theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with institutional investors on the barriers to scaling transition finance in priority sectors of the UK economy. \p Emma Reynolds: The government is prioritising the growth of the transition finance market to seize the opportunities for UK financial services firms and support decarbonisation. The Transition Finance Market Review (TFMR) identified a number of barriers to scaling transition finance, including unlocking defined contribution pension investment in the transition.

Building on the TFMR, the government set out the actions it has taken to promote the growth of this market in the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy. This included reforms to unlock institutional investment in transition assets following the Pensions Investment Review. The government also launched the National Wealth Fund with additional capital, risk appetite and resources to proactively explore blended finance solutions.

The government is actively engaged with the Transition Finance Council, which the Chancellor co-launched with the City of London Corporation in November 2024. The Council brings together key stakeholders to discuss transition finance, including institutional investors.

The government is also supportive of the Financial Conduct Authority’s work, in partnership with the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Green Finance Institute, to spearhead a transition finance pilot – an innovative way to engage with the market on practical matters relating to scaling transition finance.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Bank of England's decision to retain interest rates at 4.25 per cent on the cost of public sector borrowing. \p Emma Reynolds: The Treasury does not publish forecasts of the economy or public finances; the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the UK’s official forecaster and provides independent analysis of the UK’s public finances.

In March 2025 it was forecast by the OBR that debt interest spending would reach £111.2bn in 2025-26.

At the Budget last Autumn, the government set out a clear fiscal strategy to stabilise the public finances and underpin growth. The fiscal rules, which provide stability, help to keep interest rates low and prioritise investment to support long-term growth, are non-negotiable. This is the responsible choice – to reduce our levels of borrowing in the years ahead, so we can spend more on our public services, more on the priorities of working people and less on servicing debt.

The OBR will publish an updated forecast later this year.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) millionaires and (b) ultra-high-net-worth people who have relocated to other countries since 2020. \p James Murray: The Government has removed the outdated concept of domicile states from the tax system and implemented a new residence-based regime from 6 April 2025. The new residence-based regime is more compatible for new arrivals than the previous rules.

The Government published a Tax Information and Impact Note for this policy on 30 October. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-changes-for-non-uk-domiciled-individuals/reforming-the-taxation-of-non-uk-domiciled-individuals.

There have always been relatively large flows of non-doms in and out of the UK every year. The latest HMRC statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-non-domiciled-taxpayers-in-the-uk/statistical-commentary-on-non-domiciled-taxpayers-in-the-uk--2. These show the number of non-domiciled taxpayers in each tax year up to 2023/24.

We anticipate that some non-doms ineligible for the new regime will exit the UK in response to the changes. Taking this migration response into account, the OBR expects the non-dom reforms to raise £33.8 billion over the next five years to help fund the public services and investment projects needed to drive growth.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans her Department has to review tax reliefs and their effectiveness. \p James Murray: Tax reliefs are an important feature of the UK tax system. Many tax reliefs help to define the scope of the tax and make sure that the tax system operates fairly while simplifying and reducing administrative burdens for businesses and individuals (structural reliefs). Others are aimed at encouraging certain behaviours or activities to support economic or social objectives (non-structural reliefs).

HMRC has invested significant resources in improving understanding of the cost and effectiveness of tax reliefs. Since 2019 it has produced:

In addition, 24 evaluations covering 27 unique reliefs have been published since 2020.

HMRC’s approach to improving transparency around reliefs is proportionate, making the best use of resources.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on the adequacy of its money laundering risk management policies. \p Emma Reynolds: The government meets regularly with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to discuss a range of topics. The FCA is required under the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs) to assess the risks of money laundering for the businesses it supervises for compliance with the MLRs; to maintain risk profiles for these businesses; and to take a risk-based approach to supervision. The Treasury collects a range of information from the FCA to evaluate its approach to managing money laundering risk and publishes it as part of the annual report on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervision. The latest annual report is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/anti-money-laundering-and-countering-the-financing-of-terrorism-supervision-report-2023-24
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans she has to evaluate the effectiveness of the Sustainable Finance Education Charter in building domestic capacity to develop transition-aligned financial products. \p Emma Reynolds: The Sustainable Finance Education Charter (the Charter) is a partnership between the government, the Green Finance Institute and thirteen leading global professional bodies, who consider how best to embed skill requirements for sustainability into their professional qualifications. The Charter group meet regularly and independently of government to better ensure that finance professionals are equipped to assess climate-related and wider environmental and social sustainability risks and apply their professional skills and judgements to innovate and address these.

