theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Tom Morrison:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Universal Credit Bill on (a) people with ME and (b) other fluctuating conditions; and whether the forthcoming ME delivery plan will consider the potential impact of this Bill. \p Sir Stephen Timms: Our reforms are not condition specific. People with ME/CFS will be treated equally to those with other health conditions and disabilities. We are aware of the fluctuating nature of ME/CFS, the wide variety of disability associated with this condition and the specific needs of those individuals.

The Pathways to Work offer announced in the Green Paper will improve the employment support available for disabled people and people with health conditions, including those with fluctuating chronic illnesses such as ME/CFS.

The Department of Health and Social Care published the final ME/CFS delivery plan on 22 July. The plan focuses on boosting research, improving attitudes and education, and bettering the lives of people with this debilitating disease. The latter includes helping people with ME/CFS to find and maintain employment, where appropriate, through our department’s plans to improve employment support available for disabled people and people with long-term health conditions.
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Jess Brown-Fuller:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of Disability Living Allowance Tribunal hearings her Department sent a presenting officer to in the last year. \p Sir Stephen Timms: The information requested on the proportion of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) Tribunal hearings the Department sent a presenting officer to is not readily available within the Department. However, we estimate that 46% of DLA Tribunal hearings had a presenting officer in FY2024/25. This estimate uses DWP internal statistics on total number of DLA Hearings Attended by presenting officers and published statistics on number of DLA disposals cleared at hearing from Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS).
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Olly Glover:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment she has made of the amount of Vehicle Excise Duty on (a) electric motorcycles and (b) electric quadricycles. \p James Murray: Different Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates apply to cars, vans, motorcycles, and other vehicles; the rate for each vehicle is calculated according to a range of factors, such as the type of vehicle, its date of first registration, weight, or CO2 emissions.

VED for motorcycles is currently based on engine size. There are four engine size ranges, with the lowest rate applying the smallest engines sized 150cc or less (currently £26) and to zero emission motorcycles. In contrast, the highest rate applies to engines sized 600cc and above (currently £121).

Quadricycles fall outside of the definition of an electric car or motorcycle in the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994. Electric quadricycles therefore remain exempt from VED.
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Neil Coyle:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a VAT exemption for home renovations to improve energy efficiency. \p James Murray: This Government is committed to improving the quality and sustainability of our housing stock, through improvements such as low carbon heating, insulation, solar panels, and batteries. This will be vital to making the UK more energy resilient and meeting our 2050 Net Zero commitment.

Installations of qualifying energy-saving materials (ESMs) in residential accommodation and buildings used solely for a charitable purpose benefit from a temporary VAT zero rate until March 2027, after which they will revert to the reduced rate of VAT at five per cent. This support – worth over £1 billion – will aid households and charities in improving the energy efficiency of their buildings, help to reduce carbon emissions, and ultimately help us to reach our ambitious Net Zero by 2050 target.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. This includes most construction works. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of tobacco excise duty policy on the size of the illicit tobacco market. \p James Murray: Tobacco duty aims to both raise revenue and reduce harm to public health by discouraging smoking. In 2024/25 tobacco duty raised almost £8 billion. High duty rates, making tobacco less affordable, have helped reduce smoking prevalence with the percentage of adult smokers in the UK decreasing from 26% in 2000 to 11.9% in 2024.

Strong enforcement is essential in tackling the illicit tobacco market. HM Revenue and Customs and Border Force have had illicit tobacco strategies in place since 2000.

Whilst tobacco duty has been progressively increased over time, successive illicit tobacco strategies have proven effective in tackling the size of the illicit tobacco market, reducing the tobacco duty tax gap from 21.7% in 2005/6 to 13.8% in 2023/24.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2025 to Question 63677 on Business Rates: Valuation, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in business rates on (a) the flexible workplace sector and (b) serviced offices as a result of the changes in valuation practices on such hereditaments; and how many such hereditaments have had their Rateable Values changed by the Valuation Office Agency. \p James Murray: The VOA must apply the law to the facts on a case-by-case basis. It does not hold data on business rates liabilities as billing and collection is the responsibility of local authorities.
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Melanie Onn:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the merits of implementing a national strategy to tackle (a) the sale of (i) illegal tobacco and (ii) vapes and (b) money laundering. \p James Murray: The UK Government has national strategies to curb the sale of illegal tobacco and combat money laundering, and is developing a robust compliance framework for the upcoming Vaping Products Duty.

