Became Member: 19th June 2018
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
These initiatives were driven by Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to require the Secretary of State to set up a body to establish a public initiative for the prevention of suicide and self harm, to work with internet providers and others to reduce access to information on the internet and through other sources on methods of suicide and to develop a system of alerts and blocks for internet searches relating to suicide; and for connected purposes
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to require the Secretary of State to set up a body to establish a public initiative for the prevention of suicide and self harm, to work with internet providers and others to reduce access to information on the internet and through other sources on methods of suicide and to develop a system of alerts and blocks for internet searches relating to suicide; and for connected purposes
Lord McCrea of Magherafelt and Cookstown has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The new Windsor Framework customs arrangements introduced on 1 May will remain in place, in addition to the arrangements put forward for sanitary and phytosanitary goods (SPS) at the UK-EU Summit. The arrangements introduced on May 1 ensure that goods sent to or from consumers will not be subject to customs declarations or duty. We have also introduced a range of schemes to support businesses by removing unnecessary checks and paperwork; over 10,000 businesses are already signed up to the UK Internal Market Scheme.
The new UK-EU Common Understanding agrees to remove a broad and wide-ranging set of requirements for sanitary and phytosanitary goods and plants moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
When implemented, there will be no need for SPS paperwork such as health certificates to move agrifood or plant products to Northern Ireland, no mandatory identity or physical checks on those goods, no need for Plant Health Labels when moving plants for planting, seed potatoes, and used agricultural machinery, and no bans on ‘high risk’ plants.
The continued application of the Windsor Framework would provide for Northern Ireland maintaining its privileged unique dual access to both the European Union Single Market and the United Kingdom internal market.
The Cabinet Office does not hold the information requested. Pay for senior officials in arms-length bodies (ALBs) is set by the employing ALB and/or the sponsor department.
The Government regularly reviews its work to ensure that it is delivering the best outcomes for the people of the United Kingdom, and that its policies continue to represent the best value for the taxpayer. Individual departments are responsible for publishing any information on public reviews, consultations and investigations on gov.uk, although there will always be internal work in government departments which we would not ordinarily or routinely publish.
The Governance Code on Public Appointments sets out the process and principles that underpin all public appointments made to bodies listed in the Public Appointments Order in Council. It sets out that, in exceptional cases, Ministers may decide to appoint a candidate without a competition, although they must make this decision public and must consult the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Ministers across government departments are responsible for ensuring that their appointments are made in accordance with the Governance Code or the appropriate framework.
Growth is the number one mission of the government. We have taken action including: progressing planning reforms; boosting capital investment by over £100 billion over the next five years; creating the National Wealth Fund; publishing the Corporate Tax Roadmap; announcing the Business Growth Service; and setting out pension reform proposals to unlock new investment.
Our modern Industrial Strategy will be unreservedly pro-business, and our Green Paper set out our vision for a credible, 10-year plan to deliver the certainty and stability businesses need to invest across the UK. We are engaging widely, and have appointed a diverse group of the UK’s top business leaders, policy experts and trade union leaders to the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council to drive this forward.
The Government is committed to strengthening protection from harmful gambling. We are acutely aware of the impact harmful gambling can have on individuals and their families. We are committed to reviewing the best available evidence from a wide range of sources and working with all stakeholders in order to support the industry and ensure there are robust protections in place to protect those at risk. We will provide further updates to the House soon.
The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport wrote to Gordon Lyons MLA, the Northern Ireland Minister for Communities, on Friday 13 September to update him on the funding of Casement Park for EURO 2028. The letter (which is published on gov.uk and a copy of which I will place in the Library of both Houses) states that they have, regrettably, decided that it is not appropriate for the UK Government to provide funding to seek to build Casement Park in time to host matches at EURO 2028 based on unreasonable cost and high delivery risk.
The Government will seek engagement with Northern Ireland partners, including the Gaelic Athletic Association, in the coming weeks, to discuss this decision in more detail as well as seeking views on the appropriate way forward for Casement Park.
This government is committed to ending the VAT exemption that private schools enjoy. While the impact of this policy is being fully considered, projections by the Institute for Fiscal Studies indicate that the number of pupils who may switch schools as a result of these changes is likely to represent a very small proportion of overall pupil numbers in the state sector, less than 0.5%, with any displacement expected to take place over several years. This research is available here and as attached: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/tax-private-school-fees-and-state-school-spending.
