Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with representative groups of the Windrush generation on the compensation process.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Last year, the Government reiterated its renewed commitment to ensuring everyone who was affected by the Home Office Windrush scandal receives every penny of the compensation to which they are entitled at the earliest point possible and members of the Windrush generation receive the support they deserve swiftly and with dignity. The Scheme has since taken forward several actions to honour that commitment.

The Home Office continues to listen and respond to feedback from affected communities and stakeholders to ensure that the Scheme is operating effectively for those affected. The changes made to the Scheme in December 2020, August 2022 and October 2025, mean people receive significantly more money more quickly. We have significantly accelerated our claims processing and continue to reduce waiting times. Our ongoing improvements are aimed at ensuring claimants receive timely outcomes. These significant and positive policy changes were made following consultation with claimants and stakeholders. Detailed information on the changes was shared in the Written Ministerial Statement by Lord Hanson, published on 27 October 2025.

Information on the progress made by the Windrush Compensation Scheme is published as part of the monthly Transparency Data release. The latest published data, covering the period up to the end of September 2025, is available here: Windrush Compensation Scheme data: September 2025 - GOV.UK

Since announcing the Government’s commitment to deliver on its manifesto promises to the Windrush Generations in October 2024, Ministers have also been determined to hear directly from impacted communities and individuals. Reverend Clive Foster MBE was appointed as the first UK Windrush Commissioner on 18 June 2025, fulfilling a manifesto commitment. His crucial role ensures that the voices of those affected remain at the heart of efforts to deliver justice and lasting change. Furthermore, over the past 12 months, the Windrush Compensation Scheme has attended over 95 engagement events, including the Windrush National Organisation Conference, to promote awareness of the scheme. The Home Office has also worked closely with organisations through the Windrush Compensation Advocacy Support Fund to improve access to advocacy and support for claimants. Home Office Ministers have held one to one meetings, attended Windrush events and exhibits, and on three occasions the Home Office has opened its doors to host Windrush events.

All staff undertake a training programme which includes a module providing a history of Windrush and what happened prior to the launch of the Compensation Scheme. It includes clips of people from the Windrush generation, as well as case studies, to provide insights into the way people have been affected. Once staff have completed this programme, they follow a structured mentoring programme which further develops Decision Makers’ skills and knowledge.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria her Department has used as a basis for its assessment of the effectiveness changes to the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Last year, the Government reiterated its renewed commitment to ensuring everyone who was affected by the Home Office Windrush scandal receives every penny of the compensation to which they are entitled at the earliest point possible and members of the Windrush generation receive the support they deserve swiftly and with dignity. The Scheme has since taken forward several actions to honour that commitment.

The Home Office continues to listen and respond to feedback from affected communities and stakeholders to ensure that the Scheme is operating effectively for those affected. The changes made to the Scheme in December 2020, August 2022 and October 2025, mean people receive significantly more money more quickly. We have significantly accelerated our claims processing and continue to reduce waiting times. Our ongoing improvements are aimed at ensuring claimants receive timely outcomes. These significant and positive policy changes were made following consultation with claimants and stakeholders. Detailed information on the changes was shared in the Written Ministerial Statement by Lord Hanson, published on 27 October 2025.

Information on the progress made by the Windrush Compensation Scheme is published as part of the monthly Transparency Data release. The latest published data, covering the period up to the end of September 2025, is available here: Windrush Compensation Scheme data: September 2025 - GOV.UK

Since announcing the Government’s commitment to deliver on its manifesto promises to the Windrush Generations in October 2024, Ministers have also been determined to hear directly from impacted communities and individuals. Reverend Clive Foster MBE was appointed as the first UK Windrush Commissioner on 18 June 2025, fulfilling a manifesto commitment. His crucial role ensures that the voices of those affected remain at the heart of efforts to deliver justice and lasting change. Furthermore, over the past 12 months, the Windrush Compensation Scheme has attended over 95 engagement events, including the Windrush National Organisation Conference, to promote awareness of the scheme. The Home Office has also worked closely with organisations through the Windrush Compensation Advocacy Support Fund to improve access to advocacy and support for claimants. Home Office Ministers have held one to one meetings, attended Windrush events and exhibits, and on three occasions the Home Office has opened its doors to host Windrush events.

