First elected: 7th May 2015
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Oliver Dowden, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Oliver Dowden has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Oliver Dowden has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
Oliver Dowden has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Oliver Dowden has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Rt. Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 26th February is attached.
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Rt. Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 26th February is attached.
The Department for Business and Trade does not hold this information. However, we are clear that disguised employment practices such as false self-employment are unacceptable. Employers should never seek to deny people their employment rights and avoid their own legal obligations by claiming someone is self-employed when in reality they are not.
The Government is committed to tackling false self-employment and HMRC will investigate evidence suggesting businesses have misclassified individuals for tax purposes. The Government has also set up a forum with the hair and beauty industry to support compliance in the sector.
This Government recognises the significant economic and social value of the hair and beauty industry.
That is why we have committed to reforming business rates from 2026-27 with a permanently lower multiplier for retail, leisure and hospitality properties, including hair and beauty salons.
The Government will also protect the smallest businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning that 865,000 employers will pay no National Insurance contributions (NICs) at all and employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.
We will also transform the existing Apprenticeship Levy into a more flexible Growth and Skills Levy to support business and boost opportunity.
We know this is a difficult time for businesses and workers alike, the Low Pay Commission are independent experts who conducts extensive consultation, analysis and evidence gathering when recommending the minimum wage rates.
We asked the LPC to make progress in extending the National Living Wage to more adults than ever before, by continuing to narrow the gap between the 18-20 rate and the NLW.
We do recognise that the 18-20 band are more vulnerable to unemployment, and therefore any impacts on employment - as well as incentives to remain in training or education - must be monitored carefully, as we proceed.
Ofgem is an independent regulator and HM Treasury has principal oversight over Ofgem’s finances. As an independent regulator and Non-Ministerial Government Department, Ofgem is responsible for setting its own internal policies and controls in-line with its legal functions and duties, and it is directly accountable to Parliament for the performance of its functions and duties.
However, the Department collaborates with Ofgem, in line with the Greening Government Commitments (GGCs), to work towards our mutual net zero 2050 target. This includes reviewing our respective environmental impact and ensuring that Ofgem’s operations and procurement support are delivered in advance of the government’s targets.
Ofgem, with guidance from the Department, use the Greening Government Commitments as the main measure of progress – these commitments span the period from 2021-2025 and set out a sustainability framework for government departments.
Ofgem’s annual report that outlines their data governance and sustainability arrangements: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2025-04/Ofgem-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-2024.pdf
We have strengthened the sustainability criteria for large-scale biomass generation from the previous government to ensure wood from primary forest is not used for energy generation. Under new arrangements as part of the Low Carbon Dispatchable Contract for Difference this includes increasing the proportion of woody biomass that must come from sustainable sources from 70% to 100% and clarifying explicitly that no subsidy will be paid for electricity generated from material sourced from primary forest and old growth areas. We are also working with Ofgem and the Low Carbon Contracts Company to ensure there is robust appropriate assurance and enforcement activity to support this.
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport meets regularly with BBC leadership, including its Board, to discuss a range of topics.
The Government believes that it is absolutely fundamental that stories about the events in Gaza are told and heard, but are done so with the utmost care, transparency and sensitivity. Under its Royal Charter and Ofcom’s wider Broadcasting Code, the BBC has a duty to provide accurate and impartial news and information. This responsibility is particularly important when it comes to coverage of highly sensitive issues, such as the conflict in Gaza. Ofcom, as the BBC’s independent regulator, is responsible for ensuring BBC coverage is impartial and accurate under the Broadcasting Code and BBC Charter.
The Government’s Industrial Strategy will prioritise the creative industries.
We will ensure that the sector can continue to drive growth, boost opportunities and help people to fulfil their creative potential across the UK, including in Hertsmere. Our support includes:
Providing £1 million in funding for 2025/26 for the British Film Commission, which has previously provided support for both Elstree Studios and Sky Studios Elstree in Hertsmere;
Expanding the global reach of independent content through with a further £7 million for the UK Global Screen Fund in 2025/26;
Building on the success of the screen sector tax reliefs, by introducing the enhanced Independent Film Tax Credit, and a new 5% uplift on the rate of relief for visual effects.
