Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Answer of 7 October 2024 to Question HL1058 on Civil Service: Equality, whether the exemptions process applies to arm's length bodies.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Yes. As paragraph 4 of the Civil Service Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Expenditure Guidance makes clear, the same exemptions process applies to Civil Service arm’s-length bodies, except the ALB’s Principal Accounting Officer, in consultation with the Board, must authorise the expenditure.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his Department has issued guidance on the minimum length of time since leaving government a previous (a) Minister and (b) senior official can be appointed as (i) an Independent Panel Member and (ii) a Senior Independent Panel Member on a public appointments Advisory Assessment Panel.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office has not issued guidance on the composition of Advisory Assessment Panels for public appointments that is specifically in relation to ex-ministers and ex-senior officials becoming panel members.

However, the Cabinet Office publishes the Governance Code on Public Appointments, which sets out general guidance on Advisory Assessment Panels, including requirements around the independence and political activity of panel members.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what (a) internal and (b) external guidance his Department has produced for Departments on whether Freedom of Information Act requests requesting information on senior civil servants should be disclosed.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Cabinet Office has not issued either internal or external guidance on whether Freedom of Information Act requests requesting information on senior civil servants should be disclosed. All requests are considered on their own merits in all circumstances.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will reimburse police forces with the cost of proposed increases to employer national insurance contributions.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government will fully compensate police forces for the impact of the changes to National Insurance Employer contributions.

Details on the allocation of this funding will be confirmed at the provisional police settlement in mid-December.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the compliance of the announcement of the new debt rules to the media first with section 9.1 of the Ministerial code.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The announcement on the changes made to the debt fiscal rules was made in the Budget statement on 30th October.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has made an assessment of the value for money of its contract with Fujitsu Services Ltd for the GDS Digital Service Platforms One Login project prior to agreeing that contract in July 2024.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The GOV.UK One Login programme is subject to regular scrutiny and reporting to assess and ensure project objectives have been met, including through the Government Major Projects Portfolio. The Infrastructure and Projects Authority has provided positive reviews of GOV.UK One Login for the last three years. The programme is also working with the Evaluation Task Force to publish a comprehensive evaluation plan which will assess the programme’s key objectives.

The GOV.UK One Login programme has not had a contract with Fujitsu Services Ltd.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 October 2024 to Question 5742 on Civil Servants, whether his Department has a policy on recruitment to the civil service in advance of the spending review.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government is committed to delivering value for money for the taxpayer. In the Budget, the Chancellor announced a 2% productivity, efficiency, and savings target for all government departments. Decisions on the future size of the Civil Service will form a part of the comprehensive Spending Review.

The Government is committed to attracting, retaining and developing the very best talent to create a more efficient and effective civil service that is equipped to deliver the Government’s missions for the UK.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that civil servants can express their lawful beliefs on (a) biological sex and (b) other issues.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Civil servants can express their lawful beliefs, as long as how they do so is consistent with the Civil Service Code, which outlines the standards of behaviour all civil servants are expected to uphold.

Question to the Leader of the House:

To ask the Leader of the House, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the performance of the Government in providing answers to (a) correspondence and (b) written parliamentary questions since 4 July 2024.

Answered by Lucy Powell - Lord President of the Council and Leader of the House of Commons

Parliament has a right to hold Ministers to account. We recognise there is room for improvement upon the record of the previous government, and we are committed to doing things differently. As Leader of the House, I have written to all members of Cabinet to remind Ministers of their responsibilities to provide helpful and timely responses to Members' PQs and correspondence.

This Government has already taken steps to strengthen its approach to correspondence, with a Ministerial champion for correspondence in each department. Data on each Government department's correspondence performance in 2024 will be published on GOV.UK in the usual way (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/data-on-responses-to-correspondence-from-mps-and-peers).

As a member of the Procedure Committee, the hon. Member will be aware that the Committee monitors individual department’s PQ performance and that it recently launched an inquiry into performance in the 2023–24 Session. I look forward to working with the Committee on this and other matters.

