Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what consideration has been made to exercise his contract termination rights on Clause 33.1 and 33.2 as outlined in the Pension Scheme Administration and Related Services Agreement between the Government and Capita Pensions Solutions Ltd.

Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in receiving their pension quotes are unacceptable. Although the contract was awarded to Capita in 2023, under the previous Government, I want to reassure you that this Government has taken firm action to help put things right as soon as possible. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery. For priority cases, we have deployed additional resources and improved communication with affected colleagues, so that staff, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve.

Existing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been enhanced and strengthened to deliver improved performance and higher penalties for failure, including financial penalties. These have already applied in respect to Capita’s performance with recent issues and delays in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

The Cabinet Office will continue to use all available commercial levers to hold Capita to account and ensure they deliver the contractual service levels.

Furthermore, any further service failures by Capita will attract financial penalties, which will reduce the overall cost of the contract.

While at this time there are no plans to exercise contract termination rights on Clause 33.1 and 33.2 as outlined in the Pension Scheme Administration and Related Services Agreement between the Government and Capita Pensions Solutions Ltd. Our full focus is on stabilising the service and supporting any members experiencing hardship. We will conduct a full review once this has been achieved.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of levels of pension credit take up by Military veterans.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Department for Work and Pensions treats its responsibilities under the Armed Forces Covenant very seriously and through a network of Armed Forces Champions in Jobcentres, for example, provides expert help and support, including help with benefits, to those veterans who need it most.

Information on the levels of Pension Credit take up by Military Veterans is not available.

The latest available Pension Credit take-up statistics cover the financial year 2023 to 2024 and are available at: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2024 - GOV.UK.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when officials in her Department first discussed the intention to extend the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme with (a) Angus Robertson and (b) his officials.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Heritage funding and policy for Scotland is a devolved matter. DCMS officials engage with the Scottish Government on an ad hoc basis regarding developments and relevant issues including on the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (LPWGS).

The LPWGS was extended for one year only from 1 April 2025. The website was updated in July 2025 to show that the scheme would run until March 31st 2026 or until the budget of £23 million was exhausted.

Official-level engagement has included an email exchange in January 2025 noting the scheme's extension for one year only and stating that there would be an upcoming review during the Autumn 2025 Spending Review. There was a subsequent meeting on 6 February 2025 to discuss further detail. Following email correspondence in January 2026, a meeting on 17 February 2026 was held to discuss the intention to close the LPWGS.

Details of ministerial meetings can be found in the quarterly ministerial transparency returns.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she publish a list of all meeting her ministers and officials have held with the Scottish Government since July 2024 in which the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme was discussed.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Heritage funding and policy for Scotland is a devolved matter. DCMS officials engage with the Scottish Government on an ad hoc basis regarding developments and relevant issues including on the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme (LPWGS).

The LPWGS was extended for one year only from 1 April 2025. The website was updated in July 2025 to show that the scheme would run until March 31st 2026 or until the budget of £23 million was exhausted.

Official-level engagement has included an email exchange in January 2025 noting the scheme's extension for one year only and stating that there would be an upcoming review during the Autumn 2025 Spending Review. There was a subsequent meeting on 6 February 2025 to discuss further detail. Following email correspondence in January 2026, a meeting on 17 February 2026 was held to discuss the intention to close the LPWGS.

Details of ministerial meetings can be found in the quarterly ministerial transparency returns.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure consumers are protected from oil price increases.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The government is engaging regularly with refiners, importers and distributors to ensure any emerging risks are identified and managed promptly. Households should be reassured the UK benefits from strong and diverse security of energy supplies, and there are no issues with fuel supply.

The government recognises the pressures facing households who rely on heating oil. This is why we are providing an additional £53 million of targeted support for those vulnerable households who would struggle to pay an upfront lump sum to top up their tanks in order to maintain their heating and hot water.

