theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Helen Whately:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many PIP claimants had active contracts with the Motability Scheme in (a) the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, (b) Cardiff Capital Region, (c) Swansea Bay City Region, and (d) the North of Tyne Combined Authority in each of the last five years. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We will be publishing data to answer this question in due course.
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Helen Whately:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many PIP claimants had active contracts with the Motability Scheme in the (a) Central Blackpool, Blackpool, (b) Bootle South, Sefton, (c) Grangetown, Redcar and Cleveland, (d) Hartcliffe, Bristol, (e) Townhill, Swansea, (f) Ely East, Cardiff and (g) Penderry, Swansea Middle layer Super Output Areas in each of the last five years. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We will be publishing data to answer this question in due course.
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Helen Whately:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many PIP claimants had active contracts with the Motability Scheme in (a) Blackpool South, (b) Birkenhead, (c) Bootle, (d) Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare, (e) Rhondda and Ogmore, (f) Hartlepool and (g) Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough constituencies in each of the last five years. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We will be publishing data to answer this question in due course.
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Neil O'Brien:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will provide the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants in a contract with the Motability Scheme to receive a vehicle, broken down by primary medical condition in a) the East Midlands, b) East of England, c) London, d) North East, e) North West, f) South East, g) South West, h) West Midlands, i) Yorkshire and the Humber j) Wales k) Scotland l) Northern Ireland. \p Sir Stephen Timms: We will be publishing data to answer this question in due course.
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Ian Sollom:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Taskforce will adequately factor in living with fluctuating conditions. \p Dame Diana Johnson: We are bringing together a Vanguard Taskforce to steer the Keep Britain Working Vanguard Phase and are committed to listening to disabled people and those with long-term health conditions.

This Taskforce will advise on the development of a Healthy Working Lifecycle Standard over the Vanguard Phase. The Standard will focus developing the best practices and approaches to drive better outcomes for all those managing health conditions or living with impairments, including fluctuating conditions.
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Ian Sollom:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 15 October 2025 to Question 77776, whether his Department monitors the number of instances where work coaches (a) tailor (1) work and (2) work search requirements and (b) temporarily remove the requirement to (i) work and (ii) search for work for single parents under (A) compulsory switching-off and (B) discretionary switching-off requirements. \p Dame Diana Johnson: Work coach guidance supports work coaches to ensure that requirements are tailored to the circumstances of individuals.

This is not monitored centrally and so to provide the information requested would incur disproportionate cost.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the ratio of unemployed people to job vacancies was in each of the last five years. \p Dame Diana Johnson: The ONS publish monthly statistics on vacancies and unemployment. The ratio of unemployed people to job vacancies can be found here: VACS01: Vacancies and unemployment - Office for National Statistics.
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Victoria Collins:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department are taking to review the state pension addition for individuals aged 80 and over; and whether the Department plans to adjust that addition in line with inflation to ensure it provides meaningful financial support. \p Torsten Bell: The 25 pence a week Age Addition is part of the old State Pension, for those who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, and is paid with their State Pension, when they reach the age of 80.

The Age Addition is not part of the new State Pension, but for those people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, the 25 pence Age Addition under the existing rules will continue.
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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of (a) consultations and (b) reviews conducted by her Department since 4 July 2024. \p Dame Angela Eagle: An answer could only be provided by incurring disproportionate costs.
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Ruth Jones:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of a) farms and b) slaughterhouses are inspected each year; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of that proportion on animal welfare standards. \p Dame Angela Eagle: a). In 2023, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) undertook 1381 visits, inspecting 3001 herd and flocks. APHA operates an intelligence- and risk-based inspection regime, prioritising cases where significant animal suffering has been identified. There is no prescribed proportion of farms inspected solely for welfare purposes. When inspections are carried out for other purposes, such as disease control, any welfare concerns identified are addressed immediately or escalated for further action.

b) All approved slaughterhouses have Food Standards Agency (FSA) officials present during operations and receive at least one dedicated welfare inspection annually. These inspections are supplemented by risk-based audits, ensuring a high level of compliance with animal welfare standards. Overall compliance with animal welfare requirements in slaughterhouses remains very high across the sector.

