Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his statement on Pensions on 29 of January 2026, what new evidence did his Department's officials present to him in his re-consideration of the decision regarding state pension age changes that was not considered on or before 11 of November 2025.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Secretary of State has taken a new decision, and the process has been thorough. We have looked at information previously considered and conducted new searches as part of an extensive review of relevant historical documents.
In addition to the 2007 Automatic Pension Forecast Evaluation, other evidence relating to letter effectiveness and State Pension age awareness was provided to the Secretary of State.
This included survey evidence on Combined Pension Forecasts, and additional State Pension age awareness evidence from the late 2000s. The decision document, which is available on gov.uk, includes some references to the evidence that was considered. The DWP research reports referenced are also publicly available in the National Archive.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment his Department has made of the level of the gender pension gap within the civil service pension scheme.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The gender pension gap can be measured in different ways. In order to answer this question, we have used the difference in average pension in payment for men and women, expressed as a percentage of the average pension for men. Based on the latest data available, from 2024, the gap has reduced from 47% in 2016 to 42%.
We fully expect this position to continue to improve as the equality employment legislation reduces historical differences in both the gap in pay and pensions accruing.
The Cabinet Office will be commissioning the Government Actuary’s Department to carry out further analysis of the current position and will then consider next steps.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether per capita share of asylum accommodation across regions is a criteria in deciding asylum hotel closure priority.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Hotel closure will be prioritised based on a wide range of criteria. The hotel exit plan will continue to be carefully managed to ensure that all supported asylum seekers are accommodated in suitable alternative accommodation. The department operates a Full Dispersal model which works to ensure that asylum accommodation is equitably and fairly spread out across the country, meaning that a small number of local authorities are not unduly burdened.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure that new asylum seeker accommodation is equitably dispersed between the regions and nations of the United Kingdom.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The department operates a Full Dispersal model which works to ensure that asylum accommodation is equitably and fairly spread out across regions and nations of the United Kingdom, meaning that a small number of local authorities are not unduly burdened.
To facilitate this, we have developed Asylum Accommodation Plans in partnership with Local Government which set out our approach to the procurement and occupancy of Dispersal Accommodation across the UK.
The Plans are underpinned by an indexing model which weights three key overarching factors. Indexing provides a flexible, transparent evidence-based for the dispersal of the national asylum-seeking population to ensure equity remains at the core. The overarching factors are:
These three factors ensure the plans are evidence- based and strike a balance between equity and availability, as well as for the first time considering various pressures in local areas which we have worked on with The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The plans and indexing are reviewed regularly to ensure the plans are flexible to changing external factors.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Capita's performance on the delivery of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
In November 2023, the Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita. This was under the previous government. The Scheme transferred to Capita on 1 December 2025. We are aware that Capita’s current performance is having a detrimental impact on some members.
We are working urgently with Capita to resolve these issues, and to ensure that civil servants, both former and serving, receive the quality of service and support they deserve.
We have established a cross-departmental team to work with Capita to develop and implement a recovery plan. Alongside this, Capita is increasing staffing in key areas, to increase processing times in relation to new retirements and support for members, particularly those impacted by delays.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to publish the Ten-year pipeline of projected bus orders.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My Department is planning to publish the ten-year pipeline of projected orders shortly.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the examination and shortlisting exercise for the deployment of the National Wealth Fund in Grangemouth will be concluded.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The NWF is actively considering all the available investment opportunities in Grangemouth. The NWF is responsible for approval of specific investments, in line with its regular governance and investment processes, including Board approval where appropriate.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Government on ensuring economic and skills impacts for communities in Scotland hosting nationally significant energy infrastructure, including grid reinforcement and subsea transmission projects.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The department engages regularly with the Scottish Government to maximise the positive impacts from energy infrastructure investments on local economies and skills. Engagement is both at the ministerial and official level through formal fora such as the Interministerial Group on Net Zero, Energy & Climate Change, Grangemouth Investment Taskforce and ad-hoc when useful. This includes coordinated work on workforce needs such as our joint approach and funding on reskilling Grangemouth employees; coordinating work between the governments on ensuring developers provide community benefits and discussions on network connections.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of compensatory funding to further education institutions for the increase in Employer National Insurance contributions on colleges.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
To recognise the increase to employers’ National Insurance contributions, we made approximately £155 million available in 2025/26 to support further education institutions and other mainstream settings that receive annual funding allocations from the department for the provision of post-16 education. This funding was made available via the Post-16 National Insurance contributions grant in September 2025. All decisions related to the 2026/27 financial year are being considered and information will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Euan Stainbank (Labour - Falkirk)
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.