First elected: 12th December 2019
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 Richard Fuller, 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.
Richard Fuller has not been granted any Urgent Questions
A Bill to reduce for a temporary period the amount of stamp duty land tax chargeable on the acquisition of residential property.
This Bill received Royal Assent on 8th February 2023 and was enacted into law.
A Bill to establish a closed season during which the killing or taking of hares is prohibited; to repeal the seasonal prohibition of the sale of hares in the Hares Preservation Act 1892; and for connected purposes.
A Bill to make provision about hare coursing offences; to increase penalties for such offences; and for connected purposes.
The Bill failed to complete its passage through Parliament before the end of the session. This means the Bill will make no further progress. A Bill to require the installation of closed circuit television in licensed Hackney carriages and private hire vehicles; to establish a minimum standard for such installations; and for connected purposes.
Richard Fuller has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The Cabinet Office is driving reform to deliver cross-departmental efficiencies, including through better use of data and technology.
I have ministerial responsibility for public sector reform, which includes driving cross-departmental work to improve efficiency in government.
Departments have agreed a 2% productivity, efficiency and savings target in the first phase of the Spending Review and have been set a stretching 5% target in the second phase. This target is to be delivered via efficiencies and savings from innovative technology-driven approaches, such as Artificial Intelligence; more effectively joining up services; and a more strategic approach to government processes, including procurement.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury has also asked each department to carry out a line-by-line review of existing day-to-day budgets to identify where spending is no longer aligned with this government’s priorities or is poor value for money.
The Office for Value for Money, led by an independent Chair, will work with departments to assess where and how to root out waste and inefficiency, including agreeing plans to deliver technical efficiencies through the Spending Review period. It will also develop recommendations for system reform, informed by lessons learned from the past, international best practice, and the views of external organisations. This will underpin a ruthless focus within government on realising benefits from every pound of public spending.
The Charity Commission responded to the Conservative Party’s Legal Officer on 15th August 2024, providing a full update on the case in question.
Data on local authority attainment at A level is published in the ‘A level and other 16 to 18 results’ statistical release. The latest data relates to the 2022/23 academic year and data for the 2023/24 academic year will be published in November 2024. For example, A level headline measures can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/13ce6b93-cebf-43e0-b4e4-08dccb80a395.
Ofqual also publish data from A level results day by county, which may be found here: https://analytics.ofqual.gov.uk/apps/Alevel/County/.
High and rising standards are at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances for every child and young person, no matter their background. The department want an education system in which all children and young people can achieve and thrive and develop the skills to seize the opportunities they need to succeed in work and life.
The quality of teaching and leaders are the biggest determinants of outcomes for learners within schools and colleges. This government has moved quickly to start driving up standards by beginning work to recruit an additional 6,500 expert teachers and have already launched an independent, expert-led curriculum and assessment review. Spanning from age 5 through to age 18, the review will look closely at the key challenges to attainment for young people, and the barriers which hold children back from the opportunities and life chances they deserve. The government is also determined to continue to strengthen school and college leadership and development opportunities for staff across the profession.
Regional improvement teams, to be launched early 2025, will help drive high and rising standards. These teams will encourage and foster improvement across the system enabling schools and trusts to support each other, learn from their peers and share best practice. To drive up standards across the country, all state-funded schools will be able to draw on these new regional improvement teams for help accessing and understanding the array of available improvement programmes proven to make a real impact.
Regional improvement teams will also work with schools to utilise new school report cards for schools to identify where they are performing well and where there are areas of improvement.
While cases of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in the UK are now rare, the confirmation of a new case in Scotland in May highlighted the continued importance of the robust BSE control measures we have in place that have greatly reduced the incidence of BSE in the UK. These controls include the Over Thirty Months (OTM) rule, which acts as a safeguard to both human and animal health. The OTM rule requires the removal at slaughter from cattle aged over thirty months old, tissues which are designated by the World Animal Health Organisation (WOAH) as Specified Risk Material (SRM), because they contain the highest level of potential BSE infectivity. The removal of SRM from cattle aged over thirty months is an internationally recognised requirement.
