Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing partial refunds for overlapping immigration health surcharges in cases where the applicant has applied to (a) extend and (b) switch their visa from outside the UK and are able to demonstrate evidence of financial harm as a result.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The new guidance being produced by the Home Office is designed to assist local authorities in supporting families with NRPF, as set out in the Child Poverty Strategy. The guidance will provide clarity around statutory duties and key safeguards for local authorities, ensuring a clear and consistent approach. The guidance does not alter the eligibility criteria for any current schemes or benefits.
Children whose families are subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition (NRPF) can currently access schemes and benefits such as free school meals, 15 hours of free childcare for disadvantaged two-year-olds and15 hours free childcare for three- to four-year-old.
The Home Office will continue to work across government where relevant to ensure that migrant children with NRPF are specifically considered when reviewing or deciding on eligibility for schemes and benefits.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing the immigration health surcharge refund policy to allow for partial refunds to be made for periods of overlapping payments in cases where the applicant has applied to (a) extend and (b) switch their visa from outside the UK.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The new guidance being produced by the Home Office is designed to assist local authorities in supporting families with NRPF, as set out in the Child Poverty Strategy. The guidance will provide clarity around statutory duties and key safeguards for local authorities, ensuring a clear and consistent approach. The guidance does not alter the eligibility criteria for any current schemes or benefits.
Children whose families are subject to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition (NRPF) can currently access schemes and benefits such as free school meals, 15 hours of free childcare for disadvantaged two-year-olds and15 hours free childcare for three- to four-year-old.
The Home Office will continue to work across government where relevant to ensure that migrant children with NRPF are specifically considered when reviewing or deciding on eligibility for schemes and benefits.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps Student Loans Company is taking to ensure that borrowers repaying through PAYE are not issued incorrect repayment demands.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
UK-based student loan repayments are collected by HMRC through the tax system. Employers deduct repayments for employees with a student loan when their earnings are above the relevant student loan repayment threshold. Employers will pass the collected repayments to HMRC, and HMRC pass details of the repayments to the Student Loans Company (SLC).
SLC may write to a customer directly if they have been paid more student loan or grant than they are entitled to. Overpayments are due to be repaid separately from the customer’s main student loan balance, and it is right that the SLC seek repayment of such sums.
If a borrower thinks they have received a letter in error, we encourage them to engage with SLC. Customer satisfaction is important to SLC, and they continue to invest in systems to provide customers with a more intuitive and comprehensively digital service. SLC welcomes feedback from customers to further improve their service.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether alternative reporting frequencies were considered under Making Tax Digital for self-employed workers whose income is irregular or seasonal.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government has worked extensively with taxpayers, representative bodies and software developers to ensure Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax works well for businesses of all types and sizes.
For most users, MTD for Income Tax will involve keeping digital records and submitting four light-touch quarterly updates during the tax year.
MTD quarterly updates are not tax returns. They are simple summaries of business income and expenses and are populated automatically through software that draws the relevant data from digital records.
Quarterly updates allow taxpayers with irregular or seasonal income to see an emerging view of their likely tax position as the year progresses, supporting better business planning. The updates can also enable HMRC to deliver targeted digital prompts to users throughout the tax year, ensuring reporting is accurate and timely by pointing out errors or missing entries.
With accurate records captured digitally in software, preparing the end-of-year return should be simpler, as the information needed is already available.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment has been made of the impact of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax on workers in the creative industries and gig economy.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government has worked extensively with taxpayers, representative bodies and software developers to ensure Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax works well for businesses of all types and sizes.
For most users, MTD for Income Tax will involve keeping digital records and submitting four light-touch quarterly updates during the tax year.
MTD quarterly updates are not tax returns. They are simple summaries of business income and expenses and are populated automatically through software that draws the relevant data from digital records.
Quarterly updates allow taxpayers with irregular or seasonal income to see an emerging view of their likely tax position as the year progresses, supporting better business planning. The updates can also enable HMRC to deliver targeted digital prompts to users throughout the tax year, ensuring reporting is accurate and timely by pointing out errors or missing entries.
With accurate records captured digitally in software, preparing the end-of-year return should be simpler, as the information needed is already available.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what her planned timetable is for introducing a ban on the provision of UK based maritime services that enable the transport and export of Russian liquefied natural gas; and when she expects such a ban to enter into force.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 5 February 2026 to Question 109565.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will consider providing additional funding and resources to support BSGE-accredited endometriosis services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government acknowledges the challenges faced by women with endometriosis and the impact it has on their lives, their relationships, and their participation in education and the workforce. We are committed to improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care for gynaecological conditions including endometriosis.
The 10-Year Health Plan set out our ambition for high autonomy to be the norm across every part of the country. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the healthcare needs of their local population and have the freedom to do so, and this includes women's health hubs and delivering the direction of the Women's Health Strategy. The Government is backing ICBs to do this through record funding. The 2025 Spending Review prioritised health, with record investment in the health and social care system.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department will consider providing specialist pelvic physiotherapy provision within the NHS for patients with endometriosis.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Pelvic physiotherapy is an established and expanding component of National Health Service pelvic health services, delivered across maternity, gynaecology, community services, and specialist pathways. Across wider gynaecology and women’s health hubs, pelvic health physiotherapy is routinely offered for pelvic pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, urinary/faecal incontinence, prolapse, dyspareunia, and other presentations commonly associated with endometriosis. Multidisciplinary pelvic pain management, including pelvic physiotherapy, is an expected component within women’s health hubs.
The Government is encouraging integrated care boards to further expand the coverage of women’s health hubs and supporting them to use the learning from the women’s health hub pilots to improve local delivery of services to women and girls. This should enable improved access to pelvic physiotherapy and earlier intervention for conditions such as endometriosis.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support the financial sustainability of childminders in the context of the removal of the wear and tear allowance.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
This department is taking a range of measures to support the financial sustainability of childminding businesses and other early years providers. From April 2026, local authorities will be required to pass at least 97% of their funding directly to providers, an increase from 96%.
We are also working with local authorities and others to ensure that childminders and other early years providers can be paid monthly for the funded hours they provide, making their income more stable. From 1 November 2024, the government introduced new flexibilities to help childminders join and stay in the profession, supporting the government’s commitment to roll out expanded childcare entitlements and give children the best start in life.
In addition, the expansion of the early years entitlements will benefit childminders in different ways. The national average three and four-year-old hourly funding rate of local authorities is increasing by 4.1%, the two-year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.3%, and the nine months to two-year-old hourly funding rate is increasing by 3.4%.
Asked by: Alex Sobel (Labour (Co-op) - Leeds Central and Headingley)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has considered introducing a cap on veterinary prescription fees.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have been conducting a full market investigation into the supply of veterinary services for household pets in the UK since 23 May 2024. On 15 October 2025, the CMA released its Provisional Decision Report (PDR). The remedies raised in this report are subject to the CMAs final report which is due to be release in the Spring. One of the remedies being considered is a cap on the price of written veterinary prescriptions.
Defra welcomes the CMA’s market investigation into the veterinary sector and looks forward to continuing to engage with the CMA throughout this process. Defra will consider any remedies from the CMAs final report.