Lord Rogan

The Post Office interim Chair, Nigel Railton, recently-announced a transformation plan, which aims to put the Post Office on a more stable financial footing for the future, including by reducing costs, and to increase Postmaster remuneration. The details of Nigel Railton’s transformation plan are being examined by my Department, and the plan is subject to Government funding and outcomes of the upcoming Spending Review. The Post Office will continue to deliver on the 11,500 minimum branch requirement and geographical access criteria set by Government.

No decisions regarding Crown, or ‘Directly Managed’ Branches, including those in Northern Ireland, have been taken. The Post Office has been clear however that it’s their ambition to operate the network on a fully franchised basis in time as this is a more sustainable model.

Subsea telecoms cables are privately owned and operated. The cost of cable maintenance and repair is shared by companies contracting into zonal maintenance agreements to ensure a commercial repair vessel is on permanent standby. For cables serving the UK this is provided by the Atlantic Cable Maintenance Agreement. Companies pay an annual stipend for the repair service under this agreement, with the amount paid based on the length of the cables they own. When they require a repair, they will also pay to cover the cost of the ship for the duration of the repair.

The number of electric vehicle public charging devices installed in each of the past five years is not available. However, the Department does hold data on the total size of the public network.

While the number of devices over time is not equivalent to the number of installations, since some devices will be decommissioned in any given year, it can be used to show growth of the charging network and this is given in the table below.

There were 73,334 public charging devices in the UK on 1^st Jan 2025; this was 19,657 higher than 1^st Jan 2024.

The Department for Transport does not hold a specific forecast of the number of charging devices to be installed in each year. But based on the observed growth rate we are confident that the UK is on track to meeting a projected demand of at least 300,000 devices in 2030, as echoed by the recently published National Audit Office (NAO) report. This will be supported by government investment, including the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund which is estimated to deliver at least 100,000 chargepoints.

This Government takes road safety very seriously and reducing those killed and injured on our roads is a key priority.

The Department is looking to better understand the safety of e-scooters. That is why we have extended the rental e-scooter trials for a further two years, to 31 May 2026, and commissioned a second national evaluation of the trials to expand the evidence base on e-scooter safety.

We are carefully considering how micromobility can help to deliver our transport objectives safely, including the possibility of legislation on e-scooters. The Government will consult before making any legislative changes and will consider the full range of evidence on e-scooter safety, including road safety statistics.

We recognise the importance of maintaining a thriving and competitive aviation sector in the UK that supports Union connectivity. The UK aviation market operates predominantly in the private sector, and it is for airports to invest in their infrastructure and airlines to determine the routes they operate.

Northern Ireland is well served by airlines operating routes to Great Britain.

Airlines including Aer Lingus, British Airways, easyJet, Loganair and Ryanair operate routes from Northern Ireland to several cities across Great Britain.

Department officials have regular discussions with colleagues in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) about a range of issues, including access to new treatments for a range of diseases and conditions.

Amivantamab was granted a conditional marketing authorisation by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for the treatment of adults with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer with activating EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations, after failure of platinum-based therapy, in November 2021.

The NICE makes evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new, licensed medicines should be routinely funded by the NHS, based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. The NICE was unable to recommend amivantamab as a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources for treating EGFR exon 20 insertion mutation-positive advanced non-small-cell lung cancer after platinum-based chemotherapy in final guidance published in December 2022.

The NICE is planning to appraise amivantamab with lazertinib for untreated EGFR mutation-positive advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and amivantamab with carboplatin and pemetrexed for untreated EGFR exon 20 insertion mutation-positive advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, subject to a licence being granted for these indications. The NICE is expected to publish final guidance on both next year.

The UK, as a Guarantor Power and a friend to all parties, will continue to support UN efforts to create an enduring settlement on the Cyprus issue. The Prime Minister met President Christodoulides to discuss a wide range of issues across our bilateral relationship. During the Prime Minister's visit, senior officials met Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot negotiators to encourage both sides to engage constructively with the UN-led process on Settlement. We do not recognise the so-called "TRNC" but will continue to work with all Cypriots including Turkish Cypriots and their representatives as part of the UN process.

The government is taking a consistent, long term and strategic approach to managing the UK’s relations with China, rooted in UK. This means cooperating where we can, competing where we need to, and challenging where we must.

The Chancellor’s visit to China for the 2025 UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue was consistent with this approach and was the UK’s first substantive engagement with China on nationally important economic and financial issues in five years. The Chancellor was accompanied by a small delegation as we looked to re-open dialogue and respectfully yet robustly strengthen our lines of communication.

The Chancellor took questions from journalists from UK and international media organisations while she was in Beijing and representatives of the government of China were aware of these plans before the fact.

The government published a press statement about the Chancellor’s visit on Saturday 11 January. [1.]

1 - UK Government, 11 January 2025. Chancellor marks £600m of secure growth for UK economy in Beijing. [Available from: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/chancellor-marks-600m-of-secure-growth-for-uk-economy-in-beijing]

The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at GOV.UK.

It is expected that up to around 2,000 estates will be affected by the changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR). Up to around 520 of these are expected to relate to claims for APR (including those that also claim for BPR), and this number falls to around 430 when claims that include AIM shares are excluded. 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.

In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

HMG continue to engage with the Irish Football Authority (IFA) through the normal channels and as required.

Where a member of the Belarusian National Football team requires a visa to enter the UK they will be required to submit an online application, pay a fee and then submit their biometrics at a UKVI Visa Application Centre as is the standard approach for all UK visa customers.

The successful delivery of the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ship programme remains a priority. Ministry of Defence Ministers and officials have regular meetings with Navantia UK as prime contractor, on a range of matters, including extensive engagement to understand what steps the company is taking to ensure delivery of the FSS contract and management of its supply chain.

Harland and Wolff is a subcontractor to Navantia UK and following a review of their financial situation, the Government is clear that the market is best placed to address the challenges the company is facing. We continue to work extensively with all parties to find an outcome for the company that continues to deliver shipbuilding and manufacturing in the UK.

A small number of operations have already been considered and confirmed as eligible for the Wider Service Medal. Work is ongoing to consider the eligibility of a large number of other operations, which is likely to include operational activity in Northern Ireland. This is expected to be completed by autumn 2024 when the details of all operations that have been approved for the medal will be published.

The government has inherited an extremely difficult fiscal environment and has a responsibility to fix the foundations of our economy, to ensure economic stability.

The department will set out further details on next steps and confirmation of the revised timelines in due course.