Risk-based and intelligence-led inspections remain the most effective means of targeting resources to tackle serious animal welfare breaches. The FSA monitors large numbers of animals and reports any welfare concerns to APHA, which forms part of this integrated, risk-based approach.
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Jim Allister:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has she made of the potential implications of the simplifications made by the EU to the EU Deforestation Regulation in terms of (a) its impact on the UK economy in Northern Ireland, (b) the timetable for the Northern Ireland Assembly to consider the legislation and (c) the timetable for the application of the legislation to Northern Ireland. \p Mary Creagh: We are currently reviewing the latest EU proposals. We will take them into account as part of our ongoing considerations.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Further to the DEFRA 2024-25 annual report and accounts, HC 1388, 12 November 2025, p.147, whether Nick Joicey has permanently left her Department as a civil servant. \p Dame Angela Eagle: Nick Joicey is currently on secondment from Defra. He remains a Civil Servant and, in line with standard practice, continues to be on Defra's headcount during the period of the secondment.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential environmental impact of prolonged interruptions to refuse collection in Birmingham, including consequences for air quality, pest control, and neighbourhood cleanliness. \p Mary Creagh: Defra has not made an assessment of the potential impact of prolonged interruptions to refuse collection in Birmingham. The ongoing waste dispute is a local issue and rightly being dealt with by Birmingham City Council. Commissioners appointed by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government continue to support the Council in their recovery and improvement journey and provide regular progress reports to the Secretary of State.
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Wendy Morton:To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she intends to issue updated guidance to local councils on maintaining minimum service levels in waste operations during periods of industrial disruption. \p Mary Creagh: Defra does not plan to update guidance to local councils on prioritising services in periods of disruption in waste operations. Defra’s current guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/waste-collection-services-guidance-for-local-authorities/waste-collection-services-guidance-for-local-authorities.
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Charlie Maynard:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of costs for the haulage industry. \p James Murray: The Department for Transport regularly engages with road haulage industry associations and wider industry to understand the financial challenges faced by the sector.
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Mims Davies:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of freezing employer National Insurance contribution thresholds on people in Sussex in full-time work. \p Dan Tomlinson: The government is making fair choices on tax so it can deliver on the public’s priorities, including maintaining the Secondary Threshold until April 2031. In April 2025, the government more than doubled the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500.

The OBR expect that employment levels will rise in every year of the forecast, and that they will be higher in every year compared to March, reaching 35.5m in 2030-31.
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Mims Davies:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of freezing employer National Insurance contribution thresholds on disabled people in full-time work. \p Dan Tomlinson: Businesses are able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under-21s and under-25 apprentices. This means employers pay no employer NICs for apprentices under 25 or employees under 21 on earnings up to £50,270.

The OBR expect that employment levels will rise in every year of the forecast, and that they will be higher in every year compared to March, reaching 35.5m in 2030-31.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to maintain the current 5 pence per litre fuel duty cut and freeze on Vehicle Excise Duty to support businesses operating in and around the Port of Felixstowe. \p Dan Tomlinson: At Budget 2025, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut until the end of August 2026. Rates will then gradually return to previous levels. The planned increase in line with inflation for 2026-27 will not take place, with the government increasing fuel duty rates in line with RPI from April 2027. This will save the average van driver £100 next year compared to previous plans, and the average HGV driver more than £800

