Written Statements

Tuesday 25th November 2025 Written Statements

Tuesday 25 November 2025

UK-India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement: Agricultural Products Report

Tuesday 25th November 2025 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade (Chris Bryant)]

The UK officially signed its landmark comprehensive economic and trade agreement with India on 24 July 2025, marking the start of a strengthened trading relationship between the two economies. The UK-India trade deal will make trade quicker, cheaper and easier for UK businesses, increasing UK GDP by £4.8 billion and ultimately boosting bilaterial trade with India by £25.5 billion every year in the long run. The deal enables UK businesses to expand into one of the fastest growing markets in the world, delivering the growth mission across the UK and showing the UK’s global commitment to free, fair and open trade.

In order to trigger the ratification of the UK-India trade deal through the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, the Government have a statutory duty to lay a report before Parliament under section 42 of the Agriculture Act 2020. Today, I am proud to lay this report before the House.

The Secretary of State has sought advice from independent bodies including the Trade and Agriculture Commission, the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland, and has responded to this advice in the report. Their independent advice concurs with the Government’s assessment that the FTA does not affect the UK’s ability to maintain its statutory protections in relation to human, animal or plant life or health, animal welfare or the environment. The Government will endeavour to bring this landmark agreement into force as soon as possible, while providing for full parliamentary scrutiny.

[HCWS1094]

NHS Investment: Neighbourhood Health Centres and Digital

Tuesday 25th November 2025 Written Statements

[The Minister for Secondary Care (Karin Smyth)]

At the Budget on Wednesday, the Chancellor will set out how the Government will take the fair choices to deliver on the country’s priorities to cut NHS waiting times, cut debt and cut the cost of living. The Chancellor is rightly boosting investment in the NHS after we inherited a health service on its knees—with Lord Darzi’s investigation uncovering a £40 billion black hole.

As part of this investment, I am confirming the delivery of hundreds of new neighbourhood health centres that will deliver healthcare direct to people’s doorsteps across the country. The 250 new health one-stop shops will bring the right local combination from GPs, nurses and pharmacists together under one roof to best meet the needs of the community.

Neighbourhood health centres fundamentally reimagine how the NHS works—bringing care closer to home and making sure the NHS is organised around patients’ needs, not the other way round.

The new neighbourhood health service will move more care out of hospitals, and these centres will provide space for clinics in communities across the country—bringing an end to the postcode lottery of access to healthcare.

The services will initially focus on improving access to general practice and supporting people with complex needs and long-term conditions—like diabetes and heart failure—in the areas of the highest deprivation. As the programme grows, it will expand to support other patients and priority cohorts.

The first 120 are due to be completed by 2030, 50 through the repurposing of existing estate and 70 new builds delivered through public-private partnerships, with a smaller proportion through public capital.

Our new NHS neighbourhood rebuild programme will give the health service the investment it needs, repurposing and building a new generation of neighbourhood health centres across the country. It will go hand in hand with reform and efficiency—ensuring proper value for money for taxpayers.

This will include improved incentives to make sure these NHS facilities are delivered on time and on budget—so patients across England get faster treatment in new and convenient buildings. By delivering through a combination of private and public investment the Government will be able to build further evidence and compare different models of delivery while updated accounting treatment will ensure these are recognised up front in public accounts, a fundamentally different approach to previous approaches, such as when PFI was used in the 2000s.

To further support the drive to reduce waiting lists there will be £300 million of additional capital investment in NHS technology to boost productivity, support staff and improve patient outcomes, driving the shift from analogue to digital. This builds on up to £10 billion announced at the spending review, and will ensure seamless navigation and communication between primary and secondary care through the NHS app. By guiding patients to self-care, primary care and urgent care through a single user-facing service, their information will be made readily available across all providers. This funding will also close the gap in patient access to digital health records, so patients can make informed choices about their care.

[HCWS1095]

Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures: 1 June 2025 to 31 August 2025

Tuesday 25th November 2025 Written Statements

[The Minister for Security (Dan Jarvis)]

Section 19(1) of the Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act 2011 requires the Home Secretary to report to Parliament as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of every relevant three-month period on the exercise of their TPIM powers under the Act during that period.

The level of information provided will always be subject to slight variations based on operational advice.

Overnight Visitor Levy

Tuesday 25th November 2025 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Steve Reed)]

The Government’s mission is clear: we must do all we can to unlock economic growth. For too long, England has been one of the most centralised countries in the developed world. That means that decisions made in Whitehall—far away from the reality of places and communities across the country—have too often failed to reflect the needs of local people. Mayors and other local leaders are best placed to identify and invest in the projects and infrastructure that drive growth and make a place attractive for visitors and residents. Mayors and other local leaders know their local history, local culture and the unique attributes of their places that draw visitors in. But they need powers and funding to enable them to harness England’s potential and unlock growth through investment.