The number of children in private schools has remained steady despite a 20% real terms increase in average private school fees since 2010 and a 55% rise since 2003, illustrating the sector’s adaptability. While the department cannot predict closures, the department will use indicators such as occupancy to monitor this.
The Government is backing British farming. We are prioritising investment that supports the Government’s Plan for Change and building on the Secretary of State’s work to reform Defra to drive growth while maintaining a steadfast commitment to farming, food security, and nature’s recovery.
We are, in fact, increasing the budget for sustainable farming and are investing more than £2.7 million a year in farming and nature recovery. Funding for the Environmental Land Management Schemes paid to farmers will increase by 150% from £800 million in 23/24 to £2 billion by 28/29. Overall farmers and land managers will benefit from an average of £2.3 billion a year through the Farming and Countryside Programme, and up to £400 million from additional nature schemes, including those for tree planting and our peatlands.
We actively engage with representatives from the farming industry through regular meetings and discussions, ensuring we listen to their views, understand their concerns, and take their feedback into account. The reforms to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will mean three quarters of estates will continue to pay no inheritance tax at all, while the remaining quarter will pay half the inheritance tax that most people pay, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free. We are also investing £5 billion into farming over the next two years, the largest amount for sustainable food production in our country’s history, and are going further with reforms to boost profits for farmers by backing British produce and reforming planning rules on farms to support food production.
The Government is honouring our commitment to the Triple Lock with a 4.1 per cent increase to the basic State Pension, the new State Pension, and to the standard minimum guarantee in Pension Credit. As such, according to the latest OBR projections, the full yearly rate of the new State Pension is forecast to increase by around £1,900 over the course of this parliament whilst the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension is forecast to increase by around £1,500.
We know there are low-income pensioners who aren’t claiming Pension Credit, and we are urging pensioners to come forward and check their eligibility for Pension Credit to ensure as many people in need as possible have access to this support. This will passport them to receive Winter Fuel Payment alongside other benefits – hundreds of pounds that could really help them.
Low-income pensioners and others struggling with the cost of living should contact their local council to see what support may be available to them, as they may be able to receive support from the Household Support Fund, Council Tax Reduction, or through energy support programmes such as the Homes Upgrade Grant and Energy Company Obligation.
The Department publishes quarterly statistics on benefit combinations on Stat-Xplore, which include those claiming incapacity benefits, where an individual claims one or more of Universal Credit (Health Journey), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Incapacity Benefit (IB), Severe Disablement Allowance (DSA), and Income Support (Incapacity Based) (IS(IB)).
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes mid-year population estimates for England and Wales, and Scotland.
The administration of Incapacity benefits in Northern Ireland is devolved to the Department for Communities.
The extracted statistics and the calculated estimated percentage of the total population on incapacity benefits in February 2024 are shown in the following table.
Number of individuals claiming incapacity benefits, February 2024, mid-year population estimates for England and Wales mid-2023 and Scotland mid-2022, estimated percentage of the population on incapacity benefits, February 2024.
Regions | Claimants on incapacity benefits | Mid-year Population Estimates | Estimated percentage of the total population on incapacity benefits |
North East | 186,734 | 2,711,380 | 6.9% |
North West | 474,790 | 7,600,126 | 6.2% |
Yorkshire and The Humber | 318,191 | 5,594,125 | 5.7% |
East Midlands | 244,835 | 4,991,265 | 4.9% |
West Midlands | 319,138 | 6,085,687 | 5.2% |
East of England | 260,988 | 6,468,665 | 4.0% |
London | 404,646 | 8,945,309 | 4.5% |
South East | 340,698 | 9,482,507 | 3.6% |
South West | 262,208 | 5,811,259 | 4.5% |
Wales | 218,571 | 3,164,404 | 6.9% |
Scotland | 364,308 | 5,447,700 | 6.7% |
Source: Stat-Xplore, ONS Population Estimates
Note:
Winter Fuel Payments will continue to be paid to pensioner households with someone receiving Pension Credit or certain other income-related benefits. They will continue to be worth £200 for eligible households, or £300 for eligible households with someone aged 80 and over.
Immediate support for pensioners includes our commitment to the Triple Lock, with over 12 million pensioners set to benefit through the course of this parliament, with the full yearly rate of the new State Pensions forecast to increase by around £1700.