All staff undertake a training programme which includes a module providing a history of Windrush and what happened prior to the launch of the Compensation Scheme. It includes clips of people from the Windrush generation, as well as case studies, to provide insights into the way people have been affected. Once staff have completed this programme, they follow a structured mentoring programme which further develops Decision Makers’ skills and knowledge.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent training has been provided to staff administering the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Last year, the Government reiterated its renewed commitment to ensuring everyone who was affected by the Home Office Windrush scandal receives every penny of the compensation to which they are entitled at the earliest point possible and members of the Windrush generation receive the support they deserve swiftly and with dignity. The Scheme has since taken forward several actions to honour that commitment.

The Home Office continues to listen and respond to feedback from affected communities and stakeholders to ensure that the Scheme is operating effectively for those affected. The changes made to the Scheme in December 2020, August 2022 and October 2025, mean people receive significantly more money more quickly. We have significantly accelerated our claims processing and continue to reduce waiting times. Our ongoing improvements are aimed at ensuring claimants receive timely outcomes. These significant and positive policy changes were made following consultation with claimants and stakeholders. Detailed information on the changes was shared in the Written Ministerial Statement by Lord Hanson, published on 27 October 2025.

Information on the progress made by the Windrush Compensation Scheme is published as part of the monthly Transparency Data release. The latest published data, covering the period up to the end of September 2025, is available here: Windrush Compensation Scheme data: September 2025 - GOV.UK

Since announcing the Government’s commitment to deliver on its manifesto promises to the Windrush Generations in October 2024, Ministers have also been determined to hear directly from impacted communities and individuals. Reverend Clive Foster MBE was appointed as the first UK Windrush Commissioner on 18 June 2025, fulfilling a manifesto commitment. His crucial role ensures that the voices of those affected remain at the heart of efforts to deliver justice and lasting change. Furthermore, over the past 12 months, the Windrush Compensation Scheme has attended over 95 engagement events, including the Windrush National Organisation Conference, to promote awareness of the scheme. The Home Office has also worked closely with organisations through the Windrush Compensation Advocacy Support Fund to improve access to advocacy and support for claimants. Home Office Ministers have held one to one meetings, attended Windrush events and exhibits, and on three occasions the Home Office has opened its doors to host Windrush events.

All staff undertake a training programme which includes a module providing a history of Windrush and what happened prior to the launch of the Compensation Scheme. It includes clips of people from the Windrush generation, as well as case studies, to provide insights into the way people have been affected. Once staff have completed this programme, they follow a structured mentoring programme which further develops Decision Makers’ skills and knowledge.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to report on the progress of the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Last year, the Government reiterated its renewed commitment to ensuring everyone who was affected by the Home Office Windrush scandal receives every penny of the compensation to which they are entitled at the earliest point possible and members of the Windrush generation receive the support they deserve swiftly and with dignity. The Scheme has since taken forward several actions to honour that commitment.

The Home Office continues to listen and respond to feedback from affected communities and stakeholders to ensure that the Scheme is operating effectively for those affected. The changes made to the Scheme in December 2020, August 2022 and October 2025, mean people receive significantly more money more quickly. We have significantly accelerated our claims processing and continue to reduce waiting times. Our ongoing improvements are aimed at ensuring claimants receive timely outcomes. These significant and positive policy changes were made following consultation with claimants and stakeholders. Detailed information on the changes was shared in the Written Ministerial Statement by Lord Hanson, published on 27 October 2025.

Information on the progress made by the Windrush Compensation Scheme is published as part of the monthly Transparency Data release. The latest published data, covering the period up to the end of September 2025, is available here: Windrush Compensation Scheme data: September 2025 - GOV.UK

Since announcing the Government’s commitment to deliver on its manifesto promises to the Windrush Generations in October 2024, Ministers have also been determined to hear directly from impacted communities and individuals. Reverend Clive Foster MBE was appointed as the first UK Windrush Commissioner on 18 June 2025, fulfilling a manifesto commitment. His crucial role ensures that the voices of those affected remain at the heart of efforts to deliver justice and lasting change. Furthermore, over the past 12 months, the Windrush Compensation Scheme has attended over 95 engagement events, including the Windrush National Organisation Conference, to promote awareness of the scheme. The Home Office has also worked closely with organisations through the Windrush Compensation Advocacy Support Fund to improve access to advocacy and support for claimants. Home Office Ministers have held one to one meetings, attended Windrush events and exhibits, and on three occasions the Home Office has opened its doors to host Windrush events.

