Future of the Post Office: Green Paper
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Gareth Thomas)
The Post Office is a vital part of the UK’s social and economic fabric. It supports communities, high streets, and small businesses across the UK. This Government inherited a Post Office in crisis, but we are determined to tackle the root causes of the issues the Post Office faces, provide the stability it needs, and put the organisation on a solid and sustainable footing.
It has been 15 years since the Government last set out their vision for the Post Office, during which time there have been significant consumer changes and wider pressures on the Post Office, as well as the need to address the legacy of the Horizon scandal.
Today, we are publishing a Green Paper that seeks to open a dialogue on the future of the Post Office. It explores difficult questions about how we ensure a modern, trusted and financially resilient Post Office, while protecting essential services. This Government’s ambition is to strengthen the Post Office network. We want a network that the public use and value. We want branches to be visible on the high street, operating full working hours, and we want them to have a strong retail offer, alongside a wide range of in-person services.
In a fast-changing world, the Post Office is in a unique position to bridge the digital divide for the millions of people who rely on face-to-face services. We want to support the Post Office to continue to improve and develop the banking and other critical services it provides.
We must also be honest about the challenges. People use post offices differently from how they used to, presenting challenges for the Post Office and postmasters alike. These are not challenges unique to the UK; many countries have needed to adapt and modernise their postal services to reflect changing consumer behaviour.
Through this Green Paper, we are looking to reaffirm what the Post Office does best, while recognising the need to make the network more sustainable and less reliant on Government funding. We are also clear that cultural change is essential. We are committed to learning from the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry and ensuring a transparent, accountable, and postmaster-focused culture. Our Green Paper proposals explore short-term ways to improve Post Office’s governance, as well as long-term structural reforms—such as mutualisation or a charter model—once financial stability is achieved.
This consultation represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure the Post Office’s future, and we want to hear from everyone with a stake in it—postmasters, businesses, community organisations and members of the public.
I am also pleased to announce that the Government plan to provide up to £118 million of additional investment funding to the Post Office this financial year. This will support the implementation of the Post Office’s transformation plan, which aims to put the company on a path to operational and financial stability, and enable the delivery of a new deal for postmasters that includes improving postmaster remuneration and involving postmasters in central decision making. This funding will also contribute to the costs of making necessary network investments, to support the continued delivery of services in communities. This funding is subject to the completion of subsidy control processes and compliance with the Subsidy Control Act 2022.
I am laying before Parliament the Green Paper, “Future of Post Office”, and depositing copies of “The Value of the Post Office Network” report and supplementary data tables in the Libraries of both Houses.
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UK-Turkey Enhanced Free Trade Agreement Negotiations
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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The Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security (Mr Douglas Alexander)
The first round of negotiations on an enhanced free trade agreement with Turkey took place in Ankara between 23 June and 2 July 2025.
During this initial round, talks focused on gathering insights across policy areas and building a shared understanding of each other’s initial positions. Negotiations were constructive, with both countries working towards agreeing ambitious outcomes in key areas, including services and digital trade. The talks also facilitated UK-Turkey co-operation and dialogue in areas of mutual interest that support growth.
Economic growth is our first mission in Government, and FTAs have an important role to play in achieving this. A stronger trade relationship with Turkey will contribute to jobs and prosperity in the UK. Total trade between the UK and Turkey was worth £27.8 billion in 2024.
Negotiators made significant progress in a number of areas:
Sustainability and collaboration
Negotiators discussed areas of future co-operation relating to innovation, small and medium-sized enterprises and trade and development. The round also covered women’s economic empowerment and labour rights, identifying joint priorities and reaffirming relevant international commitments. Commitments being sought will help foster joint initiatives to, for instance, improve women’s access to global markets and reduce trade barriers for SMEs.
Regulatory environment
Negotiations also covered technical issues relating to the regulatory environments of both parties, including consumer protection and competition. Discussions centred around rules and provisions to promote fair competition and safeguard the interests and rights of consumers engaged in cross-border trade between the UK and Turkey.