The Government also announced that VED rates for cars, vans and motorcycles will be uprated by RPI in 2026-27 as in previous years.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of households in Fylde who will be brought into paying income tax or higher tax bands as a result of extending the freeze on income tax personal allowance. \p Dan Tomlinson: The number of people forecast to pay tax by marginal rate can be found in Table 3.19 in the OBR’s November 2025 Economic and fiscal outlook – detailed forecast tables: receipts, linked below:

https://obr.uk/download/november-2025-economic-and-fiscal-outlook-detailed-forecast-tables-receipts/?tmstv=1764165511
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Sir Andrew Mitchell:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will estimate the number of houses in Sutton Coldfield which will incur council tax surcharges from 2028. \p Dan Tomlinson: The High Value Council Tax Surcharge (HVCTS) will apply to owners of properties worth £2 million or above, ensuring those with the most valuable properties pay their fair share. The HVCTS will affect fewer than 1% of all properties across England.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of rising rateable values from April 2026 on small community pubs currently exempt from Business Rates through Small Business Rates Relief. \p Dan Tomlinson: If a business only occupies one property, and the property’s rateable value (RV) is lower than £12,000 from 2026, it will be eligible for 100% Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) and will pay nothing in business rates. SBRR is also available if RV is between £12,001 and £15,000, and the rate of relief tapers from 100% to 0%.

The 2026 revaluation began under the previous government to update values since the pandemic. If the property loses some or all of its SBRR or Rural Rate Relief (RRR) as a result, then its bill increase will be capped at £800 for the year or the relevant transitional relief caps (5% or 15%), whichever is higher. That is part of this government’s support to pubs to insulate them from the effects of the revaluation.

To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down.

You can find more detail on these changes at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2025-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-factsheet/budget-2025-retail-hospitality-and-leisure-factsheet
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Jim McMahon:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has been made of recent trends in levels of illegal agriculture red diesel use. \p Dan Tomlinson: Rebated fuels must be supplied by Registered Dealers in Controlled Oil who are approved by HMRC to ensure that fuel is only obtained by those entitled to use it.

Rebated fuels can only be used in eligible vehicles and machines when they are being used for a qualifying purpose, which includes agricultural activities.
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Sorcha Eastwood:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for his policies of parcels from Northern Ireland being incorrectly flagged for EU customs checks due to UK-wide system defaults. \p Dan Tomlinson: The Government introduced important new arrangements for the movement of parcels moving to and from Northern Ireland, ensuring that goods can continue to move smoothly between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

HMRC does not carry out routine customs checks on parcels moving into Northern Ireland from Great Britain, save those that are conducted on a risk and intelligence led basis to tackle fraud and criminality.

HMRC has published clear guidance to support parcel operators and continues to engage with the express sector regularly to ensure businesses and consumers in Northern Ireland benefit from these arrangements.
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David Simmonds:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference paragraph 4.28 of the Autumn Budget 2025, HC1492, published on 26 November 2025, how many hereditaments will pay the business rate transitional supplement in 2026-27; what estimate she has made of the cost of the supplement; and for what reason the transitional relief is no longer funded by the Exchequer. \p Dan Tomlinson: At Budget 2025, the Government announced updated property values independently assessed by the Valuation Office. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values (RVs) of properties are updated in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base. Following growth in the tax base, all ratepayers will pay a lower tax rate than they do now.

Revenue raised from business rates is forecast to increase for a number of reasons. The tax rates change with inflation to maintain income for local authorities in real terms; the size of the tax base is forecast to increase; and temporary reliefs taper away. The Government is spending £4.3bn over the next three years on a support package, including protection for those seeing bills increase.

This includes a re-designed Transitional Relief (TR) scheme, to protect businesses from large bill increases as a result of the revaluation. This is worth £3.2 billion over the next three years and, compared to the 2023 TR scheme, provides more generous support for those paying higher tax rates (including the high-value multiplier).

To reduce the Exchequer cost the Government is introducing a 1p supplement in 2026/27 only, paid by ratepayers who do not receive TR or the Supporting Small Business scheme.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to increase Small Business Rate Relief thresholds to prevent closures of pubs. \p Dan Tomlinson: The Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in the manifesto.

The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.

The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since COVID. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

Around a third of properties pay no business rates as they receive 100 per cent Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR), with an additional 85,000 benefiting from reduced bills as this relief tapers.