In January 2024, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Border Force launched their latest illicit tobacco strategy, “Stubbing Out the Problem”. This builds on a series of previous strategies which, together, have contributed to a significant reduction in the tobacco duty tax gap, from 21.7% in 2005/06 to 13.8% in 2023/24. Tackling the trade in illicit tobacco requires a comprehensive, cross-government approach and the latest strategy is supported by over £100 million in new Smokefree funding over five years to further enhance enforcement capabilities to disrupt both supply and demand across the entire tobacco supply chain.

As announced at Autumn Budget 2024, Vaping Products Duty (VPD) will come into effect on 1 October 2026. In preparation HMRC is developing a comprehensive compliance strategy to address the illicit vaping market. This includes vaping duty stamps and enhanced enforcement powers. These measures will be implemented before the duty goes live and will form part of a cross-government enforcement approach supporting provisions in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

The Government’s approach to tackling money laundering is embedded within the Economic Crime Plan 2 (2023–2026). This plan sets out what the public and private sectors should do to continue to transform the UK’s response to economic crime, including money laundering. HMRC supports several of the actions in their plan, such as anti-money laundering supervisory reform and targeted intelligence and operational work on high-harm money laundering methodologies.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with care and support charities on proposed VAT rule changes. \p James Murray: The government recognises the significant challenges facing the adult social care system and is committed to transforming the sector and supporting the care workforce. At the Spending Review the Government announced an increase of over £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028/29 compared to 2025/26, to support the sector to improve adult social care. This includes an increase to the NHS’s minimum contribution to adult social care via the Better Care Fund, in line with DHSC's Spending Review settlement.

Supplies of welfare services, including the provision of care, are exempt from VAT if they are supplied by eligible bodies, such as public bodies or charities.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to p.99 of The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy 2025, published on 23 June 2025, what strategic partnerships are being trialled by The National Wealth Fund in the West Midlands. \p James Murray: The National Wealth Fund (NWF) is trialling a Strategic Partnership with West Midlands – as well as Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and Glasgow City Region – to provide enhanced, hands-on support to help it develop and finance long-term investment opportunities.

The Strategic Partnerships will offer a closer, enhanced relationship with a small number of places to test whether this approach is more effective at building investment pipelines. They are bespoke arrangements, tailored to unique local requirements. This will include specific support at the early stages of project development to address capability and capacity gaps.

Alongside these, the NWF continues to provide financial and commercial advice and financing to local authority projects across the UK.
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David Chadwick:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the potential economic impact of changes to the thresholds for the Soft Drinks Industry Levy on the level of food inflation. \p James Murray: An assessment of economic and other impacts are included as part of the ‘Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy’ consultation document. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/strengthening-the-soft-drinks-industry-levy. The direct impact of the proposed changes on CPI inflation is expected to be negligible, less than 0.01 percentage points.

The proposed changes were subject to a consultation, which was open until 21 July 2025 and will inform decisions at a future Budget. If the Government decides to make changes to the levy, it will publish a tax information and impact note (TIIN) to give account of the confirmed policy’s impacts.
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Tim Farron:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing targeted business rates relief for food and drink wholesalers. \p James Murray: To deliver our manifesto pledge, from April 2026, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RVs) below £500,000.

This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we also intend to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties from April 2026 - those with RVs of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has published data on properties with RVs above £500,000 based on the previous valuation, broken down by sector online here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-domestic-rating-property-counts-and-rateable-value-rv-for-properties-in-england-with-rv-over-500000

Every three years, all commercial properties are revalued by the VOA. The 2026 revaluation, which will take effect from April 2026, will update RVs and may, therefore, affect which businesses are within scope of the new higher rate. The revaluation process is ongoing. The VOA are required to publish a draft of all properties’ new RVs this year.

