Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many complaints HMRC have received in the last 6 months about VAT refunds to businesses because the refund was a) not received and b) delayed.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Between 1 June to 30 November 2025, HMRC processed around 1.4 million VAT repayment returns, with around 93% paid promptly following initial risking.
Based on the information held on HMRC’s complaints database, between 1 June to 30 November 2025, HMRC received 162 complaints relating to VAT repayments of which 119 were directly linked to VAT refund delays.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many VAT refunds to businesses in the last six months a) have not been refunded and b) have been delayed.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Between 1 June to 30 November 2025, HMRC processed around 1.4 million VAT repayment returns, with around 93% paid promptly following initial risking.
Based on the information held on HMRC’s complaints database, between 1 June to 30 November 2025, HMRC received 162 complaints relating to VAT repayments of which 119 were directly linked to VAT refund delays.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 4 July 2025 to question 63299, when he plans to publish the report on packaging changes to Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, as discussed at the Commission on Human Medicines Antidepressant Risk Minimisation Expert Working Group on 1 May.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Commission on Human Medicines Antidepressant Risk Minimisation Expert Working Group met in May and July 2025 and their recommendations were subsequently considered by the Commission on Human Medicines in September 2025.
A public assessment report summarising the data considered and the recommendations will be published by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) as soon as the regulatory position is finalised with the 105 marketing authorisation holders of the 28 antidepressants involved in the review. An exact date for publication of the public assessment report cannot be confirmed yet.
The MHRA will issue a Drug Safety Update to inform healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom of the new regulatory position for all antidepressants, not only selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and publication of the public assessment report.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer 1 December 2025 to Question HL12274 on Visual Snow Syndrome: Yellow Card Scheme, if he will confirm whether official UK drug labels or patient information leaflets warn about the possibility of this condition occurring.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Visual snow syndrome (VSS) was officially recognized in 2025 with a unique code in the eleventh edition of the International Classification of Diseases by the World Health Organization. Very few cases of VSS have been reported with 22 individual drugs or vaccines through the Yellow Card scheme.
VSS is a rare disorder and the underlying cause currently unknown. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) keeps all licensed medicines and vaccines under close monitoring and any potential signal of an association between a medicine or vaccine exposure and development of VSS will be rigorously assessed through the MHRA’s multidisciplinary signal review process and added to individual product information when there is data available to support regulatory action.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the condition and capacity of the road network linking the Port of Liverpool with the M57, M58 and M6 corridors; and whether additional funding is planned to support freight movement efficiency in the North West.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
National Highways has considered the current performance and potential future needs of the A5036, M57, M58 and M6 corridor as part of its South Pennines Route Strategy. This is the principal evidence-gathering mechanism for the organisation to inform investment planning for future Road Investment Strategies. The interim reports were published in May 2023, and the final version of these reports will be published alongside the third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3) in March 2026.
Funding allocated to National Highways through the RIS is the primary source for improvements to the strategic road network serving key international ports and gateways.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of continued fuel duty freezes on (a0 supporting economic growth and (b) supply chain stability in the North West.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget 2025, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut until the end of August 2026. Rates will then gradually return to previous levels. The planned increase in line with inflation for 2026-27 will not take place, with the government uprating fuel duty rates by RPI from April 2027. This will save the average car driver £49 next year compared to previous plans.
The Government considers the impact of fuel duty on the economy, including households and businesses, with decisions on rates made at fiscal events.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 64393 on Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme: Coronavirus, what steps he is taking to improve the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I would like to reiterate my profound and sincere sympathies to all those individuals who have experienced harm following vaccination, and to their families.
The Department has been working with the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA), the administrators of the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), to take steps to improve the scheme and process claims at a faster rate. Building on work to scale up and modernise operations through the digitisation of the claims process and increasing administrative staff working on the VDPS, the NHSBSA is engaging with healthcare providers to improve the return rate of medical records, essential to assessing claims, including through submitting subject access requests.
In parallel, Ministers continue to actively consider a range of options for further reforming the VDPS.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has issued guidance to police forces on the use of stop and search for weapons at hotels housing asylum seekers.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Code A of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) governs the use of stop and search powers. Guidance on the use of stop and search is also issued to forces by the College of Policing in its Authorised Professional Practice.
The Home Office has issued no guidance to police forces specifically relating to the use of stop and search at hotels asylum seekers. Decisions on the deployment of stop and search powers are for chief constables and their officers, who have the appropriate operational expertise.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department made of the adequacy of the use of single unique identifiers for schools, in the context of the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Provision in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to introduce a single unique identifier (SUI) for children is based on extensive user research, including engagement with schools and education settings. Our 2023 report, ‘Improving multi-agency information sharing’, highlighted that while schools use identifiers such as the unique pupil number (UPN), these are not recognised across other agencies that process and share information relating to safeguarding and welfare, creating fragmentation and risk.
To address this, the department began pilot activity in April 2025 to test the feasibility of using the NHS number as a consistent identifier within health and children’s social care. Future piloting will test this across wider safeguarding partners, including education. The intention is not to replace identifiers that are currently used in education, but to design how the SUI can work alongside existing identifiers to improve information sharing and strengthen safeguarding.
Asked by: Esther McVey (Conservative - Tatton)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to ensure that HMRC does not impose (a) penalties and (b) interest on (i) people and (ii) businesses who make inadvertent errors on their tax returns.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Financial penalties encourage taxpayers to comply with their obligations and act as a sanction for those who fail to comply. HMRC recognises that people may make inadvertent errors and does not charge a penalty provided the customer has not failed to take reasonable care in completing their return.
If a penalty for an inaccuracy is charged by HMRC, a person can also appeal against our decision to impose a penalty.
Interest is only applied to any outstanding liability. If a corrected error shows no outstanding amount, no interest will be charged.