Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to communicate the implications of inheritance tax reforms to business and agricultural property relief to family business owners.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

As announced at Autumn Budget 2024, the government will reform Inheritance Tax agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026.

The government has published several documents setting out further detail on how these changes will work in practice, including a policy paper at Autumn Budget 2024: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforms-to-agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief

A detailed explainer of the reforms, including case study examples, was published 5 November 2024: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-are-the-changes-to-agricultural-property-relief

On 21 July 2025, the government published draft legislation, an Explanatory Note and a Tax Information and Impact Note for the changes, alongside its response to the technical consultation on the changes: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforms-to-agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief

Final legislation for this measure will be included in the upcoming Finance Bill 2025-26, which will be published shortly after the Budget on 26 November. HMRC will publish full guidance and explain the changes through their communications channels, as appropriate, in due course for the changes coming into effect on 6 April 2026.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance her Department plans to issue to family business owners on inheritance tax reforms to agricultural and business property relief from April 2026.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

As announced at Autumn Budget 2024, the government will reform Inheritance Tax agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026.

The government has published several documents setting out further detail on how these changes will work in practice, including a policy paper at Autumn Budget 2024: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforms-to-agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief

A detailed explainer of the reforms, including case study examples, was published 5 November 2024: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-are-the-changes-to-agricultural-property-relief

On 21 July 2025, the government published draft legislation, an Explanatory Note and a Tax Information and Impact Note for the changes, alongside its response to the technical consultation on the changes: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforms-to-agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief

Final legislation for this measure will be included in the upcoming Finance Bill 2025-26, which will be published shortly after the Budget on 26 November. HMRC will publish full guidance and explain the changes through their communications channels, as appropriate, in due course for the changes coming into effect on 6 April 2026.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Purposeful Finance Commission’s report entitled Reservoir underdogs: unlocking regulatory challenges to delivering new reservoirs, published in September 2025, whether she has made an assessment of that report's recommendation to reform the five-year price review cycle to allow mid-cycle adjustments for strategic water infrastructure, including reservoirs.

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

The Government’s Water Delivery Taskforce is working across Government, water regulators and stakeholders to deliver planned water infrastructure that is essential to growth.

A dedicated team is focused on identifying and resolving blockers for the nine new reservoirs in England and is considering the recommendations from the Purposeful Finance Commission’s report and its alignment with the recommendations of the Independent Water Commission, which also examined some of these areas within its remit.

A full response to the Independent Water Commission’s recommendations will be outlined later this year through a White Paper and a new water reform bill. These will set out the Government’s vision for a new partnership based on effective regulation – bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors, and the environment.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Purposeful Finance Commission’s report entitled Reservoir underdogs: unlocking regulatory challenges to delivering new reservoirs, published in September 2025, whether she has made an assessment of that report's recommendation on empowering the proposed new water regulator to be a statutory reservoir champion.

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

The Government’s Water Delivery Taskforce is working across Government, water regulators and stakeholders to deliver planned water infrastructure that is essential to growth.

A dedicated team is focused on identifying and resolving blockers for the nine new reservoirs in England and is considering the recommendations from the Purposeful Finance Commission’s report and its alignment with the recommendations of the Independent Water Commission, which also examined some of these areas within its remit.

A full response to the Independent Water Commission’s recommendations will be outlined later this year through a White Paper and a new water reform bill. These will set out the Government’s vision for a new partnership based on effective regulation – bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors, and the environment.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Purposeful Finance Commission’s report entitled Reservoir underdogs: unlocking regulatory challenges to delivering new reservoirs, published in September 2025, whether she has made an assessment of that report's recommendation to establish an Olympic-style delivery body for reservoirs.

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

The Government’s Water Delivery Taskforce is working across Government, water regulators and stakeholders to deliver planned water infrastructure that is essential to growth.

A dedicated team is focused on identifying and resolving blockers for the nine new reservoirs in England and is considering the recommendations from the Purposeful Finance Commission’s report and its alignment with the recommendations of the Independent Water Commission, which also examined some of these areas within its remit.

A full response to the Independent Water Commission’s recommendations will be outlined later this year through a White Paper and a new water reform bill. These will set out the Government’s vision for a new partnership based on effective regulation – bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for customers, investors, and the environment.

