theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-10)

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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking with NHS England to tackle diagnostic overshadowing of dementia symptoms for patients with learning disabilities. \p Stephen Kinnock: The annual health check for people with learning disabilities should include a review of mental health, including signs of dementia, especially in adults with Down’s syndrome. People requiring an assessment for dementia should be referred to a clinician with specialist expertise in the mental health of people with learning disabilities. Assessment for dementia should be supplemented with tools devised for use with people with learning disabilities. Under the Health and Care Act 2022, from 1 July 2022 Care Quality Commission registered providers are required to ensure that their staff receives specific training on learning disability and autism, appropriate to their role. This will help to ensure that staff have the right knowledge and skills to provide safe and informed care.

To support providers to meet the statutory training requirement, we have been rolling out the Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism to the health and adult social care workforce. This training includes content on avoiding diagnostic overshadowing and frequently co-occurring conditions. Over two million people have completed the e-learning package, which is the first part of this training, and over 1,700 trainers are delivering the interactive second part of this training across the country.

The Department funds dementia research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), which includes research with people with learning disabilities. For example, the NIHR is funding a study testing the neuroimaging method of functional near infrared spectroscopy to detect cognitive decline in people with Down’s syndrome.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-10)

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Samantha Niblett:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's press release GP reforms to cut red tape and bring back family doctor, published on 20 December 2024, whether GPs will be able to determine how to spend the additional funding to best meet local needs. \p Stephen Kinnock: On 20 December 2024, we announced a proposed £889 million uplift for general practice (GP) in 2025/26 and set out the proposed areas of reform which will help us to deliver on our commitments. This is the largest uplift to GP funding in years and means we are reversing the recent trend with a rising share of total National Health Service resources going to GPs.

Details on how funding will be allocated is subject to the ongoing GP Contract consultation with the General Practitioners Committee England, and will be announced ahead of April.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-10)

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Joe Morris:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on (a) neurodivergence and (b) avoidant restrictive food intake disorder. \p Stephen Kinnock: Ministers and departmental officials hold discussions regularly with NHS England and stakeholders on a range of issues.

We recognise the devastating impact an eating disorder, such as avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), can have on someone’s life, and the earlier treatment is provided, the greater the chance of recovery. We continue to work closely with NHS England to ensure that people with an eating disorder get the care and treatment they need.

In 2019/20, NHS England funded seven community eating disorder teams for children and young people in a pilot programme to improve access, assessment, and treatment for children presenting with ARFID. The training from these pilots is now available for providers in local areas for their children and young people’s community eating disorder services. And in 2021, NHS England commissioned ARFID training for staff delivering treatment in inpatient children and young people’s mental health services.

NHS England also commissioned the research charity Autistica to produce an ARFID and Autistic People briefing paper. This informed two awareness raising webinars, one for staff from the eating disorders charity BEAT, and the other for commissioners, clinicians, and providers, to consider how autistic children and young people with ARFID could benefit from eating disorder support and services.

Building on the work of the Children and Young People’s ARFID pilot, NHS England is developing a framework for community eating disorder services to support them in delivering an ARFID pathway for adults.
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Sarah Champion:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) functions and (b) responsibilities are assigned to child practitioners. \p Stephen Kinnock: Children and young people’s wellbeing practitioners assess and support children and young people with mental health problems, improving their access to therapies. Further information on children and young people’s wellbeing practitioners is available at the following link:

https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/psychological-therapies/roles-psychological-therapies/childrens-wellbeing-practitioner
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Samantha Niblett:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of waiting times for mental health services in South Derbyshire constituency; and what steps he is taking to reduce those times. \p Stephen Kinnock: Waiting times for those referred to mental health services are too high all across England, including in the South Derbyshire constituency.

Too many people with mental health issues are not getting the support or care they need, which is why we will fix the broken system to ensure we give mental health the same attention and focus as physical health and that people can be confident in accessing high quality mental health support when they need it.

Nationally, we plan to recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment. We will also introduce access to a specialist mental health professional in every school and roll out Young Futures hubs in every community.

In addition, people of all ages who are in crisis or who are concerned about a family or loved one can now call NHS 111, select the mental health option, and speak to a trained mental health professional. National Health Service staff can guide callers with next steps such as organising face-to-face community support or facilitating access to alternative services, like crisis cafés or safe havens, which provide a place for people to stay as an alternative to accident and emergency or a hospital admission.