Opportunities to drive growth in our screen sectors exist across the whole of the UK, with seven established film production hubs and many more areas brimming with potential and ambition. The film industry also benefits from two major UK Research and Innovation programmes run by the Arts and Humanities Research Council: the £75.6 million CoSTAR programme and the £56 million Creative Industries Clusters programme
In addition, the British Film Institute has committed £34.2 million National Lottery funding over 2023-2026 for education and skills programmes. This includes £9 million to develop skills clusters, one of which has been set up to cover the Metro London area, which includes Hertfordshire, led by Film London.
The Government’s Industrial Strategy will prioritise the creative industries.
We will ensure that the sector can continue to drive growth, boost opportunities and help people to fulfil their creative potential across the UK, including in Hertsmere. Our support includes:
Providing £1 million in funding for 2025/26 for the British Film Commission, which has previously provided support for both Elstree Studios and Sky Studios Elstree in Hertsmere;
Expanding the global reach of independent content through with a further £7 million for the UK Global Screen Fund in 2025/26;
Building on the success of the screen sector tax reliefs, by introducing the enhanced Independent Film Tax Credit, and a new 5% uplift on the rate of relief for visual effects.
Opportunities to drive growth in our screen sectors exist across the whole of the UK, with seven established film production hubs and many more areas brimming with potential and ambition. The film industry also benefits from two major UK Research and Innovation programmes run by the Arts and Humanities Research Council: the £75.6 million CoSTAR programme and the £56 million Creative Industries Clusters programme
In addition, the British Film Institute has committed £34.2 million National Lottery funding over 2023-2026 for education and skills programmes. This includes £9 million to develop skills clusters, one of which has been set up to cover the Metro London area, which includes Hertfordshire, led by Film London.
My Department meets regularly with representatives of the BBC on a range of matters.
The BBC is editorially and operationally independent of the Government. As the external independent regulator of the BBC, Ofcom is responsible for ensuring BBC coverage is duly impartial and accurate under the Broadcasting Code and BBC Charter.
Schools and colleges are a place of protection, as well as education. There is no place for antisemitism in our society, and it is essential that Jewish students feel safe in education.
The Holocaust is the only historic event which is compulsory within the current national curriculum for history at key stage 3, and teaching about antisemitism is integral to teaching this event.
There are many other opportunities in the existing curriculum for schools to teach about antisemitism, including through citizenship, relationships and religious education.
The department’s ‘Tackling Antisemitism in Education’ programme, backed by £7 million of funding, seeks to improve confidence and resilience in tackling antisemitism across settings including schools, colleges and universities. It includes an Innovation Fund, which will be launching in the summer. This fund will support the creation of mechanisms to educate young people about antisemitism and provide them with key skills in areas such as media literacy.
The department is also supporting teachers through our Educate Against Hate website, which provides teachers with a range of free, quality assured resources, including on building resilience to antisemitism, teaching about tolerance and rejecting discrimination.
Antisemitism has absolutely no place in universities or wider society. Universities must be places where all students feel safe, respected and able to thrive.
Earlier this month, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education brought together vice chancellors and community leaders to hear testimonials from Jewish students and discuss next steps to ensure safer, more inclusive campuses for all.
The department remains committed to working with universities, sector partners and stakeholder groups to tackle the unacceptable level of antisemitism on our campuses.
Antisemitism has absolutely no place in universities or wider society. Universities must be places where all students feel safe, respected and able to thrive.
Earlier this month, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education brought together vice chancellors and community leaders to hear testimonials from Jewish students and discuss next steps to ensure safer, more inclusive campuses for all.
The department remains committed to working with universities, sector partners and stakeholder groups to tackle the unacceptable level of antisemitism on our campuses.