The rates for these new business rate 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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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2025 to Question 63629 on Civil Servants: Training, what was the definition of Islamophobia used in the anti-Islamophobia training for civil servants; and whether (a) handouts and (b) documentation was provided as part of the training events. \p James Murray: HM Treasury does not hold any materials used by the supplier for the event, including any definitions given. No handouts or documentation were provided as part of the events.
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Preet Kaur Gill:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent progress she has made with the banking industry on the roll out of banking hubs in Birmingham Edgbaston constituency. \p Emma Reynolds: The Government recognises the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets in Birmingham Edgbaston, and across the country.  This is why the Government is working closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament.    Over 230 hubs have been announced so far, and over 170 are already open.

The location of these hubs is determined independently by LINK, the industry coordinating body responsible for making access to cash assessments. When a cash service such as a bank branch closes, or if LINK receives a request directly from a community, LINK assesses a community’s access to cash needs. This assessment may lead to a recommendation for the establishment of a banking hub in that community.
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Stuart Anderson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of a single remote gambling duty on the sustainability of the horseracing sector. \p James Murray: The Government consultation on proposals to simplify the current gambling tax system by merging the three current taxes that cover remote (including online) gambling into one closed on 21 July 2025. The proposed changes are intended to reduce complexity and improve compliance. The Government engaged with a range of stakeholders, including the horse racing sector throughout the consultation period and is now analysing submissions. The potential impact on horseracing and its workforce as well as the broader economic and social implications will be considered carefully as part of the process.

If any changes are made to gambling duties at a future Budget following the consultation, the legislation will be accompanied by a Tax Information and Impact Note which will set out the expected impacts.
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Jim Allister:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the application of Import Control System 2 on goods movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland on the UK single market for goods. \p James Murray: The Import Control System 2 (ICS2) is the new safety and security IT system for certain goods moving by air, maritime, road or rail into Northern Ireland. ICS2 will introduce some new processes, improving existing safety and security arrangements for goods movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

HMRC has an extensive communications and engagement plan to support business readiness ready for the changes and businesses moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland can access the free-to-use Trader Support Service (TSS), who are supporting businesses via webinars and direct communications. TSS currently supports businesses to meet safety and security arrangements and will support with any changes under ICS2. Businesses using the TSS will not need to register for ICS2.

As per the new arrangements for consumer parcels moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland that came into effect on 1 May 2025, safety and security declarations continue to not be required.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what infrastructure projects the National Wealth Fund has (a) funded, (b) initiated and (c) delivered in the West Midlands since October 2024. \p James Murray: The National Wealth Fund (NWF) has a strong regional mandate and proactively identifies investment opportunities across the UK to ensure the benefits of investment are felt nationwide.

In March 2025, the NWF’s local authority function provided a £9.6 million loan to Solihull Council to help deliver its innovative new town centre energy network.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increased National Insurance contributions on voluntary sector health organisations. \p James Murray: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer National Insurance contributions (NICs). The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.

To support social care authorities to deliver key services, in light of pressures, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant. This is part of an overall increase to local government spending power of 6.8% in cash terms.

More widely, the Government provides support for charities, including hospices, via our tax regime, which is among the most generous of anywhere in the world. Tax reliefs for charities and their donors was worth just over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2024.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the new retail, hospitality and leisure multiplier from 2026-27 will be higher in (a) value and (b) scope than the 2025-26 RHL relief. \p James Murray: To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values below £500,000, from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support.

Ahead of these new multipliers being introduced, we have prevented the current RHL relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business.

Eligibility for the new RHL multipliers is intended to broadly reflect the scope of the existing RHL relief scheme, and will be set out in legislation later this year.

