Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to prevent the 100,000 additional pensioners moving into poverty as a result of changes to winter fuel payments.

Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

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.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the National Farmers Union prior to or since the changes to inheritance tax announced in the Autumn Budget in relation to family farms.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government takes into account all representations made ahead of the Budget, and meets with stakeholders on a regular basis.

The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.

Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) each year are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to employer national insurance contributions on health and social care providers.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

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.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many family farms in Northern Ireland will be affected by the changes to inheritance tax announced in the Autumn Budget.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

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.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether the Chancellor of Exchequer has made representations to the European Union to remove trade barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland during her recent visit to Brussels.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

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.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many people they estimate are homeless each night in each region of the United Kingdom, and whether that number is increasing or decreasing.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

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:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statutory-homelessness-in-england-april-to-june-2024/statutory-homelessness-in-england-april-to-june-2024

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:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/rough-sleeping-snapshot-in-england-autumn-2023/rough-sleeping-snapshot-in-england-autumn-2023

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure brownfield land as well as empty, derelict houses and commercial buildings are used first to solve the housing crisis and protect the green belt.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

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.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to revive business confidence across the United Kingdom after the budget.

Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that there will be no cuts to the other parts of the health budget to pay for assisted dying if it is legalised in the UK.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As per long-standing convention, the Prime Minister has set aside collective responsibility on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life Care) Bill, so the Government will remain neutral on the passage of the bill. As with all bills, there are multiple stages for it to go through before it can become law, and this continues to be a matter for Parliament.

If the will of Parliament is that the law on assisting dying should change, the Government would work to ensure that the law is implemented in the way that Parliament intends and that is legally effective.

Autumn Budget 2024 set budgets for this year and the next financial year. Funding for future years and future decisions across the health budget will be decided through the normal spending review process.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to protect the services of hospices and private care homes in the light of the increase in National Insurance contributions and other increased costs in the budget.

Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

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.