Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she is taking steps to ensure that people can access government services through direct contact with a person, rather than solely through digital channels.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
Point 5 of the Government Service Standard makes clear that all services delivered by central government must be accessible and designed so that everyone can use them.
Departments are expected to ensure that well-supported offline routes, such as telephone, paper and face-to-face support is available to those who need it. This is known as assisted digital support - guidance for designing assisted digital support is set out in the Government Service Manual.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate her Department has made of the potential financial impact of giving dentists access to the single patient register.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 22 September 2026 in response to Question 25184.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate the Cabinet Office has made of the average cost to businesses of preparing social value responses when bidding for central government contracts under the Social Value Model set out in Procurement Policy Note 002.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office regularly engages with suppliers and industry bodies to seek their feedback on potential burdens when developing procurement policy.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his policy is on the VAT treatment of electricity resupplied by park home site owners to residents in the context of the removal of VAT from household electricity on 1 October 2026.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
To support households with the cost of living, the Government is removing VAT from electricity bills this winter. Around 29 million households across the UK are expected to benefit from this change.
The new zero VAT rate for domestic electricity will replace the existing reduced VAT rate (5%). Anyone currently benefiting from the reduced rate will benefit from the new zero rate.
Some park home residents purchase their electricity from the park home site owner rather than directly from a licensed energy supplier. Where electricity is not individually metered and charged based on actual consumption, the electricity supply may be treated as part of the pitch fee and can therefore be subject to the same VAT treatment as that charge.
However, park home residents are protected from excessive charges by Ofgem's Maximum Resale Price provisions. These provisions prevent site owners from reselling energy at a higher price than they paid to the licensed supplier. Consumers are also entitled to request a breakdown of the site owner's costs, including electricity and/or gas charges, standing charges and VAT paid.
Consumers who consider they have been overcharged can claim against the reseller through the courts or tribunal services if their dispute cannot be resolved through negotiation. Such consumers can seek advice through this process from consumer protection bodies such as Citizens Advice.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recourse is available to a park home resident whose site owner does not reduce electricity charges following the removal of VAT from 1 October 2026; and what role Ofgem has in enforcing the maximum resale price in such cases.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
To support households with the cost of living, the Government is removing VAT from electricity bills this winter. Around 29 million households across the UK are expected to benefit from this change.
The new zero VAT rate for domestic electricity will replace the existing reduced VAT rate (5%). Anyone currently benefiting from the reduced rate will benefit from the new zero rate.
Some park home residents purchase their electricity from the park home site owner rather than directly from a licensed energy supplier. Where electricity is not individually metered and charged based on actual consumption, the electricity supply may be treated as part of the pitch fee and can therefore be subject to the same VAT treatment as that charge.
However, park home residents are protected from excessive charges by Ofgem's Maximum Resale Price provisions. These provisions prevent site owners from reselling energy at a higher price than they paid to the licensed supplier. Consumers are also entitled to request a breakdown of the site owner's costs, including electricity and/or gas charges, standing charges and VAT paid.
Consumers who consider they have been overcharged can claim against the reseller through the courts or tribunal services if their dispute cannot be resolved through negotiation. Such consumers can seek advice through this process from consumer protection bodies such as Citizens Advice.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that park home residents who purchase electricity from a site owner rather than directly from a licensed supplier receive the full benefit of the removal of VAT from household electricity from 1 October 2026.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
To support households with the cost of living, the Government is removing VAT from electricity bills this winter. Around 29 million households across the UK are expected to benefit from this change.
The new zero VAT rate for domestic electricity will replace the existing reduced VAT rate (5%). Anyone currently benefiting from the reduced rate will benefit from the new zero rate.
Some park home residents purchase their electricity from the park home site owner rather than directly from a licensed energy supplier. Where electricity is not individually metered and charged based on actual consumption, the electricity supply may be treated as part of the pitch fee and can therefore be subject to the same VAT treatment as that charge.
However, park home residents are protected from excessive charges by Ofgem's Maximum Resale Price provisions. These provisions prevent site owners from reselling energy at a higher price than they paid to the licensed supplier. Consumers are also entitled to request a breakdown of the site owner's costs, including electricity and/or gas charges, standing charges and VAT paid.
Consumers who consider they have been overcharged can claim against the reseller through the courts or tribunal services if their dispute cannot be resolved through negotiation. Such consumers can seek advice through this process from consumer protection bodies such as Citizens Advice.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the removal of VAT from 1 October 2026 on park home residents who pay for electricity through a site owner operated pre-payment or sub-metered arrangement.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
To support households with the cost of living, the Government is removing VAT from electricity bills this winter. Around 29 million households across the UK are expected to benefit from this change.
The new zero VAT rate for domestic electricity will replace the existing reduced VAT rate (5%). Anyone currently benefiting from the reduced rate will benefit from the new zero rate.
Some park home residents purchase their electricity from the park home site owner rather than directly from a licensed energy supplier. Where electricity is not individually metered and charged based on actual consumption, the electricity supply may be treated as part of the pitch fee and can therefore be subject to the same VAT treatment as that charge.
However, park home residents are protected from excessive charges by Ofgem's Maximum Resale Price provisions. These provisions prevent site owners from reselling energy at a higher price than they paid to the licensed supplier. Consumers are also entitled to request a breakdown of the site owner's costs, including electricity and/or gas charges, standing charges and VAT paid.
Consumers who consider they have been overcharged can claim against the reseller through the courts or tribunal services if their dispute cannot be resolved through negotiation. Such consumers can seek advice through this process from consumer protection bodies such as Citizens Advice.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the adoption of generative artificial intelligence on the number of entry-level roles in the creative industries.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
We acknowledge growing concerns across the creative industries regarding the impact of generative AI on entry level roles, weakening established routes into the creative sector. Government supports responsible AI adoption across the creative industries, and will take seriously the risks of displacement. Working alongside DWP and DBIST, we are monitoring workforce trends closely to build a robust evidence base and will continue engaging across subsectors to identify risks and mitigations to help define a sustainable vision for the labour market.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure rights holders are remunerated when their copyright works are used to train artificial intelligence models.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
This government believes creatives should be able to know and control how their content is used by AI firms and be able to seek fair payment. Working alongside DBIST, we will take steps to drive best practice on transparency, and on the use of the mechanisms available to creatives to control their works online. This joint work, set out in the 18 March Report on Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, will inform any future potential legislation, if necessary.
Asked by: Joshua Reynolds (Liberal Democrat - Maidenhead)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the potential value to UK exporters of resolving the market access barriers recorded on the Digital Market Access Service in the 2025-26 financial year.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
323 market access barriers were reported in the financial year 2025/26. It includes all barriers that have been recorded onto the DMAS within one financial year. Once these have been resolved, the Department publishes their potential value in DBT annual report and accounts as indicators on departmental performance. These are valued using the BIST methodology on valuing market access barriers published on Gov.UK. In the financial year 2025 - 26, the Department resolved 133 barriers in full, worth around £13 billion in potential additional exports to UK businesses over 5 years.