Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on 30 June (HC61433), whether the proposed restriction on installing gas boilers for newly constructed dwellings applies to the development of blended green hydrogen and natural gas for heating purposes.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Future Homes Standard (FHS), to be introduced through the Building Regulations in autumn this year, will effectively preclude the use of gas boilers in new homes. A consultation setting out detailed technical proposals for the FHS was published in December 2023 and closed in March 2024. Hybrid and hydrogen-ready boilers would not meet the standards proposed in the consultation. We are carefully considering the feedback we received to the consultation and intend to publish the government response confirming our final position in due course.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Livermore on 8 July (HL8809), whether (1) a certificate of sponsorship fee, and (2) an immigration skills charge, constitute a taxable benefit for employers in circumstances where those costs cannot be passed on to employees.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
If an employer pays for a certificate of sponsorship fee and the immigration skills charge, as a result of sponsoring a worker from overseas, these costs could be liable to Income Tax. Whether tax is payable will depend on individual circumstances as tax exemptions may apply. For this reason, each circumstance will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis. The Government has no plans to change the tax treatment of immigration fees. However, all taxes are kept under review as part of the tax policymaking process.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to restricting the contracts and investment for small nuclear modular reactors to UK-based companies, with the majority of component parts to be produced in the UK.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Following a robust, two-year procurement process, Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) has selected Rolls-Royce SMR as its preferred bidder to partner with to build the UK’s first small modular reactors, subject to final government approvals and contract signature.
Further details will follow in due course, but the government's long-term ambition is to bring forward one of Europe's first SMR fleets, with GBE-N's ambition being to deliver over 70% UK content across the fleet, which could benefit communities right across the country.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will outline the consultation steps taken in advance of the allocation of funding under the neighbourhood trailblazer programme which was announced on 11 June; and specifically the consultation process with (1) the relevant local authority in whose area funding has been allocated and (2) with the member of Parliament, whose constituency incorporates the neighbourhoods concerned.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In advance of the funding allocation under the Neighbourhood Trailblazer Programme announced on 11 June, 25 trailblazer areas were selected through a metric-based methodology which assessed the most in-need communities across the UK. Further details will be published in due course.
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Building Safety, Fire and Local Growth has met with MPs who have a trailblazer neighbourhood in their constituency, and my officials continue to engage relevant local authorities. The Communities Delivery Unit will work in partnership with local people and with local authorities to empower communities through long-term, place-based investment, with a strong emphasis on local leadership, community engagement, and social cohesion.
Full details on programme governance, including consultation processes, will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 26 June (HL8471), and with regard to paragraph 4.36 of the Spending Review 2025 (CP 1336), what proportion of the additional £1.2 billion allocated per year by 2028–29 for skills by the Treasury will be (1) part of the growth and skills levy, and (2) drawn down from the skills surcharge levied on employers for bringing in overseas staff.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
Further details on allocation of the department’s Spending Review settlement will be set out following the conclusion of departmental business planning.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Smith of Malvern on 26 June (HL8470), when they intend to announce the revised formula for allocating the growth and skills levy (formerly the apprenticeship levy), including (1) the total for each year of the spending review period, and (2) the amount to be held back by the Treasury.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Spending Review 2025, the Government allocated an additional £1.2 billion per year for skills by 2028-29. Final allocations for all skills programmes, including the growth and skills offer, will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance they have given to local authorities about the specific democratic decision-making processes they should adopt; and under which legislation has such guidance been given.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
We have provided no current guidance to local authorities on their decision-making processes; within the governance models provided for in legislation, the precise nature of each council’s constitutional arrangements is for that council to decide.
As part of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill we intend that in future any council operating under the committee system will be required to operate with the leader and cabinet form of governance, and that leader and cabinet will be the only option, for councils currently operating with a directly elected mayor, should they determine to change governance arrangements.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to provide continuing and updated services to match the development and use of the NHS app for those unable or unwilling to use a smart phone, to ensure that such patients have equivalent access to services.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We are working to improve access to digital services, outcomes, and experiences for the widest range of people, based on their preferences. Digital health tools should be part of a wider offering that includes face-to-face support with appropriate help for people who struggle to access digital services.
We conduct user research on an ongoing basis with users from diverse backgrounds to ensure our service works for everyone. This includes patients with a range of access needs and diverse groups, for instance ethnic minority groups, visual impairments, neurodiversity, and physical impairments. We have recruited users who are blind or partially sighted in community-based research, research with local National Health Service teams, and in remote research, either one to one or in groups. We use the findings of user research to plan and prioritise new work to improve accessibility.
NHS England has successfully run several programmes to support patients, carers, and health service staff with their digital skills. These include:
- the Digital Health Champions programme, which is a proof of concept to support citizens who have no or low digital skills with understanding how to access health services online;
- the Widening Digital Participation programme, which is aimed at ensuring more people have the digital skills, motivation, and means to access health information and services online; and
- the NHS App ‘Spoken Word’ Pilot project, which is designed to test the efficacy of promoting NHS digital health products and services in languages other than English.
We have also recruited over 2,000 NHS App ambassadors and 1,400 libraries to help people to learn how to use the NHS App.
NHS England has published a framework for NHS action on digital inclusion and is developing further resources to support practical actions. All programmes are actively considering how they can contribute to improvements in healthcare inequalities and digital inclusion.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what taxes are payable on immigration fees paid by employers on behalf of employees and their dependents, and whether they plan to review the level of such taxes.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
If an employer pays for certain immigration fees on behalf of prospective or current employees, these costs could be liable to Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions for the employee as earnings or a benefit-in-kind.
Whether tax is payable will depend on individual circumstances as tax exemptions may apply. For this reason, each circumstance will need to be considered on a case-by-case basis.
The Government has no plans to change the tax treatment of immigration fees. However, all taxes are kept under review as part of the tax policymaking process.
Asked by: Lord Blunkett (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they intend to announce the revised formula for allocating the growth and skills levy (formerly the apprenticeship levy), including (1) the total for each year of the spending review period, and (2) the amount to be held back by the Treasury.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)
This government is transforming the apprenticeships offer into a new growth and skills offer, which will offer greater flexibility to employers and learners, and support the industrial strategy.
The growth and skills offer is vital in delivering the government’s Plan for Change and achieving its missions of driving growth and breaking down barriers to opportunity. The department will work through all of its budgets at departmental business planning and set out more detail on the approach to the growth and skills offer in due course.
His Majesty’s Treasury are responsible for the operation of the UK wide apprenticeships levy and for allocating funding to England and the devolved administrations through Spending Review settlements.