Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they plan to open the public consultation on the proposed High Value Council Tax Surcharge.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government will consult on the High Value Council Tax Surcharge in due course.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to exempt listed properties from their proposals for rented homes to achieve a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C or equivalent by 2030.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Currently, listed buildings are generally able to register exemptions from energy efficiency requirements where compliance would unacceptably alter the character or appearance of the existing building. The aim should be to improve energy efficiency as far as reasonably practicable without prejudicing the character of the host building or risking the long-term deterioration of the fabric or fittings. Government recognises there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to tackling the UK’s diverse building stock, and we will continue to engage with various stakeholders including those from the historic and listed buildings sector.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether listed property owners will benefit from the Warm Homes Plan; and, if so, how.
Answered by Lord Whitehead - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Warm Homes Plan will invest £15 billion; the biggest ever public investment in home upgrades. We will help millions of households benefit from solar panels, batteries, heat pumps and insulation to cut bills, reaching up to five million homes by 2030 through direct support for those on low-incomes and in fuel poverty, grants and innovative low-interest finance available to all. The recent Electrification of Heat Demonstration project has shown that heat pumps can work effectively in UK homes from all historic periods.
A new Warm Homes Agency will be operational from 2027, providing consumers with information and advice on the schemes available to them, including owners of listed properties.
Historic England advocates taking a whole-building approach to retrofit of historic homes, and has produced a range of technical advice and guidance, including an advice note on energy efficiency, retrofit and Net Zero: https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/technical-advice/energy-efficiency-and-historic-buildings/
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with amputee charities regarding helping amputees into work.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, including amputees, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 is driving forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity.
Blesma, the veterans’ limbless charity, are members of the Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum and have been members of a Universal Credit stakeholder forum and the Health Transformation Forum.
Disabled people are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.
Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. We are also rolling out Connect to Work, our supported employment programme for anyone who is disabled, has a health condition or is experiencing more complex barriers to work.
We set out our plan for the “Pathways to Work Guarantee” in our Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, and are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by the end of the decade. We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement, and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support.
Additionally, we have developed a digital information service for employers, oversees the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health.
The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan also states the Government’s intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support is available to amputees seeking work.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Good work is good for health, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, including amputees, whoever they are and wherever they live. Backed by £240 million investment, the Get Britain Working White Paper launched in November 2024 is driving forward approaches to tackling economic inactivity.
Blesma, the veterans’ limbless charity, are members of the Operational Stakeholder Engagement Forum and have been members of a Universal Credit stakeholder forum and the Health Transformation Forum.
Disabled people are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems.
Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, Individual Placement and Support in Primary Care and WorkWell. We are also rolling out Connect to Work, our supported employment programme for anyone who is disabled, has a health condition or is experiencing more complex barriers to work.
We set out our plan for the “Pathways to Work Guarantee” in our Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, and are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and people with health conditions on out of work benefits. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by the end of the decade. We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement, and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support.
Additionally, we have developed a digital information service for employers, oversees the Disability Confident Scheme, and continues to increase access to Occupational Health.
The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, builds on existing work to better integrate health with employment support and incentivise greater cross-system collaboration, recognising good work is good for health. The Plan also states the Government’s intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. It outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of whether each of the Met Office's network of weather stations is (1) appropriately sited, (2) adequately maintained, and (3) able to provide consistently reliable meteorological data.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Met Office’s weather station network currently consists of 405 sites across the United Kingdom (UK). This includes manual and automatic weather stations. The exact postal address of each site is not publicly available due to national security, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and land ownership reasons. The Met Office website provides a map of the UK station network.
The Met Office is ISO 9001 accredited and has a rigorous, internationally recognised quality-control process that includes calibration, inspection, and verification against World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standards. The Government utilises a range of evidence, including information from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments and Met Office modelling and observations, ensuring climate policies are grounded in the latest scientific data.
