Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on the use of MOD Garats Hay to house asylum seekers.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
As part of our commitment to close all asylum hotels, we are working across government to consider a range of more appropriate sites including ex-military sites to reduce the impact on communities.
The Prime Minister has instructed the Home Office and Ministry of Defence to accelerate work on identifying appropriate sites, with results expected in the coming weeks and months.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of abolishing business rates for pubs.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
In April 2026, the Government will introduce permanently lower business rates multipliers for retail, hospitality, and leisure properties with ratable values below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure that eligible hospitality businesses, including pubs, benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
Ahead of the new multipliers being introduced, the Government prevented RHL business rates relief from ending in April 2025, extending it for one year at 40 per cent up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business.
Business rates are a vital source of Local Government funding and support critical local services, including children's and adult social care. As such, the Government has no plans to abolish business rates for pubs.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will review the covid-19 vaccination eligibility criteria for (a) frontline workers and (b) carers to ensure that (i) those who work in high-risk environments, (ii) those who provide unpaid care, (ii) carers aged 70 and over, (iv) those who have previously had contact with infectious diseases and (v) those in who cannot afford to access private vaccination services are not excluded from receiving the vaccine.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the impact of pandemic-related delays on asylum seekers’ eligibility for Indefinite Leave to Remain; and whether transitional provisions will be introduced to ensure that people affected by administrative delays between 2019 and 2022 are not disadvantaged under proposed changes to immigration legislation.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
We have a proud history of providing protection to those who need it, for as long as it is needed, in accordance with our obligations under the Refugee Convention.
Settlement applications are determined based on length of residence following a grant of permission to stay, rather than date of initial application.
We will be holding a public consultation on the new settlement rules later this year.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the expiry of tariff free quotas under the former UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement on (a) levels of investment in the UK and (b) economic growth.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Canada is a close ally and valued partner of the UK, and the UK-Canada Trade (TCA) Continuity Agreement underpinned £28 billion worth of bilateral trade in 2024.
Several of the TCA’s provisions, as negotiated by the previous government, were time limited and expired in 2024 .
We continue to work with the Canadian Government to resolve this, including at the WTO and through the new UK-Canada Economic and Trade Working Group.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions her Department has had with Capita on resolutions for people impacted by (a) delayed or incorrect pension payments under the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and (b) delayed or incorrect pension valuations under the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department monitors Capita very closely to ensure that Teachers’ Pension Scheme members that are impacted by delayed or incorrect valuations and payments are resolved as quickly as possible.
This includes payments relating to the McCloud remedy, which affects members who choose final salary or career average benefits for the remedy period (April 2015–March 2022). This also includes focus on the resolution of any unresolved cash equivalent transfer value (CETV) cases. To improve processing times of delayed CETV payments, the department is funding IT upgrades and continually working with Capita to identify other opportunities, including additional staffing resources, to ensure the Teachers’ Pension Scheme is delivered to the highest possible standard.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to monitor (a) noise and (b) air pollution arising from ongoing (i) housing (ii) rail and (iii) motorway construction projects in Mid Leicestershire constituency; and what assessment she has made of the potential impacts of such projects on public health in Mid Leicestershire constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Local authorities are responsible for monitoring air quality in their areas and reporting annually. Planning authorities require developers of housing, rail, and motorway projects to assess and mitigate air pollution, including dust and emissions, during construction. Similarly, noise impacts must be considered under the planning system, with strong protections in place to minimise adverse effects on health and quality of life. The Planning Practice Guidance and National Planning Policy Framework set out how noise should be addressed in both plan-making and decision-making. Under the Control of Pollution Act, local authorities must ensure that the best practicable means are used to minimise noise during construction.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to help businesses mitigate increases in levels of food inflation.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government prioritises sound public finances, which are essential to economic and financial stability, and delivering economic growth. We are living within our means, reducing our levels of borrowing in the years ahead and supporting the Bank of England to get inflation down. We have already made progress towards this, with five interest rate cuts delivered this since the election.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions his Department has had with Motability on the (a) adequacy of its protections for disabled consumers in cases when vehicles provided under that scheme exhibit mechanical faults and (b) effectiveness of recourse available when Motability customers cannot use their vehicles due to unresolved safety concerns.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP is responsible for the disability benefits which passport people to the Motability scheme. Claimants who receive the higher rate mobility component for Disability Living Allowance (DLA), the enhanced rate of the mobility component for Personal Independence Payment, Armed Forces Independence Payment or War Pensioners Mobility Supplement can exchange part or all of their mobility component for a leased car, wheelchair or powered chair/scooter through the Motability Scheme. The Department directly transfers the mobility allowance to Motability on behalf of the eligible claimant once they elect to join the Scheme.
Motability Foundation is independent of government and regulated by the Charity Commission so is wholly responsible for the terms and the administration of the Scheme.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the British Retail Consortium's analysis entitled 400 of Britain's largest shops at risk, published on 12 September 2025, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of those findings.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
From April 2026, the Government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values below £500,000. This permanent tax cut will ensure that eligible RHL properties benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so the Government is introducing a higher rate on the most valuable properties in 2026/27 - those with RVs of £500,000 and above.
The Government recognises that, ahead of the new multipliers being introduced, RHL businesses need support in 2025-26. So, the Government has prevented RHL relief from ending 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.
The final design, including the rates, for the new business rates multipliers will be announced at Budget 2025, so that the revaluation outcomes and broader economic and fiscal context can be factored into decision-making. When the new multipliers are set, HM Treasury intends to publish analysis of the effects of the new multiplier arrangements.