I would encourage hon. Members to raise any specific issues they may have with myself and my office.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much funding his Department planned to provide to drainage boards [for the 2024-25 financial year] on (a) 1 July 2024 and (b) 20 November 2024.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Internal drainage boards (IDBs) are independent statutory public bodies that are locally funded. As a matter of course they are not funded by the Government but can apply for government grants to deliver specific outcomes. For example, funding under the government’s flood investment programme to deliver flood risk defences.

Defra is providing a one-off £75 million IDB Fund, to accelerate IDBs’ recovery from the winter 2023-24 storms and to provide opportunities to modernise and upgrade assets. This funding will support greater resilience for farmers and rural communities in the long term.

Under the previous Government, Defra planned to provide all the IDB Fund grants in 2024-25 and the IDBs would have to deliver their projects by 31 March 2025. The Government took the decision to extend the IDB Fund into 2025-26.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2024 to Question 8436 on Government Departments: Disclosure of Information, if he will make it his policy that all transparency publications currently published quarterly will be published monthly.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government publishes a wide range of transparency data. Reporting requirements remain in place, with data regularly being published on GOV.UK. The Cabinet Office will publish, monthly, a Register of Ministers’ Gifts and Hospitality in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy that (a) senior official and (b) special adviser transparency returns are published as frequently as those of Ministers.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government publishes a wide range of transparency data. Reporting requirements remain in place, with data regularly being published on GOV.UK. The Cabinet Office will publish, monthly, a Register of Ministers’ Gifts and Hospitality in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how long after the end of the relevant month ministerial (a) gift and (b) hospitality data will be published.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government will publish, monthly, a register of ministers’ gifts and hospitality. Work on the new register is progressing and further details will be published in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to start monthly reporting of ministerial (a) gifts and (b) hospitality.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Work on the new register is progressing and further details will be published in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 9 October 2024 to Question 5574 on Lord Alli, whether any political receptions held in Downing Street have been billed through the Cabinet Office and recharged to the governing party since 5 July 2024.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Rt Hon Member to my answer of 09 October 2024, Official Report, PQ 5574.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing VAT from services provided by (a) psychotherapists and (b) counsellors.

Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Many services provided directly or supervised by registered health professionals are exempt from VAT, meaning no VAT is charged to the final consumer. However, this relief does not apply to professionals who do not have statutory registers.

The UK’s approach of linking exemption to statutory registration is considered to be a clear and objective criterion for defining ‘health professionals’ for VAT purposes. We have no plans to make changes here.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, if she will hold discussions with the (a) Equality and Human Rights Commission and (b) the Cabinet Office on the potential merits of issuing guidance to political parties on whether they are able to discriminate on the basis of (i) political and (ii) philosophical belief.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

It is for the Equality and Human Rights Commission to determine what guidance it issues to political parties. Equalities Ministers will have periodic discussions with their Cabinet Office colleagues on matters of mutual policy interest. 'Belief’ is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, meaning any religious or philosophical belief, rather than political opinion. As such, the issue of guidance on political belief discrimination that purportedly related to the Equality Act’s protected characteristics would be misleading.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2024 to Question 15241, if he will make an estimate of the number of veterans who are (a) eligible for Pension Credit and (b) have an income of less than £12,500 a year.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The information is not held in the format requested. We currently do not have the data to allow us to make such estimates.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 7 October 2024 to Question 5667 on Small Business: Annual Report, what assessment has been made by the Office for Equality and Opportunity of the impact of the Financial Conduct Authority’s proposals on mandatory diversity reporting for firms working in financial services on non-financial reporting requirements.

Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

This Question has been passed to HM Treasury, as the department responsible for financial services regulation.

The Financial Conduct Authority is a non-governmental body which is independent from the government. The government does not make assessments of its consultations.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding her Department plans to provide for level seven apprenticeships in each of the next three financial years; and on what categories of apprenticeship this funding will be spent.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Spending on apprenticeships, including the categories of apprenticeship, is demand led as apprenticeships are a job with training and therefore employers and their needs determine which opportunities are available to learners.