We know there are low-income pensioners who aren’t claiming Pension Credit, and we urge those people to apply. This will passport them to receive Winter Fuel Payment alongside other benefits – hundreds of pounds that could really help them. The government will work with external partners and local authorities to boost the uptake of Pension Credit and to target additional support to the poorest pensioners. We will ensure that the poorest pensioners get the support they need.
We are also providing support for pensioners through our Warm Homes Plan which will support investment in insulation and low carbon heating – upgrading millions of homes over this Parliament. Our long-term plan will protect billpayers permanently, reduce fuel poverty, and get the UK back on track to meet our climate goals.
The Household Support Fund is also being extended for a further six months, from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An additional £421 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF in England, plus funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion, as usual.
The Warm Home Discount scheme in England and Wales provides eligible low-income households across Great Britain with a £150 rebate on their electricity bill. This winter, we expect over three million households, including over one million pensioners, to benefit under the scheme.
Over the past two years, energy bills have fallen. Between 1 October to 31 December 2024 Ofgem’s energy price cap is set at £1717 per year for a typical household. This means the price cap for October to December 2024 will be more than 5% lower (£117 less) than for October to December 2023.
Our other steps include cutting waiting times in the NHS which will help many pensioners currently waiting in pain and discomfort for treatment, and delivering the economic stability which is so crucial for pensioners.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) continually monitors the safety of all medicines, including weight loss drugs, such as Wegovy (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide), which belong to a group of medicines known as the GLP-1 receptor agonists.
Patient safety is our top priority and no medicine would be approved unless it met our expected standards of safety, quality, and effectiveness. We have robust safety monitoring and surveillance systems in place, and when a safety issue is confirmed, we always act promptly to inform patients and healthcare professionals, and take appropriate steps to mitigate any identified risk.
Importantly, these medicines have been assessed to be safe and effective when used for their licensed indications. This means that if patients have been properly prescribed this by a healthcare professional following a consultation for a medical condition that these medicines are approved to treat, then they should be reassured that the benefits will outweigh risks of taking them.
Like all medicines, GLP-1 receptor agonists can cause side effects. All known side effects for these medicines, including serious side effects, are made publicly available through the Product Information. This is issued at the time of licensing, and is updated as any new side effects are identified. This includes the Summary of Product Characteristics, which is intended for healthcare professionals, and the Patient Information Leaflet, which is provided to patients. These documents are published on the products section of the MHRA website.
In addition, members of the public and healthcare professionals can access anonymised data on suspected side effects reported to the Yellow Card scheme via the interactive Drug Analysis Profiles platform. This ensures full transparency and enables anyone to view the types and numbers of suspected adverse reactions reported for a particular medicine.
Some of the most common side effects are gastrointestinal effects, such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea. These side effects were observed in clinical trials and make up the majority of Yellow Card reports we receive. Most side effects are mild to moderate in severity or short in duration, but in some cases, they may lead to complications, such as severe dehydration resulting in the need to go to hospital for treatment.
Although infrequent, inflammation of the pancreas, known as acute pancreatitis, has also been reported. This can be serious. The main symptom is severe pain in the stomach that radiates to the back and does not go away. Anyone who experiences this should seek immediate medical help and report the reaction to the MHRA’s Yellow Card scheme.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency publishes data on the number of students qualifying from higher education courses in the United Kingdom, and this includes information on a broad ranges of undergraduate nursing courses. The published data is not detailed enough to allow for the reliable identification of all students completing courses which specifically lead to registered nursing status.
As a proxy for the number of students completing nursing courses each year, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) publish information on the number of UK trained nurses joining their register for the first time, who are resident in England.
The following table shows the number of UK trained nurses joining the NMC register in England for the first time by financial year:
Financial year | Number of UK qualified registered nurses joining the NMC register for the first time |
2022/23 | 16,420 |
2023/24 | 18,478 |
2024/25 | 19,670 |
Source: Nursing and Midwifery Council, March 2025 Annual Data Report.
Existing criminal offences relating to foetuses are contained in the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929. The Government has no plans to change these.
We have committed to tackling suicide, as one of the biggest killers in this country. As part of this, the 8,500 new mental health staff we will recruit will be specially trained to support people at risk, to reduce the lives lost to suicide.
The Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, published in September 2023, identifies a number of groups for tailored or targeted action at a national level, and we are exploring opportunities to go further.
