Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - Herne Bay and Sandwich)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment her Department has made of the value for money of the National Grid's Sea Link Project in the light of the reduction in the Grid's projected shortfall in output capacity from 2000 MW to 352 MW.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Sea Link project has submitted its Development Consent Order application. Given the Secretary of State’s quasi-judicial role in taking consenting decisions for energy infrastructure proposals approved by Ofgem, it would not be appropriate to comment on specific matters related to the project, as this could be seen as prejudicing the decision-making process.
Electricity network reinforcements are only approved where they are in the interests of consumers. Ofgem reviews proposed project costs and ensures that network companies spend efficiently.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - Herne Bay and Sandwich)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential impact of closures within the hospitality industry on treasury revenues in the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
ONS data has shown that there were over 300 more hospitality business net births in 2025 than in 2024. We continue to closely monitor the health of different sectors across the UK economy and regularly engage with the hospitality sector.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - Herne Bay and Sandwich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate she has made of the change in total employment within the hospitality industry in the last 12 months for which data are available.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.
A response to the Rt Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 20 October is attached.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - Herne Bay and Sandwich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many ill-health civil service retirement cases remain unresolved as of 17 June.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded Capita the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme in November 2023 under the previous government. The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and Gov.uk.
Capita is under a firm mandate to restore full service delivery to standard contractual levels by the end of June 2026. We are actively exploring the use of all available commercial and contractual levers and continue to withhold milestone payments for missed transition deliverables. All options remain on the table if they fail to meet the June deadline.
Capita were initially instructed to prioritise and clear the most urgent cases such as Death in Service and Ill-Health during February and March. While Capita previously assured us that performance standards for Death in Service and Ill-Health were being met by mid-March, recent information continues to demonstrate unacceptable delays in some ill-health retirement and death-in-service cases. We have urgently escalated this to Capita, who are actively investigating the underlying data and reasons for these continued delays.
As of 14 June, Ill-Health numbers outstanding are 431, of which 361 have outstanding data or information requirements before processing can be completed. In respect of Death in Service, numbers outstanding are 605, of which 574 have outstanding data or information requirements before processing can be completed.
Around 25,000 members currently await pension quotations from Capita, including outstanding historical cases left unprocessed by the previous administrator. Whilst we have mandated that Capita restore service levels by the end of June 2026, putting accepted quotes into payment requires sequential administrative steps, meaning the first actual payments will commence around late August or September.
Capita has issued lump sum payments to 16,776 retired members awaiting their regular pensions, whilst the scheme continues to pay approximately 730,000 existing pensioners on time. To alleviate immediate hardship, employers have issued £14.2 million in Transitional Support Loans to 2,612 members, alongside interest-free bridging loans ranging from £5,000 to £20,000. Members will fully repay these bridging loans upon receipt of their formal pension payments.
The scheme will automatically pay interest on delayed benefits to protect members from financial loss. The statutory complaints process evaluates claims for financial loss, distress, and inconvenience on a case-by-case basis and is operated in strict accordance with the standards set by the Pensions Ombudsman.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - Herne Bay and Sandwich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many civil service pensioners were awaiting pensions quotations as of 17 June.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded Capita the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme in November 2023 under the previous government. The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and Gov.uk.
Capita is under a firm mandate to restore full service delivery to standard contractual levels by the end of June 2026. We are actively exploring the use of all available commercial and contractual levers and continue to withhold milestone payments for missed transition deliverables. All options remain on the table if they fail to meet the June deadline.
Capita were initially instructed to prioritise and clear the most urgent cases such as Death in Service and Ill-Health during February and March. While Capita previously assured us that performance standards for Death in Service and Ill-Health were being met by mid-March, recent information continues to demonstrate unacceptable delays in some ill-health retirement and death-in-service cases. We have urgently escalated this to Capita, who are actively investigating the underlying data and reasons for these continued delays.
As of 14 June, Ill-Health numbers outstanding are 431, of which 361 have outstanding data or information requirements before processing can be completed. In respect of Death in Service, numbers outstanding are 605, of which 574 have outstanding data or information requirements before processing can be completed.
Around 25,000 members currently await pension quotations from Capita, including outstanding historical cases left unprocessed by the previous administrator. Whilst we have mandated that Capita restore service levels by the end of June 2026, putting accepted quotes into payment requires sequential administrative steps, meaning the first actual payments will commence around late August or September.
Capita has issued lump sum payments to 16,776 retired members awaiting their regular pensions, whilst the scheme continues to pay approximately 730,000 existing pensioners on time. To alleviate immediate hardship, employers have issued £14.2 million in Transitional Support Loans to 2,612 members, alongside interest-free bridging loans ranging from £5,000 to £20,000. Members will fully repay these bridging loans upon receipt of their formal pension payments.