The rates of the 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.
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Aphra Brandreth:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what her Department's planned timetable is for publishing the (a) draft legislation and (b) impact assessment for its proposed changes to (i) Agricultural Property Relief and (ii) Business Property Relief. \p James Murray: The draft legislation and the tax information and impact note were published on 21 July 2025. These are available on the GOV.UK website.
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Sarah Olney:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what information her Department holds on the proportion of businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sector that will (a) not qualify for retail, hospitality and leisure relief and (b) pay a higher multiplier due to business properties with rateable values above £500,000. \p James Murray: At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government published a Discussion Paper setting out priority areas for business rates reform and invited industry to co-design a fairer business rates system.

In summer, the Government will publish an interim report that sets out a clear direction of travel for the business rates system, with further policy detail to follow at Budget 2025.

To deliver our manifesto pledge, from April 2026, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RVs) below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure that RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support.

This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we also intend to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties from April 2026 - those with RVs of £500,000 and above. This represents less than one per cent of all properties.

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) have published data on properties with RVs above £500,000 based on the previous valuation, broken down by sector online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/non-domestic-rating-property-counts-and-rateable-value-rv-for-properties-in-england-with-rv-over-500000. The VOA also routinely publish data on the whole commercial property stock by sector online here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/non-domestic-rating-stock-of-properties-2024.

Every three years, all commercial properties are revalued by the VOA. The 2026 revaluation, which will take effect from April 2026, will update RVs and may, therefore, affect which businesses are within scope of the new higher rate. The revaluation process is ongoing. The VOA are required to publish a draft of all properties’ new RVs this year.

The rates for the new business rate 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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Richard Fuller:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her Department's press release entitled Largest fund of its kind to support vulnerable kids & families, published on 14 July 2025, which organisation will manage the Better Futures Fund. \p Darren Jones: At the Spending Review, we committed to announcing further details on our plans for Social Impact Investing over the summer. This announcement – alongside the announcements to support low-income families made at SR25 – are a downpayment ahead of the Child Poverty Strategy being published in the autumn, and will form part of it.

As per the press notice, the Better Futures Fund will be managed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in close collaboration with other departments and engagement with the impact investing sector.

The Better Futures Fund was included in the Spending Review, under the Public Service Reform section. This was before it was named the BFF and was under the working title of ‘Social Impact Investing Vehicle’:

The Better Futures Fund will support up to 200,000 children and their families over the next ten years by bringing together government, local communities, charities, social enterprises, investors, and philanthropists to work together to give children a brighter future.
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Edward Morello:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of anti-money laundering compliance requirements on the financial viability of small and medium-sized law firms. \p Emma Reynolds: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to UIN 67269.
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to align the National Wealth Fund’s investment mandate with emerging international definitions of transition finance. \p Emma Reynolds: The National Wealth Fund is represented on the Strategic Steering Group of the Transition Finance Council which is considering how to build the UK’s transition finance market, including guidelines for credible transition finance.

In the Statement of Strategic Priorities issued to the National Wealth Fund on 19 March 2025, the Chancellor set Growth and Clean Energy as key priorities. Blended finance solutions are being explored alongside the NWF’s standard financial instruments to effectively use public capital to crowd in private investment and support the transition to a low carbon economy.
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Ian Lavery:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to help amend UN frameworks to tackle global debt. \p Emma Reynolds: Tackling unsustainable debt in low-income countries is a key development priority for this government. We are working closely with partners to strengthen and speed up the G20 common framework, and to enhance debt transparency for debtor and creditors. We have set up the new London Coalition on Sustainable Sovereign Debt, to promote contractual innovations for increased resilience and to make restructurings quicker.    The government welcomes the package to support debt sustainability in the outcome document agreed at the UN’s Seville Conference on Financing for Development in June, specifically the strong action to improve debtor voice, debt transparency, disaster pause clauses and strengthen the G20 Common Framework. We will maintain momentum on reforms to the existing debt architecture. We are also engaging with partners on the intergovernmental process at the UN
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Callum Anderson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has considered the potential merits of mandating the Listings Taskforce to consider sector-specific listing challenges for those priority areas identified in the Industrial Strategy. \p Emma Reynolds: The government is taking forward an ambitious programme of reforms to reinvigorate capital markets and ensure the UK is the best place for all firms to start, scale and list.