No assessment of the OTM rule is currently planned while we await the outcome of the recent application that England, Wales, and Scotland have made to WOAH to have our BSE risk status reduced from ‘controlled’ to ‘negligible’.
The cost of discontinuous electrification is already included in the publicised capital cost range of the project and the option of full electrification is still under consideration. However, electrification (discontinuous or full) is expected to significantly reduce operating costs for the line over its whole life.
Motor Insurers already have the option to sign up to the MyLicence service run by DVLA, where a motor insurer can check the electronic driver record of an applicant for all the relevant information. This service is predicated on direct consent from the individual seeking a policy quote.
The Department for Transport does not currently have any plans to review the performance of the Motor Insurers’ Bureau against their statutory duty.
The Government is clear that addressing the rising costs of motor insurance is a priority and will set out the next steps on this in due course.
Each National Health Service trust is a data controller under the Data Protection Act 2018, and therefore responsible for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of their records. To assist trusts in fulfilling these responsibilities, a range of guidance and assurance is in place.
For example, NHS England publishes a Code of Practice on Records Management for all NHS trusts to follow. This covers all aspects of records management, including the accuracy and reliability of medical records. Each trust is responsible for following the principles and guidance set out in the code, which may include local measures, such as a record keeping audit, or monitoring the availability of records.
In addition, in line with the Code of Practice, NHS trusts are responsible for ensuring they have appropriate policies and procedures in place to manage their records. This will usually be a standalone records management policy, with associated procedures, such as how to destroy records.
Furthermore, NHS England’s Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) requires NHS trusts to understand legal and professional obligations for records management. The DSPT involves a periodic audit in which trusts have to demonstrate they are adhering to this requirement.
Regulators also set out professional standards for health and care professionals. For example, the General Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice requires doctors to make sure that formal records of their work, including patients' records, are clear, accurate, contemporaneous, and legible.
The Care Quality Commission has powers, under section 63(2)(b) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to access records held by the service that they are inspecting, where necessary, as part of their regulatory functions.
Each National Health Service trust is a data controller under the Data Protection Act 2018, and therefore responsible for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of their records. To assist trusts in fulfilling these responsibilities, a range of guidance and assurance is in place.
For example, NHS England publishes a Code of Practice on Records Management for all NHS trusts to follow. This covers all aspects of records management, including the accuracy and reliability of medical records. Each trust is responsible for following the principles and guidance set out in the code, which may include local measures, such as a record keeping audit, or monitoring the availability of records.
In addition, in line with the Code of Practice, NHS trusts are responsible for ensuring they have appropriate policies and procedures in place to manage their records. This will usually be a standalone records management policy, with associated procedures, such as how to destroy records.
Furthermore, NHS England’s Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) requires NHS trusts to understand legal and professional obligations for records management. The DSPT involves a periodic audit in which trusts have to demonstrate they are adhering to this requirement.
Regulators also set out professional standards for health and care professionals. For example, the General Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice requires doctors to make sure that formal records of their work, including patients' records, are clear, accurate, contemporaneous, and legible.
The Care Quality Commission has powers, under section 63(2)(b) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to access records held by the service that they are inspecting, where necessary, as part of their regulatory functions.
Each National Health Service trust is a data controller under the Data Protection Act 2018, and therefore responsible for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of their records. To assist trusts in fulfilling these responsibilities, a range of guidance and assurance is in place.
For example, NHS England publishes a Code of Practice on Records Management for all NHS trusts to follow. This covers all aspects of records management, including the accuracy and reliability of medical records. Each trust is responsible for following the principles and guidance set out in the code, which may include local measures, such as a record keeping audit, or monitoring the availability of records.
In addition, in line with the Code of Practice, NHS trusts are responsible for ensuring they have appropriate policies and procedures in place to manage their records. This will usually be a standalone records management policy, with associated procedures, such as how to destroy records.
Furthermore, NHS England’s Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) requires NHS trusts to understand legal and professional obligations for records management. The DSPT involves a periodic audit in which trusts have to demonstrate they are adhering to this requirement.
Regulators also set out professional standards for health and care professionals. For example, the General Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice requires doctors to make sure that formal records of their work, including patients' records, are clear, accurate, contemporaneous, and legible.