This funding has been allocated based on census data, reflecting where the greatest need is. Northern Ireland will receive £17.2 million, England £27 million, Scotland £4.6 million, and Wales £3.8 million.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions her Department has had with the Competition and Markets Authority on monitoring fuel prices during volatility in global oil markets.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

HM Treasury officials have discussed with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) the work they are doing to maintain a high level of vigilance for unjustifiable price increases across the economy, including for fuel prices. The Chancellor has written to Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA, expressing support for the CMA’s work to ensure customers are not affected by undue price rises, including for road fuel. Letter to the CMA on vigilance for unjustifiable price increases.

The Chancellor and DESNZ’s Secretary of State met with petrol retailers and the CMA on 13th March to discuss where further action can be taken on monitoring fuel prices and supporting the cost of living.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what consideration has been given to the potential merits of using powers in the Procurement Act 2023 to block non-treaty states from procurement of zero emissions buses following the announcement of departmental funding for 484 electric buses.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The procurement of buses is carried out by Local Transport Authorities or bus operators, not the Department for Transport.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department plans to require local authority bus operators to run procurement operations with Government money that include consideration of social value weighting.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

My Department recognises the importance of social value in public procurement, and government procurement policy requires Central Government Departments to apply a minimum 10% weighting. Whilst this 10% minimum weighting is not mandatory for Local Authorities, many already apply this voluntarily.

The UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel, which ran from March 2025 to March 2026, concluded with a set of agreed mayoral commitments on zero emission buses including:

• To apply a minimum 10% social value weighting in all future bus procurement tenders, with yearly reviews on the weighting informed by data and lessons learned from bus fleet procurement exercises.
• To agree a consistent approach to social value, capturing and delivering UK wide benefits in addition to local benefits, where relevant and proportionate, in future bus fleet procurement tenders.
• To develop best practice social value questions, which could be used as a standardised base questionnaire in future tender documents, ensuring consistency and transparency, by September and in time to inform the next large bus fleet MCA procurement exercises.

The agreed commitments, can be found here: link.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to UIN 116915, how regularly are Capita reporting the number of outstanding backlog Civil Service Pension cases to the Cabinet Office.

Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government.

Capita provides the Cabinet Office with data regarding the number of outstanding Civil Service Pension backlog cases on a weekly basis. This regular reporting ensures the Department maintains continuous oversight of performance levels and progress against recovery targets. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery. For priority cases, we have deployed additional resources and improved communication with affected colleagues, so that staff, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve. The recovery plan is organised into intensive three-week sprints to stabilise the service.

We are applying contractual levers available to us to deal with performance failures, and we continue to explore all commercial avenues to hold them to account for the quality of their delivery. For example, existing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) have been enhanced and strengthened to deliver improved performance and higher penalties for failure, including financial penalties. These have already applied in respect to Capita’s performance with recent issues and delays in administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme.

Further details are available by using this web link (latest update 16 March):

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-update-16-march-2026

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has held discussions with Cabinet colleagues to help support the rise in Zero Emission bus demand being met by British-based manufacturers.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Department for Transport Ministers regularly meet with Cabinet colleagues to discuss a range of issues, including British bus manufacturing. The Government is committed to supporting the long-term strength and competitiveness of our bus manufacturing sector. In March 2025, the Minister for Roads and Buses launched the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel, bringing together industry experts and local leaders to ensure the UK remains a leader in bus manufacturing. A key objective of the panel is to develop a pipeline of future bus orders to give better planning certainty to the sector and UK-based manufacturers, which was published on 16 March 2026.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's document entitled 10-year zero emission bus order pipeline, published on 16 March 2026, how many of the total zero emission bus purchases over the next 10 years are estimated to be for bus fleets in Scotland.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The 10‑year zero‑emission bus order pipeline published on 16 March 2026 does not provide a specific estimate for how many of the forecast UK‑wide zero‑emission bus purchases are expected to be for bus fleets in Scotland.