Trade in services
Productive discussions were held on key technical issues, including digital, financial and professional business services. Initial discussions aimed to identify areas of alignment and explore commercially meaningful opportunities to build on the existing agreement’s limited services provisions.
Goods
Turkey was the UK’s 16th largest trading partner in 2024 and UK goods exports to Turkey were worth £6.1 billion. The UK’s existing FTA with Turkey replicates the effect of the EU-Turkey customs unions. Industrial products are fully liberalised and agricultural goods are partially liberalised in the current FTA. During the first round of negotiations, both sides worked to establish baselines and respective ambitions, as well as agree a forward process for future rounds.
The Government will only ever sign a trade agreement that aligns with the UK’s national interests and upholds our high standards across a range of sectors, including as regards protections for the national health service.
The second round of negotiations is expected to take place in autumn 2025. Ministers will update Parliament on the progress of discussions with Turkey as they continue to develop.
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Disability Premium Compensation Scheme: IncomeTax Exemption
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (James Murray)
The Government will legislate to ensure that payments made across the UK under the Department for Work and Pension disability premium compensation scheme are exempt from income tax. This legislation will apply retrospectively from December 2024, when payments from the scheme started.
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State of the Climate and Nature
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Ed Miliband)
Today, I am making a statement on the state of climate and nature, on behalf of myself and my right hon Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This is the first of its kind and provides the British public with an assessment of the climate and nature crises we face and the action that this Government are taking in response. This follows the publication of the Met Office’s “State of the UK Climate 2024”, which shows that the UK’s climate is getting hotter and wetter, with more extreme weather events.
We have also today published the “Environmental Improvement Plan 2024-2025 Annual Progress Report” and the first report on the protected landscapes targets and outcomes framework, which highlight the steps the Government have taken over the last year to clean up our water and air, reduce waste and restore nature.
Alongside this, the UK Government special representative for nature is today launching a report on “Unlocking benefits for people, nature and climate: Actions to jointly address climate change and biodiversity loss”. This report showcases how the Government are implementing joined-up solutions to meet their global commitments on climate change and tackling biodiversity loss.
Government action
The Government have restored the UK as an international leader on climate change and are reversing nature’s decline after years of neglect. In this year’s spending review, the Government secured the largest investment in clean power in a generation, as well as record levels of funding for nature restoration. This puts the UK on the path to clean power by 2030, bringing bills down in the long term, and creating thousands of good jobs for our country, while restoring our natural environment and tackling the climate crisis.
By taking steps like making homes more energy efficient and planting trees, we are mitigating the crises we face while also helping to cut bills and improve access to nature. At the same time, we are also committed to improving the resilience of our communities to adapt to the climate change that is already happening. We have announced the largest flooding programme in history, which commits a record £7.9 billion capital investment over 10 years to protect hundreds of thousands of homes, small business, and vital infrastructure. To help us improve further, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has announced that it will explore how stronger adaptation objectives can be set to improve preparedness for the impacts of climate change, which will be crucial to an ambitious and impactful fourth national adaptation programme due in 2028.
Finally, I want to take the opportunity to update Parliament on the actions on climate and nature that we agreed with the sponsors of the Climate and Nature Bill. The first action was to deliver an annual statement on the state of the climate and nature. Alongside today’s statement, we are moving at pace to take the other actions forward:
Nature recovery: In June we announced that the Government will introduce a Bill by the end of the year to enable ratification of the “biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction” agreement. The Environment Secretary has also appointed 48 county and combined authorities to lead the creation of local nature recovery strategies. Last week, Essex and Leicestershire’s responsible authorities became the latest authorities to publish their strategies.
Consumption emissions and carbon leakage: We are ensuring that our UK decarbonisation efforts lead to a true reduction in global emissions, through developing the UK’s carbon border adjustment mechanism to tackle the risk of carbon leakage, and encouraging a circular economy, both domestically and internationally, which will reduce waste and emissions. Today, we are also launching the production and consumption transformation centre, a new partnership between the Universities of Leeds, Lancaster and Sussex, co-funded by UK Research and Innovation and Government.