All staff undertake a training programme which includes a module providing a history of Windrush and what happened prior to the launch of the Compensation Scheme. It includes clips of people from the Windrush generation, as well as case studies, to provide insights into the way people have been affected. Once staff have completed this programme, they follow a structured mentoring programme which further develops Decision Makers’ skills and knowledge.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) evaluate how the target of 80 percent employment will be supported via the co-ordination of (i) employment support and (ii) skills services.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Our Get Britain Working strategy set out plans to increase participation and progression in the workforce by transforming Jobcentre Plus into the Jobs & Careers Service, introducing a new Youth Guarantee, and increasing activity to tackle health and disability related inactivity, including through the new Pathways to Work guarantee set out in the March Green Paper.

Coordination of employment support and skills services is key to delivering these plans and meeting the Government’s long-term ambition of an 80% employment rate. The Get Britain Working White Paper set the blueprint for joined up work, health and skills services to tackle inactivity at a local level and built on national models such as the Sector Based Work Academy Programmes, which help employers with their workforce needs by upskilling benefit claimants to fill local job vacancies, and Skills Bootcamps for sector-specific training.

We have published our Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper which includes plans to address priority skills gaps and reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training through joined up employment and skills support. We have also brought adult skills into the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to maximise the opportunities of aligning employment and skills support, with the Minister for Skills retaining oversight of skills across DWP and DfE.

We will report on our progress towards reaching our 80% employment rate ambition through a range of metrics annually. Our first report was released in April 2025 with the first update planned for next year. We will measure our success through the following metrics:

• Regional employment rate
• Health-related inactivity
• Disability employment rate gap
• Female employment rate
• Parental employment

DWP published its Evidence and Evaluation Strategy in July 2025 Evidence and Evaluation Strategy 2025 - GOV.UK', with Goal 1 covering how DWP will evaluate its labour market agenda. The strategy details both current and planned research and evaluation activities.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what performance metrics she has set for the Scale-up Unit in relation to regulatory case resolution times for supported firms.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Scale-up Unit is a joint initiative by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to enhance engagement with fast-growing, innovative firms. It builds on existing regulatory support for early-stage innovative firms, including through the joint PRA and FCA New Bank and Insurer Start-up Units, to support firms as they seek to scale-up.

The FCA and PRA will conduct further industry-wide engagement to gather input which will help shape the future direction of the Unit.

Sir Ron Kalifa, in his 2021 Review of Fintech, identified a UK Fintech scale-up funding gap of £2 billion. The Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy set out measures to tackle this gap, including the launch of this Scale-Up Unit, and work led by the City of London Corporation and British Business Bank to facilitate greater access to finance and commercial opportunities for fast-growing Fintech firms.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the size of the UK FinTech scale-up funding gap.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Scale-up Unit is a joint initiative by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to enhance engagement with fast-growing, innovative firms. It builds on existing regulatory support for early-stage innovative firms, including through the joint PRA and FCA New Bank and Insurer Start-up Units, to support firms as they seek to scale-up.

The FCA and PRA will conduct further industry-wide engagement to gather input which will help shape the future direction of the Unit.

Sir Ron Kalifa, in his 2021 Review of Fintech, identified a UK Fintech scale-up funding gap of £2 billion. The Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy set out measures to tackle this gap, including the launch of this Scale-Up Unit, and work led by the City of London Corporation and British Business Bank to facilitate greater access to finance and commercial opportunities for fast-growing Fintech firms.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many innovative financial services firms are expected to access support from the Scale-up Unit in its first year of operation.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Scale-up Unit is a joint initiative by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to enhance engagement with fast-growing, innovative firms. It builds on existing regulatory support for early-stage innovative firms, including through the joint PRA and FCA New Bank and Insurer Start-up Units, to support firms as they seek to scale-up.