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 is taking to support (a) agricultural colleges and (b) training providers to develop education programmes on regenerative farming techniques.

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

The Government is fully supportive of collaboration with industry, higher and further education institutions, and training providers to strengthen skills in the farming sector, including those needed for regenerative farming techniques. We will also continue to support farmers through our Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS) who want to introduce regenerative agriculture techniques.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to introduce a modern service framework for cancer.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Everyone in the National Health Service is responsible for delivering high-quality care. As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as an overall quality strategy, the National Quality Board will oversee the development of a new series of service frameworks.

Between 1997 and 2010, National Service Frameworks were a clinically-led approach to developing guidance that supported sustained improvement in major condition outcomes, including by narrowing inequality and reducing unwarranted variation. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will reintroduce and modernise this approach. These Modern Service Frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and then identify the best evidenced interventions and the support for delivery.

Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. The Government will consider other long-term conditions for future waves of Modern Service Frameworks. The criteria for determining other conditions for future Modern Service Frameworks will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity.

Plans to introduce a modern service framework for cancer will be considered as part of the development of the National Cancer Plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set (a) the role of Integrated Health Organisations (IHOs) and (b) how IHOs will align with (i) integrated care boards and (ii) neighbourhood health plans.

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

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, the very best foundation trusts will have the opportunity to be eligible for designation as integrated health organisations (IHOs).

An IHO will hold the whole health budget for a local population. IHOs will be required to support integration, shift resources from hospital to community, focus on population health and tackle inequalities.

Guidance for providers on IHO designation is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/advanced-foundation-trust-programme-guide-for-applicants-annex-2/

Further guidance on the implementation of IHOs will be published by NHS England shortly.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will set out how the proposed modern service frameworks will interact with (a) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, (b) the proposed National Cancer Plan and (c) other health plans.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Everyone in the National Health Service is responsible for delivering high-quality care. As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan, as well as an overall quality strategy, the National Quality Board will oversee the development of a new series of service frameworks.

Between 1997 and 2010, national service frameworks were a clinically led approach to developing guidance that supported sustained improvement in major condition outcomes, including by narrowing inequality and reducing unwarranted variation. As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, we will reintroduce and modernise this approach. These modern service frameworks will define an aspirational, long-term outcome goal for a major condition and then identify the best evidenced interventions and the support for delivery.

Modern service frameworks will work with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and others to identify the best evidenced interventions that would support progress towards the outcome goal and set standards on how those interventions should be used.

Early priorities will include cardiovascular disease, severe mental illness, and the first ever service framework for frailty and dementia. The Government will consider other long-term conditions for future waves of modern service frameworks. The criteria for determining other conditions for future modern service frameworks will be based on where there is potential for rapid and significant improvements in quality of care and productivity.

Plans to introduce a modern service framework for cancer will be considered as part of the development of the National Cancer Plan.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much money has been allocated through the the UK Research and Innovation fund to research into mitochondrial diseases in each of the last five years.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), committed £55,650,000 since 2020 to research into mitochondrial disease.

Additionally, MRC awarded the MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit (MBU), which focuses entirely on mitochondrial disease, £39,489,000 over this period.

National inquiry into group-based child sexual exploitation and abuse

Found: and Charlestown, Cornwall Attendees • M r Alistair Carmichael MP (Chair) • Sarah Bool MP • Charlie Dewhirst

Found: Riems, and Berlin, Germany Attendees • Mr Alistair Carmichael MP (Chair) • Sarah Bool MP • Charlie Dewhirst

Found: Location: Brussels, Belgium Attendees • Mr Al istair Carmichael MP (Chair) • Sarah Bool MP • Charlie Dewhirst

Found: Location: Seaton, Devon Attendees • Mr Alistair Carmichael MP (Chair) • Sarah Bool MP • Charlie Dewhirst

Found: (Chair) Sarah Bool (Conservative; South Northamptonshire) Juliet Campbell (Labour; Broxtowe) Charlie Dewhirst

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Mr Alistair Carmichael (Chair); Charlie Dewhirst; Sarah Dyke; Barry

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Mr Alistair Carmichael (Chair); Charlie Dewhirst; Sarah Dyke; Barry