The Charter signatories respond to the needs of the industry, and this includes the increasing importance of transition finance. One of the recommendations from the Transition Finance Market Review (TFMR) called on bodies from the Charter to produce a forward-looking plan for the development of transition plan assurance skills and methodologies. The Charter’s 2024 progress report sets out the details of how they are meeting this recommendation.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the UK Sustainability Disclosure Standards on the development of international sustainability reporting frameworks. \p Emma Reynolds: The government was a strong supporter of the establishment and development of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) as a global standard setter for sustainability reporting at COP26 to drive international alignment. The ISSB published international standards on sustainability disclosures in 2023, known as S1 and S2.

On 25th June 2025, the government published its consultation on the draft UK-endorsed standards, which will be known as UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS) and are based on the ISSB standards.

These standards aim to support long-term, sustainable decision-making by the business and investment community by providing high-quality and comparable information about the sustainability-related risks and opportunities that businesses face.

Greater use of these standards internationally will reduce the costs to businesses of reporting on sustainability matters in multiple jurisdictions and maximise the consistency of information for investors, allowing them to deploy their funding to maximum effect and support economic growth.
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Sir John Whittingdale:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure that investors in 79th Group receive adequate compensation. \p Emma Reynolds: As an important point of principle, the Government does not step in to pay compensation in respect of failed financial services firms that fall outside of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Doing so would create the wrong set of incentives for individuals and an unnecessary burden on the taxpayer. The Government does not ordinarily step in to pay compensation to consumers in relation to allegations of fraud, investment losses, mis-selling or mis-buying of investments.

However, in some cases of fraud, individuals may be able to seek reimbursement from their bank. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is the independent regulator with responsibility for Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud reimbursement. The PSR’s mandatory reimbursement regime, for APP scams taking place over the Faster Payment system, came into force on 7 October 2024 and covers transactions occurring on or after that date. It requires payment service providers to reimburse victims of APP scam losses up to the value of £85,000. The PSR has committed to commission an independent post implementation review of its policy after 12 months of the policy being in force.

Transactions that occurred before 7 October 2024, may be governed by the Contingent Reimbursement Model (CRM), a voluntary code signed by the UK’s largest banks and building societies that came into force in May 2019. However, it is important to note that not all banks or building societies are party to the CRM code. The CRM code is overseen by the Lending Standards Board and more information can be found on their website.

Where a reimbursement claim is unsuccessful, victims may have access to recourse through the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). This includes fraud, providing the activity is within the FOS’s jurisdiction, which is set by the FCA. Any criminal investigation would be a matter for the police. Unfortunately, the Government is unable to intervene in individual cases, but I would encourage victims to continue to engage with their banks directly in order to seek a timely resolution to this matter.

However, it is important to prevent fraud from happening in the first place. HM Treasury is working with colleagues in the Home Office as they develop a new, expanded Fraud Strategy. This will be published in due course as part of the Government’s Plan for Change and in line with our manifesto commitments.
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Ben Maguire:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department plans to work with (a) The Catholic Agency for Overseas Development and (b) other relevant charities to help reduce the high interest public debt owed by certain developing countries. \p Emma Reynolds: The UK is concerned by impacts of the high debt servicing costs faced by developing countries. We fully support the World Bank and IMF’s ‘three pillars’ approach to countries facing liquidity (i.e. short-term payment) challenges.

Enhanced transparency will be a focus of the London Coalition on Sustainable Sovereign Debt, which launched on 23rd June. As part of its wider objectives, the group will work with UK and global private creditors to develop a better understanding of the debt obligations owed by developing countries

UK Government officials engage with the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development and other relevant organisations on a regular basis and will continue to do so as we work to address the challenge of high-interest public debt in developing countries.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the Government Actuary’s Department has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years. \p James Murray: The Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) is an office (or workplace) based organisation with a solely UK presence. In line with Cabinet Office policy, GAD expects a 60% minimum office attendance for all staff.