The FCA and PRA will conduct further industry-wide engagement to gather input which will help shape the future direction of the Unit.

Sir Ron Kalifa, in his 2021 Review of Fintech, identified a UK Fintech scale-up funding gap of £2 billion. The Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy set out measures to tackle this gap, including the launch of this Scale-Up Unit, and work led by the City of London Corporation and British Business Bank to facilitate greater access to finance and commercial opportunities for fast-growing Fintech firms.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of public information campaigns on levels of benefit-related fraud.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

DWP will be launching a new campaign at the end of January 2026. This campaign will focus on the three greatest key loss areas for the Department – living together, self-employed, and capital & savings. It will run across a range of channels, including on demand video, out-of-home, digital display, paid search and paid social.

The campaign’s communications objectives are to increase awareness of the consequences of not reporting changes of circumstances to DWP and to increase understanding of the types of changes of circumstances that need to be reported amongst Universal Credit customers.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to measure the potential impact of UK leadership in multilateral development fora on global poverty reduction outcomes.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government is committed to working with a range of multilateral organisations and international institutions to pursue our shared goals across a number of policy objectives, including sustainable development and poverty reduction.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has identified priority sectors for future UK-backed multilateral development funding following the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund 2025, Development Committee plenary, October 2025.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government is committed to working with a range of multilateral organisations and international institutions to pursue our shared goals across a number of policy objectives, including sustainable development and poverty reduction.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of UK technical assistance to the World Bank’s capacity-building programmes.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government is committed to working with a range of multilateral organisations and international institutions to pursue our shared goals across a number of policy objectives, including sustainable development and poverty reduction.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that UK-funded multilateral programmes align with the Sustainable Development Goals review cycle to 2030.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government is committed to working with a range of multilateral organisations and international institutions to pursue our shared goals across a number of policy objectives, including sustainable development and poverty reduction.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the role her Department will be in discussions on debt sustainability and restructuring under the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government is committed to working with a range of multilateral organisations and international institutions to pursue our shared goals across a number of policy objectives, including sustainable development and poverty reduction.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions she has had with international partners since the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund 2025 Annual Meetings on the alignment of development financing with climate adaptation priorities.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government is committed to working with a range of multilateral organisations and international institutions to pursue our shared goals across a number of policy objectives, including sustainable development and poverty reduction.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his letter to the joint chief executives of Skills England entitled Skills England priorities for 2025 to 2026, dated 27 October 2025, what estimate he has made of the number of learners who will enter (a) level 4 and (b) level 5 education or training by age 25 in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency in the next three years.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

On 20 October, we published the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, which outlines our reforms to develop a world-class skills system that supports young people into education and training, meets learner and employer needs, and drives innovation and economic growth. This includes our bold new target of two-thirds of young people participating in higher-level learning - whether academic, technical or an apprenticeship - by age 25. This includes a sub-target of 10% of young people participating in higher technical education or training - at levels 4 or 5 - by age 25, by 2040.

We do not hold forecasts of the numbers of learners who will enter level 4 or level 5 study by age 25. The number of entrants that entered level 4 and level 5 study in previous academic years, broken down by local authority level, can be found in the Higher Level Learners publication here: Higher Level Learners.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to strengthen financial sector co-operation between the UK and Gulf economies.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The UK has signed financial services Memoranda of Understanding with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – priority markets for the UK sector given the scale of growth and investment opportunities.

The Chancellor recently visited Saudi Arabia to attend the Future Investment Initiative, where she promoted the UK’s modern Industrial Strategy, driving growth in the financial sector and the economy, advanced the UK’s Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the GCC, advocated for deeper UK-Saudi capital market connectivity, and unveiled a two-way investment package worth £6.4bn

In negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement, the UK aims to secure the Gulf Cooperation Council’s most advanced financial services commitments yet, supporting increased trade between our markets.

The Chancellor’s trip followed a visit from the then-Economic Secretary to the Treasury to Saudi Arabia and the UAE in February to discuss our financial service relationships.