It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards to commission care to meet the needs of their local population.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-10)

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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that patients with dementia living in (a) rural and (b) socio economically-deprived areas are diagnosed as quickly as those in other areas. \p Stephen Kinnock: Given the level of inequalities known within dementia diagnosis, NHS England commissioned the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) to develop a resource to support investigation of the underlying variation in dementia diagnosis rates.

The OHID’s Dementia Intelligence Network developed a tool for local systems, which includes an assessment of population characteristics such as rurality and socio-economic deprivation. This enables systems to investigate local variation in diagnosis and take informed action to enhance their diagnosis rates.

The tool has been released and is available via the NHS Futures Collaboration platform.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-10)

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Josh Fenton-Glynn:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to strengthen the visitation rights of family and friends of vulnerable people in health and social care settings to provide (a) emotional support and (b) advocacy. \p Stephen Kinnock: The Care Quality Commission Fundamental Standard on Visiting and Accompanying (Regulation 9A) came into force on 6 April 2024 to strengthen the requirements for health and care providers to facilitate visiting, including during pandemics, as long as it is safe to do so. Visiting is essential to supporting the health and wellbeing of patients and residents, and enabling loved ones to provide support and advocacy.

We continue to monitor the situation regarding visiting through Capacity Tracker data and intelligence from external partners. We will conduct a review of Regulation 9A from April 2025, 12 months on from the legislation coming into force, to assess whether the legislation has been effective in addressing concerns about visiting in health and care settings. In conducting the review, we will draw on a wide range of evidence, including data, intelligence, and the perspectives of people and organisations with an interest.

Depending on the outcome of the review we will consider whether further action is needed.
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Juliet Campbell:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of dentists are taking on new NHS patients in (a) Broxtowe constituency, (b) Nottingham and (c) East Midlands. \p Stephen Kinnock: As of 4 February 2025, there were seven National Health Service dentist practices in the Broxtowe constituency, with three showing as ‘accepting new child patients when availability allows’ and three showing as ‘accepting new adult patients when availability allows’. In the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board, there were 110 NHS dentist practices, with 46 showing as ‘accepting new child patients when availability allows’ and 34 showing as ‘accepting new adult patients when availability allows’. In the East Midlands, there were 466 NHS dentist practices, 185 of these are showing as ‘accepting new child patients when availability allows’ and 124 showing as ‘accepting new adult patients when availability allows’. This data is sourced from the Find a Dentist website and is matched to constituencies based on the postcode data shown on the website, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist/
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Dr Luke Evans:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many newly qualified GPs have been employed under the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme since August 2024. \p Stephen Kinnock: Information on the number of recently qualified general practitioners (GPs) for which primary care networks are claiming reimbursement via the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) is currently being collated. We are working to verify the data and establish its reliability, which is necessary before any dataset can be published.

The Government has delivered an £82 million boost to the ARRS over 2024/25 to enable the recruitment of over 1,000 newly qualified GPs. My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has confirmed that recently qualified GPs who are employed via the ARRS will continue to be supported through the scheme in 2025/26.
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Rebecca Paul:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's response to the consultation on hub and spoke dispensing, last updated on 13 May 2024, what his planned timetable is for introducing the legislative amendments outlined in his Department's response. \p Stephen Kinnock: The policy proposals, consultation, and response were published under the previous administration. Following the General Election, the Government has reviewed the proposals. The Department is working towards introducing legislation to enable hub and spoke dispensing between different legal entities this year. This change will be enabled via amendments to both primary and secondary legislation, and is subject to the usual Parliamentary processes.
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Joe Robertson:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of community pharmacies in maintaining public health. \p Stephen Kinnock: Pharmacies are commissioned to deliver a range of evidence-based services that contribute to public health, including providing advice on maintaining health, treatment for common conditions, identifying people with high blood pressure, initiating and managing oral contraception, and providing vaccination services.

National Health Service pharmaceutical services delivered in community pharmacy are also subject to evaluations to assess outcomes such as clinical appropriateness, and impacts on patients and other parts of the NHS. This includes the National Institute for Health and Care Research’s evaluation of Pharmacy First to assess how the service has been implemented across England, including impacts on prescribing in the general practice setting, use of hospitals, and how the service has impacted access to care and costs for different patient groups.
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Adam Jogee:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a free trade agreement with the Southern African Development Community. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: None of our partner governments in Southern African Development Community (SADC) have requested a collective UK-SADC FTA. There are two customs unions within the SADC grouping, which our existing agreements aim to align with.

