Gareth Thomas

For teachers, the geographical areas covered by the different teacher pay ranges were defined some years ago to reflect a practical approach to compensate teachers working in London.

The School Teachers’ Review Body has not recommended any changes to London pay ranges in recent years; however, the Department is currently considering what additional flexibilities should be built into the statutory pay and conditions framework as a result of our commitment on changes to pay and conditions through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, and we will keep this matter under review.

For police officers, there’s London Weighting and London Allowance. There’s not an inner and outer London rate – it’s the same across all of London.

London Weighting and London Allowance were last reviewed by the Police Remuneration Review Body in the 2025/26 pay round.

Decisions on pay, including London weighting, are delegated to individual departments for grades below the Senior Civil Service (SCS); departmental policies on London weighting are not collected centrally. The SCS pay framework is managed centrally and only operates a national pay range.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 8th January is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 10th October is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 10th October is attached.

Our department is helping businesses take advantage of trade deals through engagement, guidance, and practical support. Events to promote understanding of FTAs have been held in all parts of the UK this year, including during International Trade Week.

Guides to ensure business have clear advice on taking advantage of FTAs have been published on recent FTAs, and are being prepared for the UK-India FTA. SMEs can also access support on FTAs through the new Business Growth Service.

The Government’s Plan for Small Businesses strengthens the business environment, improves finance access, creates growth opportunities, and boosts SME competitiveness across the UK.

To protect negotiation-sensitive information the Department for Business and Trade will not be publishing a full assessment of the potential economic impact of mutual recognition agreements on conformity assessment between the UK and EU. This Government remains committed to tackling barriers to trade with the EU, addressing areas of mutual benefit to both the UK and EU.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 1st December to question 93634 (Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament).

Improved business travel mobility arrangements with the EU would benefit individuals and businesses in both the UK and EU, likely increasing trade between us and the EU and increasing our GDP over time. The UK government is committed to supporting UK businesses to trade more easily with our biggest trading partner, the EU.

Where the British Business Bank receives complaints about lenders' actions on debt recovery, cost of lending and fees charged by lenders, these are referred to the relevant lender. While all complaints are logged, the current system does not include a specific category for debt-recovery-related issues. No fees were charged under the COVID-19 loan schemes, and there are no fees for Start Up Loans other than interest payments.

We are aware that UK and EU stakeholders have highlighted that conformity assessment barriers negatively impact their ability to trade since the UK left the EU. Ahead of the UK-EU summit in May 2025 we explored a number of proposals with our EU partners on manufactured goods. To inform these discussions the government assessed the potential economic impact of a range of measures, including a mutual recognition agreement on conformity assessment, which indicated that such an agreement would be mutually beneficial for both the UK and EU. What was announced at the UK-EU summit reflects the outcome of the discussions.

The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Ofcom about online safety matters. For example, in October, the Secretary of State wrote to Ofcom requesting an update on its implementation of the Online Safety Act, including work to ensure platforms tackle antisemitic and hateful content and abuse.

Ofcom’s reply outlined the main themes of its work in tackling antisemitism and other forms of hate speech and abuse. This includes driving compliance through the Online Safety Act’s regulatory framework, building on its codes of practice, working with civil society to build its evidence base and targeted working with platforms during crises.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, including older people, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities to stay fit and healthy.

The Government provides the majority of support for grassroots sport through DCMS’s Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Their ten-year Uniting the Movement strategy reinforces their commitment to increasing participation in sport and physical activity for those from under-represented groups, including older people. Sport England has also ensured that each of its programmes impact directly on those with long-term health conditions, including older people, with initiatives like the 'We are Undefeatable' campaign.

The Government is committed to making the UK the best place in the world to produce video games. We recognise the high growth potential of the sector, and are committed to improving its access to finance.

This is why, as part of the Creative Industries Sector Plan, we have committed £30 million over the next three years for the Games Growth Package, which includes a significant expansion of the UK Games Fund which will continue to provide grants to early-stage studios across the UK to develop prototypes and new intellectual property, and run development programmes for new graduates.