Observation sites are chosen using strict criteria to ensure representative measurements and minimise external influences, as appropriate to the intended data use. The location of weather stations is vital to ensure consistency and continuity of measurements. When selecting station location the Met Office balances the operational need for coverage, whilst adhering to set standards. Regular physical inspections and maintenance of observation sites are carried out and all instruments undergo regular calibration, against externally recognised standards, to maintain measurement accuracy.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had in respect of the integrity of the data provided by the Met Office’s network of weather stations in the UK and the role that data has in shaping the Government’s policies to influence climate change.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Met Office’s weather station network currently consists of 405 sites across the United Kingdom (UK). This includes manual and automatic weather stations. The exact postal address of each site is not publicly available due to national security, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and land ownership reasons. The Met Office website provides a map of the UK station network.
The Met Office is ISO 9001 accredited and has a rigorous, internationally recognised quality-control process that includes calibration, inspection, and verification against World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standards. The Government utilises a range of evidence, including information from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments and Met Office modelling and observations, ensuring climate policies are grounded in the latest scientific data.
Observation sites are chosen using strict criteria to ensure representative measurements and minimise external influences, as appropriate to the intended data use. The location of weather stations is vital to ensure consistency and continuity of measurements. When selecting station location the Met Office balances the operational need for coverage, whilst adhering to set standards. Regular physical inspections and maintenance of observation sites are carried out and all instruments undergo regular calibration, against externally recognised standards, to maintain measurement accuracy.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many weather stations exist within the Met Office’s network of weather stations in the UK reportedly supplying meteorological data and what are each of their postal addresses.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Met Office’s weather station network currently consists of 405 sites across the United Kingdom (UK). This includes manual and automatic weather stations. The exact postal address of each site is not publicly available due to national security, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and land ownership reasons. The Met Office website provides a map of the UK station network.
The Met Office is ISO 9001 accredited and has a rigorous, internationally recognised quality-control process that includes calibration, inspection, and verification against World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standards. The Government utilises a range of evidence, including information from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments and Met Office modelling and observations, ensuring climate policies are grounded in the latest scientific data.
Observation sites are chosen using strict criteria to ensure representative measurements and minimise external influences, as appropriate to the intended data use. The location of weather stations is vital to ensure consistency and continuity of measurements. When selecting station location the Met Office balances the operational need for coverage, whilst adhering to set standards. Regular physical inspections and maintenance of observation sites are carried out and all instruments undergo regular calibration, against externally recognised standards, to maintain measurement accuracy.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the processing time of inheritance tax queries, and what steps they are taking to reduce that waiting time to ensure that inheritance tax can be paid on time.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is consistently exceeding its service standards of processing over 80% of inheritance tax returns for estates within 15 working days. Once these returns have been processed, most customers will be able to pay any inheritance tax due on time and proceed to apply for probate.
The inheritance tax helpline is also meeting HMRC’s telephony service levels by handling over 85% of customer calls to advisers.
HMRC has also increased numbers deployed to wider inheritance tax work to meet the service standard.
The government announced at Autumn Budget 2024 that it is investing in digitalising the inheritance tax service from 2027-28 to provide a modern, easy-to-use system, making returns and paying tax simpler and quicker.
Asked by: Lord Mackinlay of Richborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government why the GOV.UK One Login digital app lost its certification under the Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework, what is its current certification status and whether it will be ready to manage the Companies House identity verification requirements that come into force on 18 November
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In April 2025, GOV.UK One Login’s Trust Framework certification was suspended due to a supply chain issue where one third party allowed their certification to lapse. This was not due to any change in GOV.UK One Login’s product, approach, or security. GOV.UK One Login is working to recertify as a priority.
Companies House onboarded to GOV.UK One Login in March 2025. We have been supporting Companies House users since then, and are fully prepared to support the mandatory Companies House requirements that take effect on November 18th. Certification to the Trust Framework is not a necessary condition for this.