To enable hybrid working and to meet requirements for workplace adjustments (DSE), GAD has spent:

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

Hybrid working Equipment

£6,748.90

£5,093.56

£7,148.37

DSE Equipment

£0.00

£30.05

£677.81

Total spend

£6,748.90

£5,123.61

£7,826.18

GAD has no home working contracts in place.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the changes to business rates relief on (a) leisure, (b) hospitality and (c) retail businesses. \p James Murray: Retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) business rates relief has been extended year-by-year by previous governments since the pandemic, creating uncertainty for businesses and an unsustainable fiscal pressure for Government.

Without any Government intervention, RHL relief would have ended entirely in April 2025, creating a cliff-edge for businesses. Instead, the Government decided to provide a 40 per cent discount to RHL properties up to a cash cap of £110,0000 per business in 2025/26, ahead of intending to introduce permanently lower rates for RHL properties with rateable values below £500,000 from 2026/27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support.

The rates for these new RHL multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes, as well as the economic and fiscal context. When the new multipliers are set, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the expected effects of the new multiplier arrangements.
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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses have had a turnover below the VAT threshold in each of the past five years. \p James Murray: The total number of businesses in 2024 is estimated at 5.6 million (see Business population estimates 2024 - GOV.UK, detailed table 2). According to HMRC statistics, there were around 1.3 million business registered for VAT with turnover above the threshold in 2023-34 (see Value Added Tax (VAT) annual statistics - GOV.UK, Table T5). Thus the number of businesses with turnover below the threshold would be approximately the remainder of the 5.6 million, or 4.3 million.

It should be noted that some businesses with turnover below the threshold are voluntarily registered for VAT; there were around 0.9 million such businesses in 2023-24.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 23 June 2025 to Question 60427 on Tobacco: Excise Duties, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of falling cigarette and hand rolling tobacco receipts on the size of the illicit tobacco market. \p James Murray: HMRC recently published an updated version of their Measuring Tax Gaps publication which now includes tax gap estimates up to 2023/24. The illicit market volume for cigarettes is shown in Table 3.13 and the total consumption volume is shown in Table 3.12. The illicit market for hand rolling tobacco is shown in Table 3.17 and the total consumption volume is shown in Table 3.16.

The Department continues to investigate how the illicit tobacco market is evolving, including through its compliance activity, and the extent to which that may affect overall tax receipts seen.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 54690 on Tobacco: Excise Duties, if she will make a comparative assessment of the rate of decline in smoking rates as illustrated in the ONS: Adult Smoking habits in the UK data for (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (c) 2023 and the rate of the decline in HMRC’s tobacco duty receipts in the Tobacco Bulletin. \p James Murray: Table 1 below shows adult smoking prevalence in the UK and tobacco duty receipts between 2021 and 2023. The prevalence figures are taken from the ON’S “Adult Smoking habits in the UK” dataset. The receipts figures are taken from HMRC’s Tobacco Bulletin which includes figures up to April 2025.

Table 1: Adult Smoking Prevalence and Tobacco Duty Receipts 2021-2023

Year

UK Adult Smoking Prevalence

Tobacco Duty Receipts (£ million)

2021

13.3%

10,360

2022

12.9%

10,208

2023

11.9%

8,706

The ONS smoking prevalence data shows the percentage of adults in the UK who smoke cigarettes but does not give any indication of how much or how often these adults smoke.