Allocations of high needs funding for the 2025/26 financial year will be published as soon as possible now that overall budgets for next year have been announced. The department will take longer to consider changes to the funding formula that is used to allocate funding and which creates the variations in funding levels between local authorities across the country. The department fully recognises the importance of establishing a fair education funding system, that directs funding to where it is needed.
The department is providing schools with extra funding of almost £1.1 billion in the 2024/25 financial year, to support schools with overall costs, including the costs of supporting their pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Following the Budget, schools funding will be increased by a further £2.3 billion in 2025/26. Of this overall increase, nearly £1 billion is for children and young people with complex needs and will bring high needs funding to a total of £11.9 billion next year. As overall funding for the 2025/26 financial year has been announced later than normal, allocations calculated through the high needs and schools national funding formulae have not been published to the usual timescales. We will publish further information as soon as possible.
As autonomous institutions, universities are responsible for tackling antisemitism on campus and should have processes in place to deal with unlawful abuse and harassment.
Universities, as well as Jewish groups and other stakeholders, have told us that the previous government’s Freedom of Speech Act prevented them from taking effective action. The department is stopping further commencement of the Act, in order to consider the options, including its repeal.
The department will continue to work closely with Jewish groups, including the Union for Jewish Students and the University Jewish Chaplaincy, to understand their concerns and what further action is needed.
This government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.
In May 2024, the previous government selected 50 stations for initial feasibility work for potential upgrades as part of our Access for All programme. This did not include Radlett railway station.
We recently published the Accessibility National Technical Specification Notice (NTSN), replacing the Persons with Reduced Mobility NTSN following an extensive review and public consultation facilitated by the Rail Safety and Standards Board. The Accessibility NTSN updates many specifications inherited from EU law while preserving ones that did not have a clear case for change.
We did not receive feedback on Appendix B during the review and public consultation or any assessment suggesting merit in its removal. However, we keep all NTSN content under regular review and will consider all feedback as part of our ongoing monitoring process.
Access for All (AfA) funds accessibility improvements to station infrastructure and to date has delivered over 260 additional step-free stations across Britain.
We have funded Network Rail to undertake feasibility studies on 50 stations which could be upgraded through AfA and plan to update stakeholders during the summer.
We are not yet able to comment on next steps regarding Access for All projects at specific stations including at Radlett station. However, please be assured that we are committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognise the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.
Further to my answer of 3 September 2024, we are not yet able to comment on next steps regarding Access for All. This Government is committed to improving the accessibility of the railway and recognises the social and economic benefits this brings to communities.
The Jobs Plus pilot which began in summer 2024 is an exciting test of how housing and community-led employment support can help engage social housing communities. The first report, due this summer, will help us understand how Jobs Plus or similar models might help us achieve our objectives to Get Britain Working. Evaluation will be shared with a range of commissioners and stakeholders, including local authorities.
Local Get Britain Working plans will support areas in identifying and addressing labour market challenges, tackling inactivity, and increasing employment rates. They are a key element in tackling challenges in labour market participation across England and in achieving the long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate.
Local government have been asked to lead a partnership of local labour market stakeholders and seek insights from a broader range of stakeholders. The guidance we published earlier this year included housing associations in the list of key partners to consider.
Drawing on the range of experiences and expertise of partners within the area, the partnership will ensure a comprehensive analysis of key labour market issues and priorities as well as setting short- and longer-term objectives specific to the needs of the labour market locally.
The Jobs Plus pilot which began in summer 2024 is an exciting test of how housing and community-led employment support can help engage social housing communities. The first report, due this summer, will help us understand how Jobs Plus or similar models might help us achieve our objectives to Get Britain Working. Evaluation will be shared with a range of commissioners and stakeholders, including local authorities.
Local Get Britain Working plans will support areas in identifying and addressing labour market challenges, tackling inactivity, and increasing employment rates. They are a key element in tackling challenges in labour market participation across England and in achieving the long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate.
Local government have been asked to lead a partnership of local labour market stakeholders and seek insights from a broader range of stakeholders. The guidance we published earlier this year included housing associations in the list of key partners to consider.
