Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his Department's policies of the Public Accounts Committee report HC 1229 on the delivery of a programme prior to appointing a new Permanent Secretary.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence Permanent Secretary was appointed on 1 November 2025, following an external competition and approval from the Prime Minister.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will respond to the Public Accounts Committee report (HC 1229) in the usual way.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has been made of the potential implications for his polices of the change in the number of available hospice beds in England over the last 12 months.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No formal assessment has been made of the potential implications for the Department’s policies of the change in the number of available hospice beds in England over the last 12 months.
However, we do recognise the difficult and challenging financial situation that many hospices are facing due to a range of concurrent cost pressures and that, as a result, some hospices have had to reduce the services they offer and the number of inpatient beds.
We have been supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for eligible adult and children’s hospices in England to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We can now confirm we are providing a further £25 million in capital funding for hospices to spend in 2025/26.
We also recently announced that we are providing approximately £80 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices in England over the next three financial years, from 2026/27 to 2028/29, giving them stability to plan ahead and focus on what matters most, caring for their patients.
The Government is developing a Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care Modern Service Framework (MSF) for England. As part of the MSF, we will consider contracting and commissioning arrangements. We recognise that there is currently a mix of contracting models in the hospice sector. By supporting integrated care boards to commission more strategically, we can move away from grant and block contract models. In the long term, this will aid sustainability and help hospices’ ability to plan ahead.
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the cost of the £1,000 tax free allowance for (a) trading and (b) property income in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The tax-free allowances simplify the tax system and keep low levels of casual income out of taxation. Individuals with trading income or property income at £1,000 or below are not required to report the income and the use of allowances to HMRC through Self Assessment (SA). As a result, HMRC cannot provide a total estimate on the number of people using the allowances and the cost of the allowances.
More information on the tax free allowances can be found at:
Tax-free allowances on property and trading income - GOV.UK”
Asked by: Steve Barclay (Conservative - North East Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of people using the £1,000 tax free allowance for (a) trading and (b) property income in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The tax-free allowances simplify the tax system and keep low levels of casual income out of taxation. Individuals with trading income or property income at £1,000 or below are not required to report the income and the use of allowances to HMRC through Self Assessment (SA). As a result, HMRC cannot provide a total estimate on the number of people using the allowances and the cost of the allowances.
More information on the tax free allowances can be found at:
Tax-free allowances on property and trading income - GOV.UK”