The government will be asking more employers to step forward and fund level 7 apprenticeships themselves, outside of the levy-funded growth and skills offer. This will enable better targeting of funding and help more people to get on at the start of their working lives instead of subsidising qualifications for those already established in their careers. The department will set out more detail in the new year.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what progress the Mission Delivery Boards have made.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The government has already made significant progress on its missions since July; fixing the foundations of the country and kicking off the first steps to deliver real change. This has included stabilising the economy, the launch of Great British Energy, investing an extra £22bn to build an NHS fit for the future, establishing a new Border Security Command that will smash the gangs and tackle small boat crossings, and an additional £1.8bn to continue the expansion of government-funded childcare and help more parents stay in and return to work.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government’s Mission Boards have quantifiable targets.

Answered by Ellie Reeves - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The five Missions are focused on delivering outcomes that offer real and tangible benefits to citizens: higher living standards, protection for energy billpayers with secure home-grown energy, safer streets, longer healthier lives, and a renewed confidence that the future will be better for our children.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to collate a national register of pupils with (a) parents and (b) primary carers in prison.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The department knows growing up with a parent or primary carer in prison can have a devastating impact on a child’s life chances. The government has a key mission to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child, which is why the department has committed to identifying children of prisoners and ensuring they get the support they need to thrive.

The department acknowledges the complexities of this issue and the wide range of family circumstances there may be. We must consider the implications the imprisonment of a child’s primary carer has on the child, regardless of whether they have legal responsibility for the child and/or are a blood relative. This is why the Better Outcomes through Linked Data (BOLD) programme report, published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in July this year, used multiple data sources to capture the breadth of parental relationships.

The MoJ is leading on the work to better identify children with a parent or primary carer in prison. At present, alongside the department, the MoJ is working to determine how to effectively identify these children so they are provided with the support they need to thrive. Parental imprisonment is a sensitive issue, and we are working with a range of stakeholders to ensure this is handled in the most child-centred, trauma-informed and age-appropriate way. Exact details of how this will work in practice are to be confirmed.

The department will make sure it considers how best to support all children affected by this issue as part of its wider reforms to children’s social care. We are clear that the support these children receive should be based on their individual needs, not solely the characteristic of having a parent or primary carer in prison.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2024 to Question 11270 on Special Advisers: Industrial Disputes, to which specific answer of 25 July 2024 he was seeking to refer to.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The answer referred to was PQ 1667.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Written Statement of 6 November 2024 on Transparency and Accountability, HCWS198, whether special adviser salaries will increase in line with (a) senior and (b) junior civil service salaries.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Details of the special adviser pay award will be detailed in the relevant Annual Report on Special Advisers, published in line with the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will allow the Civil Service Commission to reply directly to hon. Members by correspondence.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Civil Service Commission is operationally independent from the government and is already able to respond to correspondence from parliamentarians as it sees fit.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November to Question 15230 on 10 Downing Street: Government Art Collection, what the reference numbers are of Government Art Collection works that have been (a) added to and (b) removed from Downing Street since 5 July 2024.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

I refer the Hon Member to my answer of 31 October 2024, Official Report, PQ 8943.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance his Department issues on (a) Ministers and (b) special advisers meeting lobbying firms which have made donations to hon. Members from the governing party.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

There is longstanding guidance on meetings between ministers and external organisations which is set out in the Ministerial Code. Similar guidance for special advisers is set out in the Code of Conduct for Special Advisers. Further guidance on ministers’ and special advisers’ transparency returns is published on GOV.UK.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Office for National Statistics has made an estimate of the number of registered overseas electors at the 2024 general election.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon. Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 26 November is attached.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans her Department has for the replacement of the overhead lines on the C2C train route.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The renewal of overhead lines on the c2c route will require significant investment. Network Rail is making plans to secure the funding in future control periods.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on the ability of employers to contact a (a) full-time and (b) part-time employee outside of their (i) normal and (ii) condensed working hours.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The right to switch off is not part of the Employment Rights Bill. It will be delivered through a statutory Code of Practice which will be the subject of a full public consultation in due course. The consultation will give interested parties the opportunity to comment on the specifics of the code and its approach to tackling work or work-related contact outside normal working hours. The responses will inform the final content of the Code.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what comparative assessment he has made of the potential impact of (a) importing coal from overseas and (b) mining coal in the UK on the environment.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