Drawing on the range of experiences and expertise of partners within the area, the partnership will ensure a comprehensive analysis of key labour market issues and priorities as well as setting short- and longer-term objectives specific to the needs of the labour market locally.
The Jobs Plus pilot which began in summer 2024 is an exciting test of how housing and community-led employment support can help engage social housing communities. The first report, due this summer, will help us understand how Jobs Plus or similar models might help us achieve our objectives to Get Britain Working. Evaluation will be shared with a range of commissioners and stakeholders, including local authorities.
Local Get Britain Working plans will support areas in identifying and addressing labour market challenges, tackling inactivity, and increasing employment rates. They are a key element in tackling challenges in labour market participation across England and in achieving the long-term ambition to achieve an 80% employment rate.
Local government have been asked to lead a partnership of local labour market stakeholders and seek insights from a broader range of stakeholders. The guidance we published earlier this year included housing associations in the list of key partners to consider.
Drawing on the range of experiences and expertise of partners within the area, the partnership will ensure a comprehensive analysis of key labour market issues and priorities as well as setting short- and longer-term objectives specific to the needs of the labour market locally.
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator for health and social care in England. The CQC monitors, inspects, and regulates adult social care services, including council-commissioned care homes, to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety. Inspection reports on individual providers are made publicly available.
Where concerns on quality or safety are identified, the CQC uses a range of regulatory and enforcement powers to take action to ensure the safety of the people drawing on care and support.
This could include using requirement notices to highlight areas that need improvement, or placing adult social care providers into special measures to closely supervise the quality of their care. In cases of significant concern, the CQC can take action that could lead to the removal of a provider’s registration or, in the most serious cases, take criminal action.
The CQC also assesses local authorities’ delivery of their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014. This includes the local authority’s duty to work closely with local providers to ensure high quality services that put the wellbeing of the people who draw on care at the centre of decisions. Local authorities should also keep contracts under review to confirm that care requirements are being met, and to seek to continuously improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of services.
I recently met with Sir Julian Hartley on 14 March 2025, where we discussed the CQC’s recent challenges and how we will continue working closely together on key priorities.
The Drug Tariff is updated monthly and sets out reimbursement prices to be paid to pharmacy contractors for medicines dispensed. When the market price of a generic medicine suddenly increases, concessionary prices can be granted in that month, increasing the reimbursement price above the Drug Tariff price, with the aim of mitigating pharmacy contractors dispensing at a loss. If the medicine margin survey indicates that, despite a concessionary price, there was a significant under payment for a specific product, there is a provision known as a retrospective top-up payment for concessionary prices, which provides an additional payment to contractors for those products. A quarterly medicine margin survey also ensures that pharmacy contractors are reimbursed enough overall for the medicines they dispense.
Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. The Government is committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and to better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as we shift care from hospital to the community.
Pharmacy First has built on existing services to increase the clinical scope of the treatment and advice patients can receive. The conditions treated under the Pharmacy First offer will continue to be kept under review.
The Government recently resumed its consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding funding arrangements.
Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. The Government is committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and to better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists as we shift care from hospital to the community.
Pharmacy First has built on existing services to increase the clinical scope of the treatment and advice patients can receive. The conditions treated under the Pharmacy First offer will continue to be kept under review.
The Government recently resumed its consultation with Community Pharmacy England regarding funding arrangements.
NHS Car Parking guidance was last updated in October 2022 under the previous government. The Department has no plans to review the guidance. Free hospital car parking is available to groups most in-need, including National Health Service staff working overnight. All trusts that charge for hospital car parking have implemented this policy.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, set out a credible and deliverable plan for the new hospital schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP) on 20 January 2025, following the conclusion of the review of the NHP. The plan for implementation was laid in the House Library and published on the GOV.UK website, and is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome
As confirmed in this publication, the scheme for Watford General Hospital is now part of wave two of the NHP. Construction of the main hospital build is expected to commence between 2032 and 2034.