The scheme will automatically pay interest on delayed benefits to protect members from financial loss. The statutory complaints process evaluates claims for financial loss, distress, and inconvenience on a case-by-case basis and is operated in strict accordance with the standards set by the Pensions Ombudsman.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - Herne Bay and Sandwich)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many death in service pensions remain outstanding and unpaid as of 17 June 2026.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded Capita the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme in November 2023 under the previous government. The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and Gov.uk.
Capita is under a firm mandate to restore full service delivery to standard contractual levels by the end of June 2026. We are actively exploring the use of all available commercial and contractual levers and continue to withhold milestone payments for missed transition deliverables. All options remain on the table if they fail to meet the June deadline.
Capita were initially instructed to prioritise and clear the most urgent cases such as Death in Service and Ill-Health during February and March. While Capita previously assured us that performance standards for Death in Service and Ill-Health were being met by mid-March, recent information continues to demonstrate unacceptable delays in some ill-health retirement and death-in-service cases. We have urgently escalated this to Capita, who are actively investigating the underlying data and reasons for these continued delays.
As of 14 June, Ill-Health numbers outstanding are 431, of which 361 have outstanding data or information requirements before processing can be completed. In respect of Death in Service, numbers outstanding are 605, of which 574 have outstanding data or information requirements before processing can be completed.
Around 25,000 members currently await pension quotations from Capita, including outstanding historical cases left unprocessed by the previous administrator. Whilst we have mandated that Capita restore service levels by the end of June 2026, putting accepted quotes into payment requires sequential administrative steps, meaning the first actual payments will commence around late August or September.
Capita has issued lump sum payments to 16,776 retired members awaiting their regular pensions, whilst the scheme continues to pay approximately 730,000 existing pensioners on time. To alleviate immediate hardship, employers have issued £14.2 million in Transitional Support Loans to 2,612 members, alongside interest-free bridging loans ranging from £5,000 to £20,000. Members will fully repay these bridging loans upon receipt of their formal pension payments.
The scheme will automatically pay interest on delayed benefits to protect members from financial loss. The statutory complaints process evaluates claims for financial loss, distress, and inconvenience on a case-by-case basis and is operated in strict accordance with the standards set by the Pensions Ombudsman.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - Herne Bay and Sandwich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects to announce the final earned settlement model following the consultation period which expired on 12 February.
Answered by Mike Tapp
The consultation for the earned settlement model, as proposed in ‘A Fairer Pathway to Settlement’, was open to the public between 20 November 2025 and 12 February 2026.
We received over 200,000 responses from the public and organisations are now reviewing and analysing all responses received. This analysis will help inform the development of the final earned settlement model.
Once the final model has been decided, the Government will communicate the outcome publicly. As with all significant policy changes, the proposals will be subject to both economic and equality impact assessments.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - Herne Bay and Sandwich)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the average figure for energy production supplies to the grid was for (a) gas, (b) solar farms, (c) wind farms, (d) hydro-electric schemes, (e) nuclear, (f) biomass and (g) interconnectors for the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Figures for the historic electricity generation mix supplied to the grid in Great Britain are available on NESO’s data portal.
The Department also publishes quarterly data on the total electricity supply in the UK by fuel in Energy Trends Table 5.1. This includes production from major power producers and other generators (mainly combined heat and power plants serving industrial and other users). As these data include electricity generated and consumed on-site, coverage is broader than electricity supplied to the grid.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - Herne Bay and Sandwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she plans to bring forward the statutory instrument necessary to permit the use of hydrogen powered construction vehicles on public roads through amendment to the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Following a consultation that closed in April 2024, the Department for Transport is developing an amendment to The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 to allow hydrogen-powered off-road machinery to be used on the road. Legislation is expected to be introduced alongside publication of the Government’s response to the public consultation in April.
Asked by: Roger Gale (Conservative - Herne Bay and Sandwich)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, If he will discuss with his Turkish counterpart the resolution of persons missing following the invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the role that Turkey could play in providing access to military sites for exhumation and the release of information from military archives.
Answered by Leo Docherty
The UK maintains close contact with the Committee on Missing Persons which is mandated to search for, recover, identify and return to their families the remains of Cypriots from both communities. In July, the UK ensured language was included in the renewal of the mandate for the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus calling on all parties to enhance their cooperation with the Committee on Missing Persons, explicitly through providing full access without delay to all areas and responding in a timely manner to requests for archival information on possible burial sites.