theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support the tourism sector in urban areas. \p Sir Chris Bryant: The government is committed to the tourism sector maintaining its competitiveness. VisitBritain launched its latest ‘Starring Great Britain’ campaign in January, which will harness the powerful draw of Film and TV to drive inbound tourism towards UK’s cities and regions.

DCMS has announced a new Visitor Economy Advisory Council that will see industry and government work together to work towards the creation of a Visitor Economy Growth Strategy, set to be launched in autumn, mapping out plans to support the growth of the tourism industry.

The Government is implementing the most significant overhaul of regional destination management in a generation, creating a portfolio of nationally supported, strategic and high-performing Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) in partnership with VisitEngland, including those in urban areas such as London and Manchester.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including (a) nightclubs, (b) electronic music and (c) other contemporary night-time culture in (i) Cultural Sector Plans, (ii) Growth and Innovation Funds and (iii) other Government-funded schemes. \p Sir Chris Bryant: The Government is working closely with the music and nightclub sectors, to strengthen the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. Cultural venues, like nightclubs and music venues, provide enjoyment to many thousands of people as the opportunity to hear live music up close is an essential part of our cultural life.

We are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) Supporting Grassroots Music Fund by providing £2.5 million funding in 2025-26. This provides grants to grassroots music organisations, including those that host or promote electronic music.

Earlier this year we announced the Arts Everywhere Fund, a £270 million investment for arts venues, museums, libraries and the heritage sector, including the £85m Creative Foundations Fund. This fund will support arts and cultural organisations across England to resolve urgent issues with their estates. Not-for-profit and grassroots music venues will be eligible, and Arts Council England will release more details in due course. We expect the fund may be over-subscribed, so are not intending to extend its scope.

Buildings that are nightclubs, music venues or other contemporary cultural spaces may already be considered for designation as Listed Buildings, where they meet eligibility criteria for special architectural or historic interest. For example, The Crown Hotel, Station Street, Birmingham was listed at grade II in 2024. The music venue has special historical interest for its importance in the 1960s folk music revival, and in the late 1960s as the venue where Black Sabbath created their sound which shaped a new internationally popular genre of music; heavy metal.

Applications for listing specific nightclubs, music venues or other contemporary cultural spaces can be made to the Secretary of State via Historic England.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

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Kirsty Blackman:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many posts there are for (a) press, (b) media and (c) other communications staff in his Department; and what the salary band is for each post. \p Hilary Benn: The Northern Ireland Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
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Tonia Antoniazzi:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, when he most recently met with (a) Airbus and (b) other relevant stakeholders to discuss the future of Spirit AeroSystems; and what was discussed at each meeting. \p Hilary Benn: I discussed the future of Spirit Aerosystems in meetings with Airbus on 25 November 2024 and 23 April 2025, the trade unions on 29 January 2025, and the Minister for the Economy, Caoimhe Archibald MLA, on 3 March 2025. My officials are continuing to collaborate with the Department for Business and Trade to monitor the latest developments and provide updates.

The Government has worked with the Northern Ireland Executive to secure the future for Spirit Aerosystems’s operation in Belfast, its workforce, and the wider aerospace sector. The Department for Business and Trade has continued to be in contact with Spirit, Airbus, Boeing, and other potential buyers to ensure the best outcome whereby the new owners commit to invest and grow the businesses, thereby sustaining jobs and safeguarding the aerospace sector in Northern Ireland.

On 28 April 2025, Airbus publicly announced that it had signed a definitive agreement with Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems to acquire specific Spirit operations directly related to Airbus programmes in the UK. In Belfast, Airbus will take ownership of the A220 wing manufacturing and assembly facility. The A220 mid-fuselage work package will also transfer to Airbus if a buyer for the remainder of the Belfast site is not found prior to closing of the deal later this year.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he plans to take with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure adequate funding for SEND in devolved nations. \p Hilary Benn: Funding for special educational needs is devolved to the Northern Ireland Executive. It is for the Department of Education to ensure special educational needs are adequately funded in Northern Ireland.

