from existing employer National Insurance (NICs) reliefs for under-21s and under-25 apprentices. This means employers pay no employer NICs for apprentices under 25 or employees under 21 on earnings up to £50,270. These reliefs were worth over £1.3bn to employers in 2024/25.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending the Winter Fuel Payment to anyone with a terminal illness regardless of age. \p Torsten Bell: We understand that pensioner circumstances may be complex and variable. However, Winter Fuel Payments remain a simple scheme to provide a modest lump sum payment to the majority of pensioners quickly and automatically, without the need for claim.

The Department supports people nearing the end of life through the Special Rules for End of Life. These enable people who are nearing the end of their lives to get faster, easier access to certain benefits, without needing to attend a medical assessment, serve waiting periods and in most cases, receive the highest rate of benefit. For many years, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Special Rules have applied to people who have six months or less to live but they have now been changed so they apply to people who have 12 months or less to live.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many parliamentary passes were revoked for security reasons in each year since 2015. \p Nick Smith: We are not able to provide the number of parliamentary passes that were revoked for security reasons in each year since 2015. The pass system is a live database with accounts being deleted routinely in line with the data retention schedule, records are therefore not available in the way requested over the period.

The Parliamentary Security Department (PSD) can revoke passes on security grounds. This may be because security clearance has been withdrawn, exclusion from the estate is necessary because of the risk to the wider parliamentary community, or because the passholder has exhibited unacceptable security behaviours. For the period that records are held, which is since 5 July 2024, PSD has fully revoked 10 passes on security grounds.

It is worth noting that PSD’s vetting unit also revokes passes at the request of the pass sponsors without requiring or recording a reason. The most common reason would be because the passholder has left employment requiring access to the estate, but if there were security reasons behind their request this may not be specified.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many events gambling companies held in the Houses of Parliament for each year from 2015 to date. \p Nick Smith: This information is not held in a format that would provide a reliable answer.

The House of Commons does not maintain a category for “gambling companies” or “gambling-related events” within its event management systems. Event bookings are recorded under the name of the sponsoring Member and the organising body. Any link to an industry may not be obvious from the organiser name and events are also arranged on behalf of third parties such as industry groups, representative bodies, charities, or All-Party Parliamentary Groups.

Gambling activity is not permitted at events on the parliamentary estate. Only small charitable raffles, which comply with the House’s internal guidance and the relevant legislation, may take place.

Catering Events data is proactively published and available on the Parliament website: Commons Catering events booking data - UK Parliament.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will take steps to improve vehicle egress times at Carriage Gates. \p Nick Smith: Two-way vehicle access in New Palace Yard was restored in October 2025, as part of the phased completion of the works in New Palace Yard designed to improve security following the tragic murder of PC Keith Palmer. The upgrade includes new gates and tiger traps for vehicles, which are now active.

These new security measures have increased exit times for vehicles, and we are aware that there have been several occurrences at peak exit times where wait times were unacceptable. In response, the Parliamentary Security Department has made adjustments to operational procedures, and will deploy marshals at peak times to enact contingency plans to avoid a recurrence of these delays.
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Mr Joshua Reynolds:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what is the Government's proposed timeline for implementing the Competition and Markets Authority's recommendation to designate Microsoft and AWS with Strategic Market Status under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 following the Cloud Services Market Investigation published on 31 July 2025. \p Kanishka Narayan: The Competition and Markets Authority (the CMA) has completed 3 Strategic Market Status investigations this year. The CMA is independent of the Government and decisions on which markets to investigate is for its Board. The CMA has published guidance on its website on how it will prioritise Strategic Market Status designations.
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Dr Ben Spencer:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2025 to Question 92210 on Internet: Outages, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill on disruption to government services during the Cloudflare outage. \p Kanishka Narayan: The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) recognises the importance of robust protections for the services essential to our society and economy. That is why we introduced the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill (CSRB) on 12 November - by enhancing protections for the most important digital services, Government services that rely on them will also benefit.

As the digital centre of government, DSIT also recognises that a step change in cyber and digital resilience is required across the government sector. However, we do not need to wait for legislation to take action.