Our UK-Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) is with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa, and our UK-Eastern and Southern African EPA is entered into force with Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe. The remaining SADC countries (Angola, Comoros, DRC, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia) are not currently covered by our FTAs, but there are provisions available should they wish to join one of our existing agreements. These remaining countries are eligible for duty-free quota-free access to the UK (on nearly all goods) through our Developing Countries Trading Scheme.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant of the Answer of 20 January 2025 to Question 23276 on Energy: Investment, what steps his Department is taking to help support British companies with investments in Mexico during the period of regulatory change. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: My Department is following this period of regulatory change in Mexico closely. We are utilising all tools available, through the British Embassy and through dialogue with our respective counterparts within the Mexican government, including encouraging engagement on the reforms with businesses.
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Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2025 to Question 26598 on Rules of Origin, whether he has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the economic impact on the UK of joining the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention on Rules of Origin. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: The Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Business and Trade meet regularly to discuss a wide range of pertinent issues, including through relevant Cabinet Committee meetings. At this time we do not currently have plans to join the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention on Rules of Origin, and we will not be giving a running commentary on specific discussions taking place. Any decisions will follow a robust and pragmatic consideration of benefits, risks and the national interest.
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James McMurdock:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has plans to increase funding to the World Trade Organisation. \p Mr Douglas Alexander: The UK’s funding to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is, as for all members, determined by the WTO itself, as agreed to by the UK under the conditions of membership in Article VII of the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO, which entered into force on 1 January 1995. The membership fees are calculated by use of an established formula based on each Member’s share of international trade (based on trade in goods, services and intellectual property rights for the last five years for which data is available).
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Andrew Griffith:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, on what date the Incorporated Companies in the UK statistical release for October to December 2024 will be published. \p Justin Madders: Companies House aims to release the specific statistics for October to December 2024 by the end of February 2025. Further information about the reason for the delay will accompany the statistics when they are published. Updates on this matter are available on the gov.uk website:

Incorporated companies in the UK October to December 2024 - Official statistics announcement - GOV.UK
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for what purposes Companies House has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Justin Madders: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is at the heart of the Government’s plan to kickstart an era of economic growth, transform how we deliver public services, and boost living standards for working people across the country. Companies House trialled Microsoft Copilot to support administrative tasks. It has deployed specific AI tools to generate tailored communications content and develop new IT services more quickly. Companies House is also developing and testing advanced analytics, machine learning and AI that detect suspicious activity and identify trends.
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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 27 January 2025 to Question 25524 on UK International Consumer Centre, if he will place a copy of the agreement referenced in the Commons Library. \p Justin Madders: I regret that the grant funding agreement cannot be submitted to the Commons Library. Grant letters and details are commercially sensitive for both the parties.

Releasing these details would, or would be likely to, prejudice the interests of those concerned by damaging the confidence which customers, suppliers or investors have, threatening their ability to obtain supplies or secure finance, and potentially weakening their position in a competitive environment by revealing market-sensitive information or information of potential usefulness to others such as its competitors.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, which Department is responsible for ensuring the mandatory installation of post boxes. \p Justin Madders: The government is not responsible for ensuring the mandatory installation of post boxes.

Section 29(6) of the Postal Services Act 2011 requires Ofcom, as the independent regulator, to “secure the provision of sufficient access points to meet the reasonable needs of users of the universal postal service”.

Royal Mail is currently required by Ofcom’s Designated Universal Service Provider (DUSP) condition 1.8.1 to provide a post box within half a mile, by straight line distance, of the premises of at least 98% of users of postal services.
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James Naish:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to promote cross-Departmental work to invest in communities following violent disorder in summer 2024. \p Alex Norris: I refer my Hon Friend to the answer I gave to UIN 19795 on 20 December 2024.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2024 to Question 18957 on Devolution: East of England, for what reason planning powers are being transferred to a regional level. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government does not intend to transfer planning powers to a regional level. The English Devolution White Paper, Power and Partnership: Foundations for Growth, published in December 2024, confirmed our commitment to implement strategic planning at a sub-regional level through the production of Spatial Development Strategies (SDSs).
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Claire Hanna:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much financial support the Government has provided for local government in Northern Ireland to support with the impact of changes to employer National Insurance Contributions. \p Jim McMahon: At the provisional Local Government Finance Settlement, the government announced an additional £515 million of support for local government in England to manage the impact of changes to employer NICs.

