theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_5
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Martin Rhodes:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to help tackle (a) exploitative and (b) environmentally unsustainable purchasing practices in the tea sector. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: The UK has a range of measures in place to promote responsible business conduct across the economy. The Government also supports voluntary due diligence approaches taken by UK businesses to identify and prevent human rights abuses and environmental harms across their operations, purchasing practices and supply chains, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

We will continue to assess and monitor the effectiveness of these existing measures, alongside the impacts of new policy tools, to ensure we can best promote responsible business practices and take action where appropriate.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Liz Jarvis:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will take steps to clarify the new guidance sent to the Horizon Shortfall scheme by his Department on cases where a shortfall has previously not been identified; and what his planned timeline is for the new process to address these cases being available to claimants. \p Gareth Thomas: My Department is working with the Post Office to develop a way to fairly assess claims where there is no record of a Horizon Shortfall. Recognising the challenges postmasters may face in providing evidence, Post Office is further investigating its branch files as quickly as possible.

Fixed sum payments will be made as quickly as possible when evidence of shortfalls is found. Where further information is required, Post Office will ask individuals for further information.

Claimants opting for a full assessment will have their case considered on the basis of the evidence available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Dr Beccy Cooper:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to help small businesses to improve their capacity to deliver workplace health interventions. \p Justin Madders: The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) introduced the Employment Rights Bill on 10 October which is currently passing through the House of Lords. We are also publishing an SME Strategy Paper later this year, which will result in positive and practical support to small and medium size businesses and employers across the UK.

The Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions and Business and Trade have asked Sir Charlie Mayfield to lead an independent Keep Britain Working Review as a part of the plan to Get Britain Working, focusing on what employers and government can do to encourage and support people living with ill-health in work.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a one-in, two-out approach to new business regulations; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of that approach on (a) innovation and (b) growth. \p Justin Madders: On 17 March 2025 the government published an Action Plan setting out its approach to regulation and regulators, which made a firm commitment to cut the administrative costs of regulation for business by 25% by the end of the Parliament. This commitment will require deregulation of the existing stock of regulations and control the flow of new regulations to reduce costs.

The Department for Business & Trade, in collaboration with HM Treasury and departments across government, is working to establish the mechanisms needed to achieve this commitment and report on progress. The government will make a further announcement in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Rupert Lowe:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of regulation on small and medium-sized enterprises since 2010. \p Justin Madders: Businesses have told us that regulation can be too complex, stifle progress and innovation and the accumulation of poorly designed regulation over decades is a burden to comply with. Our recently published Action Plan for Regulation will aim to reduce these burdens for SMEs, with a commitment to cut administrative costs for business by 25% by the end of this Parliament. The measures announced in the Action Plan will also support the Government's SME Strategy, which aims to provide SME's with the certainty and support they need to succeed.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many permanent civil servants in his Department had their contract of employment terminated as a result of poor performance in the (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25 financial years. \p Justin Madders: As the start date of this request (6th April 2022) pre-dates the formation of DBT (7th February 2023), information in scope of this request would include data captured by DBT's predecessor, Department for International Trade (DIT).

The number of permanent civil servants who had their contract of employment terminated as a result of poor performance can be found in the table.

Financial Year

Total Number

2022-2023

<5

2023-2024

<5

2024-2025

<5
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Neil Coyle:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what plans he has to improve the operations of the Certification Officer. \p Justin Madders: The Certification Officer (CO) is independent of Government and day-to-day operations are the remit of the Officer. The CO is required by statute to report their activities to the Department for Business and Trade, and ACAS, on an annual basis. This report is made available to Parliament and is deposited by the relevant minister in the House libraries.

The next report is due Summer 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Peter Lamb:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to produce an implementation plan to support (a) employers and (b) the wider enforcement system with the implementation of Employment Rights Bill provisions. \p Justin Madders: The Government will consult extensively on the implementation of the legislation to ensure it works for workers and employers alike, and anticipates this meaning the majority of reforms will take effect no earlier than 2026. Our forthcoming Employment Rights Bill Implementation Roadmap will set out further detail on our plans. The Roadmap will support businesses and other stakeholders to adapt to changes ahead of their commencement.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of US tariffs on the UK aerospace sector. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: The US has committed to reducing tariffs on UK aerospace goods such as engines and similar aircraft parts from the general 10% tariff being applied to all other countries, to 0% - which is expected to come into force by the end of the month. This means the UK is now the only country in the world to be exempt from the 10% on aerospace.

