Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what meetings the Government has had with David Kogan since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Details of official meetings held in a ministerial capacity with external organisations or individuals are declared quarterly on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 17 November to Question 87901 on Individual Savings Accounts, what assessment she has made of (a) the impact of the property price cap on the number of first-time buyers purchasing homes, (b) the number of first-time buyers by London borough, and (c) if she will make it her policy to provide a separate cap for properties in (i) inner London boroughs and (ii) outer London boroughs.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Data from the latest UK House Price Index demonstrates that the average price paid by first-time buyers is below the LISA property price cap in all regions of the UK. This includes London, where the average price paid by first-time buyers in November 2023 was under £437,000. A single UK-wide cap keeps the Lifetime ISA simple for savers and providers. In 2024/25, 87,250 individuals withdrew Lifetime ISA funds for a house purchase, an increase of around 30,500 on the previous tax year.
While HMRC does collect data on regional breakdown of Lifetime ISA account holders, the data quality is not sufficient to provide accurate regional breakdowns or produce statistics on individual London boroughs.
In HMRC’s response to the recent Treasury Select Committee’s LISA enquiry (link), a regional breakdown was provided where homes were bought using LISAs: HMRC LISA enquiry response - Tables 1, 2 and 3.
The Government keeps all aspects of tax and savings policy under review.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 28 October to question 83432 on Betting: Excise Duties, if she will publish a list of the stakeholders who (a) have responded to the consultation, and (b) have met with Ministers as part of the consultation.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government launched a consultation on the tax treatment of remote gambling, which closed on 21 July 2025. Responses are now being analysed and a response to the consultation will be published at Autumn Budget 2025.
As is standard practice the consultation response will include a list of stakeholders who responded to the consultation. As part of HM Treasury’s commitment to transparency details of ministerial meetings with external stakeholders are published and the latest version can be found at the following link:
HM Treasury: ministerial overseas travel and meetings, April to June 2025 - GOV.UK
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had recent discussions with RyanAir on potential changes to air passenger duty.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government is committed to engaging with interested groups when developing and legislating tax policy and regularly engages with airlines and the wider aviation industry.
The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had recent discussions with the Rt hon. Gordon Brown on gambling duties.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor discusses a variety of issues with stakeholders throughout the year, including the run up to Budget.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information her Department holds on political donations made by the Independent Football Regulator Chair since 2019.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Mr Kogan’s donations are publicly disclosed on the Electoral Commission donation register. On 7 May 2025 Mr Kogan declared additional political donations, beneath the thresholds required by the Governance Code, when he appeared before the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what meetings she has held with David Kogan since 4 July 2024.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
All the Secretary of State’s meetings are published Quarterly as part of the transparency data available on Gov.uk
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had recent discussions with Ambassadors to the Court of St James's on the payment of outstanding congestion charge debts by embassies.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement laid in the House on 19 November concerning the Debts owed by Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations in the UK, Official Report, vol. 775, cols. 57WS-60WS.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Impact 25 legacy programme.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Since July 2024 the Government has invested £6.7m into the £14.5m Impact 25 programme which is pivotal in cementing rugby as a game for all. The programme has reached 850 clubs as more female-friendly facilities have been built all over the country encouraging female participation in rugby.
The programme has trained 3,385 new female coaches and match officials, making coaching sessions and matches more accessible. Impact 25 has contributed to a 35% increase in female age grade registrations in England rising from 17,700 places in 2022 to 23,900 in 2025. To assess progress against Impact 25’s outcomes the RFU uses a range of data sources which are reported on as part of the programme. We will work with the RFU, Sport England and UK Sport to monitor progress against these outcomes and the RFU’s long term goal of having 100,000 female players in England.
The programme has provided over £5,000 of investment to Dartfordians RFC and Sidcup RFC in Old Bexley and Sidcup. Both clubs have received sanitary product packages which are made freely available in club restrooms as well as kits for their u12s team and access to coaching and match official courses for their members.
Asked by: Louie French (Conservative - Old Bexley and Sidcup)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of amending the process for allotment disposal by local authorities.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Under the Allotments Act 1925, in order for local authorities to dispose of allotments they have to seek approval from the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and a defined legal threshold must be met before approval. This includes: the allotment to be surplus to requirements, any waiting lists to be considered, public consultation to have occurred, and other local policies to have been considered. At present, we have made no formal assessment of the potential merits of amending the process for allotment disposal by local authorities.