Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of Making Tax Digital on small businesses.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)

The government has worked with taxpayers, representative bodies and software developers to ensure Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax works well for businesses of all types and sizes.

MTD will help businesses and landlords keep on top of their tax affairs. It places small businesses on a more digital footing, with digital tools helping to reduce errors and making annual tax returns easier.

The government has worked with the software industry to ensure a wide range of options are available to suit different needs and budgets, including low-cost and free software, supporting those with the simplest affairs. Many products are designed for users who manage their own tax affairs or those new to digital tools.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of Sustainable Farming Incentive payments and Capital Grant payments have been paid late in the current financial year.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Rural Payments Agency aims to make payments to farmers and land managers as promptly as possible. In the current financial year, 2.56% of Sustainable Farming Incentive payments and 0.87% of Capital Grant payments have been paid later than expected.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the value is of payments withheld from Capita in connection with its administration of the CSPS; and what conditions must be met for the release of those payments.

Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Cabinet Office awarded Capita the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme in November 2023 under the previous government. The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and GOV.UK.

While Capita committed to a complete return to standard contractual service levels by the end of June 2026, they have failed to meet this critical milestone. The Government is taking robust action to hold Capita to account. This includes withholding £9.9 million in contract payments for undelivered milestones, alongside confirmation that the Government surge team costs will be recovered directly from Capita. To enforce strict compliance, independent auditors are being deployed to conduct a technical systems review, and an on-the-ground Remedial Adviser has been appointed at Capita’s expense. Further commercial, legal, and operational options remain on the table during the consideration of long-term structural delivery options.

The conditions for releasing the withheld payments require the completion of specific deliverables. Each deliverable within the applicable milestone must be achieved and formally signed off by the authority.

The specific financial values of commercial transactions remain commercially confidential in relation to Capita and I am unable to disclose the figures, but I can confirm that the Cabinet Office has withheld significant transition milestone payments due to missed deliverables. Although contractual performance data is generally considered commercially sensitive, in this instance, information regarding MyCSP and recovered amounts is already in the public domain via submissions to the Committee of Public Accounts. In these submissions, it is noted that over the last five financial years, the Department has recovered a total of £247,893. Wider financial adjustments, such as routine overpayment corrections or contribution reconciliations, form part of the broader operational accounting of the scheme and are not categorised as direct departmental recoveries from the administrator.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the cost is of the recovery programme in relation to the Civil Service Pension Scheme being administered by Capita.

Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Cabinet Office awarded Capita the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme in November 2023 under the previous government. The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and GOV.UK.

While Capita committed to a complete return to standard contractual service levels by the end of June 2026, they have failed to meet this critical milestone. The Government is taking robust action to hold Capita to account. This includes withholding £9.9 million in contract payments for undelivered milestones, alongside confirmation that the Government surge team costs will be recovered directly from Capita. To enforce strict compliance, independent auditors are being deployed to conduct a technical systems review, and an on-the-ground Remedial Adviser has been appointed at Capita’s expense. Further commercial, legal, and operational options remain on the table during the consideration of long-term structural delivery options.

The conditions for releasing the withheld payments require the completion of specific deliverables. Each deliverable within the applicable milestone must be achieved and formally signed off by the authority.

The specific financial values of commercial transactions remain commercially confidential in relation to Capita and I am unable to disclose the figures, but I can confirm that the Cabinet Office has withheld significant transition milestone payments due to missed deliverables. Although contractual performance data is generally considered commercially sensitive, in this instance, information regarding MyCSP and recovered amounts is already in the public domain via submissions to the Committee of Public Accounts. In these submissions, it is noted that over the last five financial years, the Department has recovered a total of £247,893. Wider financial adjustments, such as routine overpayment corrections or contribution reconciliations, form part of the broader operational accounting of the scheme and are not categorised as direct departmental recoveries from the administrator.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions he has had with businesses shortlisted under the second Hydrogen Allocation Round on progression to the Invite to Offer stage of negotiations before the end of 2026.

