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Written Question
National Income
Monday 2nd February 2026

Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the gross domestic product per capita was in (1) Wales, (2) England, (3) Scotland, (4) Northern Ireland, and (5) the United Kingdom, in (a) 2000, (b) 2005, (c) 2010, (d) 2015, (e) 2020, and (f) 2025.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter below from the Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics.

Lord Wigley

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

28 January 2026

Dear Lord Wigley,

As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what the gross domestic product per capita was in (1) Wales, (2) England, (3) Scotland, (4) Northern Ireland, and (5) the United Kingdom, in (a) 2000, (b) 2005, (c) 2010, (d) 2015, (e) 2020, and (f) 2025 (HL13812).

The figures requested, shown in Table 1, are taken from the Regional economic activity by gross domestic product, UK 1998 to 2023 release, which is the latest annual publication of regional gross domestic product (GDP) estimates. We are unable to provide figures for 2025 currently, so we have given estimates for 2023 instead.

All the estimates in our regional GDP release are consistent with those for the UK published in the preceding UK National Accounts, the Blue Book. The current edition is consistent with Blue Book 2024, and for comparability we have reported UK figures from that edition in this response. Please note that more recent estimates for the UK have subsequently been published by the UK National Accounts, but those estimates will lack direct comparability with the estimates we have for nations of the UK.

GDP per capita is calculated by dividing the total GDP for a nation by its total resident population, using the ONS mid-year population estimates. GDP for the UK includes some activity that cannot be assigned to any region, which we call extra-regio. This activity includes offshore oil and gas extraction, the activities of UK embassies abroad and UK armed forces posted overseas. For direct comparability with estimates for individual UK nations we advise use of GDP per capita for the UK less extra-regio, which removes this unallocated element of UK GDP.

Yours sincerely,

Darren Tierney

Table 1: Gross domestic product per capita (£ pounds)

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

2023

Wales

13,709

17,094

18,649

21,979

23,883

29,316

England

18,933

23,389

25,933

30,045

32,153

40,382

Scotland

16,455

21,387

24,076

27,797

28,996

37,192

Northern Ireland

15,086

18,949

19,857

22,830

25,040

32,944

UK less extra-regio

18,352

22,784

25,249

29,273

31,308

39,403

United Kingdom

18,693

23,153

25,630

29,434

31,491

39,845

Source: ONS, Gross domestic product per capita in current market prices

1. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/bulletins/regionaleconomicactivitybygrossdomesticproductuk/1998to2023

2. GDP for the UK includes some activity that cannot be assigned to any region, which we call extra-region.



Written Question
Sodium Valproate
Monday 2nd February 2026

Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether medicine-induced harm from sodium valproate is systematically captured within NHS patient safety, incident and mortality data.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Health Service in England operates a comprehensive central database, the Learn From Patient Safety Events (LFPSE) service, which is a national NHS system for the recording and analysis of patient safety events that occur in healthcare. It collates all records of patient safety incidents made by healthcare providers. Where local healthcare providers identify and record incidents related to sodium valproate, that information will be collated by the LFPSE.

On mortality data, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects and publishes mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales. Deaths in which harm caused by sodium valproate exposure is a contributing factor are not captured as a distinct, searchable category in ONS mortality statistics. Further information on mortality statistics is available on the ONS website, at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/methodologies/userguidetomortalitystatisticsjuly2017#:~:text=Mortality%20statistics%20are%20gathered%20using,data%20for%20the%20previous%20period


Written Question
Marriage: Relatives
Friday 30th January 2026

Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the number of marriages between cousins that have taken place in the UK in each of the last ten years.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The number of marriages between relatives, mainly cousins, is not a data set that is collected and the Government therefore cannot give an estimate.

The Office for National Statistics publishes marriage statistics derived from information recorded at the point of marriage registration in England and Wales. This includes data about age, sex, previous marital status and whether the ceremony was civil or religious, but not whether the parties were related.


Written Question
Equal Pay: Ethnic Groups
Thursday 29th January 2026

Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the ethnic pay gap reporting framework will require employers to record and report pay gap data for Jewish and Sikh employees as distinct ethnic groups.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Our consultation on ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting closed in June 2025. The consultation sought views on the proposed approach, including whether ethnicity data should be collected following the Government Statistical Service (GSS) Ethnicity Harmonised Standard. Good progress has been made in analysing the responses and we will publish the Government response to the consultation in due course.

The ONS current harmonised standard does not include specific “Sikh” and “Jewish” categories for a person’s ethnic group. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which is independent of government, is currently running a public consultation which seeks to review the harmonised standard to ensure it meets the needs of both data users and respondents.

We will monitor the progress of this review during policy development.


Written Question
Government Securities
Thursday 29th January 2026

Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much on average was invested in Government Bonds by Retail Investors in January (a) 2023 and (b) 2025.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

HM Treasury does not hold data on the average amounts invested in gilts by retail investors; however, the government welcomes participation from a broad and diverse range of gilt market investors, including retail buyers.

