Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the taxation of employer-provided private medical insurance as a benefit in kind on access to workplace health insurance for lower-paid employees.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
Benefits in kind form part of an employee's overall remuneration and are generally subject to tax in the same way as cash earnings. This supports fairness between employees receiving remuneration in different forms.
The tax system does, however, provide targeted exemptions for certain employer-funded health and occupational health support, including annual health screenings, certain welfare counselling services and, subject to conditions, recommended medical treatment to help an employee return to work.
The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events, and does not routinely comment on proposals.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has assessed the potential impact of exempting employer-provided private medical insurance from income tax and National Insurance contributions on the economy.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
Benefits in kind form part of an employee's overall remuneration and are generally subject to tax in the same way as cash earnings. This supports fairness between employees receiving remuneration in different forms.
The tax system does, however, provide targeted exemptions for certain employer-funded health and occupational health support, including annual health screenings, certain welfare counselling services and, subject to conditions, recommended medical treatment to help an employee return to work.
The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events, and does not routinely comment on proposals.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the role of private-equity-owned companies in the provision of NHS services through outsourcing and insourcing arrangements; and whether she plans to introduce any additional transparency or oversight requirements for such providers.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No recent assessment has been made.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Bambi Buckets the RAF possesses for wildfire fighting and where current stock is located.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The Ministry of Defence currently holds 12 Bambi buckets for helicopter-based aerial firefighting operations. The equipment is currently held in the UK and Cyprus.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Autumn Budget 2026 and the Defence Investment Plan, what capital reallocation she has agreed for her Department for each year of the spending review period, and whether projects have been cancelled as a result.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
DESNZ is reprioritising its budget to contribute towards the Defence Investment Plan. The government is prioritising delivery of mature carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) and hydrogen projects at the Teesside, Merseyside and North Wales clusters, maintaining grant funding for the Viking cluster while exploring progressing projects in development through private investment and government loan or equity investments, subject to approval. This will save £200 million capital grant from CCUS and £500 million from hydrogen. The government will also save £1 billion capital grant from the Warm Homes Plan (WHP). The government remains committed to heat pump deployment and will maintain the Boiler Upgrade Scheme at current funding levels of £400 million in 2027-28 and rising broadly in line with inflation thereafter. The government has also launched the Warm Homes Loan Scheme to support heat pump and clean technology uptake. The majority of WHP funding for low-income households and social housing, delivered by mayors and councils, is protected. After a £200-million saving, Great British Energy (GBE) and GBE-N retain £8.3 billion across the spending review period.
The government is actively looking at how loan or equity investments can support the continued development of future CCUS and hydrogen projects this Parliament, including for the Acorn Cluster, while ensuring a return on any investment for taxpayers. Subject to value for money and affordability, up to £300 million may be available for strategically important hydrogen projects. Projects in the Second Hydrogen Allocation Round will also shortly be progressed to the Invite to Offer stage, with funding to be considered as part of the next spending review.
Changes to the Department's budgets will be reflected in relevant Supplementary and Main Estimates in the usual way.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate she has made of the number of households that will no longer receive (a) insulation and (b) heat pump installations as a result of the reduction in funding for the Warm Homes Plan.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our Warm Homes Plan will continue to upgrade homes and drive down bills. We remain committed to upgrading up to 5 million homes by 2030 using a range of measures to do so, including Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards, our new Warm Home Loans Scheme and the Future Homes Standard.
We remain committed to electrification, and to the target of 450,000 heat pump installations per year by 2030. We will maintain the Boiler Upgrade Scheme funding at current funding levels in 2027-28, rising broadly in line with expected inflation,
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether her Department has made an assessment on the potential impact of a reduction in funding for the Warm Homes Plan on the rate of fuel poverty.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government remains committed to tackling fuel poverty and to our Fuel Poverty Strategy, which sets out a plan to lift up to one million households out of fuel poverty by 2030.
Following the Budget, we have made difficult choices on the Warm Homes Plan while protecting funding for low-income households and social housing.
Both the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund and Warm Homes: Local Grant have retained their capital funding levels committed in the Autumn 2024 Autumn Statement, with grant spend running until April 2028, noting the WH:SHF scheme received additional grant funding for 2026/2027. We will also allocate an extra £335m from within the WHP budget in 2027-28 to Warm Homes Schemes delivered by mayors, councils and social landlords across the country.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the impact of reductions in primary care services on patients' ability to access NHS treatment in their local area; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that services previously provided in general practice remain accessible free at the point of use.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the extensive discussion of these issues at the last session of departmental oral questions on 20 October. She may also find useful information in relation to GP services in her constituency at the dashboard available on the House of Commons library website at the following link:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-10824/
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of UK stock of Bambi Buckets for wildfire fighting capability.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Aerial firefighting assets are currently provided through private contractors on a call-when-needed basis, with arrangements made locally by fire and rescue services according to operational requirements. The Department therefore does not hold a central estimate of the number of Bambi Buckets available for wildfire response.
Over the past 12 months, the Department has engaged with Defra and the Ministry of Defence at official level on wildfire preparedness and response, including through the Wildfire Summit on 23 October. The Government announced at the Wildfire Summit that it will establish a nationally coordinated aerial firefighting capability. This will provide a coordinated mechanism for deploying aviation assets during major wildfire incidents, supporting fire and rescue services to contain their spread, reduce their duration and protect communities. We are continuing to work with the Ministry of Defence, the National Fire Chiefs Council and other partners on the operational detail.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her department has held with (a) the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and (b) the Ministry of Defence on the allocation of Bambi Buckets and other wildfire fighting measures in the past 12 months.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Aerial firefighting assets are currently provided through private contractors on a call-when-needed basis, with arrangements made locally by fire and rescue services according to operational requirements. The Department therefore does not hold a central estimate of the number of Bambi Buckets available for wildfire response.
Over the past 12 months, the Department has engaged with Defra and the Ministry of Defence at official level on wildfire preparedness and response, including through the Wildfire Summit on 23 October. The Government announced at the Wildfire Summit that it will establish a nationally coordinated aerial firefighting capability. This will provide a coordinated mechanism for deploying aviation assets during major wildfire incidents, supporting fire and rescue services to contain their spread, reduce their duration and protect communities. We are continuing to work with the Ministry of Defence, the National Fire Chiefs Council and other partners on the operational detail.