Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the number of residential properties built after 1 January 2009 in designated flood risk areas that are ineligible for support under the Flood Re scheme in (a) the UK and (b) Taunton and Wellington constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Flood Re does not apply to homes built after 2009, as that would be inconsistent with current planning policy. Planning policy is clear that inappropriate development in floodplains should be avoided. Where development is necessary in a flood risk area, it should be made flood resistant, resilient and safe for their lifetime, without increasing flood risk elsewhere.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of including unused pension funds within the inheritance tax framework on (a) bereaved families and (b) incentives for retirement saving.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Most unused pension funds and death benefits payable from a pension will form part of a person's estate for inheritance tax purposes from 6 April 2027. This removes distortions resulting from changes that have been made to pensions tax policy over the last decade, which have led to pensions being openly used and marketed as a tax planning vehicle to transfer wealth, rather than as a way to fund retirement. These reforms also remove inconsistencies in the inheritance tax treatment of different types of pensions.
The Government will continue to incentivise pension savings for their intended purpose of funding retirement, with ongoing tax reliefs on both contributions into pensions and on the growth of funds held within a pension scheme. Pensions continue to benefit from very significant tax benefits. It is therefore crucial to ensure that tax reliefs on pensions are being used for their intended purpose – to encourage saving for retirement and later life – rather than for passing on wealth free of inheritance tax.
Estates will continue to benefit from the normal nil-rate bands, reliefs, and exemptions available. For example, the nil-rate bands mean an estate can pass on up to £1 million with no inheritance tax liability and the general rules mean any transfers, including the payment of death benefits, to a spouse or civil partner are fully exempt from inheritance tax. More than 90 per cent of UK estates will continue to have no inheritance tax liability in 2029-30 following these changes and the reforms will only affect a minority of those with inheritable pension wealth.
A tax information and impact note was published on 21 July 2025 and sets this out. It is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/reforming-inheritance-tax-unused-pension-funds-and-death-benefits/inheritance-tax-on-unused-pension-funds-and-death-benefits.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to review the eligibility criteria for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund to ensure that adoptive families whose children were not previously looked after by a local authority can access therapeutic support, in the context of the complex (a) emotional and (b) psychological needs those children may have.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF) is targeted at children who were previously looked after by a local authority, as the local authority maintain a statutory responsibility to these children. Local authorities may still provide support for other children where appropriate, including any adopted children who were not previously looked after, using alternative funding streams. Eligibility and budget considerations for the ASGSF are assessed as part of the broader spending review discussions.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help protect the (a) animal and (b) plant export sector from risks posed by illegal meat imports.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra is working with the Home Office, Border Force and Dover Port Health Authority to ensure that operations around detecting illegal meat imports are as effective as possible and have allocated this financial year £3.1 million to Dover Port Health Authority. We are also working with port and airport operators to ensure travellers are aware of the new restrictions on bringing in animal products for personal use. In most cases there is no risk to plant exports as a result of the animal disease risk posed by illegal meat imports, with the exception of the export of hay and straw.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential economic impact of an outbreak of African swine fever on the (a) pig industry and (b) related exports.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
An outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) could have a significant impact on the UK’s £8 billion pig industry, as well as its annual pork and pork product exports worth £600 million. Exact costs to industry and on trade would be determined by a number of factors including geographic location, husbandry system, epidemiology of the outbreak and whether wildlife were involved.
The practical impacts of a reasonable worst-case scenario outbreak of ASF were assessed in 2023 for the National Risk Register which is available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to strengthen deterrence of illegal personal imports of (a) meat and (b) dairy products following the recent outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Germany.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In England, Border Force and port health officials seize and destroy illegal imports of meat and dairy products, and importers risk additional sanctions including financial penalties or prosecution.
On 12 April 2025, Defra extended the ban on personal imports of meat and dairy products from the European Union (EU) following recent outbreaks of foot and mouth disease (FMD) in Germany and other EU countries. Defra has worked with other government departments, ports, airports and international travel operators to communicate the ban.
Defra is considering the recommendations in the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee’s report on meat smuggling.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she plans to take to ensure that internationally recruited health and care workers on Band 3 salaries will be able to renew their visas after the proposed salary threshold increase.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Salary thresholds are an important way of ensuring those coming to work in the UK are able to support themselves. These workers do not have access to public funds so it is important a rate is set which will ensure people are earning sufficient income without having to rely on public funds. A number of health and care and education occupations are subject to lower rates of pay than other occupations.
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has been asked to consider whether there should continue to be a different threshold for health and care worker visas. We look forward to receiving the MAC’s recommendations in due course.
Individuals who are sponsored in the roles at band 3 before the rules changed on 22 July will be eligible to extend their visa providing they meet all of the requirements at the time including being paid the appropriate salary. Salary thresholds and going rates are routinely updated and sponsored workers will need to meet the salary requirements in place at the time when they apply for their visa to be renewed.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to take into account NHS-agreed pay scales when setting salary thresholds for Health and Care Worker visa renewals.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Salary thresholds are an important way of ensuring those coming to work in the UK are able to support themselves. These workers do not have access to public funds so it is important a rate is set which will ensure people are earning sufficient income without having to rely on public funds. A number of health and care and education occupations are subject to lower rates of pay than other occupations.
The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has been asked to consider whether there should continue to be a different threshold for health and care worker visas. We look forward to receiving the MAC’s recommendations in due course.
Individuals who are sponsored in the roles at band 3 before the rules changed on 22 July will be eligible to extend their visa providing they meet all of the requirements at the time including being paid the appropriate salary. Salary thresholds and going rates are routinely updated and sponsored workers will need to meet the salary requirements in place at the time when they apply for their visa to be renewed.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make an estimate of financial damages caused to UK based (a) charities and (b) organisations (i) operating and (ii) owning property in Gaza since 7 October 2024.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The requested data is not held by the department.
Asked by: Gideon Amos (Liberal Democrat - Taunton and Wellington)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information her Department holds on the number of families that have been living in emergency accommodation for longer than the six-week legal limit.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Department publishes quarterly statistics on statutory homelessness in England, which can be found on gov.uk here. The latest quarterly data was published on 22 July 2025, covering January to March 2025.
The number of under 18s in temporary accommodation in English local authorities is included in the data (TA8), including by age on a local authority level. Councils must ensure that temporary accommodation is suitable for the needs of the household and should keep the suitability of accommodation under review. The Homelessness Code of Guidance for local authorities sets out the factors to be taken into account when determining the suitability of accommodation..
The latest quarterly statistics includes additional data tables on the English regions that out of area placements have been made to, by the local authority or region that they have been placed from (TA9). The data does not provide a breakdown of the number of households with children. The Department does not collect address level data that would allow the tracking of the distance households have moved
The number of households in B&B accommodation with children and resident more than six weeks is included in the data (TA1).