The Office for Budget Responsibility discusses drivers of tobacco duty receipts in relation to the tobacco duty forecast on their Tobacco duties webpage. Receipts are driven by inflation (CPI and RPI), real household consumption and underlying trends in tobacco consumption. The downward trend in tobacco consumption has accelerated in recent years, partly reflecting changing attitudes and the increasing popularity of e-cigarettes.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much the Government Internal Audit Agency has spent on equipment to enable staff to work from home in each of the last three years. \p James Murray: Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) staff are provided with IT equipment to enable them to work across multiple locations. This is a managed service provided by HM Treasury, who manage this contract on behalf of GIAA. GIAA staff can request “Work from home IT kits” (e.g., screens, headsets, keyboards, and mice) through HM Treasury. GIAA does not hold information on the expenditure for these requests, and HM Treasury does not disaggregate their information on total IT spend to identify spend on GIAA staff requests. The total spend for HM Treasury Group on these work from home IT kits is noted in HM Treasury’s response to PQ 63519

GIAA provides additional IT equipment outside the managed service to support hybrid or home working, such as to support reasonable adjustments. Details of GIAA’s recorded IT expenditure for this purpose are listed below

2022-23: £10,105 2023-24: £2,474 2024-25: £1,779
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Carla Denyer:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to ensure that leasehold owners who were unable to sell their properties in the 2020-21 financial year due to cladding remediation works can qualify for the temporarily reduced Stamp Duty Land Tax rates that were in place during that period. \p James Murray: Stamp Duty Land Tax (SLDT) rates were reduced from July 2020 to September 2021 in response to exceptional circumstances in the housing market. The SDLT rates applicable to a purchase are those in place on the date of the transaction. SDLT remains an important source of Government revenue, raising around £12 billion each year to help pay for the essential services the Government provides.

A refund of the higher rate of SDLT paid when purchasing additional property can be claimed in exceptional circumstances, or if an old main residence is sold within three years of the purchase of the new main residence. This includes those paying higher rates of SDLT because they have been unable to sell a main residence due to issues with unsafe cladding. HMRC consider each individual case on its own merits.
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Adam Thompson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to extend (a) film and (b) high-end TV tax relief to grassroots performing arts. \p James Murray: The Government recognises the importance of the creative industries, including the key role they play in driving economic growth.

The Government supports the creative industries through tax reliefs and funding, where the recently published Creative Industries Sector Plan set out the Government’s vision. Up to £30 million will be set aside for a new Music Growth package over the next three years, which will create new touring, performance, mentoring and export opportunities for emerging talent, while also delivering a significant uplift in funding for the grassroots sector to support small venues.

The objective of the creative industry tax reliefs is to support and incentivise productions rather than to support venues themselves. When considering new tax reliefs, the Government takes into account costs, complexity, and the market failure the relief is seeking to address. Extending the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC) to grassroots performing arts is not currently under consideration.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of simplifying the tax code. \p James Murray: As set out at Autumn Budget 2024 and Spring Statement 2025, the government is committed to simplifying the tax and customs systems to help support economic growth. In April, the government announced a package of measures to reduce administrative burdens, so businesses and individual taxpayers can spend less time on tax and customs administration and more time adding value to the economy. These changes were developed through close engagement with stakeholders and the government will bring forward further simplification proposals in the future.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to support regional economic growth across the UK. \p Emma Reynolds: Kick starting economic growth and ensuring that growth is felt in all regions of the UK is the number one mission of this Government. The government’s approach to regional growth will drive growth in city regions, towns and communities and make the most of the opportunities in each part of the country, to make everyone better off. There is excellence right across the country and this government is backing it: lifting living standards and putting more money in people’s pockets.

The recent Spending Review set out £15.6bn for some of our largest city-regions via the Transport for City Region settlements, with Tees Valley Combined Authority receiving £1bn funding improvements to Middlesbrough station and other local priorities. For places outside city-regions, the Local Transport Grant is receiving a fourfold increase in funding by 2029-30 compared to 2024-35. The new £410m Local Innovation Partnerships Fund will drive innovation excellence across the country, delivering R&D co-creation between local leaders and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Our new long-term local growth programmes which will invest in 350 deprived communities across the UK, funding interventions across community cohesion, regeneration and improving the public realm. We are also funding at least £725 billion of economic and social infrastructure across the country over the next decade, as set out in our new Infrastructure Strategy.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what analysis her Department has conducted on the interoperability of the UK’s digital sovereign debt framework with digital securities infrastructure developed by other G7 countries. \p Emma Reynolds: At Mansion House the government set out an update on the DIGIT pilot, outlining a range of ambitious design features the government intends to take forward and encourage as a part of the DIGIT pilot.

