Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support Integrated Care Boards to increase the availability of Fracture Liaison Services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Fracture Liaison Services are commissioned by integrated care boards, which are well-placed to make decisions according to local need.
Our 10-Year Health Plan committed to rolling out Fracture Liaison Services across every part of the country by 2030.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to include measures to help protect steelmakers from subsidised steel imports from (a) China and (b) the wider Far East in the forthcoming trade strategy.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
Steel is a top priority for this government. The UK applies 10 anti-dumping measures and two anti-subsidy measures on steel imports from China, and a safeguard measure on global imports for 14 steel categories. This measure was adjusted on 30 June to provide more effective protection for domestic producers.
On 26 June the government published its Trade Strategy, announcing we will sharpen our trade defence toolkit to better protect critical sectors, such as steel, from harm. Alongside this we launched the Steel Trade Measures Call for Evidence to prepare us for the expiry of the steel safeguard in June 2026.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what support mechanisms he is considering for the UK steel industry should the criteria for removing export tariffs on shipments to the US not be met.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government’s priority remains the swift implementation of the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal to enable UK businesses to export steel and aluminium to the United States without incurring Section 232 tariffs. We are engaged in active and constructive discussions with our US counterparts to this end.
The Government has also taken major action on areas crucial for the sector, including slashing electricity costs, changing procurement rules to ensure UK-made-steel is considered for all public projects and opening a Call for Evidence on future trade measures. More detailed information on support for the sector can be found in a press release published on 03 July.
Asked by: Gregory Stafford (Conservative - Farnham and Bordon)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the cumulative impact of changes to (a) business rates and (b) employer National Insurance contributions on the financial viability of (i) pubs and (ii) breweries.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
From 2026-27, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure that eligible RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
Eligibility for the new RHL multipliers is intended to broadly reflect the scope of the existing RHL relief scheme, and will be set out in legislation later this year.
Until these new tax rates are introduced, in 2025-26, RHL businesses will receive a 40 per cent relief on their eligible properties up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business. Under the previous Government, RHL relief was due to end entirely in April 2025. By extending the relief, the Government has saved the average pub, with a ratable value of £16,800, over £3,300.
Tax policy and legislation is not subject to the Better Regulation Framework Guidance, which requires an Impact Assessment to accompany policy decisions. Nevertheless, when the new multipliers are set at Budget 2025, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.
Regarding National Insurance contributions, a Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the Exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations, as well as an overview of the equality impacts.