Tracy Gilbert

In Winter 2023 to 2024, there were 10,051 pensioner households living in the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency and 751,246 pensioner households living in Scotland. This is based on winter-fuel-payments-household-2023-to-2024.ods.

At that point in time, 1,659 pensioner households received Pension Credit in the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency and 125,136 pensioner households received Pension Credit in Scotland. This is based on February 2024 Pension Credit statistics which are available via DWP Stat-Xplore.

Based on these figures, 16.5% of pensioner households in the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency and 16.7% of pensioner households in Scotland received Pension Credit in February 2024.

The latest Pension Credit statistics were published in November 2024 and cover the period up to May 2024. The next iteration of Pension Credit caseload statistics will be released on 18^th February 2025, as part of the DWP Benefits Statistics quarterly release. This will contain data for the period from June 2024 to the end of August 2024. Following release, the data can also be accessed at Stat-Xplore - Home.

In Winter 2023 to 2024, there were 10,051 pensioner households living in the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency and 751,246 pensioner households living in Scotland. This is based on winter-fuel-payments-household-2023-to-2024.ods.

At that point in time, 1,659 pensioner households received Pension Credit in the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency and 125,136 pensioner households received Pension Credit in Scotland. This is based on February 2024 Pension Credit statistics which are available via DWP Stat-Xplore.

Based on these figures, 16.5% of pensioner households in the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency and 16.7% of pensioner households in Scotland received Pension Credit in February 2024.

The latest Pension Credit statistics were published in November 2024 and cover the period up to May 2024. The next iteration of Pension Credit caseload statistics will be released on 18^th February 2025, as part of the DWP Benefits Statistics quarterly release. This will contain data for the period from June 2024 to the end of August 2024. Following release, the data can also be accessed at Stat-Xplore - Home.

The UK's policy on the up-rating of the UK State Pension for recipients living overseas is a longstanding one. The UK State Pension is payable worldwide and is only uprated abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so, for example in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating.

Over many years, priority is given to those living in the United Kingdom when drawing up expenditure plans for additional pensioner benefits.

UK State Pensions are payable worldwide, based on a person’s National Insurance record and are only uprated abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so, for example in countries with which we have a reciprocal agreement that provides for up-rating.

People move abroad for many reasons and may have access to their host country’s benefit system or other sources of income such as an occupational pension.

Information about the impact on State Pensions of moving abroad is available on Gov.uk.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the regulator of nurses and midwives in the United Kingdom, and nursing associates in England. The NMC is independent of the Government, directly accountable to Parliament, and is responsible for operational matters concerning the discharge of its statutory duties.

The Department has no current plans to launch an independent review, but we expect the NMC to ensure swift and robust action is taken to deliver against the 36 recommendations set out in the Independent Culture Review report.

My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has been discussing the new United Kingdom-wide Tobacco and Vapes Bill with Neil Gray, the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care for Scotland, and will send formal correspondence prior to its introduction. As the bill covers the whole of the UK, the Department will stay in close contact with all our devolved government counterparts, throughout the passage of the bill.

Department officials have engaged frequently with officials from Public Health Scotland, and the rest of the devolved governments, to help shape and develop proposals for new legislation. Each of the devolved governments, including the Scottish Government, are in support of a new and strengthened bill, and the benefits it will provide to the health of our nations. Once the bill has been introduced to the UK Parliament, the devolved governments will seek consent motions from their respective legislatures, including the Scottish Parliament.

On day one in office, the Foreign Secretary commissioned a thorough review into Israel's compliance with International Humanitarian Law (IHL), given the grave concerns about the conduct and consequences of the war in Gaza for civilians. The UK's robust export licensing criteria state that the Government will not issue export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of IHL. Given the conclusions of the review, on 2 September the Government suspended around 30 export licences to Israel, effectively covering all arms exports for use in the current conflict in Gaza, exempting components for F-35 aircraft which, for reasons outlined in the Foreign Secretary's Statement and the Business and Trade Secretary's Written Ministerial Statement, have been excluded from the suspension.