As set out in the recent Spending Review, this Government is providing the Executive with a record £18.2bn for 2025-26, the largest settlement since the start of devolution. That translates into over £1.5 billion more in 2025-26. It is now for the Executive to decide how to allocate that funding.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many non-UK nationals have accessed child benefit in the last five years. \p Darren Jones: HMRC no longer produce a breakdown of Child benefit claimed by nationality.

This release was discontinued following user consultation.

The latest publication was in August 2022. Income Tax, National Insurance contributions, Tax Credits and Child Benefit Statistics for Non-UK Nationals: 2019 to 2020 - GOV.UK
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James Naish:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will (a) increase the tax-free childcare allowance and (b) allow parents to use that allowance in place of funded hours. \p Darren Jones: The £2,000 Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) top-up, which can be claimed per year and per child up to age 11 (and £4,000 per disabled child, up to age 16), was set at this level because the Government believes it strikes the right balance between helping parents with their childcare costs and managing the public finances in a responsible way.

From September 2025, childcare entitlements for eligible working parents of children aged from nine months will increase from 15 hours to 30 hours, helping hundreds of thousands of families with the cost of childcare and supporting parents to work. This year alone, we expect to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements – which is an additional £2 billion (over 30% increase) compared to 2024. Please note that parents can claim both TFC and DfE childcare entitlements so long as they are eligible.

The government keeps all aspects of childcare policy under review.
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Ben Lake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate she has made of the (a) backlog of cases and (b) average time taken by the Valuation Office Agency’s to process applications to transfer short-term rental properties between business rates and council tax; and what steps she is taking to help improve performance. \p James Murray: The Government has announced that the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) will be integrated into HMRC by April 2026. Moving the VOA’s functions into HMRC will increase oversight and accountability to Ministers over delivery of their priorities to modernise the tax system and improve the experience of taxpayers and businesses.

On average, the VOA is clearing cases relating to self-catering properties in England and Wales within four months.

Currently, the VOA is working as quickly as possible to clear any outstanding cases, focusing on the oldest cases first, and those where customers are facing financial hardship.

More widely, it is replacing IT systems with modern cloud-based platforms that will deliver significant efficiencies across its work. It is also upskilling its workforce so they can handle multiple types of cases, and improving its digital services to make it easier for customers to self-serve.
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Rachel Blake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of resourcing for agencies enforcing the UK's sanctions regime. \p Emma Reynolds: Resourcing decisions for the next 4 financial years are to be taken at the upcoming Spending Review, with this due for publication in June this year.

At Budget 2024, it was confirmed that the 2025-26 Settlement for HM Treasury ensures that sanctions implementation work will “continue to be supported through the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI)”.
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Chris Coghlan:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 April to Question 4096, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the Financial Conduct Authority’s response to the Financial Regulators Complaints Commissioner's final report, published on 11 March 2025 stating that compensatory payment to the customers of Safe Hands Plans Limited will not be offered. \p Emma Reynolds: I refer the honorable member to my response to UIN 40961.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Governor of the Bank of England on her economic growth policies. \p Emma Reynolds: The Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England meet regularly to discuss economic developments and the outlook for the economy.

Growth is the number one mission of this government and is how we will get people into good jobs, drive higher living standards, and increase productivity across the country.

At Mansion House in November 2024 the Chancellor issued new growth-focused remit letters to the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, Financial Policy Committee, and Prudential Regulation Committee. These letters made clear that the Chancellor expects them to fully support this government’s ambitions on economic growth.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

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Seamus Logan:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to implement the recommendations of the report by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights entitled Concluding observations on the seventh periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, published on 3 March 2025. \p Emma Reynolds: Relevant departments are currently considering the Committee’s concluding observations in detail. The Government will give written responses to three priority areas that the Committee has identified for specific follow-up by 2027.