As the Chancellor announced at Mansion House on 15 July, the government will establish a Listings Taskforce to support businesses to list and grow in the UK. HM Treasury will work in partnership with the Office for Investment, and industry, to ensure the UK attracts the best and brightest businesses from around the world, and right here in the UK, to list on UK markets.
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Robert Jenrick:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will take steps to facilitate a visit for Rt hon. and hon. Members of the Official Opposition to (a) HMP Long Lartin, (b) HMP Belmarsh, (c) HMP Manchester and (d) HMP Wandsworth; and when she plans to respond to the correspondence of 11 June 2025 from the Rt hon. Member for Newark. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: The correspondence of 11 June will be responded to in due course.
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Robert Jenrick:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what meetings ministers in her Department have had with their counterparts in (a) Albania, (b) Poland, (c) Romania, (d) Jamaica, (e) Lithuania, (f) Bulgaria and (g) Vietnam on the removal of foreign national offenders since 17 July 2024. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Increasing the numbers of foreign national offender returns from our prisons is a priority for this Government.

We are working with international partners wherever possible to help achieve this.
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Fred Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to re-open HMP Dartmoor. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Elevated radon readings were first found at Dartmoor in 2020. HMPPS have been monitoring radon levels to manage exposure to prisoners and staff.

Dartmoor has been temporarily closed since August 2024 after monitoring results were higher than expected. We are working with specialist radon experts to investigate whether we can re-open the prison safely.
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Sir Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many vacancies for prison officers there were in the West Midlands in the latest period for which figures are available. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: In the latest published figures as of 31 March 2025, there were 89 FTE fewer staff in post compared to the target staffing level. This relates to the full-time equivalent, adjusted for different contracted hours, for Band 3 to 5 Prison Officers working in public sector prisons in the West Midlands. These figures are available in HM Prison and Probation Service workforce quarterly: March 2025, Prison and Probation Officer Recruitment annex: March 2025 via HM Prison and Probation Service workforce quarterly: March 2025.

Notes:

This figure covers all Band 3 - 5 Officers includes Band 3 - 4 Prison Officers (including specialists), Band 4 Supervising Officers, and Band 5 Custodial Managers.

The figure is a net value and balances out surpluses and deficits between the individual establishments.

Prisons included in this analysis cover the West Midlands Prison Group (Birmingham, Brinsford, Featherstone, Hewell, Stafford, Stoke Heath, Sudbury, and Swinfen Hall), supplemented by a Long Term High Security Estate prison, a women’s prison and a Young Offenders Institution in the West Midlands region (Long Lartin, Drake Hall and Werrington).

Data only includes Public Sector Prisons. Data does not include Private Sector Prison establishments.

The Target Staffing level changes regularly in response to Governors' freedoms and other changes requested by the business.

Target Staffing is the number of staff required to run an optimal regime in each prison. This level is greater than the minimum number of staff required for a prison to operate safely, and includes allowances for staff taking leave, being off sick or being on training.
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Dr Kieran Mullan:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have been on probation without an electronic tag since 4 July 2024, broken down by the length of time. \p Sir Nicholas Dakin: Electronic Monitoring can be one part of robust licence conditions to support the management of offenders in the community. It is a mandatory requirement for those released under the Home Detention Curfew scheme and for those released onto the Acquisitive Crime programme. Electronic Monitoring can also be used on a discretionary basis where it is available, and probation practitioners consider it a proportionate and necessary part of a risk management plan. The requested information for all those offenders released without an electronic monitoring requirement is not held centrally and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_107
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_107

Fred Thomas:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to support (a) victims of harassment who have been unable to secure a conviction against the perpetrator and (b) other victims of harassment. \p Alex Davies-Jones: In its manifesto, the Government committed to strengthening protective orders, which can be used to protect from harassment in different situations, to make sure victims can get the strongest protection they need, at the earliest opportunity. Last November, we launched a new Domestic Abuse Protection Order that goes further than the current protective orders, including tagging of perpetrators and mandating attendance on behaviour change programmes, to help address root causes of abuse. This order is available across family, civil and criminal courts in selected areas, so that victims can get protection at the best time and place for them.

