Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 14 February 2025 to Question 29554 on Prison Accommodation, how many prison places were created as a result of crowding between (a) May 1997 and (b) 2010.
Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The previous Labour Government added nearly 28,000 places to the prison estate between 1997 and 2010. However, available records do not provide a breakdown for these figures of these places by category. It is therefore not possible to provide the number of places created through crowding.
Prison crowding data is published annually in Annex 2 of the HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025 - GOV.UK. This publication provides the percentage of prisoners held in crowded accommodation in each year in each prison since 1999. There is no earlier information on crowding available.
This Government is delivering the largest expansion of prison places since the Victorian era – with 2,500 new spaces already delivered and 14,000 on track for delivery by 2031.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what substantive proposals her Department received relating to the construction of a third runway at Heathrow, other than from (a) Heathrow Airport Limited and (b) the Arora Group; and from which organisations.
Answered by Mike Kane - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department received seven proposals for consideration through a structured internal assessment process.
The assessment process is designed to ensure that each proposal is examined carefully and consistently against the criteria set out in the Secretary of State’s 30 June letter. This includes a review of the proposals’ overall feasibility, their timelines, the costs and revenues associated with the scheme, details of the scheme’s financing and funding, the environmental impacts and mitigations, and deliverability of the scheme.
While we are not disclosing the names of promoters or details of their proposals at this stage, a further update will be provided in due course.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of insurance premium tax on the cost of car insurance; and whether she plans to increase insurance premium tax.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Last year, we established a cross-government motor insurance taskforce with a strategic remit to set the direction for UK government policy, identifying short- and long-term actions for departments that may contribute to stabilising or reducing car insurance premiums. The taskforce's final report will be published in the autumn.
Insurance pricing is a decision which is affected by a wide range of factors, and the taxes that insurers pay are just one part of this. There is additionally no guarantee that any reductions in IPT would be passed on to consumers.
We keep all taxes under review and the Chancellor makes decisions at Budgets in the context of the overall public finances
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 5.91 of the Autumn Budget 2024, published on 30 October 2024, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to the treatment of double cab pick-up vehicles on (a) SMEs, (b) the self-employed and (c) people who work in the construction industry; and what estimate she has made of the number of taxpayers impacted by those changes in 2025-26.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Double Cab Pick Up vehicles (DCPUs) have in the past been treated as goods vehicles for tax purposes, rather than cars. Following a judgement by the Court of Appeal, DCPUs must be treated as cars, rather than goods vehicles, for certain tax purposes, based on their primary suitability.
At Autumn Budget 2024, the government had to make difficult decisions, and in the given fiscal situation was not willing to legislate to change this treatment and provide a significant tax break worth hundreds of millions per year for these vehicles.
The transitional arrangements put in place meant that this would not affect the capital allowances treatment of any business that already owned a DCPU, or that purchased one before April 2025; and businesses that purchase or have purchased a DCPU after this date will still be able to deduct the cost from their taxable profits at 18% or 6% per year. Under the transitional arrangements for Benefit-in-Kind treatment, anyone who accessed a DCPU before 6 April 2025 will not be impacted until the sooner of disposal of the vehicle, 5 April 2029 or when their lease expires.
In addition, there are alternatives to DCPUs (such as Single Cab Pick Ups, or 4x4 vans) that are still treated as goods vehicles.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to adopt working parking taxes.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The power to introduce a workplace parking levy sits with the local traffic authority.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 30 June 2025 to Question 62769 on Companies House: Databases, whether Companies House plans to remove entry 08881386 from the register.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Companies House will take appropriate action using the powers available whenever suspicious information is brought to its attention or identified by internal checks.
The company in question was dissolved in 2018 and does not form part of the Register of Companies, though its records will remain available for 20 years.
Companies House will act to remove inaccurate information relating to the company in question from the public records.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the merger of the Payment Services Regulator in the Financial Conduct Authority will require (a) primary and (b) secondary legislation; and what her planned timetable is for completion of that merger.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has carried out important work to support the UK’s world leading payments sector. However, moving forward, the Government wishes to see a more streamlined regulatory environment with minimal overlap between regulators’ responsibilities. That is why the Government has announced its intentions to consolidate the PSR and its functions primarily within the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
The Government will consult on the details of this measure shortly. The consolidation of the PSR into the FCA will require primary legislation, which will be brought forward as soon as parliamentary time allows. The PSR and FCA are already taking steps to realise the benefits of a more streamlined regulatory framework, including creating a new joint PSR/FCA payments executive director; updating the Memorandum of Understanding between the PSR, the FCA, the Bank of England and the PRA; jointly progressing Open Banking; and undertaking joint stakeholder engagement.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2025 to Question 62083 on House of Lords Appointments Commission, on what date the public appointments process opened; whether it has been extended; and whether any people who applied have been informed that they have not been appointed.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question 66291, which sets out when the campaign was launched and subsequently closed to applications.
The Government announced on 19 August 2025 that, as a result of the campaign, Professor Adeeba Malik CBE DL had been appointed as an independent member of the House of Lords Appointments Commission with effect from 1 September 2025. All candidates who applied as part of this campaign have been notified of the outcome accordingly.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 14 July 2025 to Question 66291 on House of Lords Appointments Commission, for what reason members of the Commission have not been appointed.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
I refer the Hon Member to the answer to Question 66291, which sets out when the campaign was launched and subsequently closed to applications.
The Government announced on 19 August 2025 that, as a result of the campaign, Professor Adeeba Malik CBE DL had been appointed as an independent member of the House of Lords Appointments Commission with effect from 1 September 2025. All candidates who applied as part of this campaign have been notified of the outcome accordingly.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the Cabinet Secretary has delegated his attendance to the Main Honours Committee.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
The Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service is responsible for the operation of the honours system, but as is customary, delegates this responsibility to another senior Permanent Secretary.