The Government will respond to the rest of the recommendations before the UK’s next reporting cycle starts in 2030.
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Daisy Cooper:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to section five of the policy paper entitled New approach to ensure regulators and regulation support growth, updated on 31 March 2025, whether she made an assessment of the potential merits of seeking regulator pledges from the Advertising Standards Authority. \p Darren Jones: As published in March, New approach to ensure regulators and regulation support growth set out reforms across the regulatory landscape. These focused on tackling complexity and the burden of regulation, reducing uncertainty, and shifting excessive risk aversion in the regulatory system. Many of these reforms pertain to all UK regulators.

This action plan also included specific, pro-growth commitments from a range of key regulators which operate across the economy and also support sectors in the Industrial Strategy. We will continue to work with all regulators to promote investment, accelerate innovation, and deliver better outcomes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

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Stuart Anderson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to help veterans access Tax-Free Childcare. \p Darren Jones: The Government is committed to supporting veterans and their families access financial support available to them such as Tax- Free Childcare. Tax-Free Childcare aims to support working parents with the cost of childcare, including veterans, to work, return to work and work more when they want or need to.

To be eligible, a parent and their partner (if they have one) must expect to earn at least the National Minimum or National Living wage for 16 hours a week on average and each earn no more than £100,000 per year. A parent may still be eligible if they are not currently working but their partner is and they are in receipt of Incapacity Benefit, or Severe Disablement Allowance, or Carer’s Allowance or Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance.

HMRC promotes Tax-Free Childcare through a range of channels including GOV.UK and the Childcare Choices website. More information on the scheme is also available on the British Army’s website, through targeted campaigns to childcare providers/parents and by the service charity sector such as Help for Heroes listed in the MoD’s Service Leavers’ Guide. These efforts ensure veterans are signposted to the childcare support available to them after military service.
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David Simmonds:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department's guidance entitled Terms of reference for VfM Study on procuring short-term residential accommodation, published on 11 March 2025, how much local authorities have spent on procuring short term residential accommodation for asylum support in 2024-25. \p Darren Jones: The provision of asylum support, including accommodation, is the responsibility of the Home Office, not of local authorities. Local authorities do not provide any funding for asylum support. The Home Office’s total expenditure on asylum accommodation in 2024-25 will be confirmed in its Annual Report and Accounts in due course.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to line items 24 and 25 on p.33 of the Spring Statement, for what reason the levy revenue used is greater than the levy revenue generated. \p James Murray: As set out in the Policy Costings document, published at Spring Statement, the costing is calculated by applying the levy rates to forecasted leviable Gross Gambling Yields for each licence type using data from the Gambling Commission Industry Statistics. This gives the total yield from the Gambling Levy itself; all of which goes directly to the Gambling Commission.

However, the costing also accounts for a behavioural response to the measure whereby the Levy is expected to slightly reduce betting and gaming duty receipts; as is standard, the costing for the Gambling Levy shows the net impact on overall government receipts, including this behavioural adjustment.

Because of this behavioural impact on betting and gaming duty receipts, the total additional funding forecast to be received by the Gambling Commission in the forecast period is slightly larger than the net revenue figure resulting from the announcement of the Gambling Levy.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of reductions in the level of relief through the Business Rates Relief scheme on small businesses. \p James Murray: We are creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century.

As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government is committed to protecting the smallest properties by freezing the small business multiplier in 2025-26 and protecting over a million properties from inflationary bill increases. In addition, over a third of properties (more than 700,000) already pay no business rates as they receive 100 per cent Small Business Rate Relief, with an additional c.60,000 benefiting from reduced bills as this relief tapers.

To deliver our manifesto pledge, we also intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27.

Ahead of these changes being made, the Government recognises that businesses will need support in 2025-26 and has prevented the current RHL relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business. Without any Government intervention, RHL relief would have ended entirely in April 2025, creating a cliff-edge for businesses.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to provide additional funding to public bodies for the increase in business rates for hereditaments with a Rateable Value above £500,000. \p James Murray: To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable values below £500,000, 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, representing less than one percent of all properties.