79 organisations have been allocated funding between 2023 and 2025, through the £10 million Suicide Prevention Grant Fund, and are delivering a broad and diverse range of activities that will prevent suicides and save lives.
The Department commissioned four reviews on Lyme disease, published by the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information group in December 2017. These reviews were undertaken alongside reviews conducted by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, who developed definitive advice on the treatment, testing, and diagnosis of Lyme disease in April 2018.
If recognised promptly and treated with a full course of appropriate antibiotics, acute Lyme disease will usually resolve without further complications. Further information on the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease is available on the GOV.UK website.
The biggest investment in a generation for hospices has been announced by the Government, ensuring that hospices can continue to deliver the highest quality end of life care possible for their patients, families, and loved ones.
This was through a £100 million boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care, and £26 million of revenue to support children and young people’s hospices. Further details of the funding allocation and dissemination will be set out this year.
To support local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.
We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget. The employer National Insurance contribution rise will be implemented April 2025, and the Department will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year in due course, including through planning guidance.
We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at Autumn Budget, and this enabled the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26. The employer National Insurance rise will be implemented in April 2025, and the Department will set out further details on the allocation of funding for next year at the earliest opportunity, including through NHS Planning Guidance, and the usual consultations.
As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future and that is there when people need it, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across child and adult mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on busy mental health services. We will also introduce access to a specialist mental health professional in every school in England, and roll out Young Futures hubs in every community.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has made clear his commitment to ongoing engagement and collaboration with the devolved governments. The next Health and Social Care Interministerial Group is scheduled for 11 December 2024.
In addition, officials have established a regular Four Nations Meeting on mental health reform, in which the Mental Health Bill’s measures and potential implications for the devolved administrations are discussed.
Ministers meet regularly with NHS England’s Chief Executive and other senior representatives to discuss a wide range of issues. The communication circulated by the Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust requesting that staff did not attend the antisemitism awareness training does not represent the corporate view of the trust. The communication has been rescinded and an apology issued by the trust’s Chief Executive.
NHS England provides funding for antisemitism training, alongside training on islamophobia, across the National Health Service. Employers are expected to encourage their staff to attend these training events.
We condemn Russia's barbaric assault against Ukraine's civilian population. The Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights reports that at least 13,341 civilians have been killed since February 2022. We have been clear that Russia's delaying of peace process to stop the bloodshed will only strengthen our resolve to help Ukraine to defend itself and use our sanctions to restrict Putin's war machine. Our latest sanctions of 17 June impact across Russia's financial, military and energy sectors.
The UK holds Russia accountable for the treatment of any prisoner in their custody. Members of the Ukrainian armed forces who are captured by Russia are entitled to Prisoner of War status and must be provided all the rights and protections afforded to them in accordance with the Geneva Convention. We condemn the exploitation of Prisoners of War for political and propaganda purposes. We regularly use our public communications and statements, including at the UN and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, to draw attention to Russia's treatment of Ukrainian Prisoners of War, calling on Russia to comply with international humanitarian law and demanding accountability.
The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary look forward to working with President Trump and the new Administration, to continue our shared mission to ensure the prosperity and security of our two great nations. The Prime Minister spoke to President Trump on 26 January and congratulated him on his inauguration. The two leaders stressed the importance of the close and warm ties between the UK and the US and agreed to meet in-person in the near future. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Secretary Rubio on 27 January. They both welcomed the opportunity for the UK and the US to work together to address shared challenges, including the situation in the Middle East, Russia's illegal war in Ukraine, the challenges posed by China and the need for Indo-Pacific security. The pair said they looked forward to working together and to meeting in person soon.
Taxpayers are not always required to inform HM Revenue and Customs when they leave the UK. Some taxpayers outside of Self Assessment might file a P85 form after leaving the UK, but only where they are seeking to claim a repayment of income tax.
Taxpayers in Self Assessment can indicate that they have become non-resident after leaving the UK, but tax returns for the 2024 to 2025 and the 2025 to 2026 tax years are not due to be received by HMRC until 31 January of 2026 and 2027 respectively.
