Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to align the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy with economic strategies developed by devolved Administrations.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Industrial Strategy will unleash the full potential of our cities and regions by attracting investment and creating the best environment for businesses in them to thrive
My officials are working with the devolved governments on how we can drive growth across the UK within the context of our Industrial Strategy. This includes regular ministerial engagement through the Interministerial Group for Business & Industry. This partnership will help make the Industrial Strategy a UK-wide effort and support the sectoral strengths and growth-driving clusters in all four nations.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what plans his Department has to incentivise employer investment in workforce training and upskilling as part of the Invest 2035 strategy.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Industrial Strategy Green Paper is clear that the people that create and work in businesses will be central to the success of the growth-driving sectors and clusters. The government is developing proposals to ensure that the current and future skills system supports employers to invest in and develop a skilled workforce, and has already taken steps to support this, including establishing Skills England and reforming the existing apprenticeship offer into a Growth and Skills levy-funded offer which will provide greater flexibility for both employers and learners. We will set out further detail in the forthcoming Industrial Strategy.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what criteria his Department is using to identify the most critical (a) subsectors and (b) technologies within the eight priority sectors outlined in the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
There is no single 'best' way to identify the most critical subsectors and technologies, so the Government has used a range of quantitative and qualitative evidence and judgement. We have considered metrics which relate to the Industrial Strategy's objectives of delivering sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth and boosting business investment, such as wages, productivity, and the UK's international position to identify our current and emerging strengths. We have combined this with engagement with experts and stakeholders, including the Industrial Strategy Green Paper consultation, and multiple data sources. Further detail will be provided in the upcoming White Paper.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Pension Sharing Orders administered by Teachers’ Pensions are processed within stated timeframes.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Pension scheme administrators have four months to implement pension sharing orders (PSOs), however the department is aware that for some members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, this timescale has been affected by the transitional protection remedy.
In some cases, there has been outstanding guidance whereby the scheme administrator could not progress PSOs until this was received, and other cases require responses from the member before they can be implemented.
The department is in regular discussion with the scheme administrator to consider the issues which have prevented some PSOs being issued to the normal timescales and will continue to closely monitor performance.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making water companies statutory consultees in planning applications.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The government recently declared a moratorium on any new statutory consultees, along with a review of the existing statutory consultee arrangements to ensure they align with the government’s ambitions for growth. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 10 March 2025 (HCWS510). Any further announcements will be subject to this review.
I also refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UNI 40935 on 31 March 2025.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of Carer’s Allowance overpayment cases identified by her Department in each of the last six years were subject to investigation prior to the commencement of debt recovery procedures.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department looks into every case where an overpayment is calculated before the overpayment is finalised and debt recovery commences.
Where overpayments do occur, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GP practices have closed in Wiltshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the number of general practices in Wiltshire which have closed in each of the last five years:
Year | Number of practice closures |
2020 | 2 |
2021 | 0 |
2022 | 0 |
2023 | 0 |
2024 | 0 |
Practices close for a variety of reasons, including mergers or retirement, and so this does not necessarily indicate a reduction in the quality of care. When a practice does close, patients are informed of the closure and advised to register at another local practice of their choice within their area.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of earnings threshold rules for Carer’s Allowance on unpaid carers engaged in part-time employment.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The weekly earnings limit in Carer’s Allowance (CA) was increased to £196 net earnings in April 2025. This is the largest cash increase ever since CA was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001. Over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive CA between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as a result. Going forward the earnings limit will be pegged to 16 hours work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels, and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. This will provide more certainty on the hours they can work for those unpaid carers with a job on the NLW.
As my Rt hon friend the member for Leeds West (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) said at the Autumn Budget, we also need to look at the current “cliff edge” earnings rules. A taper, for example, could further incentivise unpaid carers to do some work. It could also reduce the risk of significant overpayments. However, introducing a taper in CA is not without challenges and could significantly complicate the benefit as it currently stands and would mean a major rebuild of the CA computer system. DWP is undertaking some scoping work to see whether an earnings taper in CA might be a feasible option in the longer term. But any taper will be several years away.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to review the structure of the earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance to reduce the risk of significant overpayments resulting from minor threshold breaches.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The weekly earnings limit in Carer’s Allowance (CA) was increased to £196 net earnings in April 2025. This is the largest cash increase ever since CA was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001. Over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive CA between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as a result. Going forward the earnings limit will be pegged to 16 hours work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels, and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. This will provide more certainty on the hours they can work for those unpaid carers with a job on the NLW.
As my Rt hon friend the member for Leeds West (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) said at the Autumn Budget, we also need to look at the current “cliff edge” earnings rules. A taper, for example, could further incentivise unpaid carers to do some work. It could also reduce the risk of significant overpayments. However, introducing a taper in CA is not without challenges and could significantly complicate the benefit as it currently stands and would mean a major rebuild of the CA computer system. DWP is undertaking some scoping work to see whether an earnings taper in CA might be a feasible option in the longer term. But any taper will be several years away.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the comparative merits of (a) air-to-air and (b) other heat pump technologies eligible under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme.
Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme does not currently support air-to-air heat pumps, as heat pump installations must provide both space heating and hot water heating, using liquid as a medium for delivering that heat. We want to target support at technologies that offer the greatest potential to decarbonise our buildings.
The Government is committed to incentivising moves to cleaner, more affordable heating, and will keep its position on alternative heating technologies under review and make further assessments as the supporting evidence base develops.