We condemn the appalling erosion of human rights in Afghanistan, particularly for women and girls, including the most recent ridiculous ban on windows overlooking spaces used by women. As the Foreign Secretary has said, the exclusion of women from all aspects of public life is another tragic setback for Afghanistan. FCDO officials regularly press the Taliban to reverse their inhuman restrictions, including during a visit to Kabul in December. We also condemned the Taliban's actions against women and girls in a joint statement with the G7+ in December. We are discussing with international partners ways to hold the Taliban accountable for their actions.

There is currently no Iranian ambassador to the UK. However, we regularly deliver robust messages on human rights directly to the Iranian regime, including through our Ambassador in Tehran. On 13 August, I highlighted, via X, the UK’s continued support for Iranian women and girls and our commitment to calling out the regime’s unacceptable behaviour.

The 'Genocide in Tigray' report by the New Lines Institute has drawn attention to the conduct of actors during the conflict of 2020-2022. The report is consistent with UN investigations which concluded that all sides committed major human rights violations and abuses, some of which might amount to crimes against humanity. UK policy is that genocide can only be determined by a credible international court. The UK has consistently called for accountability for victims of the conflict in northern Ethiopia and is supporting Ethiopia's transitional justice efforts, including by working with national human rights organisations to enhance evidence collection that could support criminal procedures.

Export licence applications continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. The UK's robust export licensing criteria state that the Government will not issue export licences if there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Following our review into Israel's compliance with IHL in Gaza, this Government has concluded that a clear risk does exist, and we have suspended certain export licences for items that could be used in the current conflict in Gaza.

The Government has protected the smallest businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to Employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, which means that 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all next year, more than half of employers will see no change or will gain overall from this package, and all eligible employers will be able to employ up to four full-time workers on the National Living Wage and pay no employer NICs.

Businesses will also still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.

Ending tax breaks for private schools will raise revenue that can help fund priorities in the state education sector in England. The Barnett formula will be applied in the usual way to any resulting additional funding for UK Government departments provided in devolved areas.

The Scottish Government’s block grant funding is growing in real terms in 2025-26 and its spending review settlement for 2025-26 is the largest in real terms of any settlement since devolution. The Scottish Government will receive over 20% more per person than equivalent UK Government spending in the rest of the UK in 2025-26 which translates into over £8.5 billion more.

The National Wealth Fund (NWF) will create a step change in our ability to mobilise private capital in the UK’s most important sectors and assets. At least £5.8 billion of the NWF’s additional capital will focus on the five sectors announced in the manifesto: green hydrogen, carbon capture, ports, gigafactories and green steel and will be committed over this Parliament.

The NWF is actively engaging across a number of opportunities where financing support for ports could have a catalytic effect on the floating offshore wind market.

Resource spending for the Department of Health and Social Care is set to increase by £22.6 billion in 2025-26 compared to 2023-24 outturn, providing a real-terms growth rate of 4% for the NHS, the largest since before 2010 excluding Covid-19 years. The Government will support local authority services through a real terms increase in core local government spending power of around 3.2%, including at least £600 million of new grant funding to support social care.

The government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of businesses with NICs liabilities either gain or see no change next year. Our tax regime for charities, including exemption from paying business rates, is among the most generous of anywhere in the world with tax reliefs for charities and their donors worth just over £6 billion for the tax year to April 2024.

The Budget will provide support for government departments and other public sector employers for additional Employer NICs costs only. Private sector firms or charities including hospices or social care providers that are contracted by central or local Government will not be exempt from these changes. General Practitioners are independent contractors and therefore will not be exempt from these changes.

This is consistent with the approach to previous Employer NICs changes, as was the case with the previous Government’s Health and Social Care Levy.

DHSC will confirm funding for General Practice for 25/26 as part of the usual GP contract process later in the year, including through consultation with the sector.

We keep under constant review the support we provide to migrant victims of domestic abuse, including how we can increase their confidence to report to the police and their ability to access help from specialist agencies.

