Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a compensation scheme for Civil Service Pension Scheme members impacted by administrative delays related to receiving first lump sums.

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.

The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions are unacceptable.

No former civil servant should be facing financial hardship as a result of delays to their pension. Arrangements are in place for interest-free bridging loans of up to £5,000 (and up to £10,000 in exceptional cases) to most recent retirees facing payment delays. This is alongside interim lump sum payments being made to provide immediate funds to retiring members.

Additionally, interest will be paid on delayed benefits to avoid financial loss by members.

There is already a statutory complaints procedure in place that can be used for formal complaints that will determine whether compensation is appropriate on a case by case basis. This is run in accordance with the standards set by the Pensions Ombudsman.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of lifting the £10,000 limit on interest free loans for pensioners impacted by delays to the Civil Service Pension scheme administration.

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.

The issues and delays facing a number of civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions are unacceptable.

Interest-free loans of £5,000 (up to £10,000 in exceptional cases) are available for the overwhelming majority of members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme whose pensions are overdue.

Alongside these arrangements, Capita has prioritised payment of tax-free pension lump sums for members who had received quotations but were not in receipt of their benefits, with the vast majority of these having been paid in February.

The focus is on returning services to normal. Huge efforts and stops have been put in place to ensure this happens as soon as possible.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the increase in the Barnett formula grant to the Scottish Government following the announcement of the Places of Worship Renewal Fund.

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

At the Spending Review 2025, HM Treasury agreed budgets for Departments for a three-year period for Resource DEL, and a four-year period for Capital DEL. The Department then completed a Business Planning process to allocate this funding to programmes. This included £92 million (£23 million per year) for the Places of Worship Renewal Fund.

At Spending Reviews, the Devolved Governments generally receive Barnett consequentials as a proportion of overall departmental settlements, not specific funding lines or programmes. Barnett consequentials were confirmed taking into account the overall DCMS allocation, which includes funding for the Places of Worship Renewal fund. Decisions on the allocation of this funding are then for the Devolved Governments to take.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of asylum applicant initial refusals were reversed in the period between July 2024 and July 2025.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on asylum appeals and latest outcomes in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.

Data on asylum appeals is published in table Asy_D06 and Asy_D07 of the ‘Asylum appeals lodged and determined detailed datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2023.

Data on latest asylum outcomes is published in table Asy_D04 of the ‘Asylum claims and decisions detail datasets’. Table Asy_D04 shows, for main applicants only, the number of asylum claims made each year and the initial and latest outcomes for those claims. Initial outcomes of an asylum claim are subject to change following an appeal or a reconsideration. The latest published data relates to claims made up to the end of 2024, with outcomes as at the point of data extraction in October 2025.

Information on how to use these datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks.

Please note that figures for immigration and asylum appeals at First-Tier Tribunal and subsequent stages are published by the Ministry of Justice as part of their Tribunal Statistics release. The latest data relates to July to September 2025.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which country of origin had the highest percentage of asylum applicant initial decision success rate since July 2024.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.

Data on initial decisions on asylum claims by nationality is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2025.

Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2025. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which country of origin had the lowest asylum applicant initial decision success rate since July 2024.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’.

Data on initial decisions on asylum claims by nationality is published in table Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum claims and initial decisions datasets’. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2025.

Information on how to use the datasets can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbooks. The latest data relates to the year ending September 2025. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what length of time since the date of issue may Military Service Exemption cards be used by VISA applicants before they no longer qualify as proof of VISA applicants' circumstances by Home Office Entry Clearance Officers.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Evidence of exemption from military service is not a requirement of the UK Immigration Rules. Where an applicant presents a document to demonstrate their exemption from military service in their home country, the entry clearance officer would consider this evidence in the round and against the relevant immigration rules for the route applied for.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether an entry clearance manager can consider a non-English untranslated document in support of a visa.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Immigration Rules set out that where specified documents submitted in support of a visa application are not in English or Welsh, the applicant must provide both the version of the document in the original language and a full translation that can be independently verified by the decision maker. See Immigration Rule 39B(f)

Immigration Rules - Immigration Rules part 1: leave to enter or stay in the UK - Guidance - GOV.UK

For all types of documents, including non-specified documents that are not translated, an ECM may write to the applicant to request a translation of the document if it is relevant to whether the requirements of the Immigration rules are met. This approach is in line with the published Evidential Flexibility policy. Evidential flexibility

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to provide additional UK-wide support to improve MMR vaccination coverage in areas where rates have fallen below the 95% herd immunity threshold.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Whilst vaccine delivery is devolved to Scotland, we collaborate closely with our Scottish counterparts to maximise vaccine coverage across the United Kingdom.

Work is continuing to consistently and comprehensively implement the UK Measles and Rubella Elimination Strategy, which is specifically designed for achieving and maintaining measles elimination status, in line with the World Health Organization’s guidance and recommendations.

The Department, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), and NHS England work closely with the devolved administrations and other partners to consistently implement the strategy. As part of this, the UKHSA facilitates the Measles and Rubella Elimination Strategy implementation Board (MAREB) on behalf of these organisations.

MAREB facilitates information sharing with the devolved administrations, including Scotland. MAREB members collectively monitor progress towards achieving key measles surveillance indicators and MMR/MMRV programme indicators for the UK.

From 1 January 2026, we brought forward the second dose of MMRV vaccine from three years and four months to a new routine appointment for all children at 18 months of age, based on evidence that this earlier appointment could improve uptake and provide earlier protection against measles. The facilitation of this change included close communication with the devolved administrations to enable information sharing and planning alignment where possible.