The first UK-Qatar Financial Services Working Group, as agreed under our MoU signed last year, took place on 3 November and focused on collaboration in capital markets, sustainable finance, fintech and pensions.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to monitor delivery of the £6.4 billion of trade and investment commitments announced during her visit to the Gulf.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Whilst in Riyadh, the Chancellor welcomed a total package worth £6.4bn in mutual trade and investment. This included both private commercial deals and a Memorandum of Understanding between UK Export Finance (UKEF) and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia. HMT will be able to monitor UKEF financial exposure in Saudi Arabia via regular reporting and UKEF’s annual accounts. Commercial agreements are a matter for the relevant companies.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has identified priority regions for investment arising from recent Gulf trade agreements.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Chancellor is committed to building strong relationships with Gulf countries and Sovereign Wealth Funds, as reflected in her attendance of the Future Investment Initiative Conference in Saudi Arabia. She engaged with key partners to explore opportunities that could benefit regions across the UK and progress negotiations on a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council. The visit also helped unlock £6.4bn in two-way trade and investment between the UK and Saudi Arabia, including a £5bn MoU between UK Export Finance and the Saudi Public Investment Fund to support jobs and manufacturing across the UK.

Attracting investment into every region of the UK is central to this government’s mission to drive national growth. Partnering with the private sector is essential and is why at the Regional Investment Summit last month the Chancellor announced the creation of the Sterling 20. The new grouping of institutional investors will further support mobilising institutional investment by raising awareness among investors of government-led programmes and initiatives. This will allow members to help shape and co-design investment opportunities, so they are attractive, unlocking capital for UK infrastructure throughout the UK.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential role of UK sovereign investment vehicles in facilitating co-investment opportunities with Gulf partners.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Chancellor is committed to building strong relationships with Gulf countries and Sovereign Wealth Funds, as reflected in her attendance of the Future Investment Initiative Conference in Saudi Arabia. She engaged with key partners to explore opportunities that could benefit regions across the UK and progress negotiations on a free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council. The visit also helped unlock £6.4bn in two-way trade and investment between the UK and Saudi Arabia, including a £5bn MoU between UK Export Finance and the Saudi Public Investment Fund to support jobs and manufacturing across the UK.

Attracting investment into every region of the UK is central to this government’s mission to drive national growth. Partnering with the private sector is essential and is why at the Regional Investment Summit last month the Chancellor announced the creation of the Sterling 20. The new grouping of institutional investors will further support mobilising institutional investment by raising awareness among investors of government-led programmes and initiatives. This will allow members to help shape and co-design investment opportunities, so they are attractive, unlocking capital for UK infrastructure throughout the UK.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Bank of England on managing potential financial stability risks from increased Gulf investment in UK markets.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Increased investments from the Gulf states represent significant opportunities for the UK, supporting growth and innovation across the economy. The Chancellor’s recent visit to Saudi Arabia promoted the UK’s modern Industrial Strategy, advanced Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council, advocated for deeper UK-Saudi capital market connectivity, and unveiled a two-way investment package worth £6.4 billion.

Regarding potential financial stability risks, the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England regularly discuss the financial stability outlook, including as required under the Bank of England Act 1998. Readouts of their discussions are published on GOV.UK.

The Bank’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC), which is responsible for identifying and addressing systemic risks to the financial system as a whole, published its most recent Financial Stability Report in July 2025.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that vulnerable pensioners are protected from online benefit scams.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

DWP is taking a number of steps to protect our vulnerable customers from online benefit scams. This includes raising public awareness of benefit scam messages on the Gov.uk website. Our most recent press release relating to Winter Fuel Payment warned our customers to be alert to text message scams in advance of next month’s payments and urging them to forward any suspicious texts to 7726. This is free of charge and helps phone providers block the numbers involved. Customers are also encouraged to forward suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk.

