Paul Holmes

No representations have been received by the Church Commissioners regarding the occupancy of Wolvesey, the Bishop’s Palace at Winchester.

Work is being carried out to the building, as part of its regular maintenance review. Temporary accommodation for the Bishop and his family has been located nearby for the duration of the work.

It is a long-standing convention that the fact that the Law Officers have advised or have not advised and the content of their advice must not be disclosed outside Government without their authority. This is known as the Law Officers’ Convention, is provided for in paragraph 21.27 of Erskine May, and applies to your question.

The Prime Minister raised a range of domestic and foreign issues in his meeting with President Xi at the G20 on 18 November. A read-out of this meeting is available on the GOV.UK website.

Ministerial meetings with external organisations will be published in the usual way on gov.uk as part of the government’s transparency agenda.

As set out by the Minister without Portfolio, the updated Ministerial Code will be published in due course. It will include details of a new Register of Ministers' Gifts and Hospitality, which will bring the publication of ministerial transparency data more closely into line with the parliamentary regime for gifts and hospitality.

As was the practice under the previous Administration, information about official ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals will be published as part of the Cabinet Office transparency returns and made available on the GOV.UK website.

Ministerial Code guidance on hospitality applies to ministers.

The Code of Conduct for Special Advisers sets out the requirements for Special Advisers in respect of hospitality. .

The government is not neutral about where things are made. We want to see jobs created and supply chains developed here in the UK.

As part of the growth and clean energy superpower missions, the Government is committed to growing the UK’s supply chains and supporting good jobs throughout the country. The Clean Industry Bonus aims to drive investment into sustainable supply chains, particularly in the UK’s most disadvantaged communities. In addition, the Government has set out a package of support for offshore wind supply chains worth up to £1 billion, including £300 million from Great British Energy to provide upfront public investment, £400 million from The Crown Estate, to support new infrastructure, including ports, manufacturing, and research and testing facilities, and £300 million being developed by the offshore wind industry, to deliver new investments into supply chains such as advanced turbines technologies and foundations.

The Government is committed to implementing all remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Act 2022 as soon as possible. These measures will help deliver the benefits of advanced digital connectivity.

Most provisions have been implemented. Those remaining are complex and technical. We must ensure they are implemented carefully, to create certainty and avoid post-implementation delays. The Department has policy and legal resources dedicated to deliver these. A technical consultation on draft regulations to implement sections 61 to 64, including transitional provisions, is open until 2 July.

The Government is committed to implementing all remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Act 2022 as soon as possible. These measures will help deliver the benefits of advanced digital connectivity.

Most provisions have been implemented. Those remaining are complex and technical. We must ensure they are implemented carefully, to create certainty and avoid post-implementation delays. The Department has policy and legal resources dedicated to deliver these. A technical consultation on draft regulations to implement sections 61 to 64, including transitional provisions, is open until 2 July.

Legal cases relating to telecommunications installations can commence in either the County Court or the Lands Tribunal. The Department does not have comprehensive data, but is aware of an increase in applications to the courts relating to telecommunications infrastructure installation since 2017. Applications can cover a range of different situations. We do not know how many relate specifically to 5G masts. Most applications do not proceed to a full hearing, but are resolved consensually.

Sections 58,59 and 61 – 64 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 have some limited retrospective effects. Other provisions are not considered retrospective.

The government currently has no plans to amend regulations to allow for the recognition of non-UK Air Traffic Controller licences.

The government has no plans to amend regulations to allow for the conversion of military Air Traffic Controller licences to civil Air Traffic Controller licences.

The Department has not engaged with their Australian counterparts on negotiating a new reciprocal social security agreement.

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will be the biggest public health intervention in a generation, tackling the harms of smoking and paving the way for a smoke-free United Kingdom. Smoking costs the economy and wider society £21.8 billion a year. This includes an annual £18.3 billion loss to productivity, through smoking related lost earnings, unemployment, and early death, along with £3.1 billion of costs to the National Health Service and social care. This exceeds the £8.8 billion received in tobacco duties in 2023/24.

Alongside the bill, we will publish an impact assessment which will include an estimate for the impact on tobacco duty receipts. HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs have consulted on proposals for a Vaping Products Duty. This would seek to discourage non-smokers and young people from taking up vaping and to raise revenue. HM Treasury and HM Revenue and Customs are reviewing the responses to this consultation and will respond in due course.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers by my hon. Friend, the Minister without Portfolio, during the Urgent Question, Reporting Ministerial Gifts and Hospitality, on 14 October 2024, Official Report, Columns 594-602.

Since 1 January 2021 overseas sellers, or online marketplaces where they facilitate the sale, are required to be registered and account for VAT for supplies of low value imports of £135 or less. Where an overseas seller sells goods located in the UK at the point of sale via an online marketplace, the online marketplace is liable for the VAT for goods of any value.

The changes were introduced to ensure a level playing field for UK high street and online retailers, ensure the continued flow of goods at the border and improve compliance.

Certified analysis by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimates the changes will raise £1.8 billion per annum by 2026-27.

The Government keeps all taxes under review as part of the policy making process.

Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief is a single year policy intervention. As such, the baseline scorecard assumption for 2025-26 was for RHL relief to not be extended.

At Autumn Budget, the Government announced that from 2026-27, it intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for RHL properties, including those on the high street. To support this transition, the Government has prevented RHL relief from ending in April 2025 by extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business, and frozen the small business multiplier. This package is worth more than £1.6 billion in 2025-26.

