Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will publish the full cost assessment undertaken by the previous Government of the double contribution convention aspect of the UK-India free trade agreement.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The OBR will certify the impact of the trade deal including the Double Contributions Convention in the usual way at a fiscal event, once the deal is finalised and ratified. The agreement to negotiate a Double Contributions Convention was made in the context of the wider deal, which will bring billions into the economy.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of her Department's proposals to harmonise gambling duties on (a) horseracing and (b) other sports.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is consulting on proposals to simplify the current gambling tax system by merging the three current taxes that cover remote (including online) gambling into one. The Government is committed to engaging with all stakeholders, including representatives of the horseracing industry, as part of the consultation process.
If any changes are made to gambling duties at a future Budget following the consultation, the legislation will be accompanied by a Tax Information and Impact Note which will set out the expected impacts.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of (a) her Department's proposals on gambling harmonisation and (b) affordability checks on levels of black market gambling.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is consulting on proposals to simplify the current gambling tax system by merging the three current taxes that cover remote (including online) gambling into one – reducing complexity and improving compliance.
A new system for financial risk assessments is currently being piloted by the Gambling Commission. Stage 1 of the pilot showed that 95% of checks were frictionless and this increased to 97% of checks in stage 2.
DCMS works closely with the Gambling Commission to ensure that illegal gambling, in all its forms, is addressed. The Crime and Policing Bill, introduced in Parliament on 25 February 2025, will grant the Gambling Commission with powers to move quickly and effectively to take down illegal gambling websites.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
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 ensure that dementia care is included in the NHS 10 year plan.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan will address the challenges diagnosed by Lord Darzi and will set the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of complex health and care needs, including people living with dementia. We are carefully considering policies, including those that impact people with dementia, with input from the public, patients, health staff, and our partners, as we develop the plan.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, what information her Department holds on the number of (a) prosecutions brought and (b) successful prosecutions in relation to offences contrary to Section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986 in each year since 1995.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
The table below shows the number of offences charged by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) by way of section 4A (intentional harassment, alarm or distress) in which a prosecution commenced from 1 January 2004 to 31 December 2024. These figures relate to the number of offences charged and not the number of individual defendants.
The CPS does not hold data showing the number of defendants prosecuted and convicted of offences created by the Public Order Act 1986, including section 4A. To establish the number of defendants charged pursuant to and convicted under section 4A would require a manual review of case files and this would be at disproportionate cost.
Calendar Year | Public Order Act 1986 { 4A(1) and (5) } |
2004 | 4,524 |
2005 | 5,349 |
2006 | 6,077 |
2007 | 6,651 |
2008 | 6,892 |
2009 | 7,151 |
2010 | 8,329 |
2011 | 8,278 |
2012 | 8,140 |
2013 | 8,269 |
2014 | 9,790 |
2015 | 10,878 |
2016 | 11,038 |
2017 | 11,969 |
2018 | 11,620 |
2019 | 10,882 |
2020 | 9,616 |
2021 | 12,299 |
2022 | 11,560 |
2023 | 10,797 |
2024 | 11,693 |
Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System | |
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to tackle antisemitism in universities.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is deeply concerned about the continued, unacceptably high, prevalence of antisemitism in universities. We have confirmed £7 million in funding to address antisemitism in education, and the Office for Students will be introducing a new registration condition from August that will require universities to act against all forms of harassment, including antisemitism.
Furthermore, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education will soon host a round table with leading vice-chancellors from across the country to discuss what more can be done collectively, and at all levels, to make our universities a safe and inclusive environment for all.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representations she has received from schools on the adequacy of funding for the breakfast clubs early adopters scheme.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department had over 3,000 schools apply to be part of the early adopter scheme, so as expected there has been some movement in the schools taking part as we finalised the 750 running from April, but that has been minimal.
The list of schools taking part in the breakfast clubs early adopter scheme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/breakfast-clubs-early-adopters-schools-in-the-scheme.
The department has used existing programmes and costs to determine the funding rates, and this has been tested and refined with a range of schools. We are confident that the total funding will enable schools to meet the minimum expectations, which is a 30-minute club with breakfast meeting the school food standards, based on existing provision operating in schools.
One function of the early adopters is to test how schools utilise the funding, and the department has a robust strategy to capture and analyse this data. Decisions about the overall budget envelope for breakfast clubs national rollout is subject to the next spending review.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which early adopter schools have opted out of the free breakfast club pilot programme.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department had over 3,000 schools apply to be part of the early adopter scheme, so as expected there has been some movement in the schools taking part as we finalised the 750 running from April, but that has been minimal.
The list of schools taking part in the breakfast clubs early adopter scheme can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/breakfast-clubs-early-adopters-schools-in-the-scheme.
The department has used existing programmes and costs to determine the funding rates, and this has been tested and refined with a range of schools. We are confident that the total funding will enable schools to meet the minimum expectations, which is a 30-minute club with breakfast meeting the school food standards, based on existing provision operating in schools.
One function of the early adopters is to test how schools utilise the funding, and the department has a robust strategy to capture and analyse this data. Decisions about the overall budget envelope for breakfast clubs national rollout is subject to the next spending review.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to enable parents the right to access their deceased child’s social media data.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The government is committed to ensuring families feel that the system is on their side when tragedies happen. In these cases, the Online Safety Act provides for Ofcom to require information from services on a child’s online activity at a coroner’s request. To strengthen this, the Data (Use and Access) Bill seeks to establish a data preservation process requiring companies to preserve such relevant information at a coroner’s request.
The Online Safety Act will also require categorised services to be transparent with parents regarding a company’s data disclosure processes, following the death of a child.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which companies supply police ICT systems; and how many (a) contracts have been awarded to and (b) systems are managed by each company.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not centrally collect all of the information requested. Obtaining and verifying this information for the purposes of answering these questions could only be done at disproportionate cost.
However, the Hon Member may be interested to read the Home Secretary's speech to the National Police Chiefs' Council and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners' annual conference on 19 November 2024, where she set out her vision on police reform and efficiency, including the potential savings to be achieved through greater collaboration on IT contracts. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/home-secretarys-vision-for-police-reform