Luke Taylor

Revitalising our high streets is a priority for this government. Improving footfall on the high street is essential to create strong high streets. The Secretary of State and I are working with MHCLG to consider how we can deliver a cross-government approach for high streets and supporting their businesses to thrive.

This means addressing anti-social behaviour and crime, working with the banking industry to roll out 350 banking hubs, reforming business rates, stamping out late payments, empowering communities to make the most of the vacant properties, strengthening the Post Office network and reforming the apprenticeship levy.

Furthermore, the government is investing in local growth with local allocations for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in 2025-26 now announced, which places may choose to invest in rejuvenating high streets.

The Government has protected the smallest businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to Employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500 meaning, that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all next year, and more than half of employers will see no change or will gain overall from this package.

All eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no Employer NICs. Additionally, 4.1million SMEs do not employ anyone aside from the business owner and will not be affected by these tax rises.

SMEs remain a key part of the high street, and a thriving high street will need a strong retail offering.

This is why the Government is creating a fairer business rate system and transforming the apprenticeship levy to support business and boost opportunities. This work will be supported by the publication of The Small Business Strategy Command Paper next year.

Through the Retail Sector Council, we are addressing strategic issues for the sector, including high street regeneration, skills and sustainability.

Wholesale energy costs have decreased for non-domestic consumers since the global energy crisis, but we recognise that some businesses may be struggling to pay their bills.

The Government believes that the only way to protect billpayers permanently, including small and medium sized enterprises, is to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels and towards homegrown clean energy. The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030.

For non-domestic consumers who agreed to contracts at very expensive rates at the peak of price spikes, they can contact their supplier to enquire about ‘blend and extend’ contracts. These contracts blend the original, higher, unit rate with a new lower rate, spreading the cost over the course of an extended contract lifetime.

As the first step towards the Warm Homes Plan, the Government has committed an initial £3.4 billion over the next 3 years towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency. The Government will partner with combined authorities and local councils to roll out this plan.

Alongside current energy efficiency schemes, local councils will receive support through the recently announced Wave 3 of the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund (WH:SHF) in England, and Warm Homes: Local Grant (WH:LG), with delivery expected in 2025. The WH:LG will use an expression of interest model to allocate funding to local authorities. The application window will run from 16th October to 1st December 2024.

This government has set an unprecedented mission to halve violence against women and girls in a decade. The Online Safety Act forces in scope services to reduce the risk of illegal content being encountered on their services. Platforms must focus on ‘priority offences’, including content which amounts to stalking and must reduce the risk of priority offences being committed on their services.

Ofcom is the regulator for this new regime, and it will have extensive enforcement powers to take action where companies do not comply with their new duties.

This data is publicly available. Charity income for universities can be found in the HESA website (HE Finance Data | HESA). CRSF allocations can be found on the Research England website (e.g. Research England grant allocations basis 2024 to 2025 – UKRI) and for data pre-dating the creation of Research England in the HEFCE archives (Archive Timeline - UK Government Web Archive).

UKRI Research England is undertaking a review of their approach to their formula-based research funding, delivered in England through Quality-related Research (QR). This activity is called the Strategic Institutional Research Funding (SIRF) review. The review will consider the fundamental principles and the effectiveness of their current funding allocation mechanisms, in consultation with the higher education sector and wider stakeholders. This review is anticipated to continue until 2030 and will be made up of a number of discrete stages. As part of QR, Charity Research Support Fund (CRSF) is within the scope of this review.

The Government is determined to work with the sector to transition to sustainable research funding models, including by increasing research grant cost recovery. Charity funded research forms a vital part of the UK's R&D landscape, creating valuable research in the life sciences and beyond.

The Government introduced a strengthened Football Governance Bill in October 2024, establishing an independent regulator and a new set of rules to protect clubs, empower fans and keep clubs at the heart of their communities. The Regulator will protect and promote the long term financial sustainability of the game.

The legislation is progressing and the Bill concluded its Committee Stage in the other place on 15 January.

The adoption and special guardianship fund (ASGSF) offers valuable support to adoptive and kinship families, helping families to thrive and enabling children and young people to make the best start in life.

Announcements on funding for the ASGSF will be made shortly.

This government is committed to ensuring there is a thriving further education (FE) sector, which is vital to our missions to break down the barriers to opportunity and boost economic growth.