These design features include testing on-chain settlement, supporting interoperability, delivering greater transparency, and working with the sector to encourage the future development of secondary markets and solutions to enable collateral mobility.

These features reflect feedback from stakeholders, including across the financial services sector, received as part of the government’s market engagement exercise that closed in April 2025.

The government is committed to ongoing work with the sector to ensure the success of the DIGIT pilot both in terms of the issuance itself and its wider impact.

The priority at this stage is delivering the pilot and no decisions have been made on further issuances.

As the government has set out previously, the pilot DIGIT issuance will be separate from our standard debt issuance programme.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of fiscal uncertainty on levels of business confidence. \p Emma Reynolds: Ensuring fiscal stability is a core part of delivering economic stability and providing a strong foundation for growth. The Government has been clear that the fiscal rules are non-negotiable.

We also introduced a series of responsible reforms to the fiscal framework that improve certainty, transparency and accountability, such as committing to one major annual fiscal event to provide certainty for families and businesses and introducing a ‘fiscal lock’ to ensure no government can announce fiscally significant measures without being subject to an independent assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

The Government monitors a wide range of indicators to assess the UK’s economic performance, including measures of business confidence.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made as assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the non-domiciled tax regime. \p James Murray: The Government has removed the outdated concept of domicile status from the tax system and implemented a new residence-based regime from 6 April 2025.  The new residence-based regime is more competitive for new arrivals than the previous rules.
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Mr Angus MacDonald:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of (a) recent changes to tax rates applied to betting operators on levels of betting activity and (b) trends in the level of betting activity on revenues to the Exchequer. \p James Murray: Gambling Duties raised £3.6 billion in revenue in 2024-25, an increase of 7% (£227 million) compared to 2023-24.

No changes have been made to the gambling duty rates applied to betting operators in this Parliament.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on increasing funding for the resilience of defence infrastructure supply chains. \p Darren Jones: The Government is committed to ensure a strong defence sector and resilient supply chains across the whole of the UK, including for defence infrastructure. The forthcoming Defence Industrial Strategy, due for publication in Autumn, will set out how we will establish long-term partnerships between business and government, promote innovation, and improve resilience.

Following Spending Review 2025 further detail on how the Ministry of Defence will spend its budget will be set out in the Defence Investment Plan, which is also scheduled to complete in the Autumn.
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Carla Lockhart:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the National Wealth Fund Taskforce since its establishment; and what recommendations the Taskforce has made in relation to investment projects in Northern Ireland. \p Darren Jones: At the International Investment Summit in 2024, the Government created the National Wealth Fund, to address the barriers to investment identified by the National Wealth Fund Taskforce. For more details on the Taskforce’s recommendations and the Government’s actions to implement them, please see:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-wealth-fund-mobilising-private-investment/national-wealth-fund-mobilising-private-investment-accessible

The Taskforce recommended that “where possible, any transactions should deliver against a wider set of public policy objectives, including jobs, supply chains and regional growth.”

The National Wealth Fund has an enhanced regional mandate, with a dedicated Northern Ireland director to actively seek investment opportunities. It also works closely with the Northern Ireland Executive and other local partners to provide financing and expertise.
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Nesil Caliskan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of protective security schemes for religious places of worship. \p Dame Diana Johnson: This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer. The Government and police work closely together to review threats and strengthen protections for communities against terrorism and hate crime.

The Home Office continuously reviews the effectiveness and proportionality of its protective security schemes for faith communities through evaluating information provided by policing and intelligence partners on threat and risk, monitoring data on uptake of the schemes, and reviewing feedback from faith communities and other stakeholders.

Furthermore, protective security measures are provided to places of worship and other faith community sites following a thorough risk assessment process that takes into account the security requirements of individual sites and determines the most effective measures to implement. Regular reviews of these requirements are then undertaken for sites that receive ongoing security.
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Nesil Caliskan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help keep (a) mosques and (b) muslim faith schools secure. \p Dan Jarvis: This Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion at their chosen place of worship, and to making our streets and communities safer. The Government and police work closely together to review threats and strengthen protections for communities against terrorism and hate crime.

