Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what percentage of asylum seekers received initial decisions in quarter 4 of 2025 (October to December) compared to quarter 2 2024 (April to June).

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

Data for the year ending December 2025, which will include Quarter 4 of 2025, will be published on 26 February 2026.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the average compliance cost to sole traders of the transition to digital income tax in the 2026-27 financial year.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC’s latest published assessment of the potential impact of MTD for Income Tax across different taxpayer groups is available at:

Extension of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment to sole traders and landlords - GOV.UK

The government has worked with stakeholders to understand costs and benefits impacts, and with the software industry to ensure a wide range of low cost and free software is available for those with the simplest affairs.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the potential increased revenue due to recent changes to the tax classification of double cap pickups in 2026-27 financial year.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The estimated amount of tax in 2026/27 that will be raised from double cab pick-up vehicles being treated as cars, comprised of increased Company Car Tax revenue and reduced Capital Allowances, has been estimated as follows:

This figure is based on Autumn Budget 2024 basis and is subject to uncertainty typically around the behavioural response.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will publish the dates on which the joint UK Government and Scottish Government taskforce met to discuss the consultation on Alexander Dennis closing their Falkirk and Larbert sites.

Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)

The Scotland Office has priorisited securing the future of Alexander Dennis in Falkirk and Larbert from the moment we were made aware that those sites were at risk.

The previous Secretary of State for Scotland, the Rt Hon Ian Murray MP, had discussions with the Deputy First Minister on 5 June and 21 July 2025, and my officials participated in numerous cross-government meetings throughout summer 2025. The Secretary of State for Scotland has continued this dialogue - most recently on 11 November with the Deputy First Minister - and we will continue to engage closely with the Scottish Government to safeguard these skilled jobs.

Billy Bremner Raploch statue

Civil service pension scheme

68 Is Too Late report by the Prison Officers' Association

Palestine Action hunger strike

Found: for British Buses (PRO0007) Prepared by Beyond2050 The APPG for British Buses, co-chaired by Euan Stainbank

Found: Before: The Chairman of Ways and Means (Ms Nusrat Ghani) (Chair) Susan Murray MP Euan Stainbank MP Peter

Found: threatens 400 jobs and impacts 3,250 supply chain roles in the area.The Labour MP for Falkirk, Euan Stainbank