This deal is a win for the UK’s world-class aerospace sector which was facing additional 10% tariffs, helping make companies more competitive and allowing them to continue to be at the cutting edge of innovation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Dr Andrew Murrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the potential impact of the UK-Morocco Enhanced Strategic Partnership, signed on 1 June 2025, on levels of trade with Morocco in the next ten years. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: Following the Foreign Secretary’s recent visit to Morocco, both Kingdoms signed several Memoranda of Understanding to drive cross-sectoral partnerships. The Department for Business and Trade and the UK’s Trade Envoy will be working with Morocco to deepen ties, including developing partnerships to support Morocco’s infrastructure programme — ahead of the 2030 Football World Cup — and advancing an Agriculture Review. Bilateral trade has been rising and reached £4.2 billion in 2024. These partnerships will boost trade and investment over the next decade. UK Export Finance offers £5bn finance and can support projects in Western Sahara, subject to meeting UKEF’s due diligence requirements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the availability of commercial insurance for UK companies seeking to operate in Ukraine on British trade and investment in the region. \p Gareth Thomas: Limited availability of insurance to operate in Ukraine is a market access barrier for businesses to export, invest or operate in Ukraine. The expertise and global reputation of the London Insurance sector has continued to mobilise international support to increase risk coverage for real sector and trade finance under the 2023 London Conference Framework for War Risk Insurance.

In March, Minister Doughty and I joined an international roundtable hosted by Lloyds of London to maintain momentum and encourage insurance companies to reconsider the Ukrainian market. UK Export Finance (UKEF) continues to provide risk insurance for UK exporters trading with Ukraine.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether (a) officials and (b) Ministers participated at the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum event between 20 and 22 May 2025. \p Sarah Jones: The Minister for Investment and officials from the Department for Business and Trade have participated at the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) event that took place between 20 and 22 May 2025.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Mr Will Forster:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential benefits of using digital twin technology in major infrastructure projects. \p Sarah Jones: The National Digital Twin Programme (NDTP) aims to develop the UK’s capability in digital twinning technologies, and to enable the digital interconnection of infrastructure and other sources of data. This will enable more efficient design, construction, and operation of infrastructure assets, improving delivery of public services and provide greater certainty and confidence to business to invest. The delivery of the NDTP will contribute to the Growth Mission, the Clean Energy Mission, and support the operation of several priority sectors within the Industrial Strategy.

Information about the NDTP can be found at: National Digital Twin Programme. gov.uk
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Dr Scott Arthur:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he permits the export of F-35 components which are only compatible with the F-35I variant of the aircraft. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: No. As my Rt. Honourable friend the Minister for Defence Procurement has previously confirmed to the House, UK suppliers do not manufacture or export components that are exclusively used on the Israeli variant of the f-35 aircraft.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Dame Harriett Baldwin:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the research published by IoD entitled IoD research finds employment law reforms will damage UK economic growth, published on 6 June 2025. \p Justin Madders: My department has published a set of Impact Assessments that provide a comprehensive analysis on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This analysis includes con-sideration of impacts on economic growth. This analysis is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/employment-rights-bill-impact-assessments

This represents the best estimate for the likely impacts, including on economic growth, given the current stage of policy development. We are refining our analysis as policy development continues, working closely with external experts, businesses and trade unions.

The department regularly meets with the Institute of Directors to discuss a range of policies included in the Employment Rights Bill and, as with all stakeholders, we value the insight they provide.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Alison Griffiths:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to respond to the letter of 16 April 2025 from the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, ref. MC2025/35782. \p Torsten Bell: I replied to the Hon. Member on 17 June.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to improve the safety of pensions. \p Torsten Bell: On State Pensions, we have made a commitment to the Triple Lock for the entirety of this Parliament which will mean the annual spend on people’s State Pensions is forecast to rise by around £31 billion. These rises are only possible because of the tough decisions made in the autumn statement 2024 to keep the public finances on a sustainable footing .