If a property loses eligibility for SBRR at the 2026 revaluation because their rateable value exceeds the threshold, the Supporting Small Business scheme will cap their bill increases for three years at the higher of £800 per year, equivalent to £65 per month, or the relevant Transitional Relief caps. These caps are applied before changes in other reliefs and local supplements.
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Sir James Cleverly:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the valuation of the high value council tax surcharge will be undertaken through the use of the Valuation Office Agency’s Automated Valuation Model; and what is the frequency by which the valuations will be revalued. \p Dan Tomlinson: The Valuation Office Agency are developing their approach to the targeted revaluation and will set out more details in due course, following the outcome of the Government's consultation.
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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Budget 2025: Strong Foundations, Secure Future, page 47, what is the breakdown of the £2.8billion efficiencies and savings target for 2028-29 across each department. \p James Murray: The £2.8 billion efficiencies and savings represent 0.5% of departmental day-to-day budgets set at Spending Review 2025.

Efficiencies and savings achieved within the NHS will be reinvested to improve patient care, and the government will ensure it continues to meet existing NATO spending commitments.
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Munira Wilson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish the (a) purpose and (b) remit of the Strategic Asset Review announced in the Autumn Budget 2025. \p James Murray: To further improve its management of the public sector balance sheet, at Budget 2025 the Government announced a Strategic Asset Review in support of the new £1 billion asset efficiency target. The Treasury will lead the review, which will be conducted ahead of the next spending review, and will engage with departments in due course.
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Munira Wilson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish what the new asset efficiency target will be broken down by department. \p James Murray: At Budget 2025, the Government announced a £1 billion asset efficiency target for departments to meet by 2030. The target will be met through a combination of asset disposals and new income generated from assets.

The Government announced a Strategic Asset Review in support of this target, which will be conducted ahead of the next spending review.
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Afzal Khan:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is considering to address regional cost of living inequalities. \p James Murray: There is excellence right across the country and this government is backing it: lifting living standards and putting more money in people’s pockets. The recent Budget announced that the government is taking around £150 on average off household energy bills, expanding the £150 Warm Home Discount to 6 million lower income households, freezing regulated rail fares and NHS prescription fees for one-year, and extending temporary 5p fuel duty cut until the end of August 2026.

These measures will help people across the country with the cost of living.
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Alex Mayer:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what comparative assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the (a) cost-recovery model for statutory fees and charges and (b) use of such fees and charges as a demand-management tool. \p James Murray: Proposals to introduce new fees or charges are considered on a case-by-case basis. Government departments develop proposals in line with their needs and policy intent, underpinned by the rules in Managing Public Money (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money).

Full cost recovery is the standard approach to the setting of fees and charges for public services.

If a department were to incorporate demand management as a policy objective when devising a fee or charging scheme, this would be considered as part of assessing the proposals.
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Claire Hanna:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many families exceeded the tax-free childcare cap in each year since 2017. \p James Murray: Families cannot exceed the limits within their Tax Free Childcare accounts because the system automatically restricts government top-ups once the cap for the 3 month period is reached. Families can still make payments to childcare providers from their account without the top-up.

Official statistics on Tax-Free Childcare are published quarterly and further details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-free-childcare-quarterly-statistics
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Dr Al Pinkerton:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps she is taking to help increase the incomes of lower income families in Surrey Heath constituency. \p James Murray: The Chancellor took significant steps in the Autumn Budget 2025 to support lower income families and improve living standards across the UK, including in Surrey Heath. These measures include:

• Removing the two-child limit in Universal Credit, which will mean the largest expected reduction in child poverty over a Parliament since comparable records began.

• In Surrey Heath, this change is estimated to benefit around 990 children.

• This is part of a wider package of welfare reforms and cost of living support, expanding free school meals and breakfast clubs, freezes rail fares and prescription charges, and raising the National Living Wage to £12.71 per hour from April 2026.
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Harpreet Uppal:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the reduction in local authority spending on youth services since 2010 on those services; and will she consider embedding minimum sufficiency benchmarks within the forthcoming National Youth Strategy. \p Stephanie Peacock: This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services to help young people live safe and healthy lives, and we are committed to giving all young people the chance to reach their full potential. This is why we are launching a new National Youth Strategy, to set out a new long-term vision for young people and an action plan for delivering this.