The devolved governments will receive funding through the Barnett Formula in the usual way in 2025-26.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when she plans to answer Question 16192 on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Corporate Hospitality and Official Gifts, published on 26 November 2024. \p Jim McMahon: I refer the hon. Member to the answer to Question UIN 16192 on 6 February 2025.
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Bell Ribeiro-Addy:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has made and assessment of the inclusion of measures of deprivation as part of funding reform for local government. \p Jim McMahon: Building on the measures in the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement, the Government is committed to introducing an improved and updated approach to funding local authorities from 2026-27.

We are inviting views on our principles and objectives for funding reform through a consultation (18 December – 12 February), as well as engaging with the local government sector more broadly. As part of this, we are inviting views on the drivers of councils’ spending need, including measures of deprivation.

This consultation and engagement will inform the development of our detailed proposals, which we will consult on in late Spring following the multi-year Spending Review and ahead of the provisional multi-year Settlement for 2026-27.
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Helen Maguire:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the findings from the National Child Mortality Database, if her Department will bring forward legislative proposals to mandate local authorities to provide cots for children under the age of two in temporary accommodation. \p Rushanara Ali: These statistics are shocking. Homelessness levels are far too high and we are taking action to fix the current system that has left too many families without security or stability.

The Homelessness Code of Guidance is clear that temporary accommodation should not be considered suitable for a family with children under two if there is not enough space for a cot and that housing authorities should support families to secure a cot where needed. The legislation sets out that all temporary accommodation must be suitable, and local authorities should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. Where an individual feels that the council has applied their statutory duties incorrectly, they can take action in the courts or bring their concerns to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

The Deputy Prime Minister is leading cross-government work to deliver the long-term solutions we need to get us back on track to ending all forms of homelessness. This includes chairing a dedicated Inter-Ministerial Group, bringing together ministers from across government to develop a long-term strategy.

As announced at the Budget, funding for homelessness services has been increased by £233 million compared to last year (2024/25). This increased spending will help to prevent rises in the number of families in temporary accommodation and help to prevent rough sleeping. This brings total Homelessness spend to nearly £1 billion in 25/26, a record level of funding.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Council Tax (Demand Notices and Prescribed Classes of Dwellings) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2025, for what reason the Government is changing the requirements for councils to display information related to the amount of council tax used to fund adult social care services. \p Jim McMahon: Since 2016-17 councils with responsibility for adult social care services have been given additional flexibility to increase their council tax without a referendum, provided this revenue is spent exclusively on these services. This flexibility is known as the adult social care precept.

From 2025-26 the council tax charge of social care authorities must be displayed as a single line on council tax bills. This will simplify bills and provide greater clarity on the total annual increases set by these councils.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, whether additional resources will be provided to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England. \p Jim McMahon: The Local Government Boundary Commission for England is independent of Government and accountable to Parliament through the Speakers Committee. The Commission is resourced via that committee on estimates approved by Parliament.
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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many anti-Christian hate crimes were reported in (a) England and (b) Romford constituency in the last 12 months. \p Alex Norris: We are absolutely clear that all forms of racial and religious discrimination are completely unacceptable, including that directed at Christians, and we committed to protecting the right of individuals to freely practise their religion. Churches and Christian charities occupy a valuable position in society through their access to active citizens, their role within local communities and their good relationships with other faith groups. Government and police routinely assess potential threats to ensure that protective measures are in place to protect Christian communities and their places of worship against terrorism and hate crime. Government however does not hold detailed hate crime data broken down per constituency.
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Kevin Hollinrake:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in response to the question from Hon. Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner during the Urgent Question on Community Engagement Principles and Extremism Definition of 21 January 2025, Official Report, Column 967, what the Government’s policy is on engaging with (a) people who and (b) organisations which publicly condone criminal activity. \p Alex Norris: The government does not knowingly engage with any individual or group that condones criminal activity.
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Charlie Dewhirst:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason her Department publishes all Government Procurement Card transactions. \p Alex Norris: MHCLG’s spend publication thresholds were set by an historic Ministerial decision. We have been reviewing this and all future spend data will be published in line with Cabinet Office requirements.
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Laurence Turner:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what contracts (a) BFS Group Limited and (b) subsidiary companies of BFS Group Limited hold with (i) her Department and (ii) agencies of her Department. \p Alex Norris: Information about contracts awarded by Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government and its agencies is available on Contracts Finder or Find a Tender Service, as required under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder and https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search.
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Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing permitted development rights. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government has announced its intention to amend the existing permitted development rights for air source heat pumps and electric vehicle charging points to support homeowners. Further information is available on gov.uk here and here.

