Package Travel Regulations
(1 day, 6 hours ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Kate Dearden)
The current Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 set out a series of requirements for organisers of package holidays and linked travel arrangements. They also provide bespoke protections for travellers.
The Government recently consulted on targeted changes to the regulations. The aim was to optimise the regulations to support growth in the UK’s vibrant package holiday sector, while retaining the vital consumer protections they provide.
We were pleased to receive strong engagement across a rich variety of stakeholders. These included approved bodies, consumer groups, airlines, members of the leisure and hospitality sector, accommodation providers, lawyers and many more. Thank you to all those who took the time to respond and engage with us throughout the call for evidence, the consultation, and the many stakeholder engagement sessions.
Providers of package holidays are rightly proud of their industry and what they offer. From our own assessment and extensive industry and stakeholder engagement, it is clear that the confidence currently felt in the package travel sector is underpinned by the protections offered by the regulations. Knowing that, if things go wrong, they will be properly looked after by their tour operator is a strong driving factor as to why consumers continue to choose to book package holidays.
Having carefully considered responses, and following extensive engagement with stakeholders, the Government intend to bring forward legislation to make the following key changes to the regulations.
Linked travel arrangements
There are two key changes to LTAs:
absorbing LTA type A into the definition of a “package”: this would provide full package protections when consumers make a booking in circumstances similar to current type As, effectively extending consumer rights while simplifying business compliance; and
removing LTA type B entirely: the Government plan to eliminate type B arrangements (where a trader facilitates booking of a second service from another trader within 24 hours). These arrangements provide minimal consumer protection and are easily circumvented. Eliminating this category would support domestic sector growth, allowing small businesses like B&Bs to refer customers to local activity providers without triggering the regulations.
Regulation 29
The Government are also proposing to modify regulation 29, which deals with redress for third parties. The key changes include:
establishing a 14-day period for refund of cancelled services
clarifying that the regulations confer a statutory right to redress in specified circumstances , and not merely a right to seek redress.
These changes aim to help package travel organisers recover costs from suppliers more effectively, enhancing business resilience and ensuring the costs of consumer protection are distributed more equitably.
We will also consider how best to treat other issues that were highlighted in the consultation responses and that were not able to be addressed through legislation.
The Government will legislate to implement these reforms by June 2026 under the provisions of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023.
The consultation response is now live and can be accessed at: www.gov.uk.
[HCWS1120]
US Trade and Pharmaceuticals
(1 day, 6 hours ago)
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The Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Peter Kyle)
Our trading relationship with the United States is one of the world’s most important. Trade with the US was worth £322 billion in 2024, representing 18% of total UK trade.
In May, we announced the general terms for the UK-US economic prosperity deal. Since then, we have secured the removal of tariffs on civil aerospace exports, and the lowest tariffs of 10% on cars and lumber, and we remain the only country in the world to benefit from a preferential 25% rate on steel, aluminium and derivative exports.
Today we are seeing that relationship strengthened further.
Through productive negotiations with the US, we have secured a zero per cent tariff on all pharmaceuticals exported to the US for three years. This will protect UK-based manufacturing and cement our place as a world leader for life sciences investment.
The agreement has also secured mitigations under the US’s “most favoured nation” drug pricing initiative, which will encourage pharmaceutical companies from around the world to continue to prioritise the UK for early launches of their new medicines, meaning British patients could be among the first globally to access breakthrough treatments. These changes will ensure that the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is able to continue its world-leading approach to assessing drugs and treatments, and can keep pace with the commercial and economic environment in which pharmaceutical companies are operating today.
The deal will also secure preferential terms for the UK’s medical technology exports for three years, meaning no additional new tariffs on medical technologies in order to unlock further investments in the UK and a further boost to growth.
The UK is the only country with wide-reaching zero tariff commitments on pharmaceuticals. It is clear evidence of the value of the special relationship, and demonstrates that this Government are delivering on our promises in the industrial strategy and life sciences sector plan.
The UK’s life sciences sector is one of our most productive sectors. It not only saves lives but creates jobs, drives investment, and powers innovation across our economy. In 2024, UK exports of pharmaceutical products to the US were worth over £5 billion. The manufacture of pharmaceutical products contributed £25 billion to the UK economy in 2024. This deal will offer security and stability to this extremely valuable sector and will dramatically improve our standings on the global stage as a destination for life sciences investment.