In the 2024 Autumn Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that health capital spending will increase to £13.6 billion in 2025/26. Further details on this funding will follow at the earliest opportunity, including local capital allocations and national capital programmes for 2025/26, as part of the National Health Service’s planning guidance. Budgets for future years will be confirmed as part of the upcoming Spending Review. The state of the NHS estate and safety impacts will be considered as part of this.
The Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board received almost £65 million in operational capital funding in 2023/24, and the West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has also been allocated £50 to 60 million from NHS funding for planned care services at St. Albans City Hospital.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, set out a credible and deliverable plan for the new hospital schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP) on 20 January 2025, following the conclusion of the review of the NHP. The plan for implementation was laid in the House Library and published on the GOV.UK website, and is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome
As confirmed in this publication, the scheme for Watford General Hospital is now part of wave two of the NHP. Construction of the main hospital build is expected to commence between 2032 and 2034.
In the 2024 Autumn Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that health capital spending will increase to £13.6 billion in 2025/26. Further details on this funding will follow at the earliest opportunity, including local capital allocations and national capital programmes for 2025/26, as part of the National Health Service’s planning guidance. Budgets for future years will be confirmed as part of the upcoming Spending Review. The state of the NHS estate and safety impacts will be considered as part of this.
The Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board received almost £65 million in operational capital funding in 2023/24, and the West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has also been allocated £50 to 60 million from NHS funding for planned care services at St. Albans City Hospital.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, set out a credible and deliverable plan for the new hospital schemes in the New Hospital Programme (NHP) on 20 January 2025, following the conclusion of the review of the NHP. The plan for implementation was laid in the House Library and published on the GOV.UK website, and is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-hospital-programme-review-outcome
As confirmed in this publication, the scheme for Watford General Hospital is now part of wave two of the NHP. Construction of the main hospital build is expected to commence between 2032 and 2034.
In the 2024 Autumn Budget, my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that health capital spending will increase to £13.6 billion in 2025/26. Further details on this funding will follow at the earliest opportunity, including local capital allocations and national capital programmes for 2025/26, as part of the National Health Service’s planning guidance. Budgets for future years will be confirmed as part of the upcoming Spending Review. The state of the NHS estate and safety impacts will be considered as part of this.
The Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board received almost £65 million in operational capital funding in 2023/24, and the West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has also been allocated £50 to 60 million from NHS funding for planned care services at St. Albans City Hospital.
It is for the Pay Review Bodies to make recommendations on the future geographic coverage of high-cost area supplements, and on the value of such supplements. As this is reflected in terms and conditions of service, any changes would need to be collectively agreed between employers and trade unions.
Alternatively, National Health Service employers or staff organisations in a specified geographic area can propose an increase in the level of high-cost area supplement for staff in that area.
In areas where no supplement exists, NHS employers can introduce a supplement where they feel there is evidence to support its introduction.
The information requested is not held by the Department. The future allocation of National Health Service funding announced in the Autumn Budget will be decided by NHS England.
The allocation of National Health Service funding, including local staffing budgets, is set by NHS England.
We know that patients are finding it harder than ever to see a general practitioner (GP) and we are committed to fixing the the crisis in the National Health Service, to ensure that patients receive the care they deserve, and to secure the long-term sustainability of the NHS.
We will increase the proportion of funding for GPs and shift the focus of the NHS out of hospitals, and into the community. We have committed to end the 8:00am scramble for GP appointments by introducing a modern booking system. Additionally, the Government will train thousands more GPs across the country to increase capacity, secure the future pipeline of GPs, and take the pressure off those currently working in the system.
We will introduce and trial new Neighbourhood Health Centres to bring vital health and care services together under one roof, ensuring healthcare is closer to home and that patients receive the integrated, patient centered services we all want to see.
Hertsmere sits within the NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board, where the percentage of appointments delivered within two weeks of booking is 5.6% lower than the national average.
We are pleased to announce that newly qualified GPs will be included in the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) as part of an initiative to address GP unemployment with additional funding over 2024/25. This is a step on the journey while the Government works with the profession to identify longer term solutions to GP unemployment and general practice sustainability.
