Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of legislation on the inheritance of Individual Savings Account allowances from a deceased (a) spouse and (b) civil partner.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Individual Savings Account (ISA) regulations allow the surviving spouse or civil partner of a deceased ISA saver an additional ISA allowance, equal to the value of the deceased saver’s ISA holdings on their date of death, subject to certain conditions. These are referred to as ‘Additional Permitted Subscriptions’

To ensure these rules are as simple as possible, surviving spouses and civil partners can benefit from this allowance, up to 3 years after the death of the spouse or 180 days after the completion of the estate administration, whichever is later, and irrespective of who inherits the former ISA assets. This means individuals are free to make any bequests they wish in their will, for example by leaving some or all their ISA assets to children of their current or former marriage or civil partnership, without affecting the additional ISA allowance that will be available to the person who was their spouse or civil partner at the time of death.

Further detailed information on Additional Permitted Subscriptions is available at www.gov.uk/guidance/manage-additional-permitted-subscriptions-into-an-isa

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to help people in rural communities who use oil to heat their homes to transition to low carbon heating systems.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Warm Homes Plan will support investment in households, including oil-heated homes, to install energy efficiency measures and low carbon heating to save families money on their bills.

The Government has committed £3.4 billion over the next 3 years towards heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency. This includes the new Warm Homes: Local Grant, which will provide support for low-income households living in privately owned EPC band D-G homes, including in rural communities, in England.

We are taking steps to make heat pumps more efficient and easier to install which includes increasing funding for the Boiler Upgrade Scheme to £295 million for the 2025-26 financial year, removing outdated planning rules and consulting on product efficiency standards.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he plans to (a) improve responsible access to nature and (b) increase the right to roam.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Our countryside and green spaces are a source of great national pride and boost public health and wellbeing, but too many across the country are left without access to the great outdoors. That is why the last Labour Government expanded public access by introducing the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, which provided the public a right of access to large areas of mountain, moor, heath, down, registered common land and coastal margin in England.

We are continuing to increase access to nature for families to enjoy, for example through our ambitious manifesto commitments to create nine new National River Walks, plant three new National Forests, and empower communities to create new parks and green spaces in their communities with a new Community Right to Buy.

In addition, the Government has made the decision to repeal the cut-off date for the registration of historic rights of way, preventing the loss of hundreds of miles of unregistered paths. This will ensure that these paths remain available to the public for future generations.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to University of Central Lancashire's report entitled Minimising firefighters’ exposure to toxic fire effluents, published in November 2020, what steps she is taking to protect firefighters.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The University of Central Lancashire’s report was helpful in highlighting this particular issue. This must be considered alongside other relevant academic research and study in this area.

We are continuing to review the evidence around risks to firefighters posed by contaminants and will determine a policy position.

Responsibility for firefighters’ health and safety sits with fire and rescue authorities, This responsibility includes, but is not limited to, ensuring that firefighters receive the appropriate equipment and training they need to safely respond to the wide range of incidents that they attend.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much additional funding for special educational needs and disabilities has been allocated to Suffolk County Council since July 2024.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

This government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life.

In July 2024, the government announced that an additional core schools budget grant (CSBG) would be allocated to local authorities to help special and alternative provision (AP) schools with the costs of the 2024 teacher and support staff pay increases. Suffolk County Council was allocated a 2024/25 financial year CSBG amount of over £1.5 million.

Following the Autumn Budget 2024, the department is providing an increase of £1 billion for high needs budgets in England in the 2025/26 financial year. This brings total high needs funding for children and young people with complex SEND to over £12 billion. Of that total, Suffolk County Council is being allocated over £124 million through the high needs funding block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG), an increase of £10.3 million on the 2024/25 DSG high needs block, calculated using the high needs national funding formula (NFF). This NFF allocation is an 9% increase per head of their 2 to 18-year-old population, on their equivalent 2024/25 NFF allocation.

In addition to the DSG, local authorities will also receive a separate CSBG in the 2025/26 financial year. This CSBG continues the 2024/25 CSBG and other separate grants payable in 2024/25, which were to help special and AP schools with the costs of teachers’ pay and pension increases and other staff pay increases, and now includes additional funding to help those schools with the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions. The department plans to publish individual local authorities’ allocations of this funding for 2025/26 in May 2025.

Decisions on funding for SEND for the years beyond 2025/26 will be taken following the forthcoming spending review.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of mandating the installation of defibrillators in all (a) visitor attractions and (b) entertainment venues in the UK that accommodate over a specified number of visitors annually.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

No assessment has been made and there are no plans to mandate the installation of defibrillators at such locations, in light of the rapid expansion of automated external defibrillators across the United Kingdom.

There are now over 100,000 defibrillators in the UK registered on The Circuit, which represents an increase of 30,000 since September 2023. 58.6% of the over 100,000 defibrillators are accessible on a 24/7 basis.

The Circuit is operated independently by the British Heart Foundation, in partnership with the Resuscitation Council UK, the Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, and the National Health Service.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of developing an accessible food labelling system to improve transparency.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The availability and accessibility of essential food information to all consumers is vitally important. It is already a requirement that mandatory food information must be easily visible, clearly legible and where appropriate indelible, in addition to there being a required minimum font size for mandatory information.

