Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support British citizens in Iran.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Our Embassy in Tehran which continues to operate remotely, is closely monitoring the situation in Iran. We remain committed to ensuring the safety and security of our nationals, including those detained.

However we have long advised against all travel to Iran and warned British Nationals that in an emergency the UK government will not be able to evacuate or provide face-to-face assistance.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of Google's compliance with the AI safety commitments made at the Seoul AI Safety Summit in May 2024 in relation to its Gemini 2.5 Pro model.

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

We expect all signatories to the Seoul commitments to stand by their agreements. The AI Security Institute, within DSIT, has ongoing discussions will all major developers, including Google DeepMind, about the implementation of frontier AI frameworks that guide the safe development of AI.

The government welcomes Google's recently published framework that prioritises the emerging risk of deception in AI models and their plans to publish safety cases.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to help ensure all signatory companies from the Seoul AI Safety Summit honour their commitments made at that summit.

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

We expect all signatories to the Seoul commitments to stand by their agreements. The AI Security Institute, within DSIT, has ongoing discussions will all major developers, about the implementation of frontier AI frameworks that guide the safe development of AI.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the (a) adequacy and (b) clarity of HM Revenue & Customs guidance for employers on workplace nursery schemes.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The workplace nursery scheme exemption allows employers to offer childcare support to employees without incurring income tax or National Insurance (NI) charges, provided certain conditions are met.

HMRC publishes online guidance on the use of workplace nursery schemes which is reviewed frequently and was last updated in August 2024.

In July 2024 HMRC published an article in its Agent Update as a reminder to businesses of the conditions to be met for the tax exemption to apply following increased awareness of a number of scheme operators advertising their service as having HMRC approval were the partnership requirements were not met.

The article can be found here: Issue 121 of Agent Update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Employer Supported Childcare schemes are voluntary arrangements. The Government supports these initiatives through relevant tax and NICs reliefs, but it is up to the employer to decide whether or not to offer childcare support to its employees.

The schemes primarily operate through salary sacrifice arrangements, as childcare is one of the few areas where salary sacrifice tax reliefs are still available.

Employers can choose to offer a workplace nursery scheme as part of their employee benefits package to attract and retain skilled employees.

With Tax-Free Childcare, eligible parents can simply open an online account and make payments directly to their childcare provider. For every £8 a parent deposits into their account, the government adds £2 to help with the cost of childcare.

As such, there is no requirement for employers to adopt the schemes.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to encourage employers to adopt (a) tax-free childcare and (b) other workplace nursery schemes.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The workplace nursery scheme exemption allows employers to offer childcare support to employees without incurring income tax or National Insurance (NI) charges, provided certain conditions are met.

HMRC publishes online guidance on the use of workplace nursery schemes which is reviewed frequently and was last updated in August 2024.

In July 2024 HMRC published an article in its Agent Update as a reminder to businesses of the conditions to be met for the tax exemption to apply following increased awareness of a number of scheme operators advertising their service as having HMRC approval were the partnership requirements were not met.

The article can be found here: Issue 121 of Agent Update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Employer Supported Childcare schemes are voluntary arrangements. The Government supports these initiatives through relevant tax and NICs reliefs, but it is up to the employer to decide whether or not to offer childcare support to its employees.

The schemes primarily operate through salary sacrifice arrangements, as childcare is one of the few areas where salary sacrifice tax reliefs are still available.

Employers can choose to offer a workplace nursery scheme as part of their employee benefits package to attract and retain skilled employees.

With Tax-Free Childcare, eligible parents can simply open an online account and make payments directly to their childcare provider. For every £8 a parent deposits into their account, the government adds £2 to help with the cost of childcare.

As such, there is no requirement for employers to adopt the schemes.

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 the decline in the People's Health Trust's turnover and funding on local public health initiatives.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government recognises the valuable part played by third sector organisations in tackling health inequalities and the social determinants of health, and commends the work of the People’s Health Trust in providing funding and support to left-behind communities.

Much of what determines our health and wellbeing is influenced by factors other than health services. The roots of sickness too often lie in poverty, poor housing, poor education, poor work, and poor access to the things that make life worth living like culture, sport, and recreation. We are taking action on the social determinants of health, through our Health Mission, to reduce the gap in healthy life expectancy.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Health Lottery's decisions to (a) divest from the People's Health Trust and (b) create its own funding distribution vehicle on organisations receiving funding from that lottery.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The department and the Gambling Commission have regular discussions covering gambling regulation, including society lotteries. The department has not held recent discussions with the Gambling Commission on the Health Lottery’s arrangements for distributing funds.

The Gambling Act 2005 provides for the definition of a non-commercial society lottery and how proceeds can be used. All licensed lottery operators are expected to put in place arrangements to make sure that the proceeds of each lottery are distributed in a lawful and compliant way. That includes ensuring that a minimum of 20% of proceeds are awarded to good causes.

The oversight of licences for society lotteries, including ensuring operators remain compliant with its statutory responsibilities, is a matter for the Gambling Commission.

More information about the Gambling Commission’s principles for licensing and regulation, compliance and enforcement under the Gambling Act 2005 can be found on the Commission’s website.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure society lotteries are being run in the public interest.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The department and the Gambling Commission have regular discussions covering gambling regulation, including society lotteries. The department has not held recent discussions with the Gambling Commission on the Health Lottery’s arrangements for distributing funds.

The Gambling Act 2005 provides for the definition of a non-commercial society lottery and how proceeds can be used. All licensed lottery operators are expected to put in place arrangements to make sure that the proceeds of each lottery are distributed in a lawful and compliant way. That includes ensuring that a minimum of 20% of proceeds are awarded to good causes.

The oversight of licences for society lotteries, including ensuring operators remain compliant with its statutory responsibilities, is a matter for the Gambling Commission.

More information about the Gambling Commission’s principles for licensing and regulation, compliance and enforcement under the Gambling Act 2005 can be found on the Commission’s website.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the Gambling Commission on The Health Lottery’s new arrangements for distributing funds.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The department and the Gambling Commission have regular discussions covering gambling regulation, including society lotteries. The department has not held recent discussions with the Gambling Commission on the Health Lottery’s arrangements for distributing funds.

The Gambling Act 2005 provides for the definition of a non-commercial society lottery and how proceeds can be used. All licensed lottery operators are expected to put in place arrangements to make sure that the proceeds of each lottery are distributed in a lawful and compliant way. That includes ensuring that a minimum of 20% of proceeds are awarded to good causes.

The oversight of licences for society lotteries, including ensuring operators remain compliant with its statutory responsibilities, is a matter for the Gambling Commission.

More information about the Gambling Commission’s principles for licensing and regulation, compliance and enforcement under the Gambling Act 2005 can be found on the Commission’s website.

Found: Cheam) (Lib Dem) • Matt Vickers (Stockton West) (Con) Sir Roger Gale, Emma Lewell, and Dr Rosena Allin-Khan

Found: course of debate on amendments to the clause/schedule (Standing Order No. 68) Chairs: Dr Rosena Allin-Khan