Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the amount of funding Departments plan to provide to organisations that engage in the lobbying of Government in the (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27 financial year.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
This information is not centrally held by the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the press notice entitled Home Secretary to announce major policing reforms, published on 17 November 2024, what her Department's timetable is for establishing a unit to monitor police performance.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
Since 19 November 2024, when My Rt Hon Friend, the Home Secretary, announced her plans for policing reform, we have been working closely with the sector to draw up a new Police Performance Framework to ensure standards are upheld across the country, and to establish a new Unit within the Home Office which will identify and support force-level improvements.
Further details will be published in the forthcoming Police Reform White Paper.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under Secretary for Business and Trade of 31 October 2024, Official Report, column 927, what his Department's timetable is for publishing a Command Paper on support for small businesses.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government expects to publish the SME strategy later this year.
This will set out the Government’s vision for SMEs, from encouraging entrepreneurship to boosting scale-ups, across key policy areas such as creating thriving high streets, making it easier to access finance, opening up overseas and domestic markets, building business capabilities, and providing a strong business environment.
The paper will complement the Government’s forthcoming Industrial Strategy and Trade Strategy.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the amount of funding that has been allocated for equality, diversity and inclusion roles in each police force in the (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The requested information is not centrally collated by the Home Office.
Decisions on how funding and resources are utilised are an operational matter for Chief Constables and locally elected Police and Crime Commissioners.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what discussions his Department has had with (a) fish and chip and (b) other commercial food providers on pressures faced by SMEs due to (i) taxation, (ii) the price of fish and (iii) the expense of full electrification.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Fish and chip shops are integral to our high streets, communities and culture. Commercial food providers more broadly play a key role in supporting economic growth in every corner of the UK.
I recognise that these businesses are being challenged by rising costs, but we are protecting the smallest businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance and creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street.
The Government remains committed to supporting electrification and addressing the barriers to investment in electric technology. This includes further development of policy options to address the high cost of electricity relative to natural gas, and the implementation of planning reforms to speed up infrastructure development and unblock issues on grid connection delays.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an estimate of the potential impact of charging overseas tourists £10 to visit museums on the public purse.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
No.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what budget her Department has allocated to public sector pay rises for 2025-26 and 2026-27.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Public Sector pay rises will be funded from Departmental Budgets across the Parliament – there is no centrally provided funding available for pay rises.
Departments have set out in their evidence to the Pay Review Bodies (PRBs) what is affordable for 2025-26 pay awards for their workforces. Departmental budgets for 2026-27 onwards are subject to the ongoing Spending Review.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reducing business rates relief for retailers that choose to leave the high street and move their businesses to retail parks.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for all retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values below £500,000 from 2026-27.
The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on all properties with a rateable value (RV) of £500,000 and above.
The rates for any new business rate multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what budget her Department has allocated to public sector equality, diversity and inclusion roles for (a) 2025-26 and (b) 2026-27.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury has fewer than 5 staff in equality, diversity and inclusion roles for 2025/26. As the total number of individuals is less than 5, HM Treasury is unable to release salary information as doing so would mean these individuals may be identifiable. This is in line with HM Treasury's data reporting policy.
The Department's budget for 2026/27 has not yet been finalised.
Asked by: Charlie Dewhirst (Conservative - Bridlington and The Wolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding her Department has allocated to Stonewall for (a) 2025/26 and (b) 2026/27.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Treasury has not allocated any funding for Stonewall for 2025/26 and does not anticipate allocating any funding for Stonewall in 2026/27.