Over 12 million pensioners will benefit (over the course of this parliament) with the full yearly rate of the new State Pension is forecast to increase by around £1,900.

The Pension Schemes Bill, introduced in Parliament on 5 June, will legislate to transform the £2 trillion workplace pensions landscape – with a smaller number of bigger, better governed, better value pension providers investing in a wider range of productive assets, ultimately improving outcomes for savers and our economy. The Bill will also legislate for wider changes, from putting in place a value for money regime for Defined Contribution pensions to the introduction of flexibilities for trustees of well-funded Defined Benefit pension schemes to release surplus back to employers where it is safe to do so, enabling benefits for scheme members.

A bedrock of our reforms is the security of members’ benefits and protection of their best interests. The reforms to the existing regime will continue to maintain member protection, with appropriate and adequate safeguards in place underpinned by the role of regulators.

This government will work closely with the Pension Protection Fund as the administrator of the Fraud Compensation Fund to ensure that the fraud compensation system is effective and that schemes which have experienced of pension fraud receive fair and timely compensation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Neil Duncan-Jordan:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will create an Older People's Commissioner for England. \p Alison McGovern: The Department for Work and Pensions has no current plans to appoint a Commissioner for Old People in England. Employment support, through the creation of our new Jobs and Careers Service, will enable everyone, including older people, to access good, meaningful work and support progression into work. More details are set out in our Get Britain Working White Paper published last year and additional employment support for eligible older jobseekers is already currently available through our UK network of Jobcentres.

To better hear the voices of older people and further develop the reforms set out in in our Pathways to Work Green Paper, we are committing to the establishment of ‘collaboration committees’. This will bring together groups of people, including older people, with civil servants to collaborate on discussions, challenges, and recommendations on specific areas of work.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data the Government holds on gender disparities in Child Maintenance Service cases; and what steps she is taking to ensure that the system treats both mothers and fathers equally and without bias. \p Andrew Western: In the quarter ending December 2024, of the 680,000 Paying Parents 93% were male.

The Child Maintenance Service aims to provide a high-quality service to all of its parents. The CMS treats parents equally as individuals based on their roles within the scheme and makes no reference to gender. The Department has a specific duty to assess the impact of proposed policies and services and any changes to them on equality. This ensures the Department meets the Public Sector Equality Duty.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what safeguards are in place to prevent misuse of the Child Maintenance Service by resident parents making unfounded or exaggerated claims in order to maximise payments from the non-resident parent. \p Andrew Western: Child Maintenance Service (CMS) decisions are made by caseworkers who consider all the evidence and apply the law, including any relevant case law, to the facts of each case.

Where the legislation specifies or implies that a caseworker make a discretionary decision, the judgement must be reasonable and unbiased, taking in all relevant matters and discarding irrelevant matters.

There may be occasions where a caseworker must make a decision based on incomplete or contradictory information. If this is the case and the caseworker is unable to corroborate the information, they will have to exercise their judgement, considering all the available evidence, and make a decision based on the balance of probabilities the information or allegation provided is true or not.

If a parent feels that a decision taken by the Child Maintenance Service is incorrect, they can ask it to look at the decision again. This is known as a mandatory reconsideration. If a parent still feels that the decision taken is incorrect after they receive a mandatory reconsideration notice, they will be able to appeal to an independent tribunal.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of Child Maintenance Service enforcement procedures on (a) the mental health of and (b) suicide rates for non-resident (i) parents and (ii) parents who are men. \p Andrew Western: The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to ensuring that it delivers a safe service that is sensitive to the needs of all the parents that use it. We recognise that some parents may face difficult circumstances, particularly at a time of separation.

The CMS is well prepared to respond quickly and effectively if it becomes aware that the safety of any of its customers are at risk, and caseworkers receive extensive training and follow a well-managed process with clear steps to support vulnerable clients.

Caseworkers have access to several tools and procedures to help support customers when they advise they cannot afford to pay child maintenance or are struggling with the cost of living in general and are in financial or emotional crisis.