The Department’s dataset is based on voluntary returns from bus operators and local transport authorities across Great Britain. Data from bus operators was supplied at an aggregate level, not split by region.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including refined products in the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism before January 2029 or earlier.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government recognises the role that refineries play in energy security and the UK’s industrial base. The Government published a call for evidence (https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/future-of-the-uk-downstream-oil-sector/future-of-the-uk-downstream-oil-sector-call-for-evidence) on the future of the fuel sector on 23rd February 2026 in order to help understand the current state of the refining sector.

Following a strategic and technical assessment by HMG, it has been decided not to expand the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to refined oil products in January 2028. Assessing the case for and feasibility of including refined oil products within the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism at a later date is a priority. We are continuing to work with the sector to assess the options.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the inclusion of refined products in the carbon border adjustment mechanism on national security.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government recognises the role that refineries play in energy security and the UK’s industrial base. The Government published a call for evidence (https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/future-of-the-uk-downstream-oil-sector/future-of-the-uk-downstream-oil-sector-call-for-evidence) on the future of the fuel sector on 23rd February 2026 in order to help understand the current state of the refining sector.

Following a strategic and technical assessment by HMG, it has been decided not to expand the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to refined oil products in January 2028. Assessing the case for and feasibility of including refined oil products within the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism at a later date is a priority. We are continuing to work with the sector to assess the options.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Aviation Industry Skills Industry Board on the value of ongoing funding during the transition from Apprenticeship Level to the Growth and Skills Levy for Level 3+ Leadership and Management Apprenticeship Standard Apprenticeships.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Skills is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The Department for Transport regularly attends Aviation Industry Skills Board meetings, where they provide government updates alongside colleagues from the Department for Work and Pensions, the Department for Education and Skills England. Skills England recently discussed the Growth and Skills levy with this group and government will continue to engage as we deliver this reform.

From September 2026, we will withdraw funding from 16 existing apprenticeship standards. Three of these are generic leadership and management apprenticeships, which have grown significantly but are predominantly used as continuing professional development for established staff aged 25 and over.

The changes to streamline the apprenticeship offer will help to create headroom to invest in opportunities for young people. Over the past 10 years, apprenticeship starts among young people have fallen sharply. Starts for 16–24-year-olds have declined by 40%, and over half of all apprenticeship starts are now by learners aged over 25, many of which are at higher levels. To support our ambition of 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, we are expanding foundation apprenticeships into hospitality and retail, introducing an incentive of up to £2,000 for SMEs that take on 16–24-year-old apprentices as new employees, and launching a new level 2 administrative assistant apprenticeship for young people.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what Barnett consequentials will be generated for the Scottish government by (a) grants awarded to local authorities in England to address SEND deficits announced in the written statement entitled Local Government Finance Settlement 2026-27 to 2028-29, published on 9 February 2026, HCWS1315, and (b) additional funding for SEND announced in the Spring Statement.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

At Spring Forecast 2026 it was confirmed that the Scottish Government will receive £533 million Barnett consequentials in 2026-27, through the application of the Barnett formula to the grants for Local Authorities to address SEND deficits in England.

The Barnett formula applies mechanically to new funding for the Department for Education in 2028-29, to support reforms of the SEND system. This results in an additional £362 million for the Scottish Government in 2028-29.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what Barnett consequentials will be generated for Scotland by (a) the awarding of grants to local authorities in England to address SEND deficits, as set out in UIN HCWS1315 and (a) the funding for SEND announced in the Spring Statement 2026.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

At Spring Forecast 2026 it was confirmed that the Scottish Government will receive £533 million Barnett consequentials in 2026-27, through the application of the Barnett formula to the grants for Local Authorities to address SEND deficits in England.

The Barnett formula applies mechanically to new funding for the Department for Education in 2028-29, to support reforms of the SEND system. This results in an additional £362 million for the Scottish Government in 2028-29.

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