Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Border Force queue samples exceeded published service standards in each month since July 2024, broken down by EU/EEA and non-EU/EEA passengers.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The number of sampled queues cleared within the respective EEA and non-EEA service standards are provided within the published transparency data:
Migration transparency data - GOV.UK
Specific figures on how many queue samples fell outside of service standards for EEA and non-EEA are not available in an accessible format.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Department plans to review the level of statutory funding provided to hospices that currently rely heavily on charitable donations to deliver core services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing National Health Services. The amount of funding each charitable hospice receives varies both within and between integrated care board (ICB) areas. This will vary depending on demand in that ICB area but will also be dependent on the totality and type of palliative care and end of life care provision from both NHS and non-NHS services, including charitable hospices, within each ICB area.
In addition to the statutory funding provided by ICBs, the Government has been supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We recently also confirmed the continuation of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices for the next three financial years. This amounts to approximately £80 million over that period.
For the long-term, we are developing a Palliative Care and End of Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. We will consider contracting and commissioning arrangements as part of our MSF. We recognise that there is currently a mix of contracting models in the hospice sector. By supporting ICBs to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. In the long term, this will aid sustainability and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement HCWS1087 I gave to the House.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment HMRC has made of the number of individuals and companies that are liable for tax but are not currently being actively pursued for payment.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC is committed to closing the tax gap further and tackling non-compliant behaviours such as tax evasion, tax avoidance, criminal attacks, error, failure to take reasonable care, hidden economy activity, legal interpretation issues, and non-payment.
In 2024 to 2025, HMRC’s compliance work contributed to record tax revenues of £875.9 billion, collecting and protecting £48 billion of tax that would have gone unpaid if HMRC hadn’t stepped in – up from £41.8 billion the previous year.
At the Autumn Budget 2025, the government announced a package of measures that will raise a further £2.4 billion in additional tax revenues in 2029 to 2030. This builds on announcements at Autumn Budget 2024 (£6.5 billion), and Spring Statement 2025 (over £1 billion) and brings the total revenue from closing the tax gap announced this Parliament to £10 billion in 2029 to 2030.
HMRC pursues unpaid tax liabilities through a number of routes. Those who have not paid will be subject to initial telephone and letter campaigns to encourage swift payment. HMRC also uses private sector debt collection agencies to pursue outstanding amounts. Cases will move between these different stages of the debt collection process as part of being worked.
Where payments remain outstanding, HMRC has a range of enforcement powers to address the small minority of taxpayers who deliberately refuse to pay or engage, such as taking control of goods, recovering debt through county court proceedings, and applying to make a company or person insolvent.
HMRC also publishes its Annual Report and Accounts on GOV.UK, which reports on its annual tax losses and sets out the limited circumstances in which a debt may no longer be pursued.
HMRC records its debt cases by tax regime, rather than customer type, and does not organise cases by specifically which stage of the debt collection process it is at.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of unpaid tax liabilities is written off each year; and according to what criteria HMRC determines when a tax debt will no longer be pursued.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC is committed to closing the tax gap further and tackling non-compliant behaviours such as tax evasion, tax avoidance, criminal attacks, error, failure to take reasonable care, hidden economy activity, legal interpretation issues, and non-payment.
In 2024 to 2025, HMRC’s compliance work contributed to record tax revenues of £875.9 billion, collecting and protecting £48 billion of tax that would have gone unpaid if HMRC hadn’t stepped in – up from £41.8 billion the previous year.
At the Autumn Budget 2025, the government announced a package of measures that will raise a further £2.4 billion in additional tax revenues in 2029 to 2030. This builds on announcements at Autumn Budget 2024 (£6.5 billion), and Spring Statement 2025 (over £1 billion) and brings the total revenue from closing the tax gap announced this Parliament to £10 billion in 2029 to 2030.
HMRC pursues unpaid tax liabilities through a number of routes. Those who have not paid will be subject to initial telephone and letter campaigns to encourage swift payment. HMRC also uses private sector debt collection agencies to pursue outstanding amounts. Cases will move between these different stages of the debt collection process as part of being worked.
Where payments remain outstanding, HMRC has a range of enforcement powers to address the small minority of taxpayers who deliberately refuse to pay or engage, such as taking control of goods, recovering debt through county court proceedings, and applying to make a company or person insolvent.
HMRC also publishes its Annual Report and Accounts on GOV.UK, which reports on its annual tax losses and sets out the limited circumstances in which a debt may no longer be pursued.
HMRC records its debt cases by tax regime, rather than customer type, and does not organise cases by specifically which stage of the debt collection process it is at.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much tax revenue is currently outstanding from taxpayers known to be liable but not under active enforcement action by HMRC.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC is committed to closing the tax gap further and tackling non-compliant behaviours such as tax evasion, tax avoidance, criminal attacks, error, failure to take reasonable care, hidden economy activity, legal interpretation issues, and non-payment.
In 2024 to 2025, HMRC’s compliance work contributed to record tax revenues of £875.9 billion, collecting and protecting £48 billion of tax that would have gone unpaid if HMRC hadn’t stepped in – up from £41.8 billion the previous year.