We are aware of moves by some retailers to provide information on food in braille format, and the government is interested in seeing how this works.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to (a) ensure adequate in-person police access for older people seeking to report scam phone calls in communities where police stations have closed and (b) tackle the impersonation of police officers for fraudulent purposes.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office is committed to tackling the threat of fraud, which is why this Government has committed to publishing a new and enhanced Fraud Strategy that addresses the full range of harm that UK citizens face from fraud, including tackling the impersonation of police officers for fraudulent purposes. Reporting of scam calls should be done to Action Fraud, via either their website https://www.actionfraud.police.uk or via telephone on 0300 123 2040. There is also a variety of other ways the public can contact the police about fraud. For example, by phoning 101 at any time for non-emergency enquiries and concerns. There are also opportunities for in-person contact, particularly with neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs.

The Government is committed to strong neighbourhood policing and by the end of parliament (2029) there will be 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables in neighbourhood policing roles. As the Prime Minister announced on 10 April, by July, every community will have named and contactable officers dedicated to addressing the issues facing their communities as part of the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.

Every force will ensure that neighbourhood teams spend the majority of their time in their communities providing visible patrols and engaging with local communities and businesses and local people will also have ongoing opportunities raise concerns at regular local beat meetings. It is up to Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (or equivalents) to make decisions on local police resourcing and estates. They are best placed to make these decisions based on their local knowledge and experience.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help older people report scam phone calls.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Home Office is committed to tackling the threat of fraud, which is why this Government has committed to publishing a new and enhanced Fraud Strategy that addresses the full range of harm that UK citizens face from fraud, including tackling the impersonation of police officers for fraudulent purposes. Reporting of scam calls should be done to Action Fraud, via either their website https://www.actionfraud.police.uk or via telephone on 0300 123 2040. There is also a variety of other ways the public can contact the police about fraud. For example, by phoning 101 at any time for non-emergency enquiries and concerns. There are also opportunities for in-person contact, particularly with neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs.

The Government is committed to strong neighbourhood policing and by the end of parliament (2029) there will be 13,000 additional police officers, PCSOs and special constables in neighbourhood policing roles. As the Prime Minister announced on 10 April, by July, every community will have named and contactable officers dedicated to addressing the issues facing their communities as part of the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee.

Every force will ensure that neighbourhood teams spend the majority of their time in their communities providing visible patrols and engaging with local communities and businesses and local people will also have ongoing opportunities raise concerns at regular local beat meetings. It is up to Chief Constables and directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (or equivalents) to make decisions on local police resourcing and estates. They are best placed to make these decisions based on their local knowledge and experience.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the educational support system for post-16 students who missed GCSE examinations due to unforeseen circumstances.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

If a student is unable to sit an exam or assessment for a qualification for an acceptable reason, but has completed at least one other exam or assessment in that subject, schools and colleges may be able to apply for special consideration.

When in post-16 education, students can agree a study programme with their institution that meets their needs. 16 to 19 funding is flexible in supporting a wide range of study programmes, though these need to include English and mathematics if students have not yet achieved a GCSE grade 4 in these subjects.

The 16 to 19 funding formula allocates additional funding to support students who need to continue with English and mathematics, and funding to help with the more general additional costs incurred for teaching and supporting students who have low prior attainment.

When learning programmes are designed to enable students to re-sit or retake examinations and assessments these are not generally eligible for funding as the activity has already been funded. However, when there are exceptional circumstances outside the control of the student or institution then the retake delivery hours for individual students may be included in the funded study programme hours.

In the guidance ‘16 to 19 funding: information for 2025 to 2026’, published 5 March 2025, the department announced additional 16 to 19 education funding in the 2025/26 financial year on top of the £300 million announced at the Autumn Budget 2024. This guidance can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/16-to-19-funding-information-for-2025-to-2026. This means that we will be spending over £400 million more to ensure enough funding is available given the very significant increase in student numbers and other pressures on the system.

Found: Alistair Carmichael (Chair); Sarah Bool; Charlie Dewhirst; Helena Dollimore; Josh Newbury; Jenny Riddell-Carpenter

Found: Duncan-Jordan Rachael Maskell John McDonnell Kim Johnson Cat Eccles Steve Witherden Alex Sobel Jenny Riddell-Carpenter

Found: Duncan-Jordan Rachael Maskell John McDonnell Kim Johnson Cat Eccles Steve Witherden Alex Sobel Jenny Riddell-Carpenter

Found: Duncan-Jordan Rachael Maskell John McDonnell Kim Johnson Cat Eccles Steve Witherden Alex Sobel Jenny Riddell-Carpenter

Found: _27 Jenny Riddell-Carpenter .

Found: _27 Jenny Riddell-Carpenter .

Found: _27 Jenny Riddell-Carpenter .

Found: _27 Jenny Riddell-Carpenter .

Found: _27 Jenny Riddell-Carpenter .

Found: _27 Jenny Riddell-Carpenter .

Found: _27 Jenny Riddell-Carpenter .

Found: _27 Jenny Riddell-Carpenter .

Found: _27 Jenny Riddell-Carpenter .

Found: REPORT STAGE Wednesday 26 March 2025 16 Not called_NC21 Jenny Riddell-Carpenter .

Submit Evidence (by 18 Jun 2025)

Much of the UK economy is still linear, based on the principles of using and disposing of products and the resources used to make them. This wastage leads to widespread environmental pollution and the continual and unsustainable need to extract finite resources.