The Spring Statement confirmed the spending envelope for phase 2 of the spending review. We will consider the full range of priorities and pressures facing departments in the round, when setting these budgets.
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Dr Scott Arthur:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of trends in the level of students not reclaiming overpaid income tax. \p James Murray: The amount of income tax a student pays depends upon their total taxable income, including employment income. The standard income tax personal allowance for the 2025 to 2026 tax year is £12,570, which means that most students do not pay tax on the first £12,570 of their total taxable income.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not hold data in its income tax accounting systems that identifies students.

Students pay income tax through the PAYE system or through a Self Assessment tax return. After the end of the tax year, HMRC carry out an end of year reconciliation on all customers in PAYE in order to identify any overpayments or underpayments. Where tax has been overpaid, this will be automatically repaid to individuals, including students.

For individuals, including students, who submit a Self Assessment tax return, HMRC will process the return and any overpaid tax will automatically be repaid to the individual. Where an individual files their Self Assessment return online, they can request a repayment through their HMRC online account.
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which representative bodies she intends to meet to hold preparatory discussions with on proposals to reform the business rates system in the 2026-2027 financial year. \p James Murray: HM Treasury releases a quarterly record of Ministers’ meetings with external individuals and organisations. This can be found online: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

At the Autumn Budget, the Government published the Transforming Business Rates Discussion Paper, which sets out priority areas for reform. This paper invited stakeholders to help co-design a fairer business rates system that supports investment and is fit for the 21st century.

On 17 February the Government published a ‘forward look’ of the expected timeline for reforms announced at Autumn Budget 2024, and how stakeholders should engage the Government. This will be updated when further information is available.

In the summer, the Government will publish an interim report that sets out a clear direction of travel for the business rates system, with further policy detail to follow at Autumn Budget 2025.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of potential impact of the Spring Statement 2025 on levels of employment in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire. \p James Murray: The government is committed to helping people start or stay in work, while protecting those who cannot work due to ill health. At Spring Statement 2025, as part of the Pathways to Work Green Paper, the Chancellor announced investment from 2026-27 in crucial employment, health, and skills support of up to an additional £1 billion a year by 2029-30.

Additionally, in November the government published the Get Britain Working White Paper, backed by £240m funding, which set out its strategy to tackle the root causes of economic inactivity, support people into good work and help people progress in work.

The Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2025 forecast expects that unemployment will remain low by historical standards. In line with its mandate as set out in law, the OBR does not produce forecasts at a sub-national level.
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Dr Scott Arthur:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of increasing the benefit in kind rates for new electric vehicles on sales of new electric vehicles. \p James Murray: At Autumn Budget, the Government announced new Company Car Tax rates for the years 2028-29 and 2029-30, which increase for both electric vehicles (EVs) and petrol/diesel vehicles, while still maintaining generous incentives to support EV take-up.

The Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) published alongside Budget set out the expected economic, equalities and other impacts, and highlighted that overall the measure was expected to encourage the take-up of zero emission vehicles.

The Government recognises that the Company Car Tax regime and the salary sacrifice exemption for ultra-low and zero emission vehicles continues to play an important role in the EV transition. The Government needs to balance these incentives against responsible management of public finances to ensure we have sufficient revenue to fund essential public services. A company car is a valuable benefit and therefore needs to be taxed appropriately.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the number of pensioners who will be paying income tax in the 2029-30 financial year. \p James Murray: HMRC publishes the number of income tax payers by age. An estimate of the number of individuals of state pension age who are income taxpayers in financial year 2024/25 can be found in Table 2.1 of the income tax statistics and distributions collection published on 27 June 2024. This document is available here:

Table 2.1 Number of individual Income Tax payers - GOV.UK

From the above an estimated 8.51 million state pension age individuals paid tax in financial year 2024/25.