We continue to keep permitted development rights under review.
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Martin Wrigley:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to deliver more affordable homes annually in rural areas. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government is committed to delivering the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation. We will set out details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for Social Rent.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 includes a number of changes designed to support the delivery of social and affordable homes. These include new Golden Rules for development on the Green Belt. Prior to development plan policies for affordable housing being updated in accordance with the revised NPPF, the affordable housing contribution required to satisfy the ‘Golden Rules’ is 15 percentage points above the highest existing affordable housing requirement that would otherwise apply to the development, subject to a cap of 50%. We estimate that under this model, the median Green Belt local planning authority affordable housing requirement will be 50%.

Outside of the Green Belt, it is for local authorities to assess the size, type and tenure of housing needed for different groups in the community, including those who require affordable housing, and to reflect this in their planning policies. However, the government have made clear that authorities should consider the particular needs of those who require Social Rent homes when undertaking needs assessments and setting policies on affordable housing requirements.

The government is committed to strengthening the existing system of developer contributions to ensure new developments provide necessary affordable homes and infrastructure. Further details will be set out in due course.

We are giving further consideration to how policy can better promote rural affordable housing as part of our work to produce a set of national policies for decision making in 2025.
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David Taylor:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help tackle mould in (a) council and (b) housing association properties in Hertfordshire. \p Matthew Pennycook: The government is committed to working with social housing providers to ensure that homes are safe, decent, warm, and free from damp and mould.

The Deputy Prime Minister made a Written Ministerial Statement on 6 February (HCWS423) confirming that the government will be bringing Awaab’s Law into force for damp and mould in October 2025.

Awaab’s Law is vital legislation that will empower social tenants to hold their landlords to account using the full force of the law if they fail to investigate and fix hazards within their homes within set timescales. It will also allow tenants to access the Housing Ombudsman if their landlord does not adhere to strict timelines for action.

The government is also committed to consulting on a new Decent Homes Standard and Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards this year.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-10)

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Simon Hoare:To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the impact of the provision of council services in rural areas on the cost of those services in (a) North Dorset constituency and (b) other rural areas. \p Jim McMahon: The government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities. Places with a significant rural population will on average receive almost a 6% increase in their Core Spending Power (CSP) next year, which is a real terms increase. No council will see a reduction – and new funding will be available to rural areas in 2025-26 through guaranteed EPR payments.

For Dorset Council this represents an increase of 5.9% in CSP - making available a total of up to £451.1 million in 2025-26.

The government is currently inviting views on how best to consider the impact of rurality on the costs of service delivery, and demand, as part of our longer-term consultation on local authority funding reform. Within this, we propose continuing to apply Area Cost Adjustments to account for relative cost differences between local authorities, including differences between rural and urban areas.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-10)

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Claire Hanna:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the Barnet consequentials for Northern Ireland will be in relation to the Local Government Finance Settlement. \p Darren Jones: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have announced final allocations for the Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26. Part of this funding comes from Departmental Expenditure Limits (DEL) agreed at the Phase 1 of the Spending Review 2025.

The Barnett formula applies to all increases or decreases to UK Government department DEL, including at the Spending Review, as set out in the Statement of Funding Policy.

The Barnett formula does not apply to spending financed by council tax.

The Northern Ireland Executive’s Spending Review settlement for 2025-26 is the largest in real terms of any settlements since devolution. It is for the Northern Ireland Executive to allocate their funding in devolved areas as they see fit.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-10)

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Blake Stephenson:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she discussed bank branch closures with the Chief Executive Officer of Lloyds during their meeting on 28 January 2025. \p Emma Reynolds: Ministers and treasury officials regularly meet with the retail banks to discuss a wide variety of topics.