The Office for National Statistics publishes aggregate holdings in government bonds by different investors, which can be found using the following link - https://www.ons.gov.uk/releases/ukeconomicaccountsjulytoseptember2025


Written Question
Body Searches: Children
Tuesday 27th January 2026

Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the extent to which the ten recommendations from the IOPC report 'National learning recommendations and responses - EIP searches of children, published on 19 March 2024 have been implemented.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Independent Office for Police Conduct’s (IOPC) ‘National Learning Recommendations re: Exposure of Intimate Parts Searches of Children’ report made ten recommendations. Seven recommendations have been fully implemented, and work is ongoing for the other three. Progress on these is set out below:

  • Recommendation 1, Updating Authorised Professional Practice Guidance: The College of Policing has reviewed and is in the process of updating the Authorised Professional Practice guidance, which will embed trauma-informed and child-centred principles.
  • Recommendation 2, Provision of Appropriate Adults: The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) has worked closely with forces to ensure that officers understand the legislative requirements for providing Appropriate Adults during searches of children. They have also engaged with stakeholders to develop and disseminate clear information to help children in custody understand how Appropriate Adults can and should support them.
  • Recommendation 3, Child First Approach: The College of Policing is reviewing and updating guidance and training materials to reinforce a child-centred, trauma-informed, approach to searches of children.
  • Recommendation 4, Coordination of National Policing Response: The Home Office has fostered greater collaboration across policing partners by convening regular engagement with the NPCC, College of Policing, and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services, to ensure that the response to the IOPC’s recommendations is coordinated, evidence-based and embedded in frontline practice.
  • Recommendation 5, Annual Data Requirements (ADR): The ADR has been significantly expanded to create a more comprehensive and robust dataset, enabling clearer monitoring of police practice and better-informed safeguarding assessments. Forces are now required to provide detailed and consistent information on searches that expose intimate parts, both in custody and under stop and search powers. This includes the geographic location of the search, whether a supervisor was consulted, and whether an Appropriate Adult was present. The latest stop and search data, published on GOV.UK recently (Stop and search, arrests, and mental health detentions, March 2025 - GOV.UK), includes additional details on strip searches. Data on searches in custody is due to be published in March 2026.
  • Recommendation 6, Data Collection and Monitoring: The NPCC has implemented regular data monitoring procedures, so that the circumstances and rationale for child strip searches are consistently reviewed. Any issues or learning identified through these reviews are addressed by the Custody Leadership Team within each force, helping drive improvements in practice.
  • Recommendation 7, Authorisation Guidance: The NPCC has reviewed and strengthened authorisation processes for exposure of intimate parts searches. It has also recommended that a senior officer must authorise the strip search of a child, ensuring decisions are made with the necessary accountability, justification, necessity and proportionality.
  • Recommendation 8, Research Around Trauma: The College of Policing has enhanced its evidence base and incorporated key findings related to the trauma experienced by children during strip searches into their products.
  • Recommendation 9, Voice of the Child: Relevant guidance and training products are being reviewed and updated by the College of Policing, to ensure the ‘Voice of the Child’ is more consistently reflected.

Recommendation 10, Mandatory Safeguarding Referral following exposure of intimate parts searches: The Home Office has led system-wide consultations to consider amendments to Code A and C of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (1984), including mandating a safeguarding referral for any child who is subject to an exposure of intimate parts search. The Government is committed to introducing new legal safeguards around the strip search of children as soon as possible.


Written Question
Sodium Valproate: Death
Tuesday 27th January 2026

Asked by: Bob Blackman (Conservative - Harrow East)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government records deaths where harm caused by sodium valproate exposure is listed as a contributing factor.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) collects and publishes mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales. Deaths in which harm caused by sodium valproate exposure is a contributing factor are not captured as a distinct, searchable category in ONS mortality statistics. Further information on mortality statistics is available on the ONS website, at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/methodologies/userguidetomortalitystatisticsjuly2017#:~:text=Mortality%20statistics%20are%20gathered%20using,data%20for%20the%20previous%20period


Written Question
Business Rates
Monday 26th January 2026

Asked by: James Cleverly (Conservative - Braintree)

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2025, to Question 95866, on Business Rates, how many and what proportion of hereditaments have seen their bills (a) increase, (b) remain the same and (c) fall following the revaluation and revised multipliers in England.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties.

To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down next year. Government support also means that most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

The new, permanently lower tax rates for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since COVID. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government publishes data on the number of properties receiving business rates relief. This data can be found at the following link:
  
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-non-domestic-rates-collected-by-councils-in-england-forecast-2025-to-2026


Written Question
Undocumented Workers: Lancashire
Friday 23rd January 2026

Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many illegal working enforcement raids were carried out in Lancashire between July 2024 and December 2025.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

To maintain the highest standards of accuracy, the Home Office prefers to refer to published data, as this has been subject to rigorous quality assurance under National Statistics protocols prior to publication.

Our published data on enforcement visits is available at: Immigration system statistics, year ending September 2025 - GOV.UK

Information about enforcement visits in Lancashire is not currently available in our published data.


Written Question
Census: Gender
Friday 23rd January 2026

Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with the Office for National Statistics to (a) remove and (b) amend questions on gender identity in the next Census.

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

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 14th January is attached.