A civil claim may also be brought for harassment, where it is a connected course of conduct by the same person causing the victim distress or alarm. Civil remedies include injunctions to prohibit the conduct and damages to compensate for distress and loss.

Additionally, the 42 Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) in England and Wales receive annual grant funding from the Ministry of Justice victim and witness budget to commission local practical, emotional, and therapeutic support services for victims. This includes ‘core’ funding for victims of all crime types and funding that is ring-fenced for sexual violence and domestic abuse services. PCCs allocate funding locally at their discretion, based on their assessment of local need. PCCs are well placed to understand their local communities and providers, and to commission appropriate support services to meet the need of victims in their area including those affected by harassment.
wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_108
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_108

Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 42776 on Marriage: Humanism, what progress she has made on reviewing the recommendations of the Law Commission's report on marriage reform, published in July 2022. \p Alex Davies-Jones: The Government appreciates the importance of this issue and will provide an update in due course.
wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_109
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_109

James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with local authorities on ensuring the safety of (a) wheelchair users, (b) people with visual impairments and (c) parents with prams when pavements are obstructed by parked vehicles. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with local authorities on these matters. The Government fully understands the serious problems that vehicles parked on the pavement, and other obstacles on the pavement, can cause for pedestrians, especially for people with mobility or sight impairments and those with wheelchairs, prams or pushchairs. The Department has been considering all the views expressed in response to the 2020 pavement parking consultation and is currently working through the policy options and the appropriate means of delivering them. We will announce the next steps and publish our formal response as soon as possible.  In the meantime, local authorities can make use of existing powers to manage pavement parking, and it is up to them to decide where to restrict pavement parking and what enforcement is appropriate. Recent reforms by my Department to the process by which Traffic Regulation Orders are made will make it easier for them to do so.
wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_110
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_110

Mr Calvin Bailey:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her planned timescale is for (a) consultation and (b) decision-making on long-term plans for the expansion of rail maintenance capacity around the Temple Mills depot in Leyton. \p Lilian Greenwood: The Government is fully supportive of a thriving and competitive international passenger rail market and welcomes the prospect of new entrants. The Department recognises that depot capacity for international trains is a key barrier facing new entrants and officials are currently exploring options to address this. Any decision will be subject to the usual business case process and the Government will provide more details as this work progresses.
wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_111
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_111

Jim Allister:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to her Written Ministerial Statement of 15 July 2025 on Zero Emissions Vehicles, HCWS82, what support is being provided to public transport providers to purchase zero emission buses. \p Simon Lightwood: The Government is reducing the number of different funding streams we pay to Local Transport Authorities. Major city regions will benefit from the recently announced £15.6bn Transport for Cities fund while our smaller cities, towns and rural areas will receive £2.3bn from the Local Transport Grant and over £800m bus capital funding. Local leaders can use this funding to invest in local prioritises, such as investment in new zero emission buses (ZEBs).

To support the domestic ZEB industry, the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel was established in March 2025. A key objective of the Panel is to help create a steady pipeline of manufacturing orders. This pipeline involves gathering the necessary data on bus orders over the next ten years into one place so that it is accessible to all ZEB stakeholders. This will offer greater planning certainty to local transport authorities as they develop future decarbonisation strategies. Equally, UK-based manufacturers are well placed to benefit from this stability.
wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_112
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_112

Preet Kaur Gill:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the policy paper entitled Greater Birmingham and Solihull: Growth Deal, published on 7 July 2014, how much funding was (a) allocated and (b) provided for the Hagley Road SPRINT project. \p Simon Lightwood: Hagley Road Sprint was included in West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA) £1.05bn City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) programme for the years 2022/23 to 2026/27. CRSTS is a devolved funding programme and it is for local leaders to decide how to allocate this funding to address their local transport priorities. WMCA has also been allocated a £2.4bn Transport for City Region (TCR) Settlement for the years 2027/28 to 2031/32 to support them to drive growth, improve access to opportunities and decarbonise their transport infrastructure.
wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_113
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_113