Data on individuals paying income tax in future years will be published in the usual way.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in employer National Insurance contributions on public services in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire. \p James Murray: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the National Insurance Contributions 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 Office for Budget Responsibility also published an Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) in October 2024, which set out the impacts of changes to Employer NICs, including the expected economic and labour market impacts.

The Government is providing support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer NICs costs only. This funding is being allocated to departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HMRC has made an estimate of (a) tax contributions made and (b) services used by foreign nationals in the last 12 months. \p James Murray: HMRC have not made an estimate of (a) tax contributions made and (b) services used by foreign nationals in the last 12 months.

HMRC previously published Income Tax, NICs, tax credits and Child Benefit statistics for non-UK nationals. This release was discontinued following user consultation.

HMRC currently publish UK payrolled employments by nationality, region, industry, age and sex.
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John Glen:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2025 to Question 33375 on Environment Protection: Finance, whether the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures rules for listed companies to refer to the new International Sustainability Standards Board standards will allow for investments in (a) defence companies and (b) companies supporting Trident nuclear deterrent renewal. \p Emma Reynolds: The new International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) Standards, so called S1 and S2, are designed to replace the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) framework.

These are disclosure standards that ask firms to disclose financially material climate related risks to their business. The objective of these is to provide investors with consistent, comparable and reliable information about companies' sustainability-related risks and opportunities. These standards are designed to enhance transparency and do not dictate how a company should invest. They do not prevent or impose restrictions on investment in specific sectors, including defence or the Trident nuclear deterrent.

The previous government committed to establishing a framework to assess the suitability of ISSB Standards for endorsement in the UK. A Technical Advisory Committee of external experts have conducted a detailed assessment of the ISSB’s inaugural standards, and this process has now concluded. The government aims to consult on the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) shortly, after which point they will be made available for use later in 2025.
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Sarah Bool:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the British Hair Council's report entitled Securing the future of UK hairdressing and beauty: the economic, fiscal & societal case for VAT reform, published in February 2025, whether she has made an assessment of the potential economic benefits of reducing the VAT rate to ten per cent for labour-based services . \p James Murray: VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is also the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £180 billion in 2025/26.

Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

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Mark Pritchard:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) adults and (b) juveniles convicted of (i) downloading and (ii) procuring online child abuse images received suspended custodial sentences in the latest period for which figures are available. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The Ministry of Justice publishes data on the number of convictions at criminal courts in England and Wales in the Outcomes by Offences data tool, that can be downloaded from the Criminal Justice Statistics landing page here: Criminal Justice Statistics.

Information on the number of suspended custodial sentences for adults and juveniles for the offence of possessing prohibited images of children is available within the published data. However, information on whether offenders were sentenced specifically for downloading or procuring child abuse images is not held by the Ministry of Justice, as this information is not recorded centrally in the Court Proceedings Database.
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Mark Pritchard:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will ask the Sentencing Council to increase custodial sentences for people convicted of procuring child abuse images. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The maximum sentences available for criminal offences are set by Parliament and, for possession of indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child, the maximum sentence is 5 years’ imprisonment. For distributing, making or taking indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of a child, the maximum sentence is 10 years’ imprisonment.

The independent judiciary will determine the appropriate sentence in individual cases within the maximums set by Parliament, and in line with any relevant sentencing guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales.

Sentencing guidelines provide courts with guidance on factors that should be considered, which may affect the sentence given. The relevant guideline for possessing, distributing, and producing indecent child images can be found here: Possession of indecent photograph of child/ Indecent photographs of children – Sentencing
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Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2025 to Question 29153 on Ministry of Justice: Equality, which company provided the EDI course; and what the title was of the course. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The “Creating inclusive Virtual Teams” course is procured through the Government Learning Framework provided via KPMG.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many new prisons are planned to be completed by July 2029. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: In the recently published 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy the Lord Chancellor has committed to delivering three new prisons, one in Leicestershire (next to HMP Gartree), one in Buckinghamshire (next to HMPs Grendon and Springhill) and one in Lancashire (next to HMPs Garth and Wymott).

