Baroness Seccombe

Whilst we are not considering further restrictions on newly qualified drivers, such as carrying passengers or driving at night, we are consulting on a Minimum Learning Period before learner drivers can take their practical driving test in England, Scotland and Wales. This would allow learners more time to gain essential experience, for example in different weather conditions, before driving independently and reduce the risk to themselves and other drivers.

We are also consulting on a lower drink drive limit for newly qualified drivers with the intention of reducing collisions amongst this group.

My officials meet regularly with their counterparts in the Devolved Authorities, including those in Northern Ireland.

The government does not have any current plans to amend the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995.

The Defence Investment Plan confirmed that of the £15 billion uplift to defence spending over the next four years, £10.3 billion is funded by reprioritising public spending from other departments.

The remaining £4.7 billion of funding will be confirmed at Autumn Budget 2026 in a fair and balanced way.

To fund the £10.3 billion already committed, departments have been asked to contribute 1p in every £1 of their capital budgets from this year. As departments with larger capital budgets, the Department for Transport (DfT) and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) have been asked to make further contributions.

DfT will provide savings of up to £700m from its roads funding, and will explore limited reductions to as-yet uncommitted roads funding.

DESNZ will find an additional £2 billion in savings - including £400m Financial Transactions – while maintaining the fastest-growing capital budget out of any department across this spending review period. They will reshape their capital budget in a way which continues to protect the clean power mission, drive renewable and nuclear build-out and insulate us from future gas price spikes on the path to energy independence.

Further detail will be set out at the Autumn Budget.

The consultation for the earned settlement model, as proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, was open to the public between 20 November 2025 and 12 February 2026.

We received over 200,000 responses from the public and organisations are now reviewing and analysing all responses received. This analysis will help inform the development of the final earned settlement model which will be decided by the Home Secretary.

Once the final model has been decided, the Government will communicate the outcome publicly.  As with all significant policy changes, the proposals will be subject to both economic and equality impact assessments.

The Immigration and Asylum Bill introduced the principle that, where a person has received taxpayer-funded asylum support and later becomes financially able to contribute towards those costs, it is right and fair that they should do so.

The Government considers the impacts of different policy options as part of policy development. The Government published an Impact Assessment and an Equality Impact Assessment alongside the Immigration and Asylum Bill, which include the assessments of introducing a requirement for individuals who have received asylum support to contribute towards its cost when financially able to do so.

The Home Secretary has announced the Government’s intention to amend the Immigration and Asylum Bill to introduce a new provision which would disapply the exemption from deportation for Commonwealth and Irish citizens in section 7 of the Immigration Act 1971.

The Government is considering whether further amendments are necessary to support the overall intentions of the Bill, including if further provisions are needed. These will be announced in the usual way.

An Impact Assessment (IA) was produced and included an assessment of both monetised and non-monetised costs and benefits that might be associated with the Immigration and Asylum Bill. The IA is available at:
Impact Assessment: Immigration and Asylum Bill