This agreement was supported by the Government’s commitment to investing 25% more in new innovative medicines—the first major increase in over two decades—which will support improved access to new medicines for NHS patients. This deal will be funded by allocations made at the spending review, where frontline services will remain protected through the record funding secured.
This will be achieved through changes to the NICE cost-effectiveness threshold and to the NICE value set—meaning NICE will now be able to approve medicines that deliver significant health improvements but might previously not have been recommended on the basis of current cost-effectiveness thresholds. This could include breakthrough cancer treatments, therapies for rare diseases, and innovative approaches to conditions that have long been difficult to treat. Investing in medicines helps to keep people healthier for longer, reducing pressure on the health service over the longer term and ensuring we have an NHS that is fit for the future. Over time we will increase the spend on medicines in the NHS from around 10% of total spend to around 12%. This will ensure faster and more equitable access of innovative medicines across the country.
We have worked tirelessly alongside the Department of Health and Social Care, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to secure an outcome in our negotiations with the US that reflects the strength of our relationship and delivers real benefits for UK industry and UK patients.
This deal is a huge boost for the UK as a top destination for pharmaceutical investment and growth. Furthermore, it will support our ambition—set out in the life sciences sector plan—for the UK to become Europe’s leading life sciences economy by 2030.
We are continuing intensive discussions on other sectors under section 232 investigation, and on the range of issues outlined in the general terms.
The economic prosperity deal will continue to deliver: saving thousands of jobs, protecting key British industries, and helping to drive economic growth for the UK.
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Gambling Levy
(1 day, 6 hours ago)
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The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
I am repeating the following written ministerial statement made today in the other place by my noble Friend, the Minister for Museums, Heritage and Gambling and DCMS Lords Minister, Baroness Twycross:
The statutory levy on gambling operators, which commenced in April 2025, represents a major transformation. The levy will provide, for the first time, independent and sustainable funding for gambling-related harms research, prevention and treatment.
Subject to final checks, this year the statutory levy has raised just under £120 million, which will be ringfenced solely for the use of tackling gambling-related harm. This will support our priority of making sure there is sufficient and sustainable funding in the system for projects and services and to fill the gaps that we know exist in the evidence base and provision of treatment and support. The funding will improve and expand services to new areas, to ensure more people can access the right help when they need it.
In line with the objectives of the statutory levy, funding will be directed in specific proportions for the purposes of research, prevention and treatment of gambling-related harm:
20% will go to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) for the establishment of a bespoke research programme on gambling. The levy will provide a dedicated and sustainable injection of funding for independently-commissioned research to inform policy and practice. We expect the formal launch of the UKRI Gambling Harms Research Co-ordination Centre to take place in April 2026. A small portion of funding will also be allocated to the Gambling Commission to direct further research in line with its licensing objectives.
30% of funding will go to the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities and the Scottish and Welsh Governments to develop a comprehensive approach to the prevention of gambling-related harm across all three nations of Great Britain. In England, OHID will prioritise the development of an independent, public health approach that recognises the importance of the voluntary sector and local authorities in delivering effective prevention activity.
The remaining 50% of funding will go to NHS England and the Scottish and Welsh Governments to work with providers, including the third sector, to increase access to treatment and support for those experiencing gambling-related harm. This will ensure services are joined up and consistent so that no one is falling through the cracks.
All commissioners are working to establish their respective gambling harms programmes and structures. In England, it is expected that applications for voluntary sector organisations to access levy funding for prevention programmes will open in the new year, with grant funds being accessible from April 2026 in line with the conclusion of GambleAware commissioning. The approach for voluntary sector provision of treatment programmes will be confirmed shortly. It is a priority for all commissioners that those affected by gambling-related harm continue to have access to the help and support they need.
Governance arrangements have been put in place, which will look objectively at how the levy is working and hold commissioners to account. The Gambling Levy Programme Board has been established as the central mechanism for establishment and oversight of the levy to ensure that funding is being spent appropriately and efficiently, and that the system is delivering on its objectives.
The Gambling Levy Advisory Group, has now been renamed the Gambling Levy Delivery Group to reflect its focus on implementation and delivery. This brings together the research, prevention and treatment commissioners at a working level, alongside DCMS and Gambling Commission officials, to facilitate appropriate integration and collaboration between commissioning leads.