The Protective Security for Mosques Scheme provides protective security measures (such as security personnel services, CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing) to mosques and associated Muslim faith community centres. Protective security measures are also available to Muslim faith schools. Up to £29.4 million per year is being made available for this work from 2024/25 to 2027/28.

Work is also underway to develop a new Faith Security Training scheme to raise awareness amongst faith communities of how to improve their safety and security, and to help them prepare to mitigate any threats they may face. We are in the process of competitively tendering for a supplier to deliver this scheme and further details will be shared once the procurement process is complete.
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Melanie Onn:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking (a) ensure the safeguarding of beagles at MBR Acres during periods of extreme warm weather and (b) phase out the use of dogs in clinical trials. \p Dan Jarvis: Licensed establishments are responsible for the welfare of animals in their care at all times, including during extreme weather. Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), all such establishments must comply with legal requirements and standards set out in the Home Office’s published Operational Guidance and Code of Practice.

These documents require establishments to have contingency plans for temperature extremes to ensure animal welfare. Establishment licence holders must ensure sufficient trained staff are in place to maintain high standards of care and facility management.

Daily checks by competent personnel are mandated under Standard Condition 4 to monitor animal welfare and environmental conditions, with prompt action required to address any issues. Standard Condition 18 requires that any breaches or potential breaches of licence conditions be reported to the Secretary of State.

The Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) monitors compliance through regular audits, including both announced and unannounced visits, to assess animal welfare and adherence to ASPA.

The Government is committed to working towards a vision of phasing out the use of animals in science. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is engaging with stakeholders to finalise a strategy to accelerate the development, validation and uptake of alternatives to animal testing which is scheduled for publication later this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-23)

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Nesil Caliskan:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the number of hate crime incidences recorded in (a) the Barking constituency and (b) London in each of the last 10 years. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The Home Office publishes official statistics on the number of hate crimes recorded by the police in England and Wales at the Police Force Area level.

Data for the Metropolitan and City of London Police forces, for the year ending March 2024, can be found in Open Data Tables here: Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-23)

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Edward Morello:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with the Prime Minister on the potential merits of establishing a new homeland security ministerial post. \p Dan Jarvis: As Security Minister, I am responsible for matters covering a range of homeland security issues - counter terrorism and extremism; state threats; cyber security and crime; serious and organised crime; oversight of the National Crime Agency; anti-corruption; and economic crime (excluding fraud). In addition, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is the Minister responsible for resilience and civil contingencies.

Given that CDL and my respective responsibilities cover homeland security, there are therefore currently no plans for the Home Secretary to discuss a new Ministerial post with the Prime Minister. However, as set out in our recently published National Security Strategy, the Government recognises action is needed to ensure we are secure at home and will continue to explore the best ways to undertake the steps set out in the strategy.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-23)

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Steve Darling:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to improve coordination across departments to ensure that key Domestic Homicide Review recommendations are acted upon in a timely manner. \p Jess Phillips: Domestic Homicide Reviews (DHRs) provide vital opportunities for national and local agencies, local communities and society as a whole to learn lessons from domestic abuse related deaths.

We know that recommendations are often made to the Home Office by default when they should sit with other departments and we are working to resolve this issue through clearer guidance and embedding best practice in training for those responsible for DHRs, the DHR Chairs. Creating a clear process that directs recommendations to the right department will ultimately ensure recommendations are received and implemented in a timely manner.

The Home Office also worked closely with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner on the DHR Oversight Mechanism pilot, to improve the implementation of DHR recommendations across Government.

The upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Strategy will detail the Government’s work going forward to reform DHRs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-23)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help improve the mental health of police officers. \p Dame Diana Johnson: This Government is committed to supporting the mental and physical wellbeing of all our police.

This includes providing ongoing funding to the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS), which provides evidence-based guidance, advice, tools and resources which can be accessed by forces. This helps Chief Constables in their duty to ensure the wellbeing of their workforce. In particular, the Service is helping forces to identify where there is most risk of impacts on mental health, and developing work around building resilience, as well as putting in place support for those who need it in response to traumatic events.

The Police Covenant has already helped deliver pre-deployment mental health training for new recruits and improved occupational health standards for officers in service.