This includes the National District Provision Toolkit and Affordability Hub which provides invaluable information to allow caseworkers to signpost to national and local support organisations for debt help and mental health assistance across the UK.

The CMS do not recognise any data or evidence that indicates a causal link between the Child Maintenance Service and suicides amongst paying parents. However, we do recognise that many paying parents face difficult circumstances and may be in emotional crisis.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which body designates a location as a Control of Major Accident Hazard site. \p Sir Stephen Timms: COMAH requires dutyholders to take all measures necessary to prevent and mitigate the effects of major accidents involving dangerous substances which can cause serious damage/harm to people and or the environment.

COMAH mainly affects chemical and downstream petrochemical and oil industries, but also includes some storage activities, explosives sites, nuclear sites, and other industries, where quantities of dangerous substances above the thresholds identified in the regulations are kept or used. The COMAH Regulations differ from other Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 relevant statutory provisions, in that they set out to protect both people and the environment from harm. Environmental matters are regulated by the relevant environmental government agencies who work with HSE or Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) to form the relevant COMAH Competent Authority (CA) for each COMAH establishment.

An ‘establishment’ is defined as the whole location (site) under the control of an operator where a dangerous substance is present in a quantity equal to or in excess of the quantity listed in schedule 1 of the regulations. The regulations place legal duties on such an establishment to determine if their site is subject to COMAH based on their inventory. It is the duty of the operator to determine whether the site has COMAH status and if it does, to notify HSE accordingly.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Dan Norris:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether estates managed by the Government Property Agency took part in No Mow May. \p Georgia Gould: The Government Property Agency (GPA) does not manage participation of No Mow May centrally. However, estates are encouraged to take part in such initiatives if operationally feasible on a site by site basis. As such several sites took part across the GPA estate.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Gill Furniss:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Health Service Commissioner for England will be formally appointed. \p Georgia Gould: The House of Commons leads on the recruitment of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration and Health Service Commissioner. We expect that the formal appointment will be made shortly.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Treasury's policy paper entitled Departmental Efficiency Delivery Plans, published on 11 June 2025, whether he has a headcount target for the size of his Department between 2026-27 and 2028-29. \p Georgia Gould: In line with the 2025 Spending Review, we are restructuring the Cabinet Office into a more strategic, specialised, and smaller department to achieve £110 million in annual expenditure savings by the 2028/29 financial year. Our focus is on identifying budgetary savings rather than meeting a specific headcount target.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Mike Wood:To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many data breaches his Department has reported to the Information Commissioner's Office under the UK GDPR since 4 July 2024; and what type of information did these breaches relate to. \p Ms Abena Oppong-Asare: The Cabinet Office has reported seven data breaches to the Information Commissioner since 4 July 2024. The breaches and the data they related to is set out as follows:

Date of breach

Type of information released

12 July 2024

Data relating to the Equality Hub copied to a private email account

26 July 2024

Data errors led to a civil service pension being paid to the wrong individual

20 July 2024

Data errors led to a civil service pension being paid to the wrong individual

10 September 2024

Employee email shared with incorrect recipients

10 March 2025

Vetting data was shared with the incorrect recipient

17 April 2025

Ex-staff member retained departmental data on personal email account

19 May 2025

Data published in error as part of Cabinet Office transparency report
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Sir Mel Stride:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Table 5.8 of the Spending Review, published on 11 June 2025, (a) what analysis informed the estimates for increases in police core spending power and (b) what increases in police council tax precepts were assumed, set out in (i) annual percentage increase terms, (ii) cash terms and (iii) real terms. \p Darren Jones: Police core spending power refers to the projected total police settlement funding for Counter Terrorism Police and Territorial Police. The Phase 2 settlement provides an average 1.7% real terms increase per year in police spending power. Over the SR period, police spending power is projected to increase by an average 2.3% per year in real terms. The average real terms increase to police core spending power over the SR period was calculated based on the GDP deflator as of Spring Statement 2025.