FE colleges, rather than government, are responsible for setting and negotiating pay for their staff. Colleges are not bound by the national pay and conditions framework for schoolteachers. FE colleges were incorporated under the terms of the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act, which gave them autonomy over the pay and contractual terms and conditions of their staff.

At the Autumn Budget 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out an additional £300 million revenue funding for FE in the 2025/26 financial year to ensure young people are developing the skills this country needs and a further £300 million to support colleges to maintain, improve and ensure suitability of their estate. We have recently announced that we are making approximately £50 million of the additional revenue funding available to statutory FE providers for April to July 2025. This one-off grant will enable colleges to respond to current priorities and challenges, including workforce recruitment and retention.

The remaining funding will be made available in 16-19 funding rates for the 2025/26 academic year.

This builds on the department’s investment to extend targeted retention incentive payments of up to £6,000 after tax to eligible early career FE teachers in key subject areas. We are also delivering funding to support those young people who do not pass mathematics and English GCSE at 16, who are predominantly studying in FE.

The department will continue to offer financial incentives for those undertaking teacher training for the FE sector in priority subject areas. FE teacher training bursaries will be offered for a further year, worth up to £31,000 each, tax-free, in the 2025/26 academic year. Additionally, we are supporting industry professionals to enter the teaching workforce through our Taking Teaching Further programme.

As confirmed in July, schools delivering post-16 education would be included in the teacher pay award for the 2024/25 academic year, in line with the independent School Teachers’ Pay Review Body (STRB) recommendations. The department confirmed that an additional £63 million would be provided for schools delivering post-16 education.

Further education (FE) providers are not included in the school teacher pay award and FE does not fall under the STRB’s remit. FE colleges, rather than government, are responsible for setting and negotiating pay within colleges. Colleges are not bound by the national pay and conditions framework for school teachers and are free to implement their own pay arrangements in line with their own local circumstances.

FE colleges, including sixth form colleges, were incorporated under the terms of the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act, which gave them autonomy over the pay and contractual terms and conditions of their staff.

The Autumn Budget 2024 set out the government’s commitment to skills, by providing an additional £300 million revenue funding for FE to ensure young people are developing the skills this country needs. The department recognises the vital role that FE teachers and providers play in equipping learners with the opportunities and skills they need to succeed in their education. We will set out in due course how this funding will be distributed.

In making their recommendations for 2025/26, the STRB were asked to consider the impact of recommendations on the FE teaching workforce in England. Given FE and school workforce are closely related, it is important for the STRB to consider the totality of the workforce.

The department wants to ensure that young carers have the best life chances by supporting them in their education. The department recognises that absence from school is almost always a symptom of wider needs and barriers that a family are facing. It is often also the best early indication of need in a family that may not be in contact with other services.

The department’s expectations of local authorities and schools, as set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, were made statutory on 19 August 2024. The ‘support first’ ethos of the attendance guidance is that pupils and families, including young carers, should receive holistic, whole-family support to help them overcome the barriers to attendance they are facing. This includes holding regular meetings with the families of pupils who the school, and/or local authority, consider to be vulnerable to discuss attendance and engagement at school. Schools are expected to recognise that absence is a symptom and that improving pupil’s attendance is part of supporting the pupil’s overall welfare.

Young carers are also now part of the school census, which will improve their visibility in the school system, allowing schools to better identify and support their young carers. This will provide an annual data collection to establish long term trends. Separately, the department also publishes daily attendance data fortnightly and will continue to monitor the quality of data on young carers that is collected via the school register for consideration to include in the daily data collection in the future.

Schools can also use pupil premium funding to support other pupils with identified needs, including young carers. Pupil premium funding has increased to over £2.9 billion for the 2024/25 financial year.

Generally, to qualify for higher education (HE) student support and home fee status in England, a person must have settled status and have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for the three years preceding the first day of the first academic year of their course. There are exceptions to this for persons who have been granted international protection by the Home Office. This includes persons granted refugee status, humanitarian protection, or leave under one of the Afghan or Ukraine schemes.

The creation of a bespoke immigration route for Hong Kong British National (Overseas)’s (BN(O)) reflects the unique and unprecedented circumstances in Hong Kong and the UK’s historic and moral commitment to BN(O) citizens. The BN(O) route is not a form of international protection and is not, therefore, comparable to the Afghan and Ukraine schemes. However, it remains open to a Hong Kong BN(O) to apply for refugee status or humanitarian protection should they believe they qualify.

