Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of VAT liability on further education colleges’ capacity to deliver the skills priorities set out in the Industrial Strategy; and whether her Department plans to extend VAT exemption to further education colleges.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Further Education (FE) funding is vital to ensure people are being trained in the skills they need to thrive in the modern labour market. The 2025 Spending Review provided an additional £1.2 billion per year by 2028-29 for skills and £1.7 billion of capital funding to help colleges maintain the condition of their estate. In addition, the Government is providing £375 million of capital investment to support the FE system to accommodate increasing student numbers.

For their non-business activity, FE colleges are unable to reclaim VAT incurred. We operate several VAT refund schemes for schools and academies which are designed variously to ensure that VAT is not a burden on local taxation, and that academies are not disincentivised to leave LA control. FE colleges do not meet the criteria for either scheme.

In relation to business activity, FE colleges enjoy an exemption from VAT which means that they do not have to charge VAT to students but cannot recover it either.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to embed CPR training in schools in a) Epping Forest constituency and b) England.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

I refer the hon. Member for Epping Forest to the answer of 28 November 2025 to Question 92868.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support criminal prosecution of fly-tipping.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government is seeking powers in the Crime and Policing Bill to provide statutory enforcement guidance to support councils make full and proper use of their fly-tipping enforcement powers.

Defra has published best practice guidance and case studies on the website of the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group (NFTPG), which will support councils to make better use of their power to seize vehicles of suspected fly-tippers.

The NFTPG chaired by Defra has developed various practical tools including guides on how councils and others can present robust cases to court, set up and run effective local partnerships to tackle fly-tipping and raise awareness of the household and business waste duty of care. These are available at: https://nftpg.com/.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of approved planning permissions in England that have not yet been built out.

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

My Department does not collect data on the number of approved planning permissions that have not yet been built out.

In May 2025, we published a Planning Reform Working Paper: Speeding Up Build Out inviting views on further action the government should take to speed up homes being built. It can be found on gov.uk here. The working paper drew on a range of independent research and market studies, including the Letwin Review and the Competition and Markets Authority’s October 2024 market study into housebuilding, exploring stalled sites and build out rates.

Alongside the working paper, we launched a technical consultation on implementing measures to improve the transparency of build rates from new residential developments, which includes proposals to implement provisions in Section 113 of the LURA on the power to decline to determine applications. That consultation can be found on gov.uk here.

We will set out our next steps in due course.