Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department is taking steps to support Safe Hands plan holders financially impacted by its administration.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
I am sympathetic to all the Safe Hands customers who have lost money, following the collapse of the firm in 2022.
In January 2021, the Government legislated to bring all pre-paid funeral plan providers and intermediaries within the regulatory remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) from 29 July 2022. This has ensured that 1.6 million funeral plan customers are, for the first time, protected by compulsory and robust regulation as they seek to put their affairs in order.
Unfortunately, the customers of Safe Hands do not qualify for compensation under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) as the funeral plan industry did not become regulated by the FCA until 29th July 2022. It would not be appropriate for the Government to set the precedent or expectation that it will use taxpayer money to compensate consumers for the misconduct of unregulated firms or products which were not sold as FCA regulated at the time.
DWP's Funeral Expenses Payments scheme offers financial support for a simple funeral for those on certain income-based benefits or tax credits. The scheme covers the necessary burial or cremation costs and provides up to £1,000 for other expenses.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on reducing driving test waiting times.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.
On the 18 December, DVSA set out further plans to reduce driving test waiting times across the country. These steps include recruiting 450 driving examiners and improving rules for booking driving tests. Full details of these steps can be found on GOV.UK.
As of 10 March 2025, there were 573,352 car practical driving tests booked, and 31,689 driving tests available within the 24-week booking window.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support the chemical sector.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The chemicals sector underpins almost all manufacturing in the UK and is fundamental to maximising growth and productivity across the economy to drive forward the government’s missions, including delivering growth for all. Reforms are underway to address planning barriers to growth, channel finance towards growth priorities and accelerate the transition to net zero.
This will be supported by our modern Industrial Strategy which will implement targeted policy interventions to drive long-term sustainable, inclusive and secure growth.
Last autumn’s Budget announced continued support for Energy Intensive Industries – including chemical companies – through £350M of additional funding across the next two years.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what support her Department is providing to (a) Egglescliffe School and (b) all schools damaged by Storm Éowyn.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Egglescliffe school is a member of the Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) and as a result of significant damage to the school roof during storm Éowyn the RPA team are working closely with the school to reinstate the damaged areas. Initial works to waterproof the affected buildings are underway and the permanent reinstatement plan is being developed.
Any RPA members impacted by storm Éowyn who have made claims within the rules of the scheme will be similarly supported in the restoration of the affected part of the estate.
Responsibility for ensuring the safety and condition of school buildings lies with the responsible bodies, such as local authorities, academy trusts and voluntary-aided bodies.
Where the department is alerted to significant safety issues with a building that cannot be managed with local resources, it will provide additional support on a case-by-case basis. The department will provide support and advice to responsible bodies to minimise impact on pupils and prioritise the continuity of face-to-face education.
All other schools that notified us of building related incidents due to Storm Éowyn have received advisory support and all pupils have returned to face-to-face education.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what his planned timetable is for introducing mandatory food waste reporting.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
In our manifesto, the Government committed to reducing waste by moving to a circular economy.
The Secretary of State has convened a Small Ministerial Group on Circular Economy and a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts across government, industry, academia, and civil society has been established to help develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England and a series of roadmaps detailing the interventions that the Government will make on a sector-by-sector basis. Preventing food waste will be a key part of this work and we will consider the evidence for action right across the economy to evaluate what interventions may be needed as we develop the strategy.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many commercial farms she has visited since announcing the changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.
The Government, HM Treasury officials, and Ministers meet with stakeholders on a regular basis.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to encourage developers establishing new buildings to have (a) solar panels, (b) batteries and (c) heat pumps fitted; and what support is available to those developers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The Government is committed to ensuring that the 1.5 million homes we will build over the course of this parliament will be high quality, well designed and sustainable. Renewable and low carbon technologies, such as solar panels, batteries and heat pumps, are a key part of our strategy to get to net zero via a decarbonised electricity grid. We must therefore take the opportunity, where appropriate, to encourage their adoption in new buildings.
In 2021 the Government introduce an uplift in energy efficiency standards. New buildings are now required to produce significantly less CO2 emissions compared to those built to previous standards. Already we have seen many homes being built with solar panels and heat pumps.
Future standards, to be introduced later this year, will set new buildings on a path that moves away from relying on volatile fossil fuels, ensuring they are fit for a net zero future. These buildings will be future proofed with low carbon heating and high levels of energy efficiency. No further energy efficiency retrofit work will be necessary to enable them to become zero-carbon over time as the electricity grid continues to decarbonise.
A consultation setting out proposals for what the new standards should entail was published in December 2023 and closed in March 2024. We are carefully considering the feedback received and will publish the Government response, setting our more detail on the content of the standards, in due course.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what funding her Department is providing for public transport projects in the North East.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
We announced a £200m uplift for City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements in 2025/26, in addition to the £310m and £563m already allocated to Tees Valley and North East Combined Authority respectively. We announced a further £31m for buses in the region; reopened the Northumberland Line and funded new Metro trains.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on business rates.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
We are creating a fairer business rates system that protects the high street, supports investment, and is fit for the 21st century. The Secretary of State works closely with all his cabinet colleagues, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, including those on the high street, from 2026-27. The Government has also published a Discussion Paper setting out priority areas for business rates reform and inviting industry to co-design a fairer business rates system: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-business-rates
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of trends in the level of youth unemployment since 2010.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Youth unemployment in 2010 was high following the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent recession. The unemployment rate for 16 to 24-year-olds for Jul-Sep 2024 is 14.8% (4.5 percentage points lower than in Jul-Sep 2010). In recent quarters the youth unemployment rate has been increasing. It has increased by 2.8 percentage points on the year.
To address this our plan to get Britain working includes a new Youth Guarantee for all young people aged 18-21 to ensure that they can access quality training opportunities, an apprenticeship or help to find work to reduce the number of young people not earning or learning. We are working with eight Youth Guarantee Trailblazers areas to test new ways of supporting young people into employment or training, by bringing together and enhancing existing programmes in partnership with local areas. We expect the trailblazers to launch from Spring 2025.
The White Paper also sets out a range of measures to prevent youth inactivity before 18 – including an expansion of work experience and careers advice, action to tackle school attendance and steps to improve access to mental health services for young people
Recent unemployment estimates are subject to heightened volatility due to ongoing data quality problems with the ONS Labour Force Survey. This is particularly the case for the 16 to 24-year-old group, which as a smaller population group has wider margins of error than whole population estimates. Additionally, data prior to Jun-Aug 2011 has not been re-weighted by the ONS causing a discontinuity.