Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to employer's National Insurance on small healthcare businesses.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
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.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when her Department plans to publish details of the changes to inheritance tax.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has already published significant details about the reforms to inheritance tax announced at Autumn Budget 2024.
The Government is currently considering the responses to the technical consultation on the application of agricultural property relief and business property relief to trusts. The Government is also considering the responses to the technical consultation on the liability for reporting and paying any inheritance tax due on pensions. The Government will respond to both these technical consultations in due course.
Draft legislation will be published in the normal way later this year and legislation implementing these policies will be brought forward ahead of the measures taking effect.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to improve support for family carers providing care at home for relatives with learning disabilities.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring that the families of people with learning disabilities have the support they need.
On the 7 of April 2025, the Government increased the Carer's Allowance weekly earnings limit from £151 a week to £196, the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage. This represents the largest increase in the earnings limit since the Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976.
Lord Darzi’s independent review of the National Health Service highlighted the need for a fresh approach to supporting and involving unpaid carers, to improve outcomes across the board, for carers, for those they care for, and for the NHS itself.
These findings will be carefully considered as part of our 10-year plan to reform and modernise the NHS, and as we continue to shape our plans to reform adult social care, including through the National Care Service.
We have also launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service.
The commission will start a national conversation about what care and support working age adults, older people, and their families can expect from adult social care, including exploring the needs of unpaid carers, who provide vital care and support.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to provide support services for autistic adults in West Berkshire who are not supported (a) existing services and (b) charitable organisations.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
It is the responsibility of the integrated care boards (ICBs) to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including access to support for autistic adults, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance to help ICBs and the National Health Service to deliver improved outcomes for children, young people, and adults referred to an autism assessment service. The guidance also sets out what support should be available before an assessment and what support should follow a recent diagnosis of autism based on the available evidence. Since publication, NHS England has been supporting systems and services to identify where there are challenges for implementation and how they might overcome these.
The Department has launched an independent commission into adult social care as part of our critical first steps towards delivering a National Care Service. Chaired by Baroness Louise Casey and reporting to the Prime Minister, the commission will work with people who draw on care and their families, staff, Parliamentarians, local government, and the public, private, and third sector to make clear recommendations for how to rebuild the adult social care system to meet the current and future needs of the population. The Government has also made available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes a £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to improve NHS dental service provision in Newbury.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to tackle the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.
The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including NHS dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Newbury constituency, this is the NHS Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICB. ICBs have been asked to start making extra urgent dental appointments available from April 2025. The Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICB is expected to deliver 15,454 additional urgent dental appointments as part of the scheme.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of providing full compensation to Equitable Life policyholders.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Equitable Life Payment Scheme has been fully wound down and closed since 2016 and there are no plans to reopen any decisions relating to the Payment Scheme or review the £1.5 billion funding allocation previously made to it. Further guidance on the status of the Payment Scheme after closure is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/equitable-life-payment-scheme#closure-of-the-scheme.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of developing a national brain tumour strategy.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to the Hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire on 14 March 2025 to Question 36024.
Asked by: Lee Dillon (Liberal Democrat - Newbury)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support farmers with slurry testing to ensure correct pH levels are maintained.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Investing in proper slurry storage and management equipment is a critical step livestock farmers need to take to make best use of their organic nutrients and prevent pollution. This includes ensuring that correct pH levels are maintained prior to any application to land. We will confirm any future grant rounds in due course.