This government continues to support the Support for Migrant Victims scheme which provides vital support for migrant victims of domestic abuse, including accommodation, subsistence, counselling and legal advice. All decisions on funding for the next financial year will be made in due course as part of the Spending Review process.

We keep under constant review the support we provide to migrant victims of domestic abuse, including how we can increase their confidence to report to the police and their ability to access help from specialist agencies.

This government continues to support the Support for Migrant Victims scheme which provides vital support for migrant victims of domestic abuse, including accommodation, subsistence, counselling and legal advice. All decisions on funding for the next financial year will be made in due course as part of the Spending Review process.

This Government recognises the importance of tackling wildlife crime, which is why, along with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Home Office directly funds the National Wildlife Crime Unit to help tackle these crimes.

There are currently no plans to make wildlife crimes notifiable. Any non-notifiable wildlife crime reported to the police can still be investigated where appropriate, as Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities.

We are deeply concerned by the continuing tensions and civilian casualties in Lebanon.

I know how important it is for Lebanese nationals in the UK to have certainty on their immigration status, particularly in light of the ongoing conflict in their home country.

Lebanese nationals who are already living in the UK and have permission to stay should continue to follow their immigration conditions. For those whose permission to stay is due to expire, there are a variety of existing routes under the Immigration Rules to allow a person to extend, or vary, their permission in the UK, which are set out on gov.uk.

We are monitoring the situation in Lebanon closely and keeping all existing pathways under constant review for Lebanese nationals currently in the UK.

The trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation is a truly horrific crime. This Government has committed to halve violence against women and girls in a decade, and we will use all of our levers to deliver this.

The criminal justice system and support for victims are devolved matters. However, given the cross-border nature of sexual exploitation, the Home Office works closely with the Scottish Government and law enforcement partners to ensure our approach to victim identification and support, and our pursuit of perpetrators is joined up.

We have several ways to estimate the scale of sexual exploitation. Victims of sexual exploitation make up a significant proportion of referrals to the National Referral Mechanism (the framework for identifying and referring potential victims of modern slavery to appropriate support). The most recent statistics show that in 2023, sexual exploitation accounted for 10% (1,679) of all referrals, a 2% increase from the previous year, with 9% (1,470) of referrals relating to women. The Home Office does not hold data specific to Edinburgh North and Leith. However, between January and June 2024, there were 13 potential victims of modern slavery referred to the NRM who reported (either part or whole) sexual exploitation which was disclosed as occurring in the City of Edinburgh. We understand this will not be the full extent.

Available academic research on prostitution highlights the challenges in estimating prevalence. Research conducted by the University of Bristol focusing on England and Wales was unable to identify a single prevalence estimate. However, it assessed a number of existing national estimates made over the last 20 years which ranged from 35,882 to 104,964, across England and Wales.

Online platforms are a significant enabler of sexual exploitation. The Online Safety Act 2023 sets out priority offences, including sexual exploitation and human trafficking offences, and companies will need to adopt measures and put in place systems and processes to identify, assess and address these offences based on a risk assessment.

Allocations for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in 2025-26 were published on GOV.UK on 13 December and can be found here.

The Government recognises that the community-led housing sector - of which cohousing is an important part - delivers a wide range of benefits, including strengthening community participation in local decision-making, engendering community cohesion, achieving high quality design and strengthening the co-operative economy. Cohousing in particular has been shown to provide an excellent solution to meeting the housing needs of some older people.

A range of funding and finance is available which can be used to support the development of community-led housing (though eligibility may depend on the nature of specific developments). This includes the Levelling-Up Home Building Fund, which provides affordable loan finance for the development of sites of 5 units or more and the Affordable Homes Programme, which provides grant funding to support the capital costs of developing affordable housing in England.

Beyond funding, our recent consultation on the National Planning Policy Framework, to which we will be responding shortly, specifically included proposals designed to strengthen support for community-led housing, including changes to the size limit on community-led exception sites and a broadening of the definition of organisations able to deliver community-led housing.

As we develop our Long Term Housing Strategy, we will consider how the Government may further support the growth of the community-led housing sector, helping to deliver the additional homes the country needs.