We are acting in parallel with the approach of the CSRB through our mandate to set robust cyber security standards across government organisations. Government services have been subject to the National Cyber Security Centre’s Cyber Assessment Framework since 2022, which promotes resilience against both cyber attacks and the types of system failure that we saw with the Cloudflare outage.

Despite this progress, we are not complacent. DSIT will publish the Government Cyber Action Plan, which will lay out a detailed programme of work with clear expectations, targets, and milestones to enhance Government's cyber and digital resilience.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department has been informed of any Palantir contracts or U.S. federal agreements referencing UK data-sharing or joint programme work since 2020. \p Ian Murray: DSIT is not responsible for holding information centrally on contracts or federal agreements that may be held in other government departments. Within DSIT there are currently no Palantir contracts or U.S. federal agreements referencing UK data-sharing or joint programme work since 2023 when DSIT was formed.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if the Prime Minister will appoint a space minister in the Ministry of Defence to lead cross-government space policy. \p Kanishka Narayan: My noble friend Baroness Lloyd of Effra is the Minister responsible for leading cross government civil space policy.
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Nigel Huddleston:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing an overall timeline for the phase out of animal experimentation. \p Kanishka Narayan: The Government is committed to reducing the use of animals in scientific research, and on 11th November published a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods. (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/replacing-animals-in-science-strategy).

It is not yet possible to replace all animal research due to the complexity of biological systems and regulatory requirements. Any work to phase out animal testing must be science-led, in lock step with partners, so we will move as quickly as possible to reduce their use in line with scientific discovery of alternatives.
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Seamus Logan:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2025 to Question 906344 on Animal Experiments, whether she plans to enshrine the strategy targets into law. \p Kanishka Narayan: The Government’s new strategy sets out our long-term vision for a world where the use of animals in science is eliminated in all but exceptional circumstances, achieved by creating a research and innovation system that drives the development and validation of alternative methods to using animals in science. The legal framework in the UK already requires that animals are only ever used in science where there are no validated alternatives available, and we are speeding up the development of alternative methods.
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Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if his department will a) include sepsis research in its publication of areas of research interest for alternative methods to animal testing and b) end the use of sepsis research involving animal testing. \p Kanishka Narayan: The Government’s strategy to support replacing animals in science commits to publish biennially from 2026 a list of alternative-methods research and development priorities.

Sepsis is a complex and multifaceted condition, and its study presents significant scientific challenges. We will consider sepsis during the development of our areas of research interest list to determine the best path forward for new model development that drives scientific innovation, supports improved therapy development, and reduces reliance on animals.
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what was the tax income from (a) domestic (b) commercial energy customer bills for each year from 2015 to date. \p Dan Tomlinson: VAT is chargeable at the reduced rate of 5% on domestic fuel and power. HMRC publishes estimates of the Exchequer cost of tax reliefs, see https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/main-tax-expenditures-and-structural-reliefs. The estimated cost of non-structural tax reliefs (December 2024) VAT table shows that the cost estimate for the Reduced Rate of VAT on supplies of domestic fuel and power in 2024-25 was £6,500 million. This represents the cost of the 5% Reduced Rate compared to the Standard Rate of 20%, a relief of 15%. The revenue received at the Reduced Rate may be estimated at 5/15ths of the figure of £6,500 million, or £2,200m (rounded). Figures for previous years are shown in the table.

Business consumers of energy may reclaim VAT on their purchases of energy subject to normal VAT deduction rules.

Climate Change Levy (CCL) is chargeable on the supply of electricity, gas and solid fuels for lighting, heating and power by business operating in the industrial, commercial, agricultural and public services sectors, with certain exclusions. Statistics on CCL receipts from 2014 are published here: Environmental Taxes Bulletin - GOV.UK

This Budget reduces the cost of levies on energy bills to save families £150 on average next year. Combined with the measures on freezing rail fares and freezing fuel duty these policies are forecast to directly cut inflation by over 0.4 percentage points next year, pushing down on mortgage rates and up on growth.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will conduct a review of the potential impact of spirits duty policy on the on-trade sector. \p Dan Tomlinson: At Autumn Budget 2025 the Chancellor confirmed that alcohol duty will be uprated on 1 February 2026 to main its current real-terms value. The government does not expect this to have any significant impact to GDP, nor competition between the on and off trades.