On 14th November 2024 the Government announced its intention to restrict the licensing of new coal mines: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2024-11-14/hcws215

The Department has not undertaken an assessment of the environmental impact of mining coal domestically set against importing product from overseas but notes that imports fell 45 per cent in comparison with 2022 to 3.4 million tonnes in 2023. This is a trend expected to continue following the closure of the last coal fired power station at the end of September, which reduced coal’s contribution to UK electricity supply to 0%’.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes made to agricultural property relief and business property relief at the Autumn Budget 2024 on discretionary trusts.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

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 in 2026-27 by the changes to APR and BPR, with around half of those being claims that involve AIM shares. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.

In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that (a) Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects and (b) properties built on the grey belt have access to sufficient quantities of water for domestic and business use.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Through the Development Consent process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, applicants will undertake water resource assessments for their projects and consultations with water authorities. This ensures that water infrastructure is planned before a Development Consent Order is granted.

In our recent consultation on proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system, we consulted on a definition of grey belt land. The consultation closed on the 24 September and officials in my department are currently analysing responses with a view to publishing a government response before the end of the year that will include a final definition of grey belt land and detail on the operation of the concept.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, how much funding he plans to allocate to Innovate UK in each of the next three years.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Earlier this year, the Chancellor launched a multi-year Spending Review, the first phase of which was completed and announced at this year’s Autumn Budget. This set DSIT’s overall R&D budget for 2025/26 at £13.9bn. Further details of how this funding will be allocated, including for UK Research and Innovation, of which Innovate UK is a part, will be announced in due course, and before the start of the financial year.

The Budget did not set departmental R&D budgets beyond 2025/26. The second phase of the Spending Review, which will conclude in late Spring 2025, will set out the government’s spending plans for R&D in years beyond 2025/26.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the One Login project is on (a) budget and (b) schedule.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The GOV.UK One Login programme is on budget and on schedule. It operates under the controls outlined in its Full Business Case, including Cabinet Office and HM Treasury spend controls, and independent assurance reviews conducted by the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA). The IPA’s most recent review concluded that the programme is delivering effectively despite operating in an inherently complex environment, and remains on schedule.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what changes have been made to the planned delivery date of the Rosa Renewal Project since inception.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Rosa Renewal Project remains on track to complete by March 2025. It is an agile project planned to ensure the resilience of HMG’s existing shared service capability for working on very sensitive information, and managed under the Government Major Projects Portfolio.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to increase the number and proportion of pupils attaining a pass grade in GSCE (a) maths and (b) English by the age of (i) 16 and (ii) 18.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

High and rising school standards are at the heart of the government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and give every child the best life chances.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review which will seek to deliver, amongst other things, an excellent foundation in core subjects of reading, writing and mathematics. The reformed curriculum will drive high and rising standards in schools, ensuring children are prepared for life, work and the future. The review will look closely at the key challenges to attainment that children and young people face, in particular those with SEND, as it seeks to ensure that all pupils benefit from a broad curriculum. This will also include looking at how the assessment system can be improved.

The review group will publish an interim report in early 2025 setting out their interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work. The final review with recommendations will be published in autumn 2025.

High-quality teaching is the most important in-school factor supporting pupils’ attainment and outcomes. The department is committed to recruiting an additional 6,500 new expert teachers in secondary schools, special schools and colleges to drive high standards for children and young people. Our measures will include getting more teachers into shortage subjects, supporting areas that face recruitment challenges and tackling retention issues. Additionally, in October the department introduced a teacher retention incentive of £6,000 for teachers in secondary schools and colleges in shortage subjects including science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The department’s English and Maths Hubs are providing school to school expertise and advice on how to strengthen outcomes in these subjects.