There are no plans to extend HE student support and home fee status to Hong Kong BN(O)s before they are settled in the UK.

We are firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards.

The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue we will want to fully consider in due course.

All types of road vehicle headlamps are designed, tested, and approved to internationally recognised standards to help prevent undue glare and ensure safety on a broad range of roads and environments.

However, noting increased public concern, Government has commissioned independent research to better understand the root causes of headlamp glare. The work is underway and is due to deliver in summer 2025.

Department officials are in regular conversation with South Western Railway regarding their service provision in response to demand. When reviewing train services, the Department needs to assess business cases and balance demand with value for the taxpayer in its considerations.

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is currently working towards putting in place a driving licence exchange agreement with Malaysia. This is subject to public consultation and the introduction of domestic legislation.

Currently, holders of a driving licence issued in Malaysia who become resident in the UK can drive small vehicles (motorcars and motorcycles) for up to 12 months from the date they become resident in the UK. To continue driving after this period the licence holder must apply for a provisional driving licence and pass both a theory and practical driving test here. If the holder of a driving licence issued in Malaysia is only visiting the UK they can drive using their Malaysian licence for up to 12 months from the date they last entered the UK.

The Secretary of State has not made any representations to the Mayor of London on the Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Action Plan. The Government sets the regulatory structure within which 263 licensing authorities in England license the taxi and private hire vehicle sector and issues guidance to assist them in doing this. Transport for London is the licensing authority for London. The Taxi and Private Hire Action Plan is a matter for the Mayor of London and Transport for London.

Transport in London is devolved and decisions on TfL fares are for the Mayor of London and TfL. Department for Transport ministers and officials speak regularly with TfL on a wide range of issues impacting commuters in the capital.

National statistics published on 28 November, show that 150,000 Pension Credit claims were received between 29 July 2024 and 17 November 2024 - Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK. Please note, this information is published weekly and the nearest available date to 1 August was used.

We do not hold this data at constituency level.

The Government wants everyone eligible for Pension Credit but not currently claiming it to receive the benefits they are entitled to.

The Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions wrote to all local authorities on 20^th August. The letter acknowledged the vital role local authorities play in supporting their communities. The Government recognises that many local authorities already do a huge amount of work to promote benefit take-up. We are asking that local authorities support our national Pension Credit campaign and help us reach those eligible pensioners who have not claimed Pension Credit, so they continue to receive an annual Winter Fuel Payment.

We will continue to work with external partners, local authorities and the devolved governments to boost the take-up of Pension Credit.

The Pension Credit data that is used is based on the 2010 Westminster Parliamentary constituencies, not 2024, in order to be comparable with the Winter Fuel Payment statistics.

It is estimated that around 14,000 pensioners in Sutton and Cheam constituency will be impacted by the decision to amend the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment. This is based on February 2024 Pension Credit statistics which are available via DWP Stat-xplore and the Winter Fuel Payment statistics for Winter 2022 to 2023 which are available via GOV.UK.

This estimation is calculated by subtracting the number of people claiming Pension Credit in Sutton and Cheam consistency from the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients in Sutton and Cheam constituency. This is essentially the number of Winter Fuel Payment recipients who are not claiming Pension Credit pre-policy change, as an estimate of those who will no longer receive the Winter Fuel Payment.

Please note that the above figures do not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up that we might see as a result of the Government’s Pension Credit Awareness Campaign. We do not have data on those additional Pension Credit claims by Parliamentary constituencies or Local Authorities.

The published Pension Credit figures refer to households, so the number of individuals receiving Pension Credit will be higher (i.e., taking account of households where it is a couple claiming Pension Credit).

In addition, while Pension Credit claimants constitute the majority of those that will be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment, pensioners who claim other qualifying means-tested benefits will also be eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment. It is not, however, possible to include those on other qualifying means-tested benefits in these figures.

Whilst food banks are independent, charitable organisations and government has no role in their operation, we are committed to tackling poverty and reducing mass dependence on emergency food parcels. On 30^th July, the Secretary of State held the first food poverty roundtable with food poverty experts to understand the priorities in this area.