Following a detailed review between 2020 and 2023, a new duty system was introduced in August 2023. Information about this review and its outcomes are available here:

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/the-new-alcohol-duty-system-consultation

The Government plans to evaluate the 2023 alcohol duty reforms in late-2026, in line with our commitment to do so three years after they took effect.
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Carla Denyer:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will conduct and publish a comparative assessment of the (a) fiscal returns from the Energy Profits Levy and (b) value of tax reliefs and investment and capital allowances granted to oil and gas producers since 2022. \p Dan Tomlinson: The Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecast at Autumn Budget 2025 estimates that revenues from the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) will be £8.5 billion between 2025-26 and 2030-31. This is in addition to more than £11 billion in tax revenues already raised through the EPL since its introduction in May 2022.

A full breakdown of revenue projections for all North Sea oil and gas taxes is available in the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook, published at Autumn Budget 2025 (Economic and fiscal outlook – November 2025 - Office for Budget Responsibility). Information on tax receipts already raised by the EPL is published and regularly updated by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) (https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/datasets/appendixdpublicsectorcurrentreceipts).

Estimates of the cost of tax reliefs available to oil and gas companies under the Ring-Fence Corporation Tax (RFCT) and the Supplementary Charge (SC) are published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-relief-statistics.

Estimates are not available for every relief due to data collection and estimation challenges but are kept under regular review.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made on the potential impact of a complete spirits duty freeze for the on-trade on revenue. \p Dan Tomlinson: Alcohol duty is paid at the point of production or import, before it is diverted to either the on-trade or the off-trade. It is therefore not possible to freeze duty rates exclusively for the on-trade.

HMRC’s latest published estimate on the effect of a 1% change in spirits duties on tax receipts can be found here: Direct effects of illustrative tax changes bulletin (June 2025) - GOV.UK.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of legislation regarding VAT and the NHS following the First-tier Tribunal's ruling in the case of Isle of Wight NHS Trust v HMRC [2025] UKFTT 1114 (TC). \p Dan Tomlinson: The government is carefully considering the impact of the Isle of Wight decision on the VAT treatment of the supply of temporary medical staff.

HMRC will publish updated guidance in due course.
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Sarah Dyke:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department will review the Annual Investment Allowance threshold and take steps to improve the eligibility and uptake of capital allowances among horticultural businesses who are investing in the transition to peat-free growing, water resilience measures, and automation to boost efficiency. \p Dan Tomlinson: The Annual Investment Allowance allows both incorporated and unincorporated businesses to deduct the entire cost of investment in both main and special rate assets in one go, up to £1 million per year, which covers the investment of 99% of businesses.

In line with the commitments in the 2024 Corporate Tax Roadmap, at Budget the government confirmed it has maintained the parts of the UK Corporate Tax offer that are most important for attracting new investment for the duration of the parliament: the low Corporation Tax main rate of 25%, the generous full expensing offer for plant and machinery and the Annual Investment Allowance.
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Irene Campbell:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Financial Inclusion Strategy, published on 5 November, whether the Government plans to develop targets as well as metrics to monitor progress in delivering the Strategy’s objectives on improving access to affordable credit. \p Lucy Rigby: Earlier this month, I published the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy setting out an ambitious programme of measures to improve financial inclusion and resilience for underserved groups across the UK. The Strategy was developed alongside a committee of industry and consumer representatives and seeks to tackle a range of barriers individuals face in accessing financial products, including a key focus on improving access to credit.

As part of developing the strategy, the Government has engaged with Financial Inclusion Committee members and other organisations on how to measure its impact. The Strategy’s implementation will be reviewed in two years’ time to provide an update on interventions and relevant outcomes-based metrics, which will reflect on the progress made across the sector.

The Government will continue to work closely with the sector as we implement the strategy, including continuing to engage with firms on interventions to strengthen the provision of affordable credit.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of homes under the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme have been bought by first-time buyers. \p Lucy Rigby: The Government recognises the difficulties some prospective first-time buyers face in buying a home and is committed to helping them get on the housing ladder.

