Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of energy-related cost pressures on low-income households in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency referenced in the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Thanks to decisions in the Government's Autumn Budget, and as set out in the Child Poverty Strategy, the Government will deliver an average £150 of costs off household energy bills from April 2026. As a result of this action, people in Buckingham and Bletchley can expect to make a significant saving on their bills.
In addition, in 2024-2025, 3,489 households (7.8%) in Buckingham and Bletchley benefited from the Warm Home Discount - a £150 discount on their energy bill. This winter, we are expanding this discount so that around 6 million low-income households will receive this support, including an approximate additional 350,000 households in the South East region.
We will also be publishing a new fuel poverty strategy for England to ensure that many more fuel poor households are protected by 2030, in parallel to the Warm Homes Plan.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has issued guidance on the processes for identifying firms in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency eligible for scale-up support.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As announced in the Industrial Strategy and Plan for SMEs, DBT is developing a new scale-up offer to help firms with high growth potential start, scale and stay in the UK. I am aware of the work my Honourable Friend is doing to drive investment into Bletchley and the businesses in his constituency through the Bletchley Investment Taskforce. I hope working together, in partnership with the Buckinghamshire Business First and South Midlands Growth Hubs, we can do more to support economically important scale-ups in his constituency and across the UK.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the number of small businesses in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency that will be eligible for the new cost-reduction support programmes announced in 2025 following the Willow Review.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to supporting businesses of all sizes in the transition to net zero. We are helping SMEs countrywide access sustainability benefits through initiatives such as the new Business Growth Service, the UK Business Climate Hub (UKBCH) for decarbonisation advice, and the rollout of smart meters. Additionally, the Made Smarter Adoption programme for manufacturing SMEs in the South East will double its budget from April to £3.1m, boosting productivity through digital adoption-focused skills and grants.
Following the Willow Review, £200,000 has been allocated to enhance UKBCH and integrate it with the Business Growth Service. The network of local Growth Hubs, including Buckinghamshire Business First, offer tailored support at any stage of a business's journey and can signpost to these new and improved offers.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to establish metrics to monitor the effectiveness of the Government’s scale-up interventions.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Monitoring and evaluation are an important way of identifying lessons that can be learnt to improve both the design and delivery of future interventions. Consistent with HMT guidance, we will establish metrics and proportionate monitoring and evaluation provisions for DBT’s scale-up interventions.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of local voluntary sector organisations in Buckingham and Bletchley constituency expected to deliver services linked to the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are strengthening our partnership with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) with our Civil Society Covenant. We recognise that the VCSE sector has a strong record of supporting families and is the bedrock of our communities.
We are putting tackling child poverty at the heart of local government by including child poverty in the new Outcomes Framework for local government as a contextual outcome. The Framework also includes wider priority outcomes that will help tackle child poverty such as preventing and reducing homelessness and rough sleeping; access to a decent, safe and affordable home; local growth; and promoting health and wellbeing in children.
Alongside the Strategy, we have set out our initial plans for monitoring and evaluation to ensure our strategy is on track to tackle child poverty as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and continued learning.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to issue guidance to councils covering Buckingham and Bletchley constituency on monitoring local outcomes of the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are strengthening our partnership with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) with our Civil Society Covenant. We recognise that the VCSE sector has a strong record of supporting families and is the bedrock of our communities.
We are putting tackling child poverty at the heart of local government by including child poverty in the new Outcomes Framework for local government as a contextual outcome. The Framework also includes wider priority outcomes that will help tackle child poverty such as preventing and reducing homelessness and rough sleeping; access to a decent, safe and affordable home; local growth; and promoting health and wellbeing in children.
Alongside the Strategy, we have set out our initial plans for monitoring and evaluation to ensure our strategy is on track to tackle child poverty as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and continued learning.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the projected number of children in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency who will become newly eligible for support measures introduced under the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not have an estimate of the projected number of children in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency who will become newly eligible for support measures introduced under the Child Poverty Strategy or hold data on the proportion of low-income households in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency expected to benefit from changes to income-related thresholds outlined in the Child Poverty Strategy. Estimates are available for the number of children and households that are expected to gain from the removal of two-child limit at constituency level here Poverty impacts of social security changes at Budget 2025 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what data his Department holds on the proportion of low-income households in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency expected to benefit from changes to income-related thresholds outlined in the Child Poverty Strategy.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does not have an estimate of the projected number of children in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency who will become newly eligible for support measures introduced under the Child Poverty Strategy or hold data on the proportion of low-income households in the Buckingham and Bletchley constituency expected to benefit from changes to income-related thresholds outlined in the Child Poverty Strategy. Estimates are available for the number of children and households that are expected to gain from the removal of two-child limit at constituency level here Poverty impacts of social security changes at Budget 2025 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of limiting interest-earning reserves on the commercial viability of pound-backed stablecoins.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to making the UK a global hub for digital assets. It recognises the huge potential posed by tokenised asset innovation, and for stablecoins to support innovation in both retail payments and wholesale settlement.
That is why the government is bringing in legislation to establish a new financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets, including stablecoin, and maintaining a close and ongoing dialogue with the financial regulators as they develop detailed rules and guidance.
This legislation complements other measures being taken forward by the government on digital assets, including: the Digital Securities Sandbox, which supports settlement using distributed ledger technology; the Digital Gilt Instrument pilot issuance; and the publication of the Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy.
Asked by: Callum Anderson (Labour - Buckingham and Bletchley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the regulatory approach on investor adoption of pound sterling based stablecoins.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to making the UK a global hub for digital assets. It recognises the huge potential posed by tokenised asset innovation, and for stablecoins to support innovation in both retail payments and wholesale settlement.
That is why the government is bringing in legislation to establish a new financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets, including stablecoin, and maintaining a close and ongoing dialogue with the financial regulators as they develop detailed rules and guidance.
This legislation complements other measures being taken forward by the government on digital assets, including: the Digital Securities Sandbox, which supports settlement using distributed ledger technology; the Digital Gilt Instrument pilot issuance; and the publication of the Wholesale Financial Markets Digital Strategy.