Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2025 to Question 82947 on Banks and Community Development Finance Institutions, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the reasons for which (a) HSBC, (b) Santander and (c) Barclays have not chosen to support work between banks and Community Development Finance Institutions to support the provision of affordable credit in the areas of highest deprivation.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
As outlined in my previous response, the Government recognises the vital role Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) play in providing affordable credit to underserved consumers and businesses. However I cannot comment on how individual banks decide to approach provision of affordable credit.
I am very grateful for the engagement by a range of banks and CDFIs in contributing to the upcoming Financial Inclusion Strategy, which includes a focus on access to affordable credit and will seek to ensure people have access to useful products and services for their needs.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 23 October 2025 to Question 82944 on Credit Unions, if she will publish the responses to the call for evidence.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to exploring legislative reform to the credit union common bond to ensure it remains fit for purpose.
Responses to the call for evidence are currently being considered, and the government will provide an update on this work in due course.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps her Department plans to take to support the rebuilding of the Palestinian economy.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
On 13 October, alongside representatives from the Egyptian Government and the Palestinian Authority, I co-hosted a summit at Wilton Park focused on how we can leverage in private finance to support the reconstruction of Gaza and the recovery of the Palestinian economy, attended by business leaders from the region, international partners, and financial experts from here in the UK.
Both through short-term humanitarian relief, and long-term support, we are determined to help the Palestinian people as they rebuild their homes and livelihoods, and we will continue to drive international support for that effort as a crucial component of Phase Two of the US-led peace plan.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to help increase the number of police officers in the Harrow West constituency since the end of June 2024.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has launched the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. This will ensure that every community in England and Wales will have named and contactable officers dealing with local issues, and that neighbourhood teams spend the majority of their time in their communities providing visible patrols and engaging with local communities and businesses.
As part of the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, we have made £200 million available in 2025/26 to support the first steps towards delivering 13,000 more neighbourhood policing personnel. Out of that funding, the Metropolitan Police Service have been allocated £45,638,456, enabling a projected growth of 420 police officers (FTE) and 50 Police Community Support Officers (FTE).
We expect policing to make use of this funding to increase neighbourhood teams across every force this year. This increase in neighbourhood policing, alongside the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, will clearly demonstrate to the public that the police are dealing with local concerns, supporting more visible policing and greater public confidence. Where officers and resources are deployed, remains a local operational decision.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to require (a) banks and (b) other major financial services providers to invest in community development finance institutions.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the vital role Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) play in providing affordable credit to underserved consumers and businesses. To support this, in November 2024, the British Business Bank launched the Community ENABLE Funding (CEF) Programme, which aims to deploy £150 million over the next two years to ‘not for profit’ lenders, including CDFIs.
Several banks have already shown tangible support for CDFIs. For example, in 2023 NatWest provided £900,000 to the sector, with half distributed directly to households to help meet immediate needs during the cost-of-living crisis, and the remainder used to strengthen the sector’s capacity for future support. Similarly, Lloyds was announced as the lead investor in a new £62 million Community Investment Enterprise Fund, designed to help small businesses across England and Wales access finance through CDFIs, supporting local jobs and economic activity.
My predecessor co-chaired a roundtable in July with Responsible Finance, which was an important opportunity to discuss how banks and CDFIs can work together to improve access to affordable credit. However, the Government has no plans to require banks or other major providers to invest in CDFIs.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that SMEs are referred to the (a) most appropriate and (b) best value funding option under the Bank Referral Scheme.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Bank Referral Scheme is a legislative initiative that requires major lenders (designated banks) to refer SME customers that they reject for finance, with the SME’s permission, to designated finance platforms that can connect the SME with alternative finance providers.
The Scheme is designed so that once an SME has consented to referral, its details are shared with all designated finance platforms – there are currently three. Each designated finance platform is an online service that hosts a panel of lenders. Under the design of the Scheme, lenders decide whether to offer finance to an SME applying for finance and on what terms, and it is for the SME to decide whether it wishes to proceed if an offer is made. The SME could potentially be offered finance by more than one provider and would be free to choose the product best suited to its needs.
On 27th October, the Government launched a consultation and call for evidence on the Bank Referral Scheme, inviting views on a range of issues and proposals aimed at better facilitating SME access to finance through the Scheme. Depending on feedback, the Government will consider whether the existing legislative framework needs to be amended. The consultation is available here and will close on 22nd December: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/bank-referral-scheme-consultation-and-call-for-evidence
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients were seen within (a) one, (b) two and (c) four hours at accident and emergency in the London North West University Hospital in each quarter since 2022-23.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The data is not available in the format requested. NHS England does not publish data on patients seen within one or two hours. The only data available is for patients seen within four hours.
The information requested for London North West University Hospital is only collected at trust level. There is currently no publicly available data at site level. The following table shows the four-hour performance in each quarter since 2022/23 for the London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust:
Quarters | Percentage of total accident and emergency attendances admitted, transferred, or discharged within four hours | Patient attendances over four hours |
Quarter 1 of 2022/23 | 73.4% | 64,288 |
Quarter 2 of 2022/23 | 69.0% | 46,653 |
Quarter 3 of 2022/23 | 65.7% | 59,585 |
Quarter 4 of 2022/23 | 73.4% | 56,395 |
Quarter 1 of 2023/24 | 76.5% | 60,390 |
Quarter 2 of 2023/24 | 71.9% | 55,810 |
Quarter 3 of 2023/24 | 70.9% | 57,973 |
Quarter 4 of 2023/24 | 76.1% | 64,384 |
Quarter 1 of 2024/25 | 75.3% | 64,571 |
Quarter 2 of 2024/25 | 77.4% | 62,920 |
Quarter 3 of 2024/25 | 71.8% | 62,321 |
Quarter 4 of 2024/25 | 75.2% | 63,637 |
Quarter 1 of 2025/26 | 76.9% | 67,024 |
Quarter 2 of 2025/26 | 76.5% | 66,344 |
Source: Hospital Accident and Emergency Activity, available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/hospital-accident--emergency-activity
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in (a) Harrow, (b) Barnet, (c) Brent, (d) England and (e) London were diagnosed with (i) Stage One, (ii) Stage 2, (iii) Stage 3 and (iv) Stage 4 cancer in (A) 2022-23, (B) 2023-24 and (C) 2024-25.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Disease Registration Service is the cancer registry for England, and is available at the following link:
Data can be broken down by stage as well as by geographical location. However, data is not available by local authority. Currently, data is available up to 2022.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to review the process for disabled customers to claim reduced rates of vehicle tax.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
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.
Asked by: Gareth Thomas (Labour (Co-op) - Harrow West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much funding she plans to provide to support development efforts in (a) Pakistan and (b) Nepal in the (i) 2025-2026 and (ii) 2026-2026 financial years.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
For Financial Year 25/26, UK Government development funding for Pakistan is £103 million, and for Nepal it is £47 million. We are currently in the process of allocating budgets for 2026 onwards. The Minister for Development will inform Parliament in the usual manner when these budgets are confirmed.