Funding decisions will be taken by the appropriate bodies, with scrutiny provided by relevant governance structures. We will also ensure that lived experience voices are informing levy programmes, with further details to be confirmed in due course. Through these governance arrangements, we will continue to review how much the levy is collecting and the distribution of the levy as the evidence base for this grows.
[HCWS1118]
Capacity Market: Prequalification 2026
(1 day, 6 hours ago)
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The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)
I am tabling this statement to inform members of the publication of a consultation relating to the capacity market titled “Consultation on proposals to integrate low carbon technologies and enhance delivery assurance ahead of Prequalification 2026”.
The consultation supports our objectives of delivering clean power by 2030 and accelerating progress towards net zero, while ensuring security of supply.
Since its introduction in 2014, the capacity market has acted to secure sufficient capacity to ensure consistent and reliable electricity generation in Great Britain. The funding provided through the capacity market scheme incentivises investment in new and existing generation, interconnectors, batteries, and consumer-led flexibility mechanisms to ensure sufficient capacity is available to meet future demand when required. This capacity is acquired through competitive annual auctions held at intervals four years ahead and one year ahead of their respective delivery years. The Government regularly amend the framework underpinning the capacity market before auction cycles to ensure it is cost-effective and meets broader strategic objectives such as clean power by 2030.
The consultation we are publishing today includes several proposals intended to maintain electricity security, keep the capacity market’s impact on bills as low as possible for consumers, strengthen delivery assurance of low-carbon technologies, and improve the overall functioning of the scheme.
We are seeking views on changes to the capacity market which would achieve the following aims:
Managing the transition for existing generating capacity market units from the CM to a contract for difference following a Secretary of State direction, without allowing support from both schemes to be received at the same time. This would ensure value for money for consumers and would allow existing capacity to continue participating in the scheme. The change recognises the strategic importance of these assets for the UK’s energy transition and to security of supply.
Capturing interactions between the long duration electricity storage cap and floor scheme and the CM by introducing appropriate eligibility criteria for these projects to support low-carbon technologies while avoiding market distortions. The LDES cap and floor provides revenue certainty to accelerate the deployment of storage critical for a secure, low-carbon grid in line with its expansion in the 2030s. By mirroring the successful interconnector model, the cap and floor scheme guarantees developers a minimum revenue while capping excessive returns to ensure value for consumers.
Strengthening the CM delivery assurance framework by proposing two approaches to making the termination framework in the CM more stringent: either raising all fees by 30% in line with inflation from 2016 to today, or by simplifying the regime to have one fee, set at £45,500/MW, to reflect inflationary changes to the current highest fee since 2016. Both approaches improve the regime by disincentivising capacity providers from seeking to end their agreements via termination. The second option has the additional benefit of reducing the ability of capacity providers to seek alternate termination events that carry a lower fee by artificially creating the circumstances for a termination, for example by using shell companies to trigger issues regarding ownership of assets of grid connections. We are also proposing to hold credit cover until a new build CMU has completed commissioning their CMU in order to further incentivise capacity providers to build their CMUs and fulfil their obligations. Credit cover will be increased to align with the new uprated termination fee levels.
Amending CM rules on the secondary trading market to increase clarity in the CM rules.
Introducing additional measures for multiple price capacity market eligibility to ensure eligible capacity provides genuinely new capacity and offers value for money. This includes a new requirement to meet a higher capital expenditure threshold in order to qualify for the second, higher price cap. In addition, eligible capacity will be required to provide evidence of a certificate of disconnection where new builds are located on a previously commissioned site. The delivery body will also have the ability to request additional evidence to ensure all projects, whether eligible for the MPCM or not, are meeting the necessary total project spend requirements.
The proposals put forward in the consultation seek to ensure the capacity market continues to meet its primary objective of ensuring security of supply, remains fit for purpose and continues to play a crucial role in achieving the clean power mission.
[HCWS1117]
Angiolini Inquiry: First Report, Part 2
(1 day, 6 hours ago)
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The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Jess Phillips)
I will be updating the House about this report via an oral statement later today.