From early 2025, new Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) teams will support all state schools by facilitating networking, sharing best practice and enabling schools to better access support, including for English and mathematics, and learn from one another. For schools requiring more intensive support, RISE teams and supporting organisations will work collaboratively with their responsible body to agree bespoke packages of targeted support, based on a school’s particular circumstances.

The department considers level 2 English and mathematics to be essential for enabling students to realise their potential, and seize opportunities in life, learning and work. That is why we have the mathematics and English condition of funding (CoF), which enables all students on 16-19 study programmes or T Levels who have not yet attained grade 4+ GCSE (or equivalent) in English and mathematics to access support that leads to the best outcomes for them. A GCSE pass grade includes students with a prior attainment of grade 9-1, but a pass below grade 4 is not a level 2 pass which is why those students are supported by this policy.

The department has announced updates to the CoF requirements to help more students without a level 2 pass to progress in English and mathematics, the updated requirements ensure all students are offered a minimum number of teaching hours for English and/or mathematics. These are three hours for English and four hours for mathematics per week for 2024/25 academic year, and 100 hours for English and 100 hours for mathematics for the 2025/26 academic year. This support must be delivered as in-person, whole class, stand-alone teaching. The 2024/25 requirements are ‘best efforts’, whereas the updates from 2025/26 are mandatory. We also encourage providers to offer an extra 35 hours of mathematics teaching in the 2025/26 academic year, continuing their best efforts in delivering these. We are also reducing the tolerance by which providers may opt out students from these requirements to 2.5% in 2025/26 (from its current level of 5%) so as many students as possible get support for English and mathematics.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps to ensure that pay rates of teachers in sixth form colleges match those of school teachers.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

This government is committed to ensuring that there is a thriving further education (FE) sector, which is vital to its missions to break down the barriers to opportunity and boost economic growth.

The government is not responsible for, and plays no role in, setting or making recommendations about teacher pay in FE colleges. It is for individual colleges and providers to set the pay of their staff.

At the Autumn Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer set out an additional £300 million revenue funding for FE in 2025/26 to ensure young people are developing the skills this country needs, as well as £300 million new capital funding to address condition and capacity issues in the FE estate. The department will set out how this funding will be distributed in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Office for National Statistics has made an assessment of the causes of reductions in levels of fertility; and which Department is responsible for Government policy relating to the (a) size and (b) demographics of the UK population.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon. Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 26 November is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate the Office for National Statistics has made of the (a) number and (b) proportion of the UK population that have migrated to the UK in the last two years.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon. Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 27 November is attached.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment the Office for National Statistics has made of the accuracy of UK resident population statistics.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon. Gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 27 November is attached.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes in liability for inheritance tax on levels of tax avoidance.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government took a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to restore economic stability, fix the public finances, and support public services. These were tough decisions given the situation we inherited from the previous administration, but the Government has done so in a way that makes the tax system fairer and more sustainable.

These decisions included reforming the inheritance tax rules on pensions, agricultural property relief, and business property relief.

The Government published a technical consultation on the changes to inheritance tax rules for pension funds and death benefits at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/inheritance-tax-on-pensions-liability-reporting-and-payment.

The Government also 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.

In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 4 October 2024 to Question 4668 on Government Communication Service, for what reason the Government will not provide this information.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The audit contains the personal information of circa 6,500 communicators across government. Even if the data was anonymised, there is still a risk that individuals could be identified.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing further skills boot camps to help tackle specific sectoral shortages.

Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Skills Bootcamps remain an important offer in the skills landscape, and in the longer term the department intends to fund Skills Bootcamps through funding Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) and local areas directly. MCAs and the Greater London Authority have the flexibility to use up to 50% of their grants to test Skills Bootcamps in additional sectors. As of the 2024/25 financial year, two trailblazer areas, the West Midlands Combined Authority and Greater Manchester Combined Authority can use 100% of their grants to this effect.