There are currently no plans to review the provision and location of inpatient and outpatient health services in South Hertfordshire. Integrated care boards are responsible for ensuring that the provision and location of both inpatient and outpatient health services meets the demand of their local population.
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Ministers regularly engage with their Israeli counterparts to continue to urge for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a full resumption of aid. I met with the Israeli ambassador to the UK on 20 May when they were summoned to the FCDO. I raised my opposition to the expansion of Israeli military activity in Gaza and condemned the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and the West Bank.
We welcome the fact that the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has said there should be independent investigations into any misuse of its facilities by Palestinian armed militants, including Hamas. Following Catherine Colonna's Independent Review, UNRWA set out an action plan with detailed management reforms including stronger independent oversight, better detection systems, improved screening procedures, mandatory training for staff on humanitarian principles and more proactive donor engagement. As a result, we are assured that UNRWA is taking action to ensure it maintains the highest standards of neutrality. As the Minister for Development told the House on 28 January, she has discussed the issue of neutrality with UNRWA's leadership, including directly with Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini. She also spoke to UNRWA staff members on their work to implement the recommendations of the Colonna report during her visit to the region on 3-5 December.
We welcome the fact that the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has said there should be independent investigations into any misuse of its facilities by Palestinian armed militants, including Hamas. Following Catherine Colonna's Independent Review, UNRWA set out an action plan with detailed management reforms including stronger independent oversight, better detection systems, improved screening procedures, mandatory training for staff on humanitarian principles and more proactive donor engagement. As a result, we are assured that UNRWA is taking action to ensure it maintains the highest standards of neutrality. As the Minister for Development told the House on 28 January, she has discussed the issue of neutrality with UNRWA's leadership, including directly with Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini. She also spoke to UNRWA staff members on their work to implement the recommendations of the Colonna report during her visit to the region on 3-5 December.
UNRWA plays a critical role in Gaza and the wider region, providing essential services, including healthcare and education, to Palestinian refugees.
Following the independent review by Catherine Colonna, UNRWA set out an action plan with detailed management reforms including stronger independent oversight, better detection systems, improved screening procedures, mandatory training for staff on humanitarian principles and more proactive donor engagement. We are now confident that UNRWA is taking action to ensure it meets the highest standards of neutrality, staff vetting and transparency.
HMRC is committed to ensuring that the tax system operates fairly and efficiently and creates a level playing field for compliant businesses. Most businesses pay what they owe but a minority fail to register with HMRC or only declare a portion of their earnings. This minority deprive our vital public services of funding, affect fair competition between businesses, and place unfair burdens on everyone else.
We are committed to tackling false self-employment and will investigate evidence suggesting businesses have misclassified individuals for tax purposes. In these cases, we will take steps to ensure they pay the right Income Tax and National Insurance contributions.
HMRC is making it increasingly difficult for businesses to hide their earnings and have an extensive range of powers, including information gathering powers, that help build a picture of risk and identify those who are trying to abuse the system. Our approach to tax compliance includes a range of activities that aim to both detect and tackle current non-compliance and change future behaviours. Their activities include national campaigns and specialist task forces that incorporate intensive bursts of activity in targeted sectors and locations across the UK. This includes providing customer education highlighting the importance of keeping accurate records. However, we will not hesitate to use stronger sanctions against customers who deliberately choose not to comply, including potential criminal prosecutions for the most serious cases involving tax evasion.
We recognise that some customers can find it hard to understand their tax obligations, so we are developing and testing new educational material to better explain the rent a chair model to make it easy for them to get things right and intervening early to reduce mistakes. We are planning for this to be ready for publication on GOV.UK in the spring. We are continuing to work on updates to the Taxable Persons manual and these will be published in due course.
A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, the impacts on individuals, businesses, and civil society organisations as well as an overview of the equality impacts.
The Office for Budget Responsibility also published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances.
VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. VAT is the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £171 billion in 2024/25. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.
Changes to the VAT threshold have to be carefully balanced considering the potential benefits to small businesses, the economy as a whole and tax revenues.