[HCWS1122]
Local Audit Build-back: Progress
(1 day, 6 hours ago)
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The Minister for Local Government and Homelessness (Alison McGovern)
Since this Government came to power last year, we have worked tirelessly to fix the broken local audit system in England, so people can trust that their council tax is being spent well. To ensure continued progress and that the Government’s wider programme of systemic reform is set up for success, we must speed up the process of rebuilding assurance at local bodies.
Clearing the backlog
The local audit backstop programme, comprising a series of six statutory publication deadlines for audited accounts, has continued to deliver against its statutory milestones. While the reset has meant many disclaimed audit opinions, as the Government made clear that we would last July, it has cleared the local audit backlog and made significant progress on restoring the discipline needed for timely publication of both unaudited and audited accounts.
After two backstops, there has been a significant improvement in the publication of audit opinions. As of 31 August 2025, 99% of local bodies had received and published audit opinions for all years up to 2022-23, and 94% had published audit opinions for 2023-24. Updated non-compliance lists for the latest backstop has been published today.
There has also been an improvement in the prerequisite publication of draft unaudited accounts. By 16 January 2025, just under 95% of bodies had published unaudited accounts ahead of the second backstop on 28 February 2025. Ahead of the 27 February 2026 backstop, 98% of bodies had already published their 2024-25 draft accounts as of 5 November 2025.
The advances that local bodies and audit firms alike have made in complying with the backstop programme have put the system in a much more secure and stable position. In turn, this will better enable the rebuilding of assurance and the implementation of wider reforms.
Progress on rebuilding assurance
Given the large number of disclaimed opinions, the backstops were announced alongside a five-year programme for building back assurance, with an aspiration that local audit recovers as soon as possible within that period.
Due to the scale of the local audit backlog and the limited capacity of audit firms and local bodies, the process of rebuilding assurance at local bodies was always going to be highly challenging. The process is technically difficult, resource-intensive and time-consuming, and the fundamental challenges facing the local audit system set out in the Government’s 2024 strategy remain a significant barrier to progress for some bodies. Both auditors and local bodies continue to navigate disproportionately complex financial reporting and audit requirements.
Our ambition is for local audit to recover assurance as early as possible, and we will continue to work with local bodies and audit firms to achieve this aim. However, despite significant efforts by all parties involved, progress has been slower than anticipated. It is now clear that the more immediate aspiration for the majority of disclaimed opinions driven by backstop dates to be limited to the first two years of this period—up to and including the 2024-25 backstop date of 27 February 2026—will not be realised. This will mean many local bodies continuing to receive disclaimed opinions for 2025-26 and 2026-27.
Evidently, it remains in the public interest that disclaimed opinions are cleared as quickly as possible. Effective local audit ensures transparency and accountability for public money spent on vital services. I am committed to working with all those in the system to do everything in our power to get back on track and ensure that assurance is rebuilt within the five-year period.
Measures to help
Today, the Government have written to all audit firms and to all local bodies in the process of rebuilding assurance, underlining the need for everyone to work together to do everything possible to accelerate progress and encouraging them to prioritise resources accordingly. I have asked them to work together to provide information to my Department on progress at individual bodies, including where there seem to be systemic issues with capacity, governance or financial management preventing assurance from being rebuilt. I have also requested that audit firms escalate serious issues to local bodies promptly, ensuring that my Department is also aware, and to issue statutory recommendations or public interest reports where appropriate. This will enable the Department to undertake its responsibilities in relation to overall accountability and stewardship and provide additional support and guidance most effectively.
In order to ensure that recovery can be completed within the overall five-year timeline, my Department will continue to assist affected local bodies, with additional training and support events led by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy planned for next year. Rapid work is also under way to develop a new approach to audit quality oversight tailored specifically to audits focused on the rebuilding of assurance.
The Government are also considering what further measures may be necessary to support both auditors and local bodies in accelerating progress, in line with the Government’s ambition of the system clearing all backstop-related disclaimed opinions by the end of 2027-28.
Ongoing reforms
The challenges encountered serve to further underscore the vital importance of the Government’s wider reforms, for which there remains strong and widespread support. The private sector has committed to working with us to rebuild the system, and its confidence in the reforms is demonstrable. All audit firms with existing local audit contracts have agreed with Public Sector Audit Appointments Ltd to extend their current contracts for a further two years, until the end of 2029-30.
