Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what methodology he uses to assess the employment impact of proposed data centres; whether published employment estimates distinguish between temporary construction roles and permanent operational jobs; and what estimate his Department has made of the average number of permanent jobs created per hectare of land occupied by new data-centre developments.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Data centres are an enabling industry that supports employment, investment and economic growth across the UK. Data centres have been designated CNI which reflects their importance to the secure operation of digital services relied upon by businesses, public services and households. TechUK estimates that the sector supports 43,500 jobs, contributes £4.7 billion in annual GVA and generates £640 million in tax revenue. Each operational job may support a further 1.4 to 2.5 jobs across the economy.
The Government continues to work with industry to maximise local employment, skills and community benefits from new data centre developments.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many incidents involving the impersonation of foreign government representatives targeting (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) senior civil servants have been reported since 1 January 2024; and what changes have been made to security procedures following those incidents.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The Government takes matters of national security very seriously, including cyber security, and has robust procedures in place to prevent the loss of sensitive information.
However, we do not routinely comment on the specifics on matters relating to national security.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether receipt of (i) support and (ii) priority access to an electricity-grid connection by a data-centre development will be conditional on compliance with minimum standards for (a) energy efficiency, (b) water efficiency, (c) the use of low-carbon electricity, (d) demand flexibility and (e) the recovery and reuse of waste heat.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Government is committed to supporting the sustainable growth of the UK's data centre sector reflecting their critical importance to the economy, public services and national security. A limited number of strategically important data centres may be supported through the Connections Accelerator Service (CAS) subject to the CAS Project Selection Process. The selection process includes due diligence from DBIST and an evaluation of the project alignment to government priorities including economic growth, jobs and net zero objectives. CAS provides enhanced engagement with network companies to identify opportunities to accelerate connections where possible, but it does not guarantee an earlier connection date.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much of the additional £340 million announced on 20 July 2026 to address long-term rough sleeping will be allocated to (a) Walsall Council and (b) the West Midlands; and how many of the proposed 1,200 homes and 3,000 supported places will be provided in each area.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The £340 million announced on 20 July formed part of the £442 million subsequently announced for the Rough Sleeping Programme on 19 August. This investment will help ensure that people sleeping rough have a route off the streets this winter, while delivering longer-term settled homes and intensive support for people who have experienced long-term rough sleeping.
West Midlands Combined Authority has been allocated £5,527,534 for 2026-27. This includes funding calculated in respect of its constituent local authority areas, including Walsall. It will be for the Combined Authority to determine how the funding is managed across the West Midlands in partnership with its constituent local authorities. Allocations for later years remain provisional.
Local areas will have flexibility to shape accommodation and support around local circumstances and the needs of people sleeping rough.
Details of funding allocations are available in the published Rough Sleeping Programme allocation tables, which may be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rough-sleeping-programme.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answers to Questions 16435 and 16436 on 15 July 2026, on Taxation: Debt Collection, what safeguards are being considered in relation to (a) a minimum protected balance, (b) affordability assessments, (c) independent or human review, (d) notice and appeal periods, (e) errors caused by disputed liabilities and (f) people with additional support needs.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The proposals aim to maintain fairness in the tax system and address a gap in existing debt enforcement tools, by collecting lower value tax debts from taxpayers who can pay but do not engage. The consultation on proposals to tackle lower value tax debts closed on 28 August. The Government is currently analysing responses received and will use this to inform next steps, including whether and how the proposal should be taken forward.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer to Question 16436 on 15 July 2026, on Taxation: Debt Collection, whether HM Revenue and Customs has received legal advice on the compatibility of the proposed powers with the European Convention on Human Rights and data-protection law; and whether a (a) programme risk register and (b) contingency plan exist.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The proposals aim to maintain fairness in the tax system and address a gap in existing debt enforcement tools, by collecting lower value tax debts from taxpayers who can pay but do not engage. The consultation on proposals to tackle lower value tax debts closed on 28 August. The Government is currently analysing responses received and will use this to inform next steps, including whether and how the proposal should be taken forward.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer to Question 16435 on 15 July 2026, on Taxation: Debt Collection, whether HM Revenue and Customs has prepared a (a) preliminary equality impact assessment and (b) screening assessment for the proposed lower-value debt recovery powers.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The proposals aim to maintain fairness in the tax system and address a gap in existing debt enforcement tools, by collecting lower value tax debts from taxpayers who can pay but do not engage. The consultation on proposals to tackle lower value tax debts closed on 28 August. The Government is currently analysing responses received and will use this to inform next steps, including whether and how the proposal should be taken forward.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answers of 15 July 2026 to Questions 16435 and 16436 on Taxation: Debt Collection, what proportion of lower-value debts returned unsuccessfully by debt collection agencies relate to taxpayers in each income decile; what proportion have previously been identified by HM Revenue and Customs as requiring extra support; and whether anonymised distributional data will be published alongside the consultation response.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The proposals aim to maintain fairness in the tax system and address a gap in existing debt enforcement tools, by collecting lower value tax debts from taxpayers who can pay but do not engage. The consultation on proposals to tackle lower value tax debts closed on 28 August. The Government is currently analysing responses received and will use this to inform next steps, including whether and how the proposal should be taken forward.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what requirements apply to South Staffs Water’s collection, retention and use of smart-meter consumption data; at what frequency household usage will be recorded; which third parties may receive identifiable or pseudonymised information; and whether customers will be able to access the same level of usage data used by the company for billing, leakage detection and demand-management purposes.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies must comply with applicable data protection and privacy legislation when collecting and processing customer information. The collection, retention and operational use of smart meter data are matters for individual water companies, subject to relevant legal and regulatory requirements.
Asked by: Wendy Morton (Conservative - Aldridge-Brownhills)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what reduction in household water consumption South Staffs Water is required to achieve through universal metering; what the evidential basis is for the conclusion that moving an unmetered household to metered charging reduces demand by approximately 13%; and whether she plans to take steps to ensure the company will be required to publish actual consumption reductions separately from savings attributed to the detection of customer-side leaks.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
South Staffs Water's metering programme forms part of its wider demand management activities. Ofwat's PR24 framework sets expectations for demand reduction and monitors delivery against company commitments through its regulatory performance framework.