The Care Quality Commission has powers, under section 63(2)(b) of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to access records held by the service that they are inspecting, where necessary, as part of their regulatory functions.
2 Government Procurement cards have been issued to Private Office staff.
The Office for Value for Money is working with departments to root out waste and inefficiency. It will do this by working with departments to agree stretching and realistic technical efficiency targets, underpinned by robust delivery plans.
All departments and their arm's-length bodies are in scope for this piece of work.
The Office will target areas where it can have the most impact, rather than duplicating the work of others. It is the role of the Crown Commercial Service to review framework agreements.
The Office for Value for Money is working with departments to root out waste and inefficiency. It will do this by working with departments to agree stretching and realistic technical efficiency targets, underpinned by robust delivery plans.
All departments and their arm's-length bodies are in scope for this piece of work.
The Office will target areas where it can have the most impact, rather than duplicating the work of others. It is the role of the Crown Commercial Service to review framework agreements.
This government is committed to spending taxpayers’ money efficiently. At the first phase of the Spending Review for 2025-26 it set a 2% target for efficiency, productivity and savings for all departments.
Phase 2 of the Spending Review (2026-2029) goes further with departments undertaking a line-by-line review of existing day-to-day budgets for the first time in 17 years. Departments are expected to identify a minimum of 5% savings and efficiencies against their current budgets freeing up funding to achieve the government’s priorities.
The Office for Value for Money is also advising the Chancellor and me on decisions for the Spending Review, which will include conducting an assessment of where and how to root out waste and inefficiency.
The government will set out its plans on efficiencies at the conclusion of the Spending Review.
The Government considers inheritance tax policy carefully and has due regard to several factors, including marginal inheritance tax rates.
HMRC have acknowledged the findings of the NAO report and emphasised the ongoing efforts to modernise and streamline tax administration. An HMRC Transformation Roadmap will be published in 2025. This will set out HMRC’s vision to be a digital first organisation and outline our plans to extend digital services and tools to provide better customer service for customers, including small businesses, and agents.
Figures showing the net Exchequer balancing payments for unfunded Public Service Pension Schemes (PSPS), along with details on contribution income and scheme expenditure, are regularly published as part of the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), including outturn figures for the previous fiscal year. For example, the March 2022 EFO includes Exchequer balancing figures for each major PSPS for 2020-21 in the table labelled “March 2022 Economic and fiscal outlook – supplementary fiscal tables: expenditure”: Economic and fiscal outlook - March 2022 - Office for Budget Responsibility The latest publication is included in the October 2024 EFO.
2021-22 is the latest available year for outturn statistics on APR and BPR claims. Further details around the timing of data releases for statistics around Inheritance Tax liabilities can be found in the ‘timeliness and punctuality’ section of the statistics’ Background Quality Report at:
The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.
It is expected that up to around 2,000 estates will be affected by the changes to APR and BPR. Up to around 520 of these are expected to relate to claims for APR (including those that also claim for BPR), and this number falls to around 430 when claims that include AIM shares are excluded. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) each year are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.
2021-22 is the latest available year for outturn statistics on APR and BPR claims. Further details around the timing of data releases for statistics around Inheritance Tax liabilities can be found in the ‘timeliness and punctuality’ section of the statistics’ Background Quality Report at:
The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.
It is expected that up to around 2,000 estates will be affected by the changes to APR and BPR. Up to around 520 of these are expected to relate to claims for APR (including those that also claim for BPR), and this number falls to around 430 when claims that include AIM shares are excluded. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) each year are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.
The allowance will be £1 million from 6 April 2026. Decisions about future increases will be taken in the same way as for other inheritance tax reliefs.
The Government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, ensuring every child has access to high-quality education, which is why we have made the tough decision to end tax breaks for private schools. This will raise revenue for essential public services, including investing in the state education system.
The Prime Minister has been clear that if a child has an Education, Health and Care Plan that requires them to attend a private school because their needs cannot be met in the state sector, they will not feel an impact from VAT being charged on fees. The Chancellor has also been clear that changes will not come into force until 2025.
Further details on this policy will be set out in due course. The Government engages with a wide range of stakeholders with an interest in Government policy, including VAT, as part of the policy development and implementation process as a matter of course.