The tax reliefs offered to video games companies continue to make the UK one of the best places in the world to make video games. Our Video Games Expenditure Credit ensures that this highly skilled and innovative industry is able to thrive and the government will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure its continued effectiveness.

Also outlined in the Creative Industries Sector Plan was a significant increase in support from the British Business Bank (BBB) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The BBB is committing an additional £4 billion of Industrial Strategy Growth Capital to support investment and growth in the eight priority Industrial Strategy sectors, including the creative industries, while UKRI will lead efforts to significantly increase public funding for the creative sectors, including support for commercialisation and tech adoption.

I have not had discussions with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about the inclusion of netball, or any other sport, in the Olympic Games.

The Olympic sports programme is determined by the IOC. The British Olympic Association, as the National Organising Committee for Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is the domestic representative to the IOC and does so operating independently of the Government.

As set out at the UK-EU Summit in May, the UK agreed to work towards association to the Erasmus+ programme on mutually agreed financial terms.

Negotiations are ongoing, and the timelines for any association are subject to ongoing discussion. We are open to associating to Erasmus+ for 2027 in principle, but only if we can reach agreement on financial terms, which should ensure a fair balance as regards the contributions of and benefits to the UK.

​​A high quality citizenship education helps to provide pupils with the knowledge, skills and understanding to prepare them to play a full and active part in society. The citizenship curriculum is compulsory within the national curriculum at secondary and primary schools can choose to teach citizenship at key stages 1 and 2, following the non-statutory framework for citizenship.

​Pupils should be taught about the roles played by public institutions and voluntary groups in society, which could include co-operatives, and the ways in which citizens work together to improve their communities.

​The independent Curriculum and Assessment Review is seeking to deliver a curriculum that ensures children and young people leave compulsory education ready for life and work, building the knowledge, skills and attributes young people need to thrive. The Review’s final report and recommendations will be published shortly with the government’s response.

We know that the 16 to 19 population has been increasing in some parts of England and that extra capacity has been needed in post-16 places in some areas.

The post-16 Capacity Fund has already invested £282 million between 2021 to 2025 for additional capacity and we will be investing a further £375 million between 2026/27 and 2029/30 to provide additional places.

We will make announcements in due course and provide further information about the delivery of the £375 million capital funding secured for the post-16 sector.

Defra and the European Commission regularly exchange information in relation to (a) the management of foot and mouth disease outbreaks in the European Union in 2025 and (b) the import restrictions on meat and dairy products that we put in place to protect UK farmers. This information includes details of surveillance, testing, movements of animals and goods, and other outbreak controls.

The Government strongly supports the benefits co-operatives can bring and recognises the important role they play in rural communities. For instance, through collaborating farmers and growers can benefit from peer to peer learning, being able to share equipment and being able to act at scale.

Data on aircraft movements at UK airports is collected and published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). CAA aircraft movement data includes a ‘military’ category, but a split between arriving and departing flights is not provided.

Although Royal Air Force (RAF) Northolt does handle some civil flight movements, this is an RAF establishment, and data on aircraft movements at RAF Northolt is not collected by the CAA.

Data on the total number of aircraft movements at Heathrow, split by military and non-military, is provided in Table 03_1 of the annual CAA airport data publication and reproduced as Table 1 below. The last three complete years for which figures are available are 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Table 1: Aircraft movements at Heathrow Airport split by military and non-military

Note: Non-military category includes commercial, test and training, private, official and business aviation movements.

Source: https://www.caa.co.uk/data-and-analysis/uk-aviation-market/airports/uk-airport-data/

The Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS) sets out the mitigations a promoter must provide to minimise the impact of the project on the environment and affected communities. The review of the ANPS will consider if any changes are required to the existing mitigations. We will consult on any proposed amendments to the ANPS in summer 2026, and communities will have the chance to express their views.