A new National Police Health and Wellbeing Strategy was launched in June 2025 by NPWS. Workforce Prioritisation Guidance has been published alongside this, which provides clarity and guidance to forces on how to implement and invest in evidence-based and scalable health and wellbeing solutions locally.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-23)

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Alex Brewer:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure that survivors of (a) domestic violence and (b) stalking are given (i) regular and (ii) timely updates on their case to equip them to safeguard themselves from further risk. \p Jess Phillips: Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this Government and our manifesto set out an unprecedented mission to halve it in a decade.

The Victims' Code is statutory guidance that sets out the minimum level of service that victims of crime should receive from the criminal justice system. The Victim's Code includes the Right for a victim to be provided with updates on their case and to be told when important decisions are taken. If their case goes to court, the victim also has the Right to be told the time, date and location of any hearing and the outcome of those hearings in a timely way. Furthermore, the Victim's Code includes the Right to be told the outcome of the case and, if the defendant is convicted, to be given an explanation of the sentence.

The Government will consult on a new Victims' Code in due course to ensure that we get the foundations for victims right. We will also spend time developing the right framework for oversight of the delivery of the Code this year, making sure we make the most effective use of data and get the metrics right.

Additionally, through the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government is introducing provisions to issue multi-agency statutory guidance on stalking. This will set out, for the first time, a robust framework for how agencies such as the police, local authorities and healthcare should work together to pursue perpetrators and support victims. The Government is also introducing statutory guidance to set out the process by which the police should release identifying information about online stalking perpetrators to victims so appropriate safeguards can be put in place.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-23)

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Helen Whately:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the potential merits of introducing (a) specific criminal offences and (b) criminal sanctions for using catapults to harm animals. \p Dame Diana Johnson: In view of the ongoing concerns about the misuse of catapults, especially against wildlife, I have written to Dan Zeichner MP, the relevant Minister in DEFRA, who has responsibility for the protection of animals and birds.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-23)

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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of suicide prevention training provided to police staff. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The College of Policing set the professional standards for police in England and Wales. The College’s core guidance includes the initial training for officers under the Policing Education Qualifications Framework which incorporates autism, learning disabilities, mental health and vulnerabilities. Through this, officers are taught to assess vulnerability and amend their approaches as required.

The College further promotes the need for frameworks to assess vulnerability, to aid in consistent identification, support decision making, and to trigger appropriate safeguarding action.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-23)

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Anneliese Dodds:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to reduce decision times for children’s applications under the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme. \p Seema Malhotra: The vast majority of Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme applications are being processed within Service Level Agreements. There may be applications which have varying levels of complexity and we have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children under Section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, which can cause a delay to an application.

Information on visa processing times for applications made outside of the UK can be found here: Visa processing times: applications outside the UK - GOV.UK.

Information on visa processing times for applications made from within the UK can be found here: Visa processing times: applications inside the UK - GOV.UK.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-23)

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Dr Scott Arthur:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure the biomedical sector has (a) efficient and (b) cost-effective visa routes for attracting world-leading scientists to the UK. \p Seema Malhotra: The Home office’s Immigration White paper, published on 12 May, sets our proposed reforms in a wide range of areas including attracting top scientific talent to the UK, further details of which will be set out in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-23)

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Michael Wheeler:To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Animals in Science Regulation Unit is taking to (a) help ensure the maintenance of animal welfare standards at licensed facilities during periods of extreme heat, (b) monitor compliance and (c) respond to any identified concerns. \p Dan Jarvis: Licensed establishments are responsible for the welfare of animals in their care at all times, including during extreme weather. Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA), all such establishments must comply with legal requirements and standards set out in the Home Office’s published Operational Guidance and Code of Practice.

These documents require establishments to have contingency plans for temperature extremes to ensure animal welfare. Establishment licence holders must ensure sufficient trained staff are in place to maintain high standards of care and facility management.

Daily checks by competent personnel are mandated under Standard Condition 4 to monitor animal welfare and environmental conditions, with prompt action required to address any issues. Standard Condition 18 requires that any breaches or potential breaches of licence conditions be reported to the Secretary of State.

The Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) monitors compliance through regular audits, including both announced and unannounced visits, to assess animal welfare and adherence to ASPA.