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

DESNZ Ministers and officials have met with developers shortlisted in the second Hydrogen Allocation Round on a case-by-case basis to discuss their progress and any issues they may be facing. Guidance on the allocation round process was provided to developers in the HAR2 Invite to Offer Broadcast meeting in November 2025. We are working hard across government to start the Invite to Offer stage of HAR2 as soon as possible and will be in touch with projects when this commences.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure that the time taken for hydrogen policy and funding announcements does not reduce private sector investment into the domestic hydrogen sector.

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

We understand the importance of providing clarity to businesses across the hydrogen sector. We plan to publish the renewed Hydrogen Strategy, alongside a package of other hydrogen policy documents, as soon as possible.

In relation to the second hydrogen allocation round, we are working hard across government to start the Invite to Offer stage as soon as possible

We understand that many projects are at critical stages, and that timeline certainty is important to support business planning, resource management and engagement with third parties.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increasing the level of UK content in projects shortlisted under the second Hydrogen Allocation Round on the economy and job creation.

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

Hydrogen was identified as a frontier technology in the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan for its potential to drive economic growth, create high-quality jobs, and build the industries of the future. Projects from the first Hydrogen Allocation Round are expected to unlock around £400 million of private investment and create over 600 direct jobs. We welcome the hydrogen industry’s voluntary ambition for 50% local content and are exploring how hydrogen allocation rounds can go further to support jobs, skills and UK suppliers.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans are in place to speed up processes at the Child Maintenance Service, including the resolution of complaints up to and including the scheduling of tribunal hearings.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is delivering a Modernisation Programme to improve customer access, efficiency and transparency. This includes integrated online application services, the My Child Maintenance Case (MCMC) service, which provides customers with online access to case information and payment schedules, and Customer Connect, which enables secure online communication between parents and caseworkers. Telephone and assisted digital support remain available for customers who need additional assistance.

The programme has also introduced improved digital communications, enhanced data sharing to support faster and more accurate maintenance calculations, and predictive analytics to help identify cases at risk of non compliance, which allows us to review the cases more swiftly and take action to ensure compliance is maintained.

The CMS complies with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) complaints service standard, to aim to resolve complaints or set a resolution plan within 15 working days. Where a complaint is complex and requires more time, the CMS will inform the complainant within this period of the next steps and when a response can be expected.

The CMS reviews overall resource supply and takes appropriate steps to ensure that staffing levels meet current demands and regularly reviews complaint data, including insights from the Independent Case Examiner, to identify key themes and trends, which they use to drive improvements to the complaint handling process. Furthermore, lessons learned are regularly presented to operational teams, supporting them to deliver effective interventions at the initial stage of the complaint and thereby improve the overall customer experience.

The CMS remains focussed on taking pro active steps to improve the customer experience, developing its customer service strategy to focus on improving current and future service throughout the customer journey.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is a separate government department and is responsible for the listing, scheduling and management of tribunal hearings. While CMS provides information required in relation to appeals, the timing of tribunal hearings is a matter for HMCTS.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether any concerns were identified regarding Capita's suitability to administer the CSPS during the procurement and approval processes.

Answered by Sally Jameson - Parliamentary Secretary and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government. The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and GOV.UK.

While Capita committed to a complete return to standard contractual service levels by the end of June 2026, they have failed to meet this critical milestone. The Government is taking robust action to hold Capita to account. This includes withholding £9.9 million in contract payments for undelivered milestones, alongside confirmation that the Government surge team costs will be recovered directly from Capita. To enforce strict compliance, independent auditors are being deployed to conduct a technical systems review, and an on-the-ground Remedial Adviser has been appointed at Capita’s expense. Further commercial, legal, and operational options remain on the table during the consideration of long-term structural delivery options.

During the procurement and approval process, the then Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office, Jeremy Quin MP, had overall responsibility for Civil Service workforce matters at the time and confirmed that the Cabinet Office should proceed to award the contract to Capita. This was further subject to the Cabinet Office’s controls process for which the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office, Alex Burghart MP, had oversight.

The contract awarded in November 2023 followed a standardised procurement process with an evaluation process, centred on the core criteria of quality, cost, and social value.

Quality compromised 65% of the assessment, cost 25% and Social Value 10%. The Quality assessment evaluated Capita's response, which included previous experience of transitioning and administering pension schemes.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what plans he has to reform the rules governing the disclosure of childhood criminal records by the Disclosure and Barring Service so that future opportunities are not impacted.

Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

This Government knows that too many young people with a criminal record are being locked out of education, employment and other opportunities long after they have left their offending behind. That is not in their interests, and it is not in the public interest either.

The Youth Justice White Paper (Cutting youth crime, changing young lives) committed to consulting on a targeted, proportionate package of reforms to the disclosure of youth criminal records by the end of this year. The responses to the consultation will help to inform changes to the current disclosure regime.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she will confirm that £836 million in cash terms was forecast to be spent on Equitable Life With-Profits Annuitants at the outset of the Equitable Life Payment Scheme; and that a discount rate of 4.4% was applied to reach the allocation of £625m for With-Profits Annuitants.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

In 2010 the Liberal Democrat Conservative coalition government chose to allocate up to £1.5 billion to the Equitable Life Payment Scheme, and the Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016. The only remaining part of the Payment Scheme in operation is the annual payments made to eligible With-Profit-Annuitants and the Scheme is on track to distribute the remainder of the £1.5 billion as planned.

Of the £1.5 billion, £775 million was allocated to be paid as lump sums to with profits non-annuitants and £625 million allocated to WPAs to be paid annually for the duration of the annuity. This includes a £100 million contingency fund to ensure there is provision for annuitants, should they live longer than their actuarial forecast and brings the total allocated to WPAs up to £725 million.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what consideration he has given to the location of an AI regulator with responsibility for scrutinising the most advanced AI systems.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)

The UK is committed to a context-based regulatory approach where most AI systems are regulated at the point of use by our existing regulators. Government departments are working with regulators to provide strategic direction and support them with their AI capability needs. This is complemented by the work of the AI Security Institute, which deepens our understanding of the critical security risks posed by frontier AI.

The Government keeps the adequacy of existing arrangements under review, including in relation to specific new risks related to cybersecurity and critical national infrastructure.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, for what reason the consultation on the proposed AI Bill has not been published; and when that consultation will be published.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)

The Government is ensuring that the UK is ready for both the challenges and opportunities that AI will bring. We have taken important steps to ensure that most AI systems are already regulated at the point of use by our existing expert regulators. This is complemented by the work of the AI Security Institute, which deepens our understanding of the critical security risks posed by frontier AI.

The Government keeps the adequacy of existing arrangements under review, including in relation to specific new risks related to cybersecurity and critical national infrastructure.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, a) what assessment she has made of the regulatory and commercial burden on manufacturers and retailers arising from the application of age verification requirements to sales and deliveries of ordinary non-pointed cutlery knives which are not designed for or capable of being used as dangerous weapons; b) whether she has made an assessment of whether the application of those requirements to such products to be consistent with the policy objective of reducing access to dangerous knives; c) if, in light of forthcoming increased age verification requirements for the sale of knives, she will take urgent steps to clarify that references to 'cutlery knives' for the purposes of section 141A of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 do not include cutlery knives that lack the sharpness or pointed features necessary to cut skin or cause injury.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government is committed to legislation around knife sales which helps ensure that knives do not fall into the hands of those aged under 18. The new measures being brought in by the Crime and Policing Act 2026 around age verification and safe delivery for online sales of knives will help to achieve this aim.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to review the 1987 police pension scheme and remove the rule under which surviving partners of police officers lose their pension payments if they remarry or enter a new cohabiting relationship.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

I refer the Hon. Member to the response given to UIN 813 on the 18^th May 2026.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what consideration his Department has given to the potential merits of establishing a single statutory supervisory body for voluntary ombudsman and ADR schemes.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Government recognises the important role that ombudsman services and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) schemes play in resolving disputes without the need for court proceedings.

The Ministry of Justice keeps the dispute resolution landscape under review and engages regularly with relevant stakeholders to understand the effectiveness of existing mechanisms. However, the Government does not currently intend to establish a single statutory supervisory body for voluntary ombudsman and ADR schemes.

Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) rescue operations

Publication of Legal Advice on Local Government Reorganisation

Found: Chair); Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths; Leigh Ingham; Charlie Maynard

Found: Chair); Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths; Leigh Ingham; Charlie Maynard

Found: Chair); Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths; Leigh Ingham; Charlie Maynard

Found: Chair); Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths; Leigh Ingham; Charlie Maynard