Banking has changed significantly in recent years with many customers benefitting from the ease and convenience of remote banking. FCA guidance expects firms to carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs and put in place alternatives where reasonable.

The Government recognises the importance of face-to-face banking to communities and high streets, and is committed to championing sufficient access for all. This is why the Government continues to work with banks, including Lloyds Banking Group, to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK by the end of this Parliament. Currently over 200 banking hubs have been recommended and over 100 are already open.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-10)

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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what purposes the UK Debt Management Office has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p Emma Reynolds: The UK Debt Management Office (“DMO”) has not used artificial intelligence (“AI”) functionality in the past 12 months. However, the DMO continues to explore the potential use of AI to support its core objectives, whilst taking account of issues including its security and resilience, as well as its overall suitability to support aspects of the DMO’s critical mission to deliver government financing.
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Steve Darling:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to (a) investigate and (b) raise awareness of (i) unethical and (ii) potentially corrupt practices within the insurance industry. \p Emma Reynolds: The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is the independent body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry, including insurance firms. Insurers must treat customers fairly under the FCA’s rules. The FCA monitors firms to ensure compliance with its rules and has robust powers to take action where necessary.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-10)

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Ben Maguire:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment with the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the potential merits of implementing a tapered clawback mechanism for agricultural property relief for farmers whose agricultural assets marginally exceed the £1 million threshold. \p James Murray: The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 gets the balance right between supporting farms and fixing the public finances in a fair way. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but it still means those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and the position before 1992.

The Government has no plans to implement a tapered clawback mechanism.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-02-10)

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James McMurdock:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has plans to increase funding to the IMF. \p Emma Reynolds: The UK’s core contribution to the IMF is determined by the UK’s share of the IMF’s quota resources as well as our contributions to the Fund under the New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) and Bilateral Borrowing Agreements (BBA).

The UK’s total IMF contribution is 46,103.26m SDR (approximately £48.55 billion.) There are no current proposals at the IMF that will require the UK to further increase our funding.
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Chris Philp:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of % December 2024 to Question 16739 on Employment, what proportion of the increase in employment level is due to net immigration. \p Emma Reynolds: The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is responsible for producing forecasts of the UK economy. The OBR’s latest forecasts, including detail of its forecasts of employment and net migration, are set out in the OBR’s October 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook, available on the OBR’s website.
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Simon Hoare:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions on employment rates (a) nationally, (b) in Dorset and (c) in North Dorset constituency in the next 12 months. \p James Murray: The Office for Budget Responsibility's October 2024 Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO) contains forecasts and assessments of government policy, including the changes to employer National Insurance Contributions.

The OBR expects the 16+ employment rate to remain relatively flat across the forecast, falling by 0.1ppts from 60.0% in 2024 to 59.9% in 2029. Paragraph 3.11 of the EFO provides a detailed analysis of the total impact of the changes to employer National Insurance Contributions on wages, profits and labour supply.

The OBR's forecast does not disaggregate these impacts by region or constituency.
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Carla Lockhart:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much revenue she expects to raise from changes to Agricultural Property Relief in Northern Ireland; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of those changes on farming families in Northern Ireland. \p James Murray: The overall changes to both agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 are expected to raise £520 million in 2029-30, based on the latest available data. This is the total UK revenue expected to be raised from estates with relevant assets across all types of businesses.

Up to around 520 estates making claims for agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, across the UK are expected to be affected by this policy in 2026-27. This means almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of these changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.

The Government is aware of the concerns from the farming industry in Northern Ireland. Information from claims is not recorded to enable regional or national breakdowns of the revenue or number of estates expected to be affected. For more information, please see my recent letter to the Chair of the Northern Ireland Select Committee: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/46267/documents/232537/default/.
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Sir John Hayes:To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what purposes the Government Internal Audit Agency has used artificial intelligence in the last 12 months. \p James Murray: The Government Internal Audit Agency has made advancements with the development of three innovative AI-powered engines: the Writing Engine, Risk Engine, and Insights Engine. These engines have been utilised to draft audit reports, identify and express potential risks, and analyse document collections to perceive themes within the collection. The systems have been crucial in significantly reducing the time spent on planning and researching audit activities and writing reports. The Writing Engine has reduced the time taken to produce a first draft from two days to 20 seconds.