Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to betting and gaming levies on illegal gambling operations.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The issue of illegal gambling is a concern for this Government. We are committed to working closely with the Gambling Commission to ensure that illegal gambling, in all its forms, is addressed.
As part of the 2025 Budget, the Treasury announced that the Gambling Commission will receive an additional £26 million across three years to increase investment, resources and capacity to tackle the illegal market. The government has also launched the Illegal Gambling Taskforce which brings together a wide range of stakeholders to take action against the illegal market.
We will continue to engage with the sector and the Gambling Commission to understand any impacts of duty changes.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential impact of the nationality of foreign office civil servants on government policy.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All civil servants are appointed on merit and are required under the Civil Service Code to provide impartial, objective advice to Ministers.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an estimate of the number of small boat migrants that have re-entered the UK in 2026 that have previously been removed from the country.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office will publish statistics on returns from the UK up to March 2026 on 21 May 2026. Official statistics published by the Home Office are kept under review in line with the code of practice for statistics, taking into account several factors including user needs, the resources required to compile the statistics, as well as quality and availability of data.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to Inheritance Tax on private pension provision.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Most unused pension funds and death benefits payable from a pension will form part of a person’s estate for inheritance tax purposes from 6 April 2027. This removes distortions resulting from changes that have been made to pensions tax policy over the last decade, which have led to some pensions being openly used and marketed as a tax planning vehicle to transfer wealth, rather than as a way to fund retirement. These reforms also remove inconsistencies in the inheritance tax treatment of different types of pensions
The Government will continue to incentivise pension savings for their intended purpose of funding retirement, with ongoing tax reliefs on both contributions into pensions and on the growth of funds held within a pension scheme. Pensions continue to benefit from very significant tax benefits, with gross income tax and National Insurance contributions relief costing £78.2 billion in 2023-24. It is therefore crucial to ensure that tax reliefs on pensions are being used for their intended purpose – to encourage saving for retirement and later life – rather than for passing on wealth free of inheritance tax
Estates will continue to benefit from the normal nil-rate bands, reliefs, and exemptions available. For example, the nil-rate bands mean an estate can pass on up to £1 million with no inheritance tax liability and the general rules mean any transfers, including the payment of death benefits, to a spouse or civil partner are fully exempt from inheritance tax. More than 90 per cent of UK estates will continue to have no inheritance tax liability in 2030-31 following these changes and the reforms will only affect a minority of those with inheritable pension wealth.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the accessibility of public consultations for local government reorganisation for people without access to the internet.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government is keen that all interested parties, including local residents, can have their say on the future of local government in their area. Members of the public who wish to engage can submit responses online or in writing by email or post, in line with the consultation arrangements. There are no plans to carry out a separate assessment of consultation accessibility.
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, what work is being done to investigate the use of body mass index thresholds as a means of determining eligibility for joint replacement surgery.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Rushcliffe on 20 November 2025 to Question 89688.
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, how are musculoskeletal conditions being prioritised within the neighbourhood health framework.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Neighbourhood Health Framework is designed to provide clarity and consistency to integrated care boards (ICBs), local authorities, and their partners, in developing and scaling neighbourhood health.
The framework outlines the national minimum aims and objectives of Neighbourhood Health Services. This includes improving health outcomes with specific focus on high-priority cohorts, including people with frailty. Whilst frailty and musculoskeletal overlap, we recognise that many people with conditions affecting their joints, bones, and muscles across their life course are not frail.
It is important that reforms are locally led, as ICBs and local authorities are best placed to design services that make sense for their local populations. Local systems can choose to go further than the minimum aims set out in the framework, and this could include musculoskeletal services.
We know there are areas where we need to go further. Delivering a Neighbourhood Health Service will be an incremental process as local understanding develops and national reforms progress.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil service employees were on performance management plans in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Data on how many civil servants have a performance management plan in place is not captured centrally.
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an internal (a) estimate and (b) similar type of projection for the net fiscal impact of immigrants in the UK over their lifetimes since July 2024.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Migration Advisory Committee has produced an assessment of the lifetime fiscal impact of migrants in the UK, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6938108633c7ace9c4a41e42/ The_Fiscal_Impact_of_Immigration_Final__1_.pdf
Further analysis of those on a Family visa is included in the 2025 Annual Report: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migration-advisory-committee-annual-report-2025/migration-advisory-committee-mac-annual-report-2025-accessible#chapter-1-fiscal-analysis-of-the-family-visa
Asked by: Peter Bedford (Conservative - Mid Leicestershire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what change there has been in the number of hotels used to accommodate asylum seekers since 4 July 2024 for which the latest data is available.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
Exiting all asylum hotels as soon as possible is one of the Government’s top priorities and must be executed through a controlled, managed and orderly plan of work. This plan involves reducing inflow, speeding up caseworking, maximising utilisation of our estate, continuing to increase returns and exploring the use of large sites as suitable alternative accommodation.
From a high of over 400 asylum hotels in summer 2023 at a cost of nearly £9 million a day. As of 4 January 2026, there are 197 hotels in use. We will close every asylum hotel as soon as possible and before the end of this Parliament.