HMRC does not produce statistics on high-net-worth individuals, but does, however, produce statistics on a subset of these individuals in the Non-domiciled taxpayers in the UK statistical release.[1]
[1] The latest release of the Non-domiciled taxpayers in the UK statistics can be found here for the 2022/23 tax year: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-non-domiciled-taxpayers-in-the-uk/statistical-commentary-on-non-domiciled-taxpayers-in-the-uk--2
There will be implementation costs associated with the UK-EU reset agreement, which will be confirmed in due course once we have negotiated the details of the agreement. This will include proportionate contributions in specific and limited areas, such as where access to specific IT systems will help to remove trade barriers for UK firms or manage biosecurity risks. The UK will also negotiate fair financial contributions to the Erasmus+ programme which will reflect the benefits of participation. We will not be making general contributions to the EU budget.
The reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean 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 compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free.
Information from claims is not recorded to enable regional or national breakdowns of the number of estates expected to be affected. However, the Government has set out that the reforms are expected to result in up to around 520 estates across the UK claiming agricultural property relief paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. 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 the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.
The Government’s decisions at Autumn Budget 2024 provided £5 billion over two years for farming and land management in England, which will restore stability and confidence in the sector, strengthening food security alongside nature’s recovery. This is the largest ever budget directed at sustainable food production and nature’s recovery in our country’s history.
On 9 December the Chancellor visited Brussels to attend Eurogroup, a meeting of Eurozone finance ministers, discussing the mutual economic benefit of the Government's EU Reset. The full speech can be found on gov.uk.
The Government is committed to the Windsor Framework and to protecting the UK internal market. The UK Internal Market Scheme already enables businesses to move goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland without being subject to customs duties. Additional changes will be introduced in the coming months which will further simplify the movement of goods for businesses.
Information on how many estates in Northern Ireland will be affected by the changes is not centrally held.
The Government has published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-are-the-changes-to-agricultural-property-relief(opens in a new tab).
In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.
The government will provide further information on its plans for the British ISA in due course.
By its very nature, it is not possible to know the exact size of the illegal migrant population in the UK, and so the Home Office under successive governments has not been able to publish any official estimates of that population.
The government is pursing a strategic shift in Border Security, focusing on long-term systemic improvements, smarter, intelligence-led interventions and stronger partnerships across agencies and with countries upstream to target the criminal gangs behind small boat crossings.
The Border Security Command, created in July 2024, and is leading the national response to prevent small boats crossing the English Channel. The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will give it statutory authority to coordinate across government and law enforcement.
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill will also enhance powers for the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement, and police, enable earlier intervention in smuggling operations and improve the ability to detect, prevent, and prosecute smugglers.
According to the latest official data, published on 22 May 2025, there were 32,345 individuals staying in hotel accommodation as of 31 March 2025.
The current number of hotels in use is lower than it was at the time of the election, and significantly lower than the peak of 400 in use in autumn 2023.
Halving knife crime over the next decade is a key part of the Government's Safer Streets mission and we are taking a range of steps to realise this ambition and keep young people safe.
We have already implemented the ban on zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes approved by Parliament in April. The ban came in to force on 24 September 2024 and it is now illegal to sell or own these weapons. We are now going further, and on 13 November we launched a consultation on a ban of ninja swords, which has recently concluded.
We also know that more needs to be done to tackle the sale of knives online which is why last October, the Home Secretary commissioned Commander Stephen Clayman, as the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for knife crime, to carry out a full review into the online sale and delivery of knives. The report was received at the end of January and will be published imminently, but as a first step the Home Secretary has announced that the Government intends to strengthen age verification controls and checks for all online sellers of knives at the point of purchase and on delivery, to prevent lethal blades from ending up in the wrong hands.
We have set up a Knife-Enabled Robbery Taskforce, which brings together Ministers, Chief Constables and others working across criminal justice to take immediate action to tackle the fastest rising type of knife crime.
And finally, we have also created a new Young Futures programme, which will include the establishment of Young Futures Prevention Partnerships across England and Wales, bringing partners together to intervene earlier to stop young people being drawn into crime. It is vital we have a system that can identify and support those young people who need it most.
These are just some of the first steps we are taking to tackle the scourge of serious youth violence on our streets.
From 5 July 2024 until 17 October 2024, a total of 13,983 migrants arrived in the UK having crossed the Channel in small boats. Between 5 February 2024 (five months before the election) and 4 July, the total was 12,239.
It has been the normal pattern since the start of the small boat crossing in 2018 for arrivals in the summer months to exceed those in the earlier part of the year.
The table below provides the equivalent figures for the same time periods in prior years.