We aim to deliver these places by the end of 2031. This is in addition to the three new prisons that have already been delivered as part of the 20,000 prison place programmes to date; HMP Five Wells, HMP Fosse Way and HMP Millsike, which was officially opened on 27 March 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_425

Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were assessed for a role in the Prison Service by nationality in the latest period for which data is available. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The Department welcomes job applications from everyone, irrespective of background, identity, experience, or circumstance, and particularly those underrepresented in our workforce.

The number of people assessed for a role in the prison service by nationality from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 is provided in the attached table 1.

All staff undergo robust assessments and training before they work in prisons. Our strengthened vetting process roots out those who fall below our high standards.

Table 1 (xlsx, 21.1KB)
wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_426
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_426

Lee Anderson:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people applied to join the Prison Service by nationality in the latest period for which data is available. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The Department welcomes job applications from everyone, irrespective of background, identity, experience, or circumstance, and particularly those underrepresented in our workforce.

The number of people who applied for a role in the prison service by nationality from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024 is provided in the attached table 1.

All staff undergo robust assessments and training before they work in prisons. Our strengthened vetting process roots out those who fall below our high standards

Table 1 (xlsx, 21.1KB)
wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_427
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_427

Damian Hinds:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answers of 9 April 2025 to Questions 43036 on Prison Accommodation: Closures and 43032 and 43033 on Prison Accommodation, what the gross addition to prison estate capacity was from (a) new-build prisons, (b) extensions, (c) rapid deployment cells and (d) other additions without netting off the removal of places in each year for which data is available. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The previous Labour Government added nearly 28,000 places to the prison estate between 1997 and 2010. However, available records do not provide a breakdown for these figures of these places by category.

For the gross additions to prison estate capacity relating to (a) new-build prisons and (b) extensions, I refer you to the table provided in response to PQs 36624 & 36626. For gross additions relating to (c) rapid deployment cells, I refer you to the table provided in PQ 36625. The information requested for part (d) is not available in a format showing gross additions only. This is because this category contains significant turnover of prison places coming in and out of use for temporary reductions, such as maintenance projects, and it is not possible to distinguish the gross additional capacity added over this period.

Last year this Government announced plans to build 14,000 places by 2031 as part of our 10-year Prison Capacity Strategy. We have already started the 700-place expansion at HMP Highpoint in Suffolk in March, and a new houseblock providing nearly 460 places at HMP Rye Hill in Northamptonshire recently received its first prisoners. This week has also seen the opening HMP Millsike, which will hold nearly 1,500 prisoners.
wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_428
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_428

Julia Buckley:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether she has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits of aligning building regulations in England with those in Wales. \p Jo Stevens: I have regular discussions with my Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of matters. I also recently met with the Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant MS, to discuss the Welsh Government’s plans for legislation on building safety in Wales.

Although buildings policy is a devolved matter, officials at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Building Safety Regulator and the Welsh Government maintain close working relationships. Representatives from all devolved nations attend the Building Advisory Committee Working Group on Fire Safety, which provides an authoritative view to the Building Safety Regulator how the functional requirements of Part B of the Building Regulations are implemented.
wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_429
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_429

Richard Baker:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for clean energy projects in Wales. \p Dame Nia Griffith: The UK Government is delivering our clean energy mission in Wales as part of our Plan for Change.

Earlier this month, The Crown Estate announced that three Welsh ports have been shortlisted to develop floating offshore wind projects in the Celtic Sea. These windfarms will generate up to 4.5 gigawatts of renewable energy, create up to 5,000 jobs and deliver a £1.4 billion boost to the economy.
wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_430
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_430

Kanishka Narayan:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed increase in defence spending on the economy in Wales. \p Dame Nia Griffith: At the Spring Statement, the Chancellor increased the defence budget by £2.2 billion in 2025-26. This will boost the Welsh economy and our thriving defence sector, where the Ministry of Defence is already supporting 7,700 jobs across the length and breadth of the country.