The new Mortgage Guarantee Scheme is now permanently available to lenders, and is designed to support and sustain the availability of low deposit mortgage products for credit-worthy borrowers. 95% loan-to-value mortgage products can be particularly important for first-time buyers who may struggle to raise larger deposits, and the scheme aims to support this segment of the UK mortgage market.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

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Stuart Andrew:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate the Financial Conduct Authority has made of the number of consumers who have reported difficulty accessing financial services due to mandatory mobile phone authentication. \p Lucy Rigby: The Government recognises the importance of ensuring people can access the financial products and services they need. The Government is committed to ensuring high standards of financial inclusion across the financial services sector.

The Payment Services Regulations 2017 require firms to apply strong customer authentication when users access their payment account online, initiate an electronic payment or carry out any action through a remote channel (e.g. via the internet) which may carry a risk of payment fraud, unless an exemption applies (e.g. for low-value purchases). Firms are able to choose which methods of authentication they apply.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is independent of the Government, issues detailed standards for firms on strong customer authentication. The FCA expects firms to develop strong customer authentication solutions that work for all groups of consumers, including those with protected characteristics. This means it may be necessary for firms to provide different methods of authentication, for example when customers face difficulties accessing or using a mobile device.

The FCA also requires authorised financial services firms to comply with their ‘Consumer Duty’, which requires them to deliver good outcomes for retail customers. The Consumer Duty has rules and guidance covering key aspects of the firm-customer relationship. For example, it requires firms to ensure that the design of the product or service meets the needs, characteristics and objectives of their target consumer market. More detail on the Consumer Duty can be found on the FCA’s website: https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/consumer-duty

It is important that people are able to take advantage of digital innovation, and the opportunities this presents, to manage their money more effectively. This is why the issues of access to banking and digital inclusion have been considered as key areas of focus in the Government's recently published Financial Inclusion Strategy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_176

Carla Lockhart:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HM Treasury is taking to increase enforcement of financial sanctions and prevent terrorist financing in Northern Ireland. \p Lucy Rigby: HMT undertakes an evidence-based approach to ensure that counter-terrorism sanctions are used in a timely and effective manner in support of national security and to prevent terrorism, including addressing terrorist financing risks.

HMT assesses every instance of reported non-compliance with financial sanctions, working in collaboration with law enforcement partners where necessary, and takes action in all cases where we conclude a breach has occurred.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_177

Jack Rankin:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to BBC article entitled Tax rises could push food prices higher, warn supermarkets, published on 26 October, what steps she is taking to work with retailers to mitigate the impact of food inflation. \p Lucy Rigby: The Government has announced a Food Inflation Gateway to assess and monitor regulation that could add to food prices. This will improve coordination and give food businesses a clear line of sight on upcoming regulatory changes, helping to keep costs down

The Government is also negotiating an agri-food agreement with the EU to reduce trade frictions, which is expected to save businesses up to £200 per fresh food shipment, helping to limit cost pressures across supply chains.

In addition, supermarkets will see a reduction in their total business rates bills in 2026/27 compared with 2025/26, and this will be kept under review at the next revaluation. The Office for Budget Responsibility does not expect changes in business rates to have a material impact on food inflation.

Overall, the OBR’s forecast shows government policy will reduce CPI inflation by 0.4 percentage points in 2026/27. This is the biggest near-term reduction in inflation due to government policy ever forecast by the OBR at a single fiscal event, outside of a crisis.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_178

Wendy Morton:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of EU proposals for a €140 billion reparations loan backed by Russian state-owned assets; and whether she is considering a similar mechanism. \p Lucy Rigby: The Chancellor is committed to exploring a reparations loan to enable the value of sanctioned Russian sovereign assets held in the UK to be directed to supporting Ukraine.

The government continues to work in partnership with international partners including the G7 and European Union to achieve this.

To date, the UK has provided £21.8bn in support for Ukraine. This includes the commitment to the provide £2.26bn as part of the $50bn Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Scheme for Ukraine, which utilised the extraordinary profits generated from immobilised Russian Sovereign Assets held in the EU.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_179

Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 17 November 2025, to Question 89478, on Chinese Embassy: Planning Permission, if she will list each date that she has met representatives of the Chinese Government. \p Lucy Rigby: As stated in my previous answer, the Chancellor has engaged with the Chinese Government on a number of occasions to discuss economic and financial issues. Data on ministers' overseas travel and meetings with external individuals and organisations is published every quarter. This can be found here and here.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_180

Patrick Hurley:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support she is offering for the building societies, in the context of the government's ambition to double the size of the mutuals sector. \p Lucy Rigby: The government is committed to supporting the growth of building societies in line with the manifesto commitment to double the size of the mutual and co-operative sector. HM Treasury has already announced measures to support the sector and is currently progressing these.