We promised concrete actions in our manifesto to support children and families. Our initial steps to tackle poverty include free breakfast clubs in every primary school so children don’t go hungry, protecting renters from arbitrary eviction, slashing fuel poverty and banning exploitative zero-hours contracts. Good work is the foundation of our approach, and our New Deal for Working People, including ensuring that the minimum wage is a genuine living wage along with reformed employment support, will mean that many more people will benefit from the dignity and purpose of employment.

In addition, the Government is extending the Household Support Fund (HSF) for a further 6 months from 1 October 2024 until 31 March 2025. An estimated total package of approximately £500 million will be provided to enable the extension of the HSF, including funding for the Devolved Governments through the Barnett formula to be spent at their discretion. This means that Local Authorities in England will receive £421 million to support those in need locally.

Alongside this, the Child Poverty Taskforce has started urgent work to publish the Child Poverty Strategy in Spring and will explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty.

Classifying a condition as a distinct illness is outside the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) remit. The NICE has no plans to develop guidance on chronic urinary tract infections (UTIs) at this time, and the topic has not been considered by their prioritisation board. The NICE has produced a clinical guideline on antimicrobial prescribing for recurrent UTIs, which provides recommendations on treatments and self-care for the prevention of recurrent UTIs.

As required by law, NHS England has assessed the impact of the proposed NHS Payment Scheme. This is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/25-26-NHSPS-Consultation-notice-C-impact-assessment.pdf

This impact assessment includes consideration of the impact on patient choice, as well as an assessment of the impact on patients, in line with NHS England’s public sector equality duty.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) patients will continue to benefit from the Right to Choose their provider at the point of referral. None of the proposed changes to the NHS Payment Scheme included in the consultation would change this.

Local integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for planning service provision in their local area, including for ADHD assessments. In doing so, ICBs should take account of waiting lists, considering how local funding can be deployed to best meet the needs of their local population.

Recognising that asylum seekers may require additional mental health support including for trauma related mental health issues, the Department of Health and Social Care works together with NHS England and the Home Office to provide additional guidance and support where required.

The Mental Health Sub-Group of the National Asylum Seekers’ Health Oversight Group, which is co-chaired by the Home Office and NHS England, has published examples of national and local interventions aimed at maintaining and improving the emotional wellbeing and mental health of individuals seeking asylum. These are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/asylum-mental-health-workstreams-tools-and-case-studies/workstreams-tools-and-case-studies-by-the-home-office-asylum-mental-health-and-wellbeing-team-accessible

Work is currently ongoing to review and improve the Solace training, designed to provide a foundational understanding of the mental health issues that people face in the context of seeking protection in the United Kingdom, so that it can be endorsed by NHS England and placed on the NHS Learning Hub. This will allow the training to be widely promoted to practitioners to understand better trauma and improve access, experience and outcomes of service.

In parallel, NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency and the Home Office have been working on practical ways to re-establish an improved initial health check within a few days from arrival to the UK. This early health check will include a baselining of physical and mental health needs and identify vulnerabilities. It reflects the recommendations of the British Red Cross’s report, Delivering with dignity, published in August 2024, and is cognisant of recommendation 16 in the recent report by the Commission on the Integration of Refugees.

My Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has announced that a National Cancer Plan for England will be published this year. The Prime Minister’s health mission sets the objective of building a National Health Service fit for the future, and an essential part of this is achieving our goal to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer.

The National Cancer Plan will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care. It will seek to improve every aspect of cancer care including both physical and mental health, to improve the experience and outcomes for people with all cancer types, and at all stages, including metastatic cancers. Our goal is to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer over the next ten years.

We are committed to working closely with partners and patient groups to shape the long-term vision for cancer. The Department plans to engage cancer partners, charities and those within the cancer community, seeking the views of individuals, professionals and organisations to understand how we can do more to achieve this ambition.

To do this, on 4 February 2025, we launched a Call for Evidence, in which the views of people across the country will inform our plan to improve cancer care. Those who wish to share their views can do so on the new online platform, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/shaping-the-national-cancer-plan

We want to ensure that mental health support is available for all who need it. As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, we will recruit an additional 8,500 mental health workers across mental health services in England to reduce delays and provide faster treatment.

Anyone in England experiencing a mental health crisis can now to speak to a trained NHS professional at any time of the day through a new mental health option on NHS 111. Trained NHS staff will assess patients over the phone and guide callers with next steps, such organising face-to-face community support or facilitating access to alternatives services, such as crisis cafés or safe havens, which provide a place for people to stay as an alternative to accident and emergency or a hospital admission.