Earlier this month, I visited Qioptic and Wagtail in North Wales, just two of the wide range of companies in Wales who play a vital role in defending the UK.
wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_431
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_431

Johanna Baxter:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes in the level of the national minimum wage and living wage on people in Wales. \p Jo Stevens: Up to 160,000 workers in Wales have just received a pay rise as the increases in the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage take effect.

Full-time workers on the National Living Wage will see a real-terms pay increase of £1,400 per year, whilst 18-to-20 year olds will get a record boost of £2,500 each year, helping to provide families with better financial stability, improved living standards and kickstarting growth.
wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_432
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_432

Mr Richard Holden:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on road connectivity between England and Wales. \p Jo Stevens: Cross-border travel is crucial for people between Wales and England to unlock economic growth, employment opportunities and better connect the Union.

Improving transport connectivity is a priority for me, and I have been working in partnership with the Transport Secretary and the Welsh Government through the Wales Rail Board to deliver the transport improvements Wales needs.
wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_433
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_433

Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes in the level of the employer National Insurance contributions on the economy in Wales. \p Jo Stevens: The government recognises the need to protect the smallest employers which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change. SMEs account for 99.3% of total enterprises in Wales.

The previous Conservative Government left us a £22bn black hole in public finances and the highest debt burden in 70 years – we are fixing the mess the party left to kickstart economic growth and put more money in people’s pockets.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_434

Gregory Stafford:To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether she has had recent discussions with (a) the Welsh government, (b) Natural Resources Wales and (c) the Canal and River Trust on the extraction of water during drier periods to supply the Monmouthshire and Brecon canal. \p Jo Stevens: I have regular discussions with Welsh Government Ministers and stakeholder organisations in Wales on a wide range of matters, including the environment. Whilst water management is devolved to the Welsh Government, the UK Government recognises the environmental and economic value of canals in Wales and is investing £13.9m in restoring the Montgomery canal.
wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_435
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_435

Munira Wilson:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to Answer Question 43980 on Schools: Concrete, tabled on 3 April 2025. \p Stephen Morgan: A response to Question 43980 was published on 23 April and can be found here: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-04-03/43980.
wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_436
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_436

Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve access to social care provision for disabled children in all areas. \p Janet Daby: I refer the hon. Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted to the answer of 30 April 2025 to Question 45293.
wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_437
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-04-30)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-04-30 conversation_437

Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure disabled children can access social care support. \p Janet Daby: This government is taking forward significant reform of children’s social care, with the aim to rebalance the system towards earlier intervention and ensure that all children and families can access the right help at the point of need, rather than needing to meet a particular threshold. This is particularly the case for children with disabilities, whose need is potentially different from others who may require help and support from children’s social care. Disabled children may require support for the entirety of their childhood and sit across children’s social care, education and health, and their support offer should be adjusted to reflect this.

To that end, on Thursday 20 March, I announced the launch of the national Families First Partnership Programme, including the publication of the Families First Programme guide. The guide has been produced to support safeguarding partnerships across England implement Family Help and multi-agency child protection reforms and make greater use of Family Group Decision Making. The guide can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/families-first-partnership-programme.

The programme is backed by over £500 million of investment in the 2025/26 financial year, made available through England’s final local government finance settlement (LGFS) for the 2025/26 financial year. This doubles direct investment into preventative support, ensuring access to support at the earliest opportunity, which over time, we expect to safely reduce the number of looked after children, keeping more families together. More information on the LGFS can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/final-local-government-finance-settlement-england-2025-to-2026.

Programmes delivered by local government over many years have paved the way for these reforms, including evidence from the Supporting Families, and Strengthening Families, Protecting Children programmes. We will also take forward lessons so far from the ten local areas part of the Families First for Children Pathfinder. Best practice for improving the support provided to disabled children includes appointing special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) specialist lead practitioners to lead work with families and recruiting SEND expertise into local authorities’ ‘front doors’ to ensure timely and effective decision making and promote access to services at the earliest opportunity.