Police core spending power includes projected spending from additional income, including estimated funding from the police council tax precept. However, this remains subject to final decision on precept levels and individual police and crime commissioner decisions. The final police precept level and core government funding will be set out in the annual police funding settlement in the usual way.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Sir Mel Stride:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 5.74 of the Spending Review 2025, published on 11 June 2025, whether the 3.1% annual growth figure for local authority spending power assumes all councils increase core council tax by 3% each year and all councils apply the full 2% adult social care precept increase as well; what the annual average real terms increase in grant funding will be between 2023-24 and 2028-29; and what the annual average real terms increase in grant funding will be between 2025-26 and 2028-29. \p Darren Jones: Table 5.17 of the Spending Review 2025 document refers to an estimated average annual real-terms growth rate for Local Authority (LA) Core Spending Power of 3.1% per year from 2023-24 to 2028-29. The approach to council tax within these estimates is in line with standard practice for LA Core Spending Power figures published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/explanatory-note-on-core-spending-power-final-local-government-finance-settlement-2025-to-2026/explanatory-note-on-core-spending-power-final-local-government-finance-settlement-2025-to-2026.

As also set out in Table 5.17, the estimated average annual real terms increase in grant funding between 2023-24 and 2028-29 for the Local Government Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) budget will be 5.2%. Between 2025-26 and 2028-29, it will be 1.1%.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Sir Mel Stride:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to box 4.A of the Spending Review 2025, published on 11 June 2025, how much of the financial transactions set out in the document are additional to the quantum which was assumed at Autumn Budget 2024; and what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of this additional activity on (a) public sector net cash requirement, (b) public sector net debt, (c) public sector net debt excluding Bank of England, (d) central government debt interest spending and (e) overall gilt issuance for each financial year up to and including 2029-30, compared to the forecasts published at Spring Statement 2025. \p Emma Reynolds: At the Budget last Autumn, the government set out a clear fiscal strategy to stabilise the public finances and underpin growth. This involved introducing new fiscal rules which provide stability, put the public finances on a sustainable path and ensure our public services are sustainably funded.

The fiscal rules set in the Autumn have supported the step change needed in investment, kick starting a decade of national renewal. For the first time, the fiscal rules recognise where financial assets generate future returns. At SR25, the government allocated an additional £9.6 billion in financial transactions to good value-for-money investment opportunities identified through the Spending Review process, subject to the robust guardrails set out in the financial transaction control framework.

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 its March forecast, the OBR confirmed that the government is on track to meet its fiscal rules, thanks to decisive action taken by the government to put the public finances on a sustainable trajectory and grow the economy.

The OBR will publish an updated forecast later this year in the usual way.
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Helen Morgan:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 58290 on Banking Hubs: Market Towns, if her Department will commission an independent review of LINK’s access to cash assessment frameworks adequacy to serve rural areas. \p Emma Reynolds: The Government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK, including those who may be in vulnerable groups or face challenges using alternative payment methods. The Government also understands the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets across the UK, including those in rural communities, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all as a priority.

In September 2024, The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is independent of Government, introduced regulatory rules for access to cash.

The FCA’s rules require LINK to consider a range of factors in their assessments which will account for challenges in cash access faced by market towns. This includes travel times to nearby cash facilities and local population demographics, including the levels of vulnerability and the number of elderly people within the community.

However, it is important to note that the FCA’s rules, and the LINK assessment criteria which it oversees, pertain only to access to cash, and the FCA has no power to require LINK to consider a community's access to banking needs. Any decision to change LINK’s independent assessment criteria to consider access to banking is a matter for LINK and the financial services sector.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Sir Mel Stride:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 2.20 of the Spending Review 2025, published on 11 June 2025, if she will provide a breakdown of the £1 billion estimated savings from spending on the asylum system by (a) area of spend, (b) capital vs resource spending and (c) each financial year up to and including 2028-29. \p Darren Jones: This government inherited an unaffordable and unsustainable asylum pressure, which is why this government has taken action to reduce asylum costs. The Home Secretary’s robust reforms, including investment in the new Border Security Command, are aimed at reducing small boat arrivals, reducing the asylum and appeals backlog and returning those without the right to be here. This will address the underlying causes of high asylum costs by enabling asylum hotel exits and see asylum support costs fall by at least £1 billion a year by 2028-29 compared to 2024-25 spending.
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Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people were employed under the Government Social Research Profession in (a) England, (b) Scotland, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland as of 1 January 2025. \p Emma Reynolds: The following estimates were made following a data collection exercise in February 2025.

