Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support hospices.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The hospice sector has been provided with the largest capital spend in a generation - £100 million.

We are also providing £26 million revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices.

I recently visited Katharine House hospice in Stafford and heard from staff how important this record investment is.

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 ensure that rent review tribunals have access to sector-specific data on market rents in retirement communities.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Renters’ Rights Bill will enable tenants to challenge above-market rent increases through the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).

The Tribunal has the relevant expertise to determine what the market rent should be and will be able to take into account the special characteristics of Integrated Retirement Communities in doing so.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support the arts and humanities in the higher education sector.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to supporting creative subjects, such as the arts and humanities, in higher education (HE).

​For the 2024/25 academic year, the department has allocated around £12.9 million in high-cost subject funding from the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) towards creative and performing arts courses to cover course costs. This increases the per student funding rate to £130.54, which is an increase of 3.8%.

​The department has also maintained SPG funding for world-leading small and specialist providers at £58 million for the 2024/25 academic year. Of the 20 providers recognised in this way, 12 are creative and performing arts providers.

The department knows that the HE sector needs a secure financial footing to face the challenges of the next decade, and to ensure that all students can be confident they will receive the world-class HE experience they deserve. That is why, after seven years of frozen fee caps under the previous government, we have taken the difficult decision to increase maximum tuition fee limits for the 2025/26 academic year by 3.1%, in line with the forecast rate of inflation. ​

​The department will continue to work with the Office for Students to ensure that costs of provision are assessed.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to (a) attend the World Health Assembly 2025 and (b) endorse the WHO resolution on Reducing the Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) through the Promotion of Kidney Health and Strengthening Prevention and Control of Kidney Disease.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department is still considering Ministerial attendance at the World Health Assembly 2025. The Government continues to be a strong supporter of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The UK actively engaged in negotiations on the WHO resolution on Reducing the Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) through the Promotion of Kidney Health and Strengthening Prevention and Control of Kidney Disease in advance of the 156th WHO Executive Board in February 2025. The Executive Board recommended adoption of all resolutions considered to the World Health Assembly, including this one, subject to ongoing budget discussions. We remain committed to tackling NCDs, including kidney disease, domestically and internationally.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an estimate of the potential revenue raised by removing the 2 percent NI on earnings over the threshold and charging a flat rate of 8 percent.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The impact of raising the additional rate of employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) by 6 percentage points to 8 percent has not been directly evaluated.

The impact of a 1 percentage point increase in the additional rate of employee NICs has been published. HMRC regularly publish statistics relating to the direct effects of illustrative tax changes, including changes to NICs rates in section 9. The most recent version of this publication can be found on GOV.UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/direct-effects-of-illustrative-tax-changes

Snares

Found: Natalie Fleet Mr Toby Perkins Cat Eccles Mrs Sharon Hodgson Richard Burgon Adam Dance Mohammad Yasin