More broadly, the department is introducing Skills England to develop a coherent picture of our national and regional skills needs and to shape the technical education needed to meet that demand. Our levy-funded growth and skills offer will deliver greater flexibility for learners and employers, aligned with the government’s industrial strategy, creating routes into good, skilled jobs in growing industries and helping to address skills shortages.

As a first step, this will include shorter duration and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors, helping more people learn new high-quality skills at work, fuelling innovation in businesses across the country, and providing high-quality entry pathways for young people. Skills England is currently engaging with employers over this autumn on how these apprenticeships can support them to develop their workforces and fill skills gaps. We will receive their findings in the new year which will help to inform our offer, and we will set out more detail on the offer in due course.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of changes in the number of firms offering bank accounts for trusts.

Answered by Tulip Siddiq - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

Ensuring all individuals have access to the appropriate financial services and products they need is a key priority for Government and is vital to supporting people’s financial resilience and wellbeing, and ensuring that individuals are able to fully participate in the economy.

In most circumstances, decisions on the provision of services such as trust accounts are commercial decisions for individual banks and building societies and the Government does not intervene.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cases of (a) HIV and (b) AIDS have been diagnosed due to mandatory opt-out testing in hospitals.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The bloodborne viruses (BBVs) opt-out testing in emergency departments programme has identified 391 people with new HIV diagnoses between April 2022 and December 2023. In addition, 314 people were identified with HIV who had been previously diagnosed. Data on AIDS is not collected via the emergency department opt-out BBV testing programme. The published report is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hiv-monitoring-and-evaluation-framework/hiv-action-plan-monitoring-and-evaluation-framework-2024-report

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to the eligibility criteria for the Winter Fuel Payment on (a) primary care, (b) hospitals and (c) Pharmacy First.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We know that patients are struggling to access their general practice (GP), especially throughout the winter period when demand is higher. We committed to restoring the front door of the National Health Service by shifting the focus of the NHS out of hospitals into the community. We know that when patients are not able to get a GP appointment, they end up in accident and emergency, which is worse for the patient, and more expensive for the taxpayer. That is why it is key that we increase the capacity of GP appointments. We have already committed to recruiting over 1,000 newly qualified GPs from October 2024 through an £82 million boost to the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, which will increase the number of GP appointments delivered.

In line with the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty, the Department for Work and Pensions produced an equality analysis as part of the ministerial decision-making process. This was published on 13 September 2024, and is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/responses-to-freedom-of-information-requests-on-equality-impact-assessments-produced-for-targeting-winter-fuel-payment/dwp-freedom-of-information-response

The Department for Work and Pensions will continue to monitor and review the impact of the policy, using this to inform any future decisions.

Found: waiting times and have written to both Loveday Ryder and the former Transport Minister, Richard Holden

In the July 2024 General Election, a record six independent candidates were elected to the House of Commons. In September 2024, five of those MPs informed the Speaker that they were forming an independent grouping in Parliament as a ‘technical group’, rather than a political party.  This letter has given rise to questions about the status of parliamentary groupings under House of Commons procedures, and the status of independent MPs as a whole.

Call lists, or speakers lists, exist in many legislatures around the world, and were employed in the House of Commons during the Covid-19 pandemic to regulate the flow of debates in virtual/hybrid proceedings. Call lists can be a helpful tool in giving Members an indication of when they will be called to speak in a debate, and thus to plan their days more effectively, and in enabling the chair of a debate to decide time limits. However, there are also concerns about their impact on the flow of the debate.

Reforms introduced following the publication of the 2009 Report of the Reform of the House of Commons Committee, Rebuilding the House (‘the Wright Report’, so named after the Chair of the Committee, Tony Wright MP) included the election by the whole House for positions such as some select committee chairs and the Deputy Speakers.