The Local Youth Transformation Pilot is a new programme to support local authorities to meet their statutory duty, through investing £8 million over 2025/26 to support 12 ‘Pathfinder’ local authorities to start to rebuild a high-quality offer for young people and transition back to local youth services leadership. The pilot will test ways to rebuild local authority capability to ensure a local youth offer which addresses the needs of young people and supports government priorities.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment has been made of the potential impact of the Women’s World Cup and other major events on participation rates among girls and young women. \p Stephanie Peacock: Major events have the power to transform communities and increase participation. The recent Women’s Rugby World Cup and associated legacy programme has contributed to a 35% increase in female age grade registrations in England rising from 17,700 places in 2022 to 23,900 in 2025.

Hosting the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup has the potential to be a transformational opportunity for women’s football, and for women’s sport in the UK more generally. Following the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, we saw a 140% increase in participation among women and girls, with over 519,000 new grassroots opportunities created specifically for women and girls across England. Should the UK-wide bid to host the tournament be successful, we will work with partners to maximise its impact for the whole nation.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to increase participation in grassroots sports, including in communities with lower activity levels. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone should have access to, and benefit from, quality sport and physical activity opportunities.

In England, the Government provides the majority of funding for grassroots sports through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding in areas of greatest need to tackle inactivity levels through community-led solutions.

The Government is also investing £98 million in grassroots sports facilities to support increased participation across the UK via the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2025/26. Projects funded through the programme include new artificial grass pitches, changing rooms and pavilions, and floodlights. The Programme has a specific objective to target at least 50% of investment into the 30% most deprived areas, based on a combination of deprivation and inactivity levels.

The Government has announced £400 million will be invested in grassroots sports facilities across the UK over the next four years to ensure we can continue to deliver high-quality grass, artificial grass pitches and other multi-sport facilities in the areas that require them, in order to increase participation and allow people to be active.

Following this announcement, we are working in collaboration with the sport sector and local leaders to establish what communities need, before setting out plans on how future funding will be allocated.
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Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help support the long-term financial stability of local sports clubs and community leisure centres. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Government is committed to supporting grassroots sport and ensuring everyone has access to leisure centres and sport clubs, which are vital spaces for people of all ages to stay fit and healthy, and which play an important role within communities across the country.

The Government has committed another £400 million to transform grassroots sports facilities across the whole of the UK over the next four years. We will ensure that this funding promotes health and wellbeing, and helps to remove the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups. We are working closely with sporting bodies and local leaders to establish what communities need, before setting out further plans on how future funding will be allocated across the UK. This funding is on top of the £250 million that Sport England invests every year in grassroots sport in England.

The ongoing responsibility of providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level, with funding levels set as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. The Government encourages local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-05 conversation_153

Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has had with sporting bodies about improving safeguarding across all levels of sport. \p Stephanie Peacock: The safety and wellbeing of everyone taking part in sport is absolutely paramount. Sport England and UK Sport (DCMS’ Arm’s Length Bodies for sport) require National Governing Bodies (NGBs) to implement safeguarding policies and practices as a condition of public funding at grassroots and elite level, respectively. DCMS officials regularly meet with both organisations to discuss issues and ongoing work in this area.

The sport sector is rightly prioritising this issue. UK Sport has been working in partnership with the Home Nations sports councils and NGBs to assess and identify improvements to safeguarding systems across the sport sector. This project produced a report in June this year entitled Safe Sport, which includes a set of recommendations for sector-wide reforms. The five Sports Councils have committed to taking this work forward and are now scoping out possibilities and timelines for implementation of the report’s recommendations.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-05 conversation_154

Helen Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what cross party work is taking place on the development of Young Futures Hubs. \p Stephanie Peacock: I regularly engage with Parliamentary colleagues to drive the youth agenda, including Young Futures Hubs.