At the Autumn Budget 2025, the government announced a package of measures that will raise a further £2.4 billion in additional tax revenues in 2029 to 2030. This builds on announcements at Autumn Budget 2024 (£6.5 billion), and Spring Statement 2025 (over £1 billion) and brings the total revenue from closing the tax gap announced this Parliament to £10 billion in 2029 to 2030.
HMRC pursues unpaid tax liabilities through a number of routes. Those who have not paid will be subject to initial telephone and letter campaigns to encourage swift payment. HMRC also uses private sector debt collection agencies to pursue outstanding amounts. Cases will move between these different stages of the debt collection process as part of being worked.
Where payments remain outstanding, HMRC has a range of enforcement powers to address the small minority of taxpayers who deliberately refuse to pay or engage, such as taking control of goods, recovering debt through county court proceedings, and applying to make a company or person insolvent.
HMRC also publishes its Annual Report and Accounts on GOV.UK, which reports on its annual tax losses and sets out the limited circumstances in which a debt may no longer be pursued.
HMRC records its debt cases by tax regime, rather than customer type, and does not organise cases by specifically which stage of the debt collection process it is at.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what measures HMRC has in place to prevent deliberate non-payment of tax by those who are liable but expect not to be pursued.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC is committed to closing the tax gap further and tackling non-compliant behaviours such as tax evasion, tax avoidance, criminal attacks, error, failure to take reasonable care, hidden economy activity, legal interpretation issues, and non-payment.
In 2024 to 2025, HMRC’s compliance work contributed to record tax revenues of £875.9 billion, collecting and protecting £48 billion of tax that would have gone unpaid if HMRC hadn’t stepped in – up from £41.8 billion the previous year.
At the Autumn Budget 2025, the government announced a package of measures that will raise a further £2.4 billion in additional tax revenues in 2029 to 2030. This builds on announcements at Autumn Budget 2024 (£6.5 billion), and Spring Statement 2025 (over £1 billion) and brings the total revenue from closing the tax gap announced this Parliament to £10 billion in 2029 to 2030.
HMRC pursues unpaid tax liabilities through a number of routes. Those who have not paid will be subject to initial telephone and letter campaigns to encourage swift payment. HMRC also uses private sector debt collection agencies to pursue outstanding amounts. Cases will move between these different stages of the debt collection process as part of being worked.
Where payments remain outstanding, HMRC has a range of enforcement powers to address the small minority of taxpayers who deliberately refuse to pay or engage, such as taking control of goods, recovering debt through county court proceedings, and applying to make a company or person insolvent.
HMRC also publishes its Annual Report and Accounts on GOV.UK, which reports on its annual tax losses and sets out the limited circumstances in which a debt may no longer be pursued.
HMRC records its debt cases by tax regime, rather than customer type, and does not organise cases by specifically which stage of the debt collection process it is at.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that regional domestic ferry operators are supported to meet the goals of the Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy sets out a pathway to zero emissions by 2050, and interim goals in 2030 and 2040.
To support the sector transition to zero, and near-zero, emission fuels, the Strategy sets out a number of key policies including; expanding the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to maritime, the introduction of fuel regulations, taking action to reduce emissions at berth, taking proportionate measures to reduce emissions from smaller vessels and increasing the efficiency of maritime operations.
Support is available to the maritime sector for decarbonisation through our UK SHORE Research and Development programme. Over 300 projects across the UK have been supported to date, including those that support the decarbonisation of domestic ferries. In September, I announced a further £448 million of funding for innovation through this programme, including additional rounds of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competitions, and a second round of the Zero Emission Vessels and Infrastructure competition. We aim to launch the first two of these competitions in Spring 2026 and they will run until 2030.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average processing time was for driving licence applications in December 2025.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The tables below show the average number of working days taken to process driving licence applications made both online and not online for December 2025 up to 16 December for both group 1 (cars and motorcycle) and group 2 (lorry and bus) licences.
| Group 1 | Group 2 | ||
Date | Online applications | Non- online applications | Online applications | Non-online applications |
Dec-25 | 1.31 | 3.42 | 1.00 | 2.72 |
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of higher rateable values and reduced business rates relief on the number of hospitality closures and empty units on high streets over the next three years.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.
At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
Without our support, the pub sector as a whole would have faced a 45% increase in the total bills they pay next year. Because of the support we’ve put in place, this has fallen to just 4%.
More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. We are doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties, including those on the high street.
The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.
The National Insurance Contributions (NICs) Employment Allowance has been more than doubled to £10,500, ensuring that over half of businesses with National Insurance liabilities, including those in the hospitality sector, will either gain or see no change this year. A Tax Information and Impact Note was published alongside changes to employer NICs.
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of trends in the level of legal costs associated with lower value clinical negligence claims.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
We welcome the report by the National Audit Office (NAO) entitled Costs of clinical negligence. As announced in the 10-Year Health Plan for England, David Lock KC is providing expert policy advice on the rising legal costs of clinical negligence and how we can improve patients’ experience of claims. The review is ongoing, following initial advice to ministers and the recent NAO report.
The results of David Lock’s work will inform future policymaking in this area. No decisions on policy have been taken at this point, and the Government will provide an update on the work done and next steps, in due course.