Recognising the urgency of change, new secondary legislation is now in force to raise local audit regime thresholds. This will help to free up auditor capacity by enabling audit firms to work in a more proportionate way.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which contains key elements of our reform programme, is progressing through Parliament. The Bill includes measures to create the local audit office, which will provide vital oversight and streamline the system. The Government’s intention is for the local audit office to be established in autumn 2026. It will take responsibility for statutory functions in relation to regulatory oversight and standards from day one, subsequently increasing to its full range of duties as it builds capacity and staff transfer from existing organisations. The local audit office will take responsibility for the backstop programme and oversight of the process of rebuilding assurance at local bodies from April 2027. My Department has today published a transition plan, setting out detail on the timeline for implementing the new local audit system and how the transition will be managed.
Timeliness of assurance through audit is underpinned by the need for high-quality accounts and financial reports. As such, we are also working with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the devolved Governments to address underlying issues and prioritise solutions to simplify financial reporting.
We will restore the local audit system back to health and rebuild confidence in local finances.
[HCWS1119]
Criminal Court Reform
(1 day, 6 hours ago)
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The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Mr David Lammy)
On 9 July 2025, part 1 of the independent review of criminal courts, chaired by Sir Brian Leveson, was published. I am grateful to Sir Brian and the panel of expert advisers for their work.
The Government inherited a justice system in crisis—with a record and rising open caseload of nearly 80,000 criminal cases currently waiting to be heard in the Crown court. Some victims are waiting years for justice, which is why the Government asked Sir Brian to make recommendations for how to restore confidence in the system.
The first part of Sir Brian’s review sets down a blueprint for bold, structural reform in our criminal courts. In accepting that blueprint, the Government intend to rebuild the system through investment, structural reform and modernisation.
In addition to the significant investment this Government have announced already in our court estate and criminal solicitors, I am committed to investing up to £34 million more a year for criminal defence advocate legal aid fees to recognise the crucial work that our legal professionals do in delivering for our justice system. This is subject to consultation. I will also accept Sir Brian’s recommendation that the Government match-fund a number of criminal barrister pupillages, with a particular focus on opening a career at the criminal Bar to even more young people from across society.
I will agree sitting days with the senior judiciary through the usual concordat process, aiming to give unprecedented three-year certainty to the system. This year, I allocated a record 111,250 days to the Crown court, and I am clear that sitting days in the Crown and magistrates’ courts must continue to rise, and that our ambition is to continue breaking records by the end of this Parliament.
Today, I am confirming that the Government agree with Sir Brian’s blueprint for structural reform and intend to legislate for the following measures:
Magistrates’ courts sentencing powers will increase to 18 months, with provision to extend to 24 months if necessary to relieve pressure in the Crown court.
The right of defendants to elect for a jury trial will be removed, meaning that it will be for the court to determine where a case will be heard, based on the severity of offences.
The appeals process from magistrates’ courts will be reformed so that automatic appeals to the Crown court in criminal cases are replaced with a permission stage, limited to points of law.
A new bench division will be established in the Crown court for triable-either-way cases with likely sentences of three years or less, heard by a judge alone.
Jury trials will remain for indictable-only offences and cases with likely sentences over three years.
A small number of serious but particularly technical and lengthy fraud and financial cases may be heard by judge alone in the Crown court, subject to certain requirements and at the discretion of the court.
The threshold for criminal damage to be tried summarily will be updated from £5,000 to £10,000, in line with inflation.
These reforms are grounded in the rule of law, equality before the law, and the right to a fair trial.
Sir Brian’s second report will set out a further blueprint for modernisation in the criminal courts, focused on efficiency improvements and the better use of technology, and I am grateful to the judiciary for their ongoing support for this work.
In addition to structural court reform, the Government will continue to consider the review’s broader recommendations, including those focused on efficiency, in the second part of the review, once published. We continue to explore options to stop cases coming to court in the first place, through smarter and wider use of diversion. We will consider opportunities to simplify the criminal records regime to ensure it is clear and proportionate, particularly in relation to childhood offences.
The Government recognise that the structural reforms will take time to implement and are committed to supporting victims during this period. We have committed multi-year funding for victim support services, and commit to investing £550 million over the next three years.
The Ministry of Justice will continue to work with the judiciary and stakeholders and will bring forward legislation for Parliament’s consideration in due course.
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