Young Futures Hubs will leverage local understanding of services in each area to improve support for young people at community level, increasing opportunities, improving mental health and wellbeing, and reducing crime. 50 Young Futures Hub across the country will be supported by the end of this Parliament.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-05 conversation_155

Anna Sabine:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that Young Futures Hubs deliver on their core purpose of early mental health support. \p Stephanie Peacock: This Government fully recognises the importance of youth services in helping young people live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives, and is committed to building on great youth services by developing the National Youth Strategy, strengthening services and expanding opportunities for all young people.

As part of this Strategy, Young Futures Hubs will leverage local understanding of services in each area to improve support for young people at community level, increasing opportunities, improving mental health and wellbeing, and reducing crime. 50 Young Futures Hubs across the country will be supported by the end of this Parliament.

We are working closely with DHSC, NHS England and a number of health stakeholders, to ensure that Young Futures Hubs offer services together to support young people with emerging needs, including early mental health advice and wellbeing interventions. This includes using learnings from programmes such as Early Support Hubs.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-05 conversation_156

Anna Sabine:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is planning to take to ensure that lessons from the 24 early support hubs will feed into the Young Futures Hubs programme; and what plans she has to build the Young Futures Hubs programme on these existing hubs. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Department for Health and Social Care is responsible for Early Support Hubs, and interventions into young people’s mental health.

Young Futures Hubs, developed by DCMS, will leverage local understanding of services in each area to improve support for young people at community level, increasing opportunities, improving mental health and wellbeing, and reducing crime. 50 Young Futures Hubs across the country will be supported by the end of this Parliament.

We are working closely with DHSC, NHS England, and health partners to ensure Young Futures Hubs builds on existing evidence to meet young people's emerging needs, including early mental health and wellbeing support.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-05 conversation_157

Jim McMahon:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the social and educational value of uniformed youth groups such as cubs, scouts and cadet units; and what are the trends in membership since 2015. \p Stephanie Peacock: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport commissioned an independent provider (Ipsos) to conduct an evaluation covering the Uniformed Youth Fund from 2022 to 2025, which was published on 11th September 2025.

The research found uniformed youth organisations (UYOs) contribute to the social and emotional development of young people by providing them with structured activities and supportive environments, enhancing young people’s cooperation skills, communication, and confidence. UYOs also enhance education and career opportunities for young people by providing them with valuable skills for life and work and supporting their academic attainment through diverse activities. The evaluation also found that UYOs provide supportive and inclusive environments where young people feel safe, a sense of belonging for young people through their uniforms, and fostering trusted relationships with peers and adult leaders.

The Department does not hold data on membership numbers of specific uniformed youth organisations.

The Youth Participation Pilot Survey, commissioned by DCMS, found that around one in ten (11%) of respondents had participated in a uniformed youth group in the past 12 months.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-05 conversation_158

Helen Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she expects the national rollout of Young Futures Hubs to begin. \p Stephanie Peacock: The design and implementation of the rollout to a total of 50 Young Futures Hubs will be informed by our work with early adopters this financial year. We will set out more details in due course.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-05 conversation_159

Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential economic impact of (a) cultural and (b) creative industries on regional growth, including in the North East. \p Ian Murray: There are thriving creative businesses and cultural organisations across the UK and they play a key role in regional growth. Unleashing the full potential of our city regions and clusters across the UK is a core objective of our Creative Industries Sector Plan. The Sector Plan includes a universal offer to drive growth in the creative industries in any place in the UK, outlining new measures to break down barriers such as access to finance, supply of skills, and new support to kickstart innovation.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-05 conversation_160

Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Department has to expand opportunities for schools to access cultural and creative learning programmes. \p Ian Murray: In addition to the cultural and creative learning programmes set out in response to your question at UIN93270, DCMS, in strategic partnership with DfE, will invest £22.5 million across 3 years to support up to 400 schools to provide a better youth-voice led, tailored enrichment offer. This will give pupils access to high-quality out of school enrichment opportunities—including arts, cultural activities and sport— with a particular focus on disadvantaged and underserved pupils. This will align with the benchmarks and support wellbeing, personal development, and essential life skills around the school day, as set out in Enrichment Framework.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-05 conversation_161

Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Department is taking to ensure a safe and sustainable future for live music venues. \p Ian Murray: Live music venues are vital to the UK’s music culture, offering emerging artists a platform, supporting local economies and creative jobs, and giving thousands the joy of live music up close. That is why we are committed to working with the sector to support the sustainability of the entire live music ecosystem.