Public engagement and participation: We will continue to engage with the public through this statement and beyond. Our net zero public participation strategy will be published later in the year and will lay out our objectives for engaging the public.
Improved join-up between JNCC and CCC: Finally, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the Climate Change Committee have committed to a data-sharing agreement to help tackle these intertwined crises. This partnership will bring to bear a wealth of expertise in an integrated way, helping Government shape the right solutions for climate and nature.
The fight to protect our home is a deeply British cause. It is about protecting our way of life and our natural world from significant dangers. Only by bringing down carbon emissions, protecting nature, and working internationally can we deliver energy security today, and climate security for future generations.
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International Health Regulations Amendments
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Ashley Dalton)
I would like to update the House that the UK Government have accepted the amendments to the International Health Regulations 2005, which were agreed by countries at the World Health Assembly on 1 June 2024.
The IHRs are an important, legally binding technical framework that helps to prevent and protect against the international spread of disease. The existing IHRs, agreed to in 2005, have helped the UK to prevent, detect and respond to global health emergencies such as Ebola and avian influenza by giving the UK timely access to verified information not in the public domain, helping us to mount a rapid and appropriate public health response.
The amendments to the IHRs, agreed at the WHA on 1 June 2024, aim to reflect lessons learned from recent global health emergencies, such as the covid-19 pandemic, including by improving information sharing and collaboration for public health emergency response. On 19 September 2024, the World Health Organisation’s director general formally notified all states parties of the official amendments adopted by the WHA. From that date of notification, the UK had 10 months in which to complete the domestic review of IHR amendments and then notify the WHO director general on whether the UK wished to reject or reserve on any or all of the amendments by 19 July 2025. The amendments, all of which are adopted, will come into force for the UK in September 2025.
Department of Health and Social Care officials led work across Government to confirm the implications of the amendments for the UK. Officials also worked with their counterparts in the devolved Administrations and in our overseas territories and Crown dependencies to ensure that all relevant territories are considered. This analysis concluded that the amendments are in the national interest of the UK and informed the decision to accept all of the amendments. Acceptance of, and compliance with, the amendments does not impact the UK’s right to make domestic decisions on national measures concerning public health. The analysis found that where the amendments placed new obligations on the UK and other member states, the UK is already compliant with all but three areas. To be compliant with these amendments, the UK will:
Designate the UK Health Security Agency as the national IHR authority to oversee overall implementation of the IHR and ensure co-ordination within the UK;
Factor the new tier of alert “pandemic emergency” into domestic pandemic preparedness planning across Government, the devolved Governments, the Crown dependencies and the UK overseas territories; and
Provide representation for the UK on the WHO member state-led IHR implementation committee and provide representation, as required, on the technical sub-committee of the implementation committee.
Please be assured that respect for member state sovereignty is an underlying principle of the IHR, and at no point during negotiations about the amendments were there proposals that would give the WHO powers to impose domestic decisions on the UK, such as those regarding lockdowns, mandatory vaccinations, mask wearing or border restrictions. While the WHO director general may make recommendations on international responses following the declaration of a public health emergency of international concern or a pandemic emergency, these recommendations are non-binding and it is for member states to determine their domestic response.
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Syrian Nationals with Protection Claims
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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The Minister for Border Security and Asylum (Dame Angela Eagle)
Following the fall of the Assad regime, the Home Office paused all Syrian asylum interviews and decisions, as announced to Parliament on 11 December 2024. This pause extended to settlement protection applications from Syrian nationals, including those who were brought to the UK under the Syrian vulnerable persons resettlement scheme and have completed their five years of refugee status. During this period, we continued to register all Syrian applications.
This was a necessary step while there was no stable, objective information available to make robust assessments of risk on return to Syria. The Home Office has worked to lift the pause as soon as there was sufficient information to make accurate and well-evidenced determinations.
Today the Government will publish updated country information, which will enable decision making to resume. With this, protection claims can be processed and safe return reviews conducted in line with published policy for any Syrian nationals applying for settlement protection.
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