Mr Calvin Bailey:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to engage with (a) Waltham Forest local authority, (b) the Greater London Authority, (c) Transport for London, (d) existing cross-Channel train operators, (e) potential future cross-Channel train operators, (e) London St. Pancras Highspeed and (f) other stakeholders on long-term plans for the expansion of rail maintenance capacity around the Temple Mills depot in Leyton. \p Simon Lightwood: The Department is working at pace to further support the growth of international rail services and address the barriers to entry, including addressing capacity challenges. The Department is actively engaging with a range of stakeholders, including the Greater London Authority, Transport for London, Eurostar, London St. Pancras Highspeed and potential new operators to support the long-term growth of international rail passenger services.
wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_114
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_114

Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of bus service provision per capita in (a) Solihull Metropolitan Borough, (b) Warwickshire, (c) Worcestershire and (d) Birmingham City Council areas; and how that compares to the national average. \p Simon Lightwood: The Department for Transport publishes statistics on vehicle distance travelled on local bus services, which can be used as a proxy for bus service provision. These figures have been combined with Office for National Statistics population estimates to assess trends in provision per capita. The year ending March 2024 figures have been calculated using mid-year 2023 population estimates, as these are the latest available figures.

Data for Solihull and Birmingham is not available, so figures for West Midlands Combined Authority have been provided instead.

Table: Vehicle distance travelled (kilometres) per capita on local bus services from year ending March 2015.

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Warwickshire

25.6

22.1

25.6

24.5

24.1

24.1

16.8

19.9

20.8

18.1

Worcestershire

19.5

17.8

19.1

16.6

17.7

17.1

13.4

13.7

8.9

9.0

West Midlands Combined Authority

42.9

42.0

41.2

39.8

39.6

39.0

34.6

35.3

32.0

33.5

England outside London

34.0

32.8

32.1

30.5

29.9

28.9

23.2

25.8

23.9

24.0
wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_115
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_115

Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2025 to Question 61898 on Railways: Midlands, whether any funding announced in the Spending Review 2025 has been allocated to support Network Rail's work to develop a business case for later phases of the Midlands Rail Hub between Birmingham and destinations in Leicestershire. \p Simon Lightwood: The first phase of Midlands Rail Hub (‘Western’ scope) would enable additional trains each hour between Birmingham and South Wales and the South West, and on Birmingham’s Cross City Line. This includes extending Chiltern services from Moor Street to Snow Hill station by improving connectivity across the region. The costs and delivery timescales for later phases are subject to further development work and subsequent investment decisions.
wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_116
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_116

Connor Naismith:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take legislative steps to require cyclists to wear helmets. \p Simon Lightwood: The Government strongly encourages cyclists to wear helmets, and this is reflected in The Highway Code, but there are no plans to mandate this.

A previous review of this matter concluded that the safety benefits of mandating helmets would be likely to be outweighed by the fact that it would put some people off cycling, thereby reducing the wider health and environmental benefits.
wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_117
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_117

Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Transport of 8 July 2025 on Road and Rail Projects, Official Report, columns 822-3, whether it is her policy that the full cost of the midlands rail hub should be paid for by her Department; and when she expects the midlands rail hub to be completed. \p Simon Lightwood: A sum of £123m has been allocated by the Government to deliver detailed designs of the first phase of MRH. The designs will produce a more accurate cost estimate, a delivery schedule and subsequently form the basis of a ‘Final Investment Decision’. This phase is due to enter service in the early 2030s. The costs and delivery timescales for later phases are subject to further development work and subsequent investment decisions.
wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_118
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-07-24)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-07-24 conversation_118

David Chadwick:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what date the decision was taken to re-classify East-West Rail as an England and Wales project. \p Simon Lightwood: As rail infrastructure projects have not been devolved to Wales the categorisation of these projects is in line with wider devolution policy managed by Treasury.

Every Government funded rail project in Wales or England are always categorised as England and Wales investment projects.

The categorising of East West Rail as an England and Wales project does not mean that Wales is disadvantaged in any way.