The Government’s Creative Industries Sector Plan, published in June, announced our Music Growth Package of up to £30m over three years from 2026, which more than doubles previous funding. This package will strengthen grassroots infrastructure (including grassroots music venues), support emerging artists and music professionals, and boost exports, breaking down barriers to success at home and abroad.

In advance of this, the Government is also providing £2.5m of funding for the Arts Council England’s (ACE) Supporting Grassroots Music Fund for 2025/26. This enables grassroots music venues, recording studios, promoters and festivals to apply for grants of up to £40,000 to develop new revenue streams, make repairs and improvements, and enhance the live music experience for fans.

To further support grassroots music venues, the Government and the live music industry are working together to drive progress on an industry-led levy on tickets for stadium and arena shows. We welcome commitments by artists and the wider industry to implement the ticket levy, and steps taken by industry to set up a charitable trust to distribute funds from the levy.

The Government is transforming the business rates system to create a fairer system, co-designed with stakeholders from the creative sectors. To support these industries, we are introducing permanently lower business rates multipliers for Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure (RHL) premises with rateable values under £500k, starting in 2026/27. As a bridge to this permanent change, we have extended the 40% RHL business rates relief for 2025-26.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-05 conversation_162

Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to encourage young people to pursue careers in the creative and digital sectors. \p Ian Murray: High-quality careers guidance helps young people make informed choices about their futures, so they can develop their interests and potential, and follow the path that is right for them to progress into work.

Making creative careers accessible for everyone is a key priority for the Government. Last month was ‘Discover! Creative Careers Month’ as part of our Creative Careers Programme which seeks to increase awareness, consideration and uptake of creative careers among young people aged 13-17 years old, as well as their parents and carers. The month provided 70,000 young people aged 11-18 years old with employer-led experiences and opportunities, including experiences related to digital careers, such as video games and VFX.

In our Creative Industries Sector Plan, published in June, we committed to refreshing the £9 million Creative Careers Programme as a UK-wide programme. We will partner with industry to equip the next generation of young people with the ambition and knowledge to work in the creative industries, including the createch sector, and the refreshed programme will launch in the next financial year.

Building on the Creative Careers Programme, the government announced in November that we were investing £500,000 to expand Creative Futures, delivered through The King’s Trust. The programme is designed to break down barriers to jobs in the creative industries for young people across the country who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), or at risk of being so – particularly those facing significant barriers and currently underrepresented in the creative industries.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-12-05)

UK Parliament Hansard data: wrans/answers2025-12-05 conversation_163

Matt Vickers:To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions the Department has had with streaming platforms on ensuring adequate remuneration for artists and creators. \p Ian Murray: Ensuring that music creators are fairly compensated for their work is crucial to the ongoing success of our world-class music industry, as this is what allows them to invest their time, effort, and money into creating music.

We have worked with key stakeholders from across the music industry on this matter through the Creator Remuneration Working Group, including senior representatives from music streaming platforms such as Spotify, Amazon Music and YouTube. We were delighted to welcome the new label-led principles as an output of these discussions, as well as the individual commitments made by the UK’s major labels, to deliver real benefits for UK creators. We will evaluate the outcomes of this work after one year.

DCMS officials maintain regular engagement with music streaming platforms and their trade body, the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), meeting frequently to address a broad spectrum of music industry matters. Ministers have also met with music streaming platforms to discuss the emerging challenges and implications of AI-generated content on their platforms, and the impact this could have on creator remuneration.