Year | Arrivals 5 Feb – 4 July | Arrivals 5 July – 17 October |
2023 | 10,035 | 14,683 |
2022 | 11,561 | 24,199 |
2021 | 6,370 | 12,686 |
2020 | 2,399 | 4,802 |
2019 | 547 | 784 |
2018 | 4 | 17 |
Making sure that Jews in Britain are not only safe, but also feel safe, is one of our top priorities. We are particularly concerned about the steep increase in antisemitism we have seen since the abhorrent 7 October attacks. There is no excuse for violence or abuse driven by antisemitic hatred and discrimination, and we support the police in taking the strongest possible action against those crimes.
The Government is committed to protecting the safety of the Jews in the UK and making our streets and communities safer. That is why funding of £72 million has been allocated for the Community Security Trust to continue their vital work from 2024/25 until 2027/28, providing security to schools, synagogues and other Jewish community buildings.
From 2024/25 to 2027/28, the Community Security Trust has been allocated £18 million annually through the JCPS Grant to continue this important work. We continue to work closely with the CST to ensure the safety and security of Jewish communities across the UK.
The Government recently established an Antisemitism Working Group to provide advice to it on antisemitism, the domestic effect for antisemitism of international, national and local events, and on the most effective methods to tackle it.
The Government also works closely with the Independent Adviser on Antisemitism to provide independent advice to the Secretary of State on the most effective methods to tackle antisemitism and to ensure that the Jewish community’s concerns about antisemitism are heard and acted upon. We also work with the police to regularly review potential threats and ensure that everything is done to protect communities from hate crime.
An independent Inspector held a public inquiry which heard a range of evidence for and against the proposals in question. Decisions on planning applications are based on material planning considerations. It would not be appropriate to comment further.
As of 30 June 2024, 123,100 households were in temporary accommodation, which is an increase of 16.3% from 30 June 2023. This is the highest on record.
The annual snapshot statistics remain our official and most robust measure of rough sleeping on a single night. The number of people estimated to be sleeping rough on a single night in autumn 2023 was 3,898 – a 27% increase on autumn 2022 and a rise for the second year in a row.
Local Authorities are required to publish homelessness data each quarter. The most recent figures for Q2 2024 are available below using tab TA1:
The most recent rough sleeping snapshot in England was published in February 2024 and covers Autumn 2023. This can be accessed by using the link below:
Planning is a devolved matter and the information provided relates to England only.
The National Planning Policy Framework makes clear that substantial weight should be given to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements, including bringing back into residential use empty homes and the development of under-utilised land and buildings to meet the need for homes and other uses.
Changes we made to the National Planning Policy Framework in December 2024 broadened the definition of brownfield land, set a strengthened expectation that applications on brownfield land will be approved, and made clear that plans should promote an uplift in density in urban areas.
On 22 September 2024, we published a ‘brownfield passport’ policy paper inviting views on how we might further prioritise and fast-track building on previously used urban land.
The Government believe it is right that those social tenants who have lived in their homes for many years retain the right to purchase their property at a reasonable discount. As such, we will not be ending the Right to Buy scheme.
We are, however, committed to better protecting our existing stock of social rented homes and are currently reviewing the increased right to buy discounts introduced in 2012. We will bring forward secondary legislation to implement changes in the Autumn.
We also intend to review Right to Buy more widely, including looking at eligibility criteria and protections for newly-built social housing. A consultation of these wider changes will be brought forward in the Autumn.
The Government does not intend to expand the temporal scope of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery. Criminal matters relating to conduct which took place in Northern Ireland after 10 April 1998 remain the responsibility of the PSNI.
The Omagh bombing is the subject of an independent inquiry established by the UK Government, chaired by Lord Turnbull. The Memorandum of Understanding between the Irish Government and the Inquiry on cross-jurisdictional information sharing, and the Irish Government’s commitment to facilitate the giving of oral evidence, are important steps.
The Government continues to work intensively with the Irish Government to reach an agreement on a joint-approach to legacy and information sharing, which is vital if we are to achieve better outcomes for victims and survivors.
The Government is committed to the Windsor Framework and to protecting the UK internal market. In accordance with the law, the Government last month initiated the consent vote process in the Northern Ireland Assembly so that it may make its democratic decision on the continued application of Articles 5-10 of the Windsor Framework. The outcome of that vote is a matter for MLAs to decide.