Customers who receive the enhanced rate mobility component of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and whose vehicles are already licensed in the disabled taxation class can renew their vehicle excise duty (VED) exemption online.

Those customers who receive the standard rate mobility component of PIP, which entitles them to a 50 per cent reduction in the rate of VED payable, must send their application to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

Facilitating online applications by disabled customers to claim reduced rates of VED requires the electronic exchange of data held by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) with the DVLA. Officials are considering how to improve the ability for customers in receipt of PIP to transact with the DVLA.

NHS England began publishing data on accident and emergency attendances at the site-level from November 2025, and therefore only two months of data are currently available. The following table shows the number of type 1 and 2 accident and emergency attendances, as well as all attendances, at Northwick Park Hospital, for November and December of 2025:

Source: A&E Attendances and Emergency Admissions 2025-26 dataset, avaiable at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/ae-waiting-times-and-activity/ae-attendances-and-emergency-admissions-2025-26/
Note: the data for December 2025 is provisional, and all figures have been rounded to the nearest five in line with data suppression rules.

The NHS Business Services Authority signed a contract with Infosys to deliver a new enhanced workforce management system for the National Health Service on 10 October 2025. Further details on the programme can be found at the following link:

https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/future-nhs-workforce-solution-transformation-programme

National Health Service provider trusts are required to provide core workforce data to NHS England and the Department based on definitions set out in the National Workforce Data Set (NWD). The NWD is kept under review to ensure it is kept up to date while the burden on trusts of data collection remains proportionate.

The replacement system for the NHS Electronic staff Record (ESR), the Future NHS Workforce System (FWS) will make it easier to record the information that aligns with NHS organisational needs, including the skills and specialisms of staff. NHS England is currently working with the NHS Business Services Authority to make the best use of the data capture ability of the new system.

There is not a hard deadline for deciding what will be recorded on the FWS. As with ESR, new fields will be able to be added to meet the changing requirements of trusts and of national workforce planning. We will though need to continue to work with trusts to ensure that the data we require them to capture is both useful, proportionate and aligned with operational needs.

Local employers across the National Health Service are best placed to understand their staff’s needs and circumstances. NHS staff have access to a range of support for financial wellbeing including credit union membership, savings schemes, and access to discount schemes such as the ‘Blue Light Card’.

NHS Employers has also published guidance for employers on salary sacrifice arrangements and tax-free childcare, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nhsemployers.org/articles/salary-sacrifice-schemes

NHS England publishes data for the three cancer waiting time standards monthly, and this data can be broken down to a provider level, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancer-waiting-times/

Since July 2025, NHS England has published Faster Diagnosis Standard data broken down by those who were diagnosed with cancer and those who had cancer ruled out. However, this data is not publicly available at a provider level.

As things stand, and in line with the Government's stated policies, we expect spending on Official Development Assistance to be at 0.3 per cent of gross national income in the 2027 calendar year, and stay at that level until fiscal circumstances allow the UK to return to the 0.7 per cent target.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I provided on 15 October 2025 in response to Question 77510.

I refer the Hon Member to the statement to the House I made on 5 January, and to the joint statement issued by the Foreign Secretary and several of her counterparts on 30 December, available on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/jointstatementon-the-gaza-humanitarian-response

The UK remains firmly committed to ending AIDS. We continue to support the organisations at forefront of the global response to HIV, including UNAIDS and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and our investments to Unitaid, CHAI and MedAccess have helped shape the market for new HIV innovations, including Lenacapavir. A formal Equality impact assessment of Official Development Assistance programme allocations for 2025 to 2026 was published on 2 September 2025, and is available on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fcdo-official-development-assistance-programme-allocations-2025-to-2026-equality-impact-assessment/equality-impact-assessment-of-official-development-assistance-oda-programme-allocations-for-2025-to-2026). Assessments of the impact of future funding allocations will be made in due course once those allocations are set.

I refer the Hon Member to the answer I provided on 15 October 2025 to Question 77510.