The Department continues to support joint efforts to improve measles vaccination uptake and reduce the risk of outbreaks across the UK.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of cross-border public health coordination on measles vaccination uptake.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Whilst vaccine delivery is devolved to Scotland, we collaborate closely with our Scottish counterparts to maximise vaccine coverage across the United Kingdom.

Work is continuing to consistently and comprehensively implement the UK Measles and Rubella Elimination Strategy, which is specifically designed for achieving and maintaining measles elimination status, in line with the World Health Organization’s guidance and recommendations.

The Department, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), and NHS England work closely with the devolved administrations and other partners to consistently implement the strategy. As part of this, the UKHSA facilitates the Measles and Rubella Elimination Strategy implementation Board (MAREB) on behalf of these organisations.

MAREB facilitates information sharing with the devolved administrations, including Scotland. MAREB members collectively monitor progress towards achieving key measles surveillance indicators and MMR/MMRV programme indicators for the UK.

From 1 January 2026, we brought forward the second dose of MMRV vaccine from three years and four months to a new routine appointment for all children at 18 months of age, based on evidence that this earlier appointment could improve uptake and provide earlier protection against measles. The facilitation of this change included close communication with the devolved administrations to enable information sharing and planning alignment where possible.

The Department continues to support joint efforts to improve measles vaccination uptake and reduce the risk of outbreaks across the UK.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Government on the rise in measles cases in the UK.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Whilst vaccine delivery is devolved to Scotland, we collaborate closely with our Scottish counterparts to maximise vaccine coverage across the United Kingdom.

Work is continuing to consistently and comprehensively implement the UK Measles and Rubella Elimination Strategy, which is specifically designed for achieving and maintaining measles elimination status, in line with the World Health Organization’s guidance and recommendations.

The Department, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), and NHS England work closely with the devolved administrations and other partners to consistently implement the strategy. As part of this, the UKHSA facilitates the Measles and Rubella Elimination Strategy implementation Board (MAREB) on behalf of these organisations.

MAREB facilitates information sharing with the devolved administrations, including Scotland. MAREB members collectively monitor progress towards achieving key measles surveillance indicators and MMR/MMRV programme indicators for the UK.

From 1 January 2026, we brought forward the second dose of MMRV vaccine from three years and four months to a new routine appointment for all children at 18 months of age, based on evidence that this earlier appointment could improve uptake and provide earlier protection against measles. The facilitation of this change included close communication with the devolved administrations to enable information sharing and planning alignment where possible.

The Department continues to support joint efforts to improve measles vaccination uptake and reduce the risk of outbreaks across the UK.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of raising the state pension recipient maximum threshold on people who receive carer's allowance.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

I refer the honourable Member to the answer I gave on 23 June 2025 to Question UIN 59626.

Carer’s Allowance is devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to expedite long-term investment and skilled jobs at the Grangemouth industrial cluster as part of the transition to net zero.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The UK Government is working closely with the Scottish Government and our investment agencies on options for investment in Grangemouth and have received over 140 enquiries. At the 2025 Autumn Budget, we announced £14.5 million funding to support these projects, complementing the National Wealth Fund’s £200 million commitment for co-investment in Grangemouth.

On 11 December 2025, the UK Government awarded up to £1.5 million to MiAlgae to build its first commercial facility at Grangemouth, a biotechnology project expected to create 130 jobs over the next five years. As a condition of the grant funding, eligible Grangemouth oil refinery workers will be given a job interview guarantee.

Retaining skilled jobs at Grangemouth is important and we are also funding a ‘training guarantee’ for all Grangemouth refinery staff to receive training to help them into new, good jobs with local employers.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the size of the backlog of civil service pension cases on (a) 1 December 2025 and (b) 1 March 2026.

Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

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

The issues and delays facing civil servants and pension scheme members in accessing their pensions is unacceptable. In response, we have set up a dedicated team to work urgently with Capita, with 650 full time staff across Government and Capita. We have agreed a clear recovery plan with Capita, which includes specific milestones and accountability targets for delivery. It includes specific commitments to restore service levels as soon as possible. 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.

Capita has prioritised the most urgent cases and by the end of February, all death in service cases were either settled or progressed to the final stage or awaiting a member response. A similar position will be reached for ill health retirement applications by mid-March.

Alongside these arrangements, Capita has prioritised payment of tax-free pension lump sums for members who had received quotations but were not in receipt of their benefits, with the vast majority of these having been paid in February.

On a) 1 December 2025, Capita inherited 86,000 CSPS cases, which included 15,000 unread emails from the previous provider; they have since opened and assessed all of these emails. We do not yet have the data for the position as of 1 March 2026.

The pension scheme continues to make monthly pension payments to approximately 730,000 existing pensioner members on time.

The latest position of the Civil Service Pension Recovery Plan Update (2 March 2026) is available at this weblink: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-updates/civil-service-pension-recovery-plan-update-2-march-2026

Falkirk Trinity Church fundraiser for Ukraine

Boujee Dogs

New US sanctions on Cuba

30th anniversary of the Dunblane Primary School tragedy

Compulsory redundancies and industrial action at Edinburgh Napier University

PANS+ Scotland

Rosebank oil field

Found: Ghani (Conservative; Sussex Weald) (Chair) Susan Murray (Liberal Democrat; Mid Dunbartonshire) Euan Stainbank