Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support his Department provides to help (a) hair and (b) beauty businesses with VAT rates.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
VAT is the UK’s third largest tax forecast to raise £176 billion in 2024/25, helping to fund key spending priorities, such as the NHS, education and defence.
The Government recognises that VAT can disproportionately impact particular sectors, including the hair and beauty sector. However, VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Any request for a new VAT relief, such as in the form of a reduced rate, should be viewed in the context of over £50 billion of requests the Government has received since the EU referendum.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of raising the luxury vehicles tax threshold for electric vehicles.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As with all taxes, the Government keeps the Expensive Car Supplement under review, and any changes will be announced at a future fiscal event.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to take steps to support people who lost (a) money and (b) assets due to the collapse of the Philips Trust Corporation.
Answered by Bim Afolami - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Philips Trust Corporation was not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and was not carrying out any regulated activities. As such, any losses are not covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Consumers who have concerns about the role played by their bank or building society in relation to Philips Trust Corporation may be eligible to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Whether a particular complaint is eligible or not is a matter for the FOS.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what she is taking to help ensure that new parents are able to take the (a) maternity and (b) paternity leave that they are entitled to in the context of the rising cost of living.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK has a generous system of parental leave and pay entitlements which include Maternity and Paternity Leave and Pay.
The standard rate of Statutory Maternity Pay and Paternity Pay is reviewed annually. Subject to parliamentary approval, from April 2024, it will increase by 6.7% from £172.48 to £184.03.
Statutory parental payments are designed to offer a degree of earnings replacement and have never been intended to fully replace lost earnings. The Government also has provisions in place such as tax credits, child benefit and Universal Credit, which provide support with the cost of raising children.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that students from the UK have access to places at UK universities.
Answered by Robert Halfon
This government is focused on levelling up opportunities so that every young person, regardless of their background or geographic location, can get the skills and training needed to secure rewarding, well-paid jobs. The department wants to ensure people have the opportunities that will open doors and create the talent pipeline that our country needs to prosper now and in the future.
In 2021/22, Higher Education Statistics Agency data shows that UK students accounted for 85% of all undergraduate entrants to UK universities.
A disadvantaged English domiciled 18-year-old is now 74% more likely to enter higher education (HE) than they were in 2010, and the department is working to further close the disadvantage gap with our Access and Participation reforms. HE providers registered with the Office for Students that intend to charge tuition fees above the basic amount are rewriting their access and participation plans to focus on raising attainment in school pupils. This will help ensure pupils have more options for post-18 study and that they are better equipped to choose the path that is right for them from higher technical qualifications and apprenticeships as well as degrees. Providers should have revised plans in place for September 2025, with the first wave being ready for September 2024.
The government is committed to a sustainable funding model that supports high-quality provision, meets the skills needs of the country and maintains the world-class reputation of UK HE. The department has frozen maximum tuition fees for the 2024/25 academic year to deliver better value for students and to keep the cost of HE under control. By 2024/25, maximum fees will have been frozen for seven years.
The government has also continued to increase maximum loans and grants for living and other costs each year. Maximum support has been increased by 2.8% for the current, 2023/24, academic year.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to increase participation of young girls in competitive sports (a) at and (b) outside school.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to supporting women and girls’ sport at every opportunity including pushing for greater participation across all sports, at every level. In our new Sport Strategy ‘Get Active’, we set an ambitious target of getting 1 million more active children and 1.25 million more active women by 2030.
We are determined to maximise the potential of women’s sport in the future so we can sustain that pipeline of talent and expand it. We are investing over £600 million in school sport across the next two academic years todrive up the quality of physical education and ensure girls have equal access to opportunities to play sport.
The School Games programme offers children the opportunity to take part in competitions in over 40 sports at local and regional level, including inclusive, modified versions of the sports. In the 2022/23 academic year, the country-wide network of 450 School Games Organisers provided over 2.2 million opportunities for children to take part. The introduction of new equality criteria to the School Games Mark encourages and recognises schools providing equal access to girls and boys.
Outside of school, we are investing over £300 million in grassroots football and multi-sport facilities across the UK by 2025 which will further support women and girls accessing sport. The new £30 million Lioness Futures fund will deliver approximately 30 new state of the art 3G pitches at sites supporting women’s and girls’ teams across England. Projects in England will need to have a clear women and girls plan to receive this funding and will be monitored regularly to ensure the objectives are met.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will have discussions with West Yorkshire police on the steps being taken to (a) provide support to and (b) respond to threats made against the suspended teacher from Batley Grammar school.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office was in close contact with West Yorkshire Police, who worked with local partners to take swift action at the time to protect the individual involved, in recognition of the significant interest both locally, nationally and across various media outlets. We expect the police to continue to take appropriate and proportionate action in relation to any threats made.
It would not be appropriate to provide further information or details in relation to a specific case. The government remains steadfast in our commitment to tackling those who spread views that promote violence and hatred against individuals and communities in our society, and must always stand up to those who seek to undermine our fundamental values.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the time taken for clinically-proven drugs to be considered for use on the NHS once they are off-patent.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines Repurposing Programme was established in March 2021 by the Department, NHS England, the National Institute for Health Research and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). This seeks to identify new uses for medicines that are outside of the scope of the existing licence for the medicine. This typically involves taking an existing medicine that already has a marketing authorisation or licence for human use for a particular condition, and then using it to treat another condition. It provides a tailored package of support to priority repurposed medicines, potentially including support for research, licensing and implementation.
NICE makes recommendations on whether the benefits of licensed medicines justify their costs and maintains surveillance of new developments that may affect its published guidance, including the latest evidence and any significant changes in the prices of medicines. NICE would consult on proposed changes to its guidance with stakeholders if significant new evidence relating to the clinical- and cost-effectiveness of a medicine were to emerge.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of part-funding the training of educational psychologists; and whether she is taking steps to increase the number of educational psychologists.
Answered by David Johnston - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department knows that educational psychologists play a vital role in the support available to children and young people, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.
That is why, since 2020, the department has increased the number of educational psychologist trainees that it funds, from 160 to over 200 per annum, to continue supporting Local Authority educational psychology services. This includes full funding for the tuition fees and a bursary for the first year, while a bursary for the second and third years of training is funded by local authorities where trainees undertake their placements.
In November 2022, the department announced a further £21 million investment to train 400 more educational psychologists from 2024, in addition to the £10 million announced earlier in 2022 to train over 200 educational psychologists from September 2023.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government plans to introduce the cap on care costs.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As announced in the Autumn Statement 2022, we listened to the concerns of local Government and took the difficult decision to delay the planned adult social care charging reforms.
To ensure that these highly ambitious reforms are successful and to avoid destabilising the system, it is vital that we work with the sector to ensure that local authorities have the capacity and readiness to deliver reform successfully.
We are committed to working with local authorities to build preparedness, and the Government has made available up to £8.1 billion to put the adult social care system on a stronger financial footing.