Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support military chaplains in Ukraine to receive training and development from UK armed forces chaplains.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
The Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre (AFCC) at Shrivenham has been providing training for Ukrainian chaplains since May 2023, with planned programmes scheduled until at least November 2026.
The centre offers two distinct two-week courses: a foundational programme and an advanced course designed for chaplaincy leaders. The curriculum focuses on spiritual leadership, ethical leadership, and pastoral care, and is delivered by UK Defence personnel in collaboration with academic partners. Enduring links have been established between UK Chaplaincy and Ukrainian colleagues and the relationships established at AFCC have enabled alumni to develop stronger mutual support networks.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will withdraw the planned changes to (a) Agricultural Property Relief and (b) Business Property Relief.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, fixing the public finances, and funding public services. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will commit not to introduce any new taxes which increase the cost of doing business.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At the Budget on 26 November, the government will continue to deliver on the priorities of the British people: cutting NHS waiting lists, cutting the national debt and cutting the cost of living. There will be no return to austerity and we will end the unfairness and low growth that squeezes living standards for working people: that is the path to national renewal.
The Chancellor’s decisions on tax will be announced in the usual way at the Budget.
I do note that the 2023 budget under the Conservative government increased corporation tax on businesses from 19% to 25%.
We do not comment on tax speculation ahead of fiscal events.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will lower business rates for (a) high street businesses, (b) businesses without a physical storefront on a street and (c) other small and medium sized businesses.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century.
As set out at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government will introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with ratable values (RVs) below £500,000 from 2026/27. This permanent tax cut will ensure they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government is sustainably funding this by introducing a higher tax rate on properties with RVs of £500,000 and above.
The final design, including the rates, for the new business rates multipliers will be announced at Budget 2025, so that the Government can factor the revaluation outcomes and broader economic and fiscal context into decision-making. When the new multipliers are set, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.
The Transforming Business Rates: Interim Report, published on 11 September, sets out the Government’s next steps to deliver a fairer business rates system. The Government is exploring enhancing Small Business Rates Relief to more effectively support investment and expansion among small businesses.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what support the Church of England is providing to military chaplaincy training in Ukraine.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
Anglican chaplains, as part of the Royal Army Chaplaincy Department, have been involved with training and providing ongoing to support to approximately 200 Ukrainian chaplains over the last 3 years.
The Bishop to the Armed Forces and the former Archbishop of Canterbury have met with Ukrainian chaplains and prayed with them. The former Archbishop also visited Ukraine on several occasions to see the work of the local church and to offer his personal support to humanitarian aid efforts, families displaced by the ongoing conflict, and to meet with civilians who have been directly impacted by the violence in Ukraine.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make it his policy to publish an annual brownfield site audit for England.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Local planning authorities are required to maintain a register of brownfield sites that they have assessed as appropriate for residential development.
My Department has no current plans to undertake an annual audit of such registers.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will hold discussions with his (a) Danish and (b) Greenlandic counterparts on the establishment of a NATO naval presence on the east coast of Greenland.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
NATO’s maritime posture is determined collectively by Allies rather than through bilateral negotiations. The UK has a close defence relationship with Denmark, including through NATO and the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps with the Royal Household to establish an inventory of (a) publicly and (b) privately owned items in royal residences.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Royal Collection Trust is responsible for the care and conservation of the Royal Collection and there is already a publicly available inventory of object records held by the Royal Collection Trust on the rct.uk website.
Separately, the Royal Household maintains fixed asset registers, which are audited annually by the National Audit Office, for items funded by the Sovereign Grant.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps with mobile phone companies to introduce a (a) single and (b) central emergency telephone number paid for by mobile phone (i) operators and (ii) manufacturers to allow reporting by victims of unlocked mobile phone theft to report those thefts immediately; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on (A) (1) financial and (2) personal data theft and (ii) the number of police hours dedicated to mobile phone crimes.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Secretary and Policing Minister are determined to take the strongest possible action to reduce the number of phone thefts in London and elsewhere across the country.
This is a crime that causes significant distress to victims and fuels wider criminality. That’s why we are driving greater collaboration between policing leaders, the Metropolitan Police, National Crime Agency, the Mayor of London, leading tech companies and others to break the business model of mobile phone thieves. This has included exploring what technical interventions would be most effective, including discussion around improving reporting mechanisms when a mobile phone is stolen. Positive developments include commitments to improving visibility of unique identification numbers/IMEIs to help identify stolen devices and raising awareness of existing mechanisms for reporting the theft of mobile devices, which include calling 101, going to a local police station or reporting the crime anonymously via Crimestoppers.
All stakeholders must play their part in designing out and disincentivising this type of theft, disrupting the resale of stolen phones, exploring technological solutions to make devices harder to re-register or resell, and helping the public protect themselves and the data and personal information on their devices.
Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will make it her policy to amend the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 to (a) strengthen the powers and (b) expand the (i) jurisdictional reach and (ii) scope of the Cyber (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 to help reduce ransomware attacks.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The government is committed to calling out malicious cyber activities that threaten the UK's national interests and economic prosperity. Sanctions are an important part of our diplomatic toolkit, helping us to disrupt ransomware operations.
Our cyber sanctions regime allows us to impose cost and risk on those that carry out malicious cyber activity, and to deter others who consider similar acts. The regime is suitably broad, and allows us to freeze the assets of those around the world who have undermined the integrity, prosperity, or security of the UK and its partners. Under these powers, we have designated seventy-nine people, including sixteen members of prolific Russian cybercrime gang Evil Corp, and one of the senior leaders of LockBit which, at the time, was one of the most harmful ransomware operations affecting the UK.
We will continue to explore future use and implementation of our cyber sanctions regime against ransomware actors as part of a broader range of approaches to combat cybercrime globally.