Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the (a) consultation responses and (b) feedback from impacted people on proposed changes to the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme are taken into account.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

On 30 October, the Government launched a public consultation on proposed changes to the infected blood compensation scheme. The core purpose of this consultation was to gather views on how the Government intends to implement the Infected Blood Inquiry’s recommendations, and responses from the infected blood community were particularly encouraged.

Every response to this consultation is being considered carefully and with the seriousness the issue deserves. The consultation closed on 22 January, and the Government will publish its response within 12 weeks of this closing date.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential effect of the cost profile of (a) rail and (b) road freight operations on modal shift.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department does not hold data on relative changes to operating costs between road and rail freight. As part of continued support for the rail freight sector, the Department has operated the Mode Shift Revenue Support scheme since 2010. Network Rail also offers the Access Charges Discount Policy to stimulate growth, supporting new to rail traffic.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will list the total funding received to date by each freight transport company in the infrastructure development phase of the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) programme.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) R&D programme has provided £58 million to date to 18 UK freight transport companies across different project consortia to support the purchase and demonstration of the heaviest zero emission HGVs, and associated infrastructure.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the average age of (a) locomotives and (b) wagons on the rail freight network.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The rail freight industry is mainly privately owned and operated, so the Department does not keep data on the age of these privately owned assets.

The regulator for rail, the Office of Rail and Road holds some data on freight rolling stock which can be found here: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/infrastructure-and-environment/rail-infrastructure-and-assets/ .

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he expects to launch the call for evidence in relation to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) regulations and related processes.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

We launched a call for evidence on Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) on 8^th April to gather input from all interested parties. We committed to reviewing the regulations to consider how to simplify and clarify the transfer process for businesses, while still providing the appropriate protections to employees who are affected by the transfers. We value the feedback from our stakeholders and aim to make changes where they will have a positive impact for employees and businesses alike.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of using bareboat chartering commercial vessels to augment the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s work supporting Royal Navy operations.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary continues to provide the Royal Navy’s afloat support using its own civilian crewed vessels.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate her Department has made of the number of betting and gaming customers required to submit financial documents under Financial Risk Assessments; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of those assessments on customer experience.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government remains committed to supporting the implementation of key measures in the 2023 white paper, including the introduction of Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs), which are not currently in place.

The white paper recognised the “chilling effect” that asking customers for bank documents can have. This is why it set out an alternative approach to assessing financial risk which would be much more frictionless.

The white paper proposed less than 3% of customer accounts would undergo an assessment – targeting the highest spending accounts. The Gambling Commission’s pilot showed that of these 3%, 97% would have a frictionless assessment process. Those customers would not be required to take any actions, including providing documents. Operators would only be unable to conduct an assessment in a frictionless way for 1 customer in every 1,000 accounts, significantly better than anticipated in the white paper. As the independent regulator, the Gambling Commission will decide how to implement FRAs based on the best available evidence.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how she will ensure Financial Risk Assessments are carried out in a frictionless manner as stated in the Gambling Act Review White Paper.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government remains committed to supporting the implementation of key measures in the 2023 white paper, including the introduction of Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs), which are not currently in place.

The white paper recognised the “chilling effect” that asking customers for bank documents can have. This is why it set out an alternative approach to assessing financial risk which would be much more frictionless.

The white paper proposed less than 3% of customer accounts would undergo an assessment – targeting the highest spending accounts. The Gambling Commission’s pilot showed that of these 3%, 97% would have a frictionless assessment process. Those customers would not be required to take any actions, including providing documents. Operators would only be unable to conduct an assessment in a frictionless way for 1 customer in every 1,000 accounts, significantly better than anticipated in the white paper. As the independent regulator, the Gambling Commission will decide how to implement FRAs based on the best available evidence.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, hat are the staffing projection figures, given in full-time equivalent supply numbers before any rebalance, in HMRC Customer Service Group for the following directorates, (a) Benefits, Family and Customs, including Contingent Labour (CL) (Benefits, Family & Customs), (b) Debt Management, (c) Personal Tax (including Contingent Labour & Managed Service Provider), (d) Operational Excellence, (e) Strategy and Change, (f) Finance, Planning and Performance, (g) Operational Delivery Profession, (h) Customer Experience Directorate and (i) Surge Rapid Response Team used in Customer Services Group.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Improving day-to-day performance and the customer experience is a key priority for HMRC.

HMRC expects to continue to use a range of resourcing models, alongside the use of MSPs, to meet variable customer demand.

HMRC is currently in an initial approximately 18 month ‘proof of value’ phase for its use of MSPs and has no plans to publish full staffing projections for MSPs or customer services staff at this stage. Future workforce decisions will be informed by the outcome of this phase and taken in line with normal business planning and Spending Review processes.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the HMRC Personal Tax (PT) Directorate workforce distribution projection, including Managed Service Provider provision for (a) Total Personal Tax Paid Supply, (b) Permanent Supply, (c) Contingent Labour, (d) Surge, (e) Flex Moves, (f) Managed Service Provider, (g) Personal Tax Effective Supply, (h) Recruitment and (i) Speed to Competency for new recruits in each month from April 2026 to March 2027 inclusive.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Improving day-to-day performance and the customer experience is a key priority for HMRC.

HMRC expects to continue to use a range of resourcing models, alongside the use of MSPs, to meet variable customer demand.

HMRC is currently in an initial approximately 18 month ‘proof of value’ phase for its use of MSPs and has no plans to publish full staffing projections for MSPs or customer services staff at this stage. Future workforce decisions will be informed by the outcome of this phase and taken in line with normal business planning and Spending Review processes.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what are the HMRC Customer Service Group outputs – Baseline Plan, as of 12 February 2026, for each month from April 2026 to March 2027 for the Customer Service Group, excluding Debt Management, for (a) FTE Total (Paid Supply, including Contingent Labour & Surge and (b) Managed Service Provider Total.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Improving day-to-day performance and the customer experience is a key priority for HMRC.

HMRC expects to continue to use a range of resourcing models, alongside the use of MSPs, to meet variable customer demand.

HMRC is currently in an initial approximately 18 month ‘proof of value’ phase for its use of MSPs and has no plans to publish full staffing projections for MSPs or customer services staff at this stage. Future workforce decisions will be informed by the outcome of this phase and taken in line with normal business planning and Spending Review processes.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment HMRC has made of the net staffing impact of the Managed Service Provider, taking account of both Managed Service Provider recruitment and HMRC staffing levels.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Improving day-to-day performance and the customer experience is a key priority for HMRC.

HMRC expects to continue to use a range of resourcing models, alongside the use of MSPs, to meet variable customer demand.

HMRC is currently in an initial approximately 18 month ‘proof of value’ phase for its use of MSPs and has no plans to publish full staffing projections for MSPs or customer services staff at this stage. Future workforce decisions will be informed by the outcome of this phase and taken in line with normal business planning and Spending Review processes.

International Workers’ Memorial Day 2026

Planned reductions to BBC staff

Health and Social Care

Palestinian Nakba commemoration march

Found: Grahame Morris: Yes.