For building societies specifically, HM Treasury has committed to progressing further amendments to the Building Societies Act 1986. This follows two statutory instruments being laid in October 2024, which raise the turnover limit for the definition of a small business for the purpose of wholesale funding limit exclusions, remove outdated director retirement requirements, and simplify how balance sheets are signed. These will create a more supportive legislative environment for building societies.

To support all financial mutuals, HM Treasury has also asked the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority to produce a report on the current landscape of the sector. This is expected to be published before the end of 2025. The government also welcomed the establishment of the Mutual and Co-operative Sector Business Council to consider mutual and co-operative solutions. The government also published the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, which will support all organisations in the financial services sector and encourages the sector to continue to work in partnership with government to deliver growth.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_181

Irene Campbell:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she will take to ensure banks provide access to affordable credit to people who are financially excluded. \p Lucy Rigby: The Government recognises that, when provided responsibly, credit can play an important role in helping people manage unexpected expenses and smooth their cash flow. Access to suitable, affordable credit products can support people’s financial resilience and help them achieve their financial goals.

For this reason, the Government is committed to improving access to affordable credit. HM Treasury regularly engages with lenders on a range of policy matters, including how the provision of affordable credit can be strengthened.

The Government’s recently published Financial Inclusion Strategy sets out an ambitious package of measures to improve access to affordable credit. This includes support for the community finance sector and a pilot of a small-sum lending scheme, run by Fair4All Finance, which will test the offer of small value loans from a mainstream lender.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_182

Esther McVey:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of continued fuel duty freezes on (a0 supporting economic growth and (b) supply chain stability in the North West. \p Dan Tomlinson: At Budget 2025, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut until the end of August 2026. Rates will then gradually return to previous levels. The planned increase in line with inflation for 2026-27 will not take place, with the government uprating fuel duty rates by RPI from April 2027. This will save the average car driver £49 next year compared to previous plans.

The Government considers the impact of fuel duty on the economy, including households and businesses, with decisions on rates made at fiscal events.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_183

Ben Maguire:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of the taxation of inherited pensions before transfer into trusts on the long-term financial security of disabled beneficiaries. \p Dan Tomlinson: Certain types of trusts for vulnerable people, including disabled persons trusts, are exempt from inheritance charges which normally apply to other types of trusts. No inheritance tax is charged on payments made to a beneficiary from a disabled persons trust. These are longstanding rules and are not changing.

From 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and death benefits payable from a pension will form part of a person’s estate for inheritance tax purposes. This removes distortions resulting from changes that have been made to pensions tax policy over the last decade, which have led to pensions being openly used and marketed as a tax planning vehicle to transfer wealth, rather than as a way to fund retirement.

Following these changes, any unused pension funds or death benefits left to a disabled persons trust on the settlor’s death, will therefore be in scope for inheritance tax in the same way as other assets in the settlor’s estate, such as cash or property. This is the longstanding position for assets settled into a disabled persons trust following the settlor’s death.

The government estimates that more than 90% of estates will continue to have no inheritance tax liability following these changes and the transferable tax-free nil-rate bands mean that estates can continue to pass on up to £1 million without an inheritance tax liability.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-01)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-01 conversation_184

James McMurdock:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the impact of fuel duty rates on (a) households that rely on vehicles for work, or in areas with limited public transport, and (b) small businesses, the logistics sector and supply chains. \p Dan Tomlinson: At Budget 2025, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut until the end of August 2026. Rates will then gradually return to previous levels. The planned increase in line with inflation for 2026-27 will not take place, with the government uprating fuel duty rates by RPI from April 2027. This will save the average car driver £49 next year compared to previous plans.

The Government considers the impact of fuel duty on the economy, including households and businesses, with decisions on rates made at fiscal events.