(a) England, 2105

(b) Scotland, 220

(c) Wales, 240

(d) Northern Ireland, between 1 and 9

There are an additional 65 members of the Government Social Research where a full record is not available.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

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Sir Mel Stride:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Table 5.8 of the Spending Review document published on 11 June 2025, what the annual real terms increases in central government funding for policing will be in each financial year up to and including 2028-29; and what the average real terms annual increase will be across the spending review period. \p Darren Jones: The Phase 2 settlement provides an average 1.7% real terms increase per year in police spending power. Over the SR period, police spending power is projected to increase by an average 2.3% per year in real terms. This reflects estimated funding through a mix of central government funding and precept income via precept funding. The final police precept level and core government funding will be set out in the annual police funding settlement in the usual way.
wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_39
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_39

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Spending Review 2025. published on 11 June 2025, what proportion of the of GDP announced for defence and security spending is to be spent on (a) defence and (b) security. \p Darren Jones: The Prime Minister announced in February that total NATO qualifying defence spending will rise to 2.6% GDP by 2027. The NATO definitions pertain to defence spending; there is no definition of security spending.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_40

James Wild:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish each of the zero-based Departmental reviews undertaken by her Department. \p Darren Jones: Every department has undertaken a line-by-line review of its spending, committing to deliver at least 5% efficiencies and savings by the end of this Spending Review period. These efficiencies and savings are integral to department’s settlements. As part of the Spending Review, the OVFM have worked with departments to agree efficiency plans showing how almost £14bn of efficiencies will be delivered by 2028-29. These efficiencies contribute to the 5% and are set out in the Spending Review 2025 document.

These efficiencies and savings will now be delivered by departments as they plan and deliver their budgets for the years covered by the spending review.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_41

Sarah Gibson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department holds data on the tax gap disaggregated by (a) local authority and (b) parliamentary constituency. \p James Murray: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimates the size of the tax gap, which is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid. The tax gap statistics and details of the estimate methodologies are published annually and are available at: Measuring tax gaps 2024 edition: tax gap estimates for 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK.

HMRC does not estimate the tax gap by local authority or by parliamentary constituency.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_42

Nick Timothy:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish the full cost assessment undertaken by the previous Government of the double contribution convention aspect of the UK-India free trade agreement. \p James Murray: The OBR will certify the impact of the trade deal including the Double Contributions Convention in the usual way at a fiscal event, once the deal is finalised and ratified. The agreement to negotiate a Double Contributions Convention was made in the context of the wider deal, which will bring billions into the economy.
wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_43
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_43

Seamus Logan:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if the National Wealth Fund will deliver £1.8 billion in ring-fenced funding for UK ports; and how much will be allocated to ports in (a) Peterhead and (b) Fraserburgh. \p James Murray: The National Wealth Fund will commit at least £5.8 billion over this Parliament to green hydrogen, carbon capture, ports, gigafactories and green steel sub-sectors. The National Wealth Fund’s Strategic Plan will set out where and how the NWF can deploy its capital within these sectors.

The National Wealth Fund is operationally independent, including when making investment decisions. Like all proposals, any investment made into the ports sector will be subject to the investment satisfying the National Wealth Fund’s normal requirements for investable proposals.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_44

Mr Gregory Campbell:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how she plans to allocate the accruing interest on the assets of the previous Libyan regime. \p Emma Reynolds: Interest accrued on frozen assets is still subject to an asset freeze to be frozen immediately by the person in possession or control of them, but there is no change in ownership of the frozen funds or economic resources, and they are not transferred to HM Treasury.

The Office for Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury published in its 2023-2024 Annual Review that £13.4 billion in assets relating to the Libya sanctions regime have been reported as frozen as of September 2023.