We are also working together with Action Fraud raising awareness on social media sites including Facebook and X formerly known as Twitter. This is alongside DWP’s continued work with trusted partners and charities such as Independent Age to ensure accurate and timely information is available. DWP has also developed a recorded message for our telephone lines to raise awareness of Winter Fuel Payment scams.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking with law enforcement agencies to help (a) identify and (b) prevent winter fuel payment scams.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

In partnership with Action Fraud, we are raising awareness of Winter Fuel Payment scams across Facebook and Twitter. This is alongside DWP’s continued work with trusted partners and charities such as Independent Age to ensure accurate and timely information is available. DWP has also developed a recorded message for our telephone lines and issued a press release via GOV.UK to raise awareness of Winter Fuel Payment scams.

To protect customers from fraudulent SMS messages, DWP has registered all official Sender IDs with the Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF). UK mobile networks use this register to block messages claiming to be from DWP that are not sent through approved routes.

Scams that are reported to or discovered by the Department that use other channels, such as social media, are managed through existing security processes and referred to Action Fraud where appropriate. Significant trends are also shared with the National Cyber Security Centre.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the number of reported incidents of winter fuel payment-related scams in each of the past five years.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Department does not hold a formal record of the number of reported winter fuel payment-related scams over the past five years.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department plans to take to ensure that farmers in Buckinghamshire can transition smoothly from Countryside Stewardship to the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

On the 15 October 2025 we announced a one-year extension to more than 5,000 farmers with Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreements expiring on 31 December this year.

This targeted, time-limited extension is being offered whilst we develop the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive for 2026, refresh the Environmental Improvement Plan and administer the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier.

We will publish the 2026 information on the Sustainable Farming Incentive in due course.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the additional hectares of farmland in Buckinghamshire that will remain under agri-environment schemes as a result of the extension to Countryside Stewardship.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

There are 6474 hectares of farmland in Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreements in Buckinghamshire which are due to expire on 31 December 2025. The majority of these will be offered a one-year extension.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many Countryside Stewardship agreements currently in place in Buckinghamshire are eligible for the one-year extension announced in October 2025.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

There are 6474 hectares of farmland in Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier agreements in Buckinghamshire which are due to expire on 31 December 2025. The majority of these will be offered a one-year extension.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of the 23 million (a) toothbrushes and (b) toothpastes will be provided to early years settings in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The information is not available at constituency level. In 2025/26, Buckinghamshire Council and Milton Keynes City Council have received 5,544 toothbrushes for use in early years settings, 4,812 toothpastes and 3,660 toothbrushes for children to take home. This equates to a proportion of 0.3% of the total allocation of products from our partnership with Colgate-Palmolive for this year. Product allocations are based on the number of 3-to-5-year children living in the 20% most deprived areas in England. Allocation of products for subsequent years will be confirmed in partnership with the councils and Colgate-Palmolive.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to enhance digital access support for Pension Credit applications for older people.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Department is committed to making Pension Credit applications as accessible as possible for older people. We have invested in the Apply for Pension Credit online service (AfPC), which is designed to simply gather the information needed to make a claim, while ensuring that non-digital routes remain available for those who prefer or require them.

Assisted digital support is embedded into the service, including telephone and paper-based options for digitally excluded customers. To further enhance digital access support, we plan to introduce “save and return” to make online applications easier for those who need more time or assistance.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of potential factors limiting Pension Credit take-up among eligible low-income pensioners in rural areas.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Research suggests that there are a range of reasons why some pensioners don’t claim Pension Credit. These include lack of awareness, uncertainty about eligibility and stigma around claiming benefits more generally. Some pensioners assume that they will not be entitled because they own their own home or have modest savings or other retirement income. Some may be put off by the claim processor be hesitant to provide personal or financial information. Pensioners in rural areas may face added barriers such as having limited access to local support services, social isolation or poor digital connectivity.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all pensioners, no matter where they live, receive the financial support they are entitled to. That is why we have been running the biggest ever Pension Credit taken-up campaign across the whole of Great Britain, promoting Pension Credit to eligible pensioners and their family and friends through adverts on television and radio; on social media and on digital screens in GP surgeries and Post Offices, as well as in the press. And Pension Credit can be claimed over the telephone, by post or online. Pensioners claiming by telephone can be supported and guided through the claim process by an agent while the online service is available 24/7 every day of the year and can be completed by a friend or relative.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on local authority engagement with Pension Credit take-up campaigns.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Department regularly engages with all councils in Great Britain through the Local Authority Welfare Direct e-bulletins on GOV.UK, email communications to our local authority contact list, and through wider outreach work through partnership managers covering national Jobcentre Plus districts. DWP Communications keeps a log of the extensive support for the campaign offered by Local Authorities across Great Britain, which helps the Department to focus promotional efforts. Following our calls for support for the annual Pension Credit Week of Action in 2024, and in October this year, at least 200 councils across Great Britain have actively supported our awareness campaign through social media promotion and/or in-person/on-site distribution of our promotional materials, including posters and leaflets.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has assessed the potential effectiveness of digital scheduling tools in improving outpatient capacity.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