As set out at Budget, the government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high-street retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties from 2026-27. However, this plan to support the high street must be sustainable. That is why we intend to apply a higher rate from 2026-27 on the most valuable properties - those with a Rateable Value of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but include the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants.

The Government will confirm the rates for the new multipliers at Budget 2025, taking account of the outcomes of the 2026 revaluation as well as the broader economic and fiscal context. As set out at Budget, the Government intends for the lower multipliers to be funded by the new higher multiplier.

In 2025-26, Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief will provide RHL properties 40% relief up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business and the small business multiplier will be frozen at 49.9p.

This is a package worth over £1.6 billion, aimed at supporting the most vulnerable businesses. It will ensure that over 250,000 RHL properties receive the full 40% support, and in total, government support will protect over a million properties from inflationary increases.

The rates for new multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the government can factor into its decision-making the next revaluation outcomes and the broader economic and fiscal context.

The Residential Property Developer Tax (RPDT) is a 4% tax on the most profitable businesses undertaking UK residential property development to help pay for building safety remediation. The tax applies to developers' profits exceeding an annual allowance of £25 million for an accounting period.

The tax forms part of the government’s broader programme of work on building safety, which also includes significant capital funding (around £5.1bn) to remediate unsafe cladding on high-risk buildings.

According to HMRC’s latest Corporation Tax statistics, the tax raised £157 million in 2022-23 and £103 million in 2023-24.

The Home Office published a definition of extremism in March 2024, under the previous government. There are no current plans to update this definition.

Further information can be found on gov.uk:

New definition of extremism (2024) - GOV.UK

Under this definition, extremism is the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance, that aims to:

1. negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others; or
2. undermine, overturn or replace the UK’s system of liberal parliamentary democracy and democratic rights; or
3. intentionally create a permissive environment for others to achieve the results in (1) or (2).

The Home Secretary is responsible within Cabinet and accountable to Parliament for the protective security of members of the Royal Family and public figures at particular risk.

The Home Secretary has delegated responsibility to the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (RAVEC).

The government’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate. It is our long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on protective security arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.

Decisions on security arrangements are independent operational decisions for the police.

The safety of the British public is the first priority of this Government. We make no apologies for ensuring citizens are protected.

It is entirely right that for major events in the capital, the Government has a dialogue with the Metropolitan Police and Mayor to discuss planning to ensure events happen safely. Operational decisions on security arrangements are made by the police, independent of politicians.

It is long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on security arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.

The safety of the British public is the first priority of this Government. We make no apologies for ensuring citizens are protected.

It is entirely right that for major events in the capital, the Government has a dialogue with the Metropolitan Police and Mayor to discuss planning to ensure events happen safely. Operational decisions on security arrangements are made by the police, independent of politicians.

It is long-standing policy not to provide detailed information on security arrangements, as doing so could compromise their integrity and affect individuals’ security.

In total since January 2024, The Department can identify 48 ‘drone’ related contracts valuing £3.6 billion that have been active within the Ministry of Defence.

Nine of these are marked as having a primary supplier address outside the UK.

24 of these contracts were competitively tendered, 23 were single source tenders and one unknown.

In total since January 2024, The Department can identify 48 ‘drone’ related contracts valuing £3.6 billion that have been active within the Ministry of Defence.

Nine of these are marked as having a primary supplier address outside the UK.

24 of these contracts were competitively tendered, 23 were single source tenders and one unknown.

Defence routinely engages with drone component suppliers to iterate and spiral develop capability in close cooperation with allies.

One of the key mechanisms to ensure that Defence is up to date with the latest developments in drone technology and associated tactics is through our support to Ukraine, where drone capabilities are developed and exploited in cooperation with drone component suppliers. As outlined in the Strategic Defence Review, Defence will continue to invest in drone technology to advance our capabilities in tandem with UK industry.

The government is committed to supporting investment in high-quality, reliable digital connectivity so that communities can benefit from faster economic growth and greater social inclusion.

Chapter 10 of the National Planning Policy Framework sets out the government’s current policy on supporting high quality communications infrastructure and the latest national planning policy on how telecommunications and mobile network infrastructure should be considered.

In addition, the Code of Practice for Wireless Network Development in England (April 2022) sets out the considerations that operators should follow when deploying infrastructure, including how infrastructure should be sited.

The government is committed to supporting investment in high-quality, reliable digital connectivity so that communities can benefit from faster economic growth and greater social inclusion.

We continue to keep permitted development rights under review.

The government is committed to supporting investment in high-quality, reliable digital connectivity so that communities can benefit from faster economic growth and greater social inclusion.

Chapter 10 of the National Planning Policy Framework sets out the government’s current policy on supporting high quality communications infrastructure and the latest national planning policy on how telecommunications and mobile network infrastructure should be considered.

In addition, the Code of Practice for Wireless Network Development in England (April 2022) sets out the considerations that operators should follow when deploying infrastructure, including how infrastructure should be sited.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 41927 on 1 April 2025.

The government’s ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament applies to England only.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) recently forecast approximately 1.3 million cumulative net additions to housing stock between 2025-26 to 2029-30 as a result solely of the impact of the changes the government made to the National Planning Policy Framework on 12 December 2024. This forecast applies to the UK as a whole. The OBR does not provide a breakdown between England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.