As there is no obligation for a relevant institution to inform OFSI when it has credited interest to a frozen account, OFSI does not hold this information.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_45

Sir John Hayes:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment has she made of the potential merits of increasing the level of taxation on social media firms. \p James Murray: The UK is already levying the Digital Services Tax (DST), a 2 per cent tax to ensure that providers of search engines, social media platforms, and online marketplaces pay UK tax on digital services that reflects the value they derive from UK users.

The DST is an interim solution to widely held concerns with international corporate tax, and the UK remains committed to remove it once a global solution on the taxation of the digital economy through Pillar 1 of the G20-OECD Inclusive Framework project is in place.
wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_46
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_46

Mr Peter Bedford:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many permanent civil servants in her Department had their contract of employment terminated as a result of poor performance in the (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25 financial years. \p James Murray: When numbers are so small that individuals could be identified, identifying details are masked to protect their privacy.

Data on dismissals for poor performance is held in anonymised form without details of whether employees are permanent or temporary. Dismissals during probation for poor performance have also been included in the data.

Based on this data our response is as follows:

(a) 2022-23 Fewer than five

(b) 2023-24 Fewer than five

(c) 2024-25 Fewer than five
wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_47
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_47

Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of jobs at risk in the holiday parks sector as a result of the proposed changes to inheritance tax reliefs. \p James Murray: The Government has received a number of representations about inheritance tax changes from business organisations since the Autumn Budget.

The Government has been listening to the different views on this subject and continues to believe its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting businesses and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The Government is not abolishing either agricultural property relief or business property relief. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets.

The Government has set out that around 1,500 estates only claiming business property relief are expected to be affected in 2026-27, with around 1,000 of these expected to only hold shares designated as “not listed” on the markets of recognised stock exchanges, such as the Alternative Investment Market. The remaining 500 estates will include business assets from sectors across the economy, that are eligible for business property relief. These reforms mean that around three-quarters of estates claiming business property relief in 2026-27 (excluding those only relating to holding shares designated as “not listed”) will not pay any more inheritance tax in 2026-27.

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) certified the costing of these changes at Autumn Budget 2024 and it does not expect the reforms to have a significant macroeconomic impact.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_48

Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 2 June 2025 to Question 53712 on Prisons: Construction, how many Category A prison places she plans to be built as part of the Prison Capacity Strategy. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: This Government will get the prison places built that the previous Government failed to deliver or fund. We are delivering 14,000 additional prison places and aim to do so by 2031, as set out in the 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy. This consists of the construction of four new prisons, including the recently delivered HMP Millsike, as well as the expansion and refurbishment of the existing estate and temporary accommodation. These places are all within the Category B, Category C, and Category D estates, where the greatest level of demand is projected.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-17)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-06-17 conversation_49

Suella Braverman:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department plans to release inmates who have served a third of their sentence in order to tackle overcrowding. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: This Government was left an unconscionable inheritance with the prison system days from collapse. To prevent the risk of gridlock across the Criminal Justice System, we have had no choice but to take decisive action to stop our prisons overflowing and keep the public safe.

The previous Government added less than 500 net places, whilst the previous Labour Government added net 28,000. As set out in the December 2024 10-Year Prison Capacity Strategy, we are committed to delivering an additional 14,000 prison places and aim to do so by 2031; we have already delivered c.2500 of these since taking office. Our build programme consists of the construction of four new prisons, including the recently delivered HMP Millsike, as well as the expansion and refurbishment of the existing estate. The Lord Chancellor announced in her speech of 14 May a further investment of £4.7 billion over the spending review period to deliver these places, including breaking ground at a new prison site near HMP Gartree later this year. We are also committed to undertaking critical maintenance work, and acquiring more land should further prisons be required.

On 22 May, the Lord Chancellor set out the Government’s in-principle response to the Independent Sentencing Review’s findings and recommendations, which will ensure prisons never run out of space again and dangerous offenders can be kept off the streets. One key change announced will be a new ‘earned progression model’ that will see prisoners earn their way to release through good behaviour or face longer in jail. Under this model, an offender will not necessarily leave prison at an automatic point. Instead, their release date will be determined by their behaviour. If they follow prison rules, they will earn earlier release. If they do not, they can be locked up for longer.