As set out in the Elective Reform Plan, the Department is committed to ensuring that outpatient capacity is planned and used effectively, and that processes are streamlined to free up capacity where possible. This includes ensuring that all appointments are necessary and reducing missed appointments.

Digital scheduling tools like the NHS e-Referral Service (NHS e-RS), the NHS App, and the Manage Your Referral service are key enablers of this. The NHS e-RS is a digital platform used for referring patients from primary care into elective services. Manage Your Referral is the patient facing side of the NHS e-RS, allowing a patient to book, check, change, or cancel their first outpatient appointment online through its website or through the NHS App.

The 10-Year Health Plan builds on this vision. It introduces tools like My NHS GP, My Choices, and My Specialist for personalised scheduling. By 2028, the NHS App will become the primary gateway for patients to book appointments and manage their appointments. The Medium Term Planning Framework, published in October 2025, sets out the initial phase of this work starting this year, to bring forward a roadmap for the delivery of the NHS App’s functions as described in the 10-Year Health Plan. This will help deliver a technology-enabled model of planned care which gives patients one place to manage all their appointments, referrals, and interactions, while bringing efficiencies that reduce referral-to-treatment times.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to introduce mandatory reporting on productivity improvements linked to capital investment.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is committed to ensuring that capital investment in the National Health Service delivers measurable improvements in productivity and patient outcomes. While there is currently no mandatory reporting framework specifically linking capital investment to productivity gains, NHS organisations are expected to demonstrate value for money and the impact through business case processes and post-project evaluations. The Department is exploring options to strengthen the monitoring and evaluation of capital investments, including how productivity gains can be more systematically captured and reported in future.

More broadly, the NHS plans to begin regularly publishing assessments of productivity performance against the 2% year-on-year improvement target we set in our 10-Year Health Plan. Data published in September 2025 showed an estimated 2.7% year-on-year improvement in acute productivity in the NHS over the 2024/25 financial year, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/patients-treated-more-quickly-as-nhs-productivity-rises-over-year

Early data for the first quarter of 2025/26 suggests this trend is continuing with a further 2.4% improvement in acute productivity, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nhs-recovery-continues-with-above-target-productivity-growth

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has undertaken analysis of productivity variation across integrated care systems.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department recognises the importance of understanding productivity variation across integrated care systems (ICSs) to support improvement and to ensure value for money. NHS England routinely collects and analyses data on performance outcomes across ICSs, which is used to provide insight into relative performance at a trust level.

For acute providers, this is included in the NHS Oversight Framework and trusts are segmented based on the latest estimates of a range of metrics, including productivity performance, and ranked in the NHS league tables, which are available at the following link:

https://data.england.nhs.uk/dashboard/nofacute

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of reduced electricity costs for employers in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency on employment growth in energy-intensive sectors.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

This Government is well aware of the pressures facing our energy intensive industries (EIIs), across the nation, including high electricity prices. Our recent announcement of the uplift of relief offered by the Network Charging Compensation Scheme from 60% to 90% highlights our intent to support UK EIIs in their decarbonisation transition. This support will deliver much needed financial relief allowing businesses, such as those in Buckingham and Bletchley, more financial headroom and the possibility to grow.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how she plans to assess progress towards establishing the proposed UK–EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary zone under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This autumn we expect to start the detailed negotiations on the SPS agreement, as well as the other commitments from our summit in May

Defra has established a programme to deliver the work required to implement a UK-EU SPS agreement. This is already part of the Government Major Projects Portfolio, with regular progress reporting into the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority.