Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many individual Persons of Significant Control are registered on Companies House.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
As of 31st March 2025, there were 6,540,159 appointments for People with Significant Control (PSC) registered at Companies House. This is not the number of unique individuals on the register, but the number of appointments held. Another corporate body can also act as a PSC for another company.
The current figures are provided in the published Companies House official statistics:
Companies register activities: statistical release April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK
Figures up to 31st March 2026 will be published on 25th June 2026.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many large business tax disputes have been submitted to international arbitration in the last 5 years.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The number of such disputes is fewer than five. HMRC are unable to disclosure the exact number as it could risk the identification of individual taxpayer(s).
Arbitration operates as a valuable mechanism under double taxation treaties, to ensure there is route to resolve double taxation where agreement cannot be reached between the relevant tax authorities, providing certainty and finality for taxpayers.
Often resolution can be reached outside of arbitration, which is why the number of arbitration cases are low. For context, for the latest year we have statistics, across 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023, 348 cases were wholly dealt with under the procedure governing mutual agreement between tax authorities.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to assess the impact of benefit overpayments on the public purse.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department publishes yearly estimates of fraud and error in the benefit system and the impact of overpayments on the public purse. The latest of which is available here: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year ending (FYE) 2026 estimates - GOV.UK and relates to benefit claims sampled between September 2024 and October 2025.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of conducting a public consultation and review of whistleblowing law as part of the measures announced in the UK anti-corruption strategy 2025.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
On 15 April the government announced its intention to consult on the whistleblowing framework in the Employment Rights Act 1996 in the Summer. The government wants to seek views on the operation of the framework to ensure it is working effectively.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences will be completed and published.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences has now concluded. Part One of the Review, Disclosure in the Digital Age, was published in March 2025, and the Government expects to publish its formal response shortly.
Part Two of the Review, Fraud in the Digital Age, was received by the Department in December 2025 and will be published in due course.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of GP services in South Dorset constituency.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
We promised to improve access to GPs, and that’s exactly what we are doing. This year we have invested an additional £601m in the GP contract and we’ve delivered 8 million more appointments than last year, with South Dorset seeing an increase of 27,000. We have 2,000 more fully-qualified GPs than in July 2024, which includes 12 extra GPs in Dorset ICB, an increase of 3% and from this year we're enabling PCNs to recruit a broader range of roles to improve access to services. At a local level, NHS Dorset ICB has the responsibility for commissioning services to meet the needs of my honourable friend’s constituency.Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many farmers received payments under the Sustainable Farming Incentive for buffer strip actions in the previous scheme year.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In the 2025 scheme year a total of 4,894 farm businesses received at least one payment for buffer strip actions delivered under the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to tackle backlogs in the courts.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Sir Brian’s report set out a blueprint for pragmatic structural reform in our criminal courts and made clear that action across the process is essential.
The Courts and Tribunals Bill is the first step to putting that blueprint into law. Coupled with record investment in sitting days and criminal legal aid and modernisation of listing practices and use of case coordinators and blitz courts to boost efficiencies, we are taking a neglected service and bringing it, finally, into the 21st century.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to help ensure the accuracy of information provided by tax advisers.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
HMRC’s standard for agents sets the minimum expectations for all tax advisers and is regularly reviewed by HMRC. While the vast majority of tax advisers support taxpayers to pay the right amount of tax, the government is legislating in this year’s Finance Bill to give HMRC the powers to better tackle tax advisers who facilitate non-compliance.
Asked by: Lloyd Hatton (Labour - South Dorset)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve Weymouth train station.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Southwestern Railway is empowered to make sure its stations are well-maintained and meet customer expectations. Southwestern Railway must prioritise urgent and safety related maintenance, but there are some improvements at Weymouth Station in the pipeline, such as netting and spiking to deter seagulls.