Gavin Williamson

Ministerial travel is undertaken using efficient and cost-effective travel arrangements. Security considerations are also taken into account. It has been the practice that official Prime Ministerial flights are carbon offset and use Sustainable Aviation Fuel where either are possible.

Salary entitlements for ministers are set out by the Ministerial and other Salaries Act 1975. The salaries ministers will claim in this government will be confirmed in due course and published on gov.uk.

The Downing Street estate is metered as one and no residential split is available.

The Downing Street estate is metered as one and no residential split is available.

I refer the Rt Hon Members to the answer given by the then Prime Minister on 7 February 2017, Official Report, PQ 62542.

Following the practice followed by past administrations, the Government does not comment on security matters.

In 2023, the UK and Algeria established a Trade Taskforce, a forum for the two countries to discuss how we can strengthen our trade and investment relationship on a regular basis, which may include formal trade agreements. The Taskforce had its inaugural meeting earlier this year, and there was a strong willingness to drive trade between the two countries. There are, presently, no plans for the UK to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement with Algeria.

All Ministerial travel is subject to an assessment of the value of the engagement against a number of factors, including the mode of travel.

Track 1 projects are expected to be funded through a mixture of levy and exchequer funding. We expect levy funded projects to become operational from late 2028. The exact split of levy and exchequer funding across Track 1 will be determined in due course and is subject to further negotiation, consultation, and statutory processes. DESNZ will consider potential impacts on energy bills as part of the statutory processes for drawing down on any other new or existing levies that may further support CCUS Track-1.

Track 1 projects are expected to be funded through a mixture of levy and exchequer funding. We expect levy funded projects to become operational from late 2028. The exact split of levy and exchequer funding across Track 1 will be determined in due course and is subject to further negotiation, consultation, and statutory processes. DESNZ will consider potential impacts on energy bills as part of the statutory processes for drawing down on any other new or existing levies that may further support CCUS Track-1.

Higher education providers are autonomous and responsible for setting their own fees under the fee cap.

In deciding whether or not to increase fees, providers will want to ensure that they can continue to deliver courses which are fit for purpose and help students achieve their ambitions. For continuing students, this will depend on providers’ individual contracts with students, and they will wish to make their own legal assessment of this.

The department plans to publish an assessment of impacts, including on equality, of the planned tuition fee and student finance changes shortly.

An estimate of costs associated with the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech Act) 2023 was provided in the Impact Assessment published with the Act.

The Act was paused to consider options for its future, including repeal, and no final decision has been made on this. One of the reasons for pausing the Act was to consider the burden on higher education providers before making a final decision, and the department is currently engaging with stakeholders on this. The department will undertake all required impact assessments before making a final decision.

An estimate of costs associated with the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech Act) 2023 was provided in the Impact Assessment published with the Act.

The Act was paused to consider options for its future, including repeal, and no final decision has been made on this. One of the reasons for pausing the Act was to consider the burden on higher education providers before making a final decision, and the department is currently engaging with stakeholders on this. The department will undertake all required impact assessments before making a final decision.

Individual properties and claimants can have multiple active claims at any given time so data in the form requested is not available.

Individual properties and claimants can have multiple active claims at any given time so data in the form requested is not available.

This government remains committed to improving the passenger experience and improving the railways. We are already working with local authorities to improve ticketing in the West Midlands and Greater Manchester. The previous Government made a number of funding commitments in the Network North Command Paper, and these will be examined closely in the coming months.

I responded to the honourable member’s letter on 27 September 2024.

An essential aspect of the Foreign Secretary's role is to represent the UK's interests on the global stage and ministerial travel is undertaken using efficient and cost-effective arrangements. The information required to calculate the carbon footprint of official overseas ministerial travel will be published as part of the Cabinet Office transparency returns and made available on the GOV.UK website. It has been the practice that official FCDO flights to attend major events are carbon offset where that is possible. The Foreign Secretary travelled via a commercial flight to Samoa for CHOGM, following travel to South Korea, China and Indonesia.

Due to the recent nature of the trip it is not currently possible to estimate the carbon footprint of this visit.

Further details for the trip will be published as part of the quarterly Ministers overseas travel at the following link.

HMT ministers' meetings, hospitality, gifts and overseas travel - GOV.UK

The final CO2e will be included within in the Sustainability Report section of HM Treasury 2024-25 Annual Report and Accounts.

The normal rules for employment-related benefits apply to employment-related gifts, as described in HMRC guidance at https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim20020

The Government currently has no plans to change the single person discount. Decisions on future local authority funding will be a matter for the next Spending Review and Local Government Finance Settlement. The Government is committed to keeping taxes on working people as low as possible.