English mayors have come together to ask for an overnight stay levy through the “right to request”. Together they made the case to the Government for the power to raise a new local revenue stream to realise growth-boosting projects that improve the experience for everyone, from hosting mega-events in Liverpool like Euro 2028 to revolutionising bus services in York and North Yorkshire to connect the coast with the moors and the historic towns and cities; from accelerating the redevelopment of Oxford Street in London for world-leading shopping and cultural experiences in the heart of the capital to delivering the Commonwealth games cultural legacy in the west midlands. These are the projects that both make communities, and world-leading visitor destinations. As mayors consider these investments in the months ahead, they will engage with communities and local businesses on what is right for their local economies.

Today I am meeting the mayors’ request and announcing the next big step on our path to devolution. Mayors in England will be given the power to raise revenue locally through a new overnight visitor levy, and we are consulting on whether to also grant this power to leaders of foundation strategic authorities. This is a groundbreaking step for the future of devolution, with transformative investment potential for England’s tourism sector and the wider economy.

With this new power, local leaders will be empowered to deliver more long-term, locally led investment in transport, regeneration and cultural assets that can unlock growth and improve the public realm for residents, businesses and visitors. Making places more attractive to visit and to live and work in will attract further investment and improve the visitor experience. I am therefore proposing that constituent authorities within strategic authorities that implement a levy should be eligible for a share of revenue raised, for growth-related spending.

Around the world, countries that have embraced fiscal devolution enjoy far greater local investment, and that investment is in the things that matter most to their communities. They can move faster to seize local opportunities without burdensome central Government oversight, and they can tailor policy and projects to match local economies. That is why we are embarking on this new era of fiscal devolution in England, giving local leaders the power to raise and invest money into projects that raise living standards in their local areas, and improve the experience for tourists.

Mayors have already proven what is possible when they are given the tools to deliver. Using a business rates supplement, the Mayor of London delivered the Elizabeth line, connecting communities right across London, and tourists from Heathrow airport to the heart of the west end. The Mayor of Greater Manchester has used his mayoral precept on council tax to provide far improved bus services, including free travel for 16 to 18-year-olds through the “Our Pass” scheme. It is outcomes like these that drive my commitment to devolution, and why my department has already taken such significant steps to strengthen it, including through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill currently in Parliament. This goes alongside our commitment in the fair funding review 2.0 to improve the business rates retention system to more consistently support mayors in driving growth, as well as existing arrangements for retained business rates in mayoral areas.

Giving local leaders in England the power to introduce a visitor levy in their area will bring them up to speed with their international counterparts in New York, Milan, Paris and Prague as well as in Wales and Scotland. But a visitor levy on overnight stays will not necessarily be the right lever everywhere. This is about providing mayors with another fiscal tool in their toolbox for growth.

Tourism is vital to our economy, and tourism should share in the growth benefits delivered by investment funded by this levy. England is one of the world’s leading tourist destinations, attracting over 130 million visitors each year. Investment in the places that people visit will help to build on England’s reputation as a world-leading destination. I recognise that businesses, and potential visitors, may have concerns about the effects of a new levy, and I take these concerns seriously. I expect mayors to engage constructively with businesses and their communities to hear these concerns throughout the consultation period and beyond. Local leaders will also run a formal local consultation before making use of the new power.

Tomorrow, my hon. Friend the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and I will publish a consultation with the detail of the proposed levy, and I urge all those interested to respond to it, to make this a power that works for strategic and local authorities, businesses, local communities and visitors alike.

[HCWS1097]

Airports National Policy Statement: Heathrow

Tuesday 25th November 2025 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Heidi Alexander)]

Further to my oral statement to the House on 22 October, I am writing to update the House on the Government’s decision to identify the scheme promoted by Heathrow Airport Ltd as the scheme to take forward in informing the ongoing review of the airports national policy statement over the coming months. Any resulting proposed amendment to the ANPS, along with any other proposed amendments, will be subject to public consultation.

This decision marks an important milestone, one that reaffirms the UK’s commitment to maintaining its position as a world leader in aviation, innovation and economic growth. Heathrow is our only hub airport, which supports trade, tourism and hundreds of thousands of jobs, and underpins prosperity across both the south-east and regions of the United Kingdom. If Britain is to remain competitive in the decades ahead, we must ensure that our airport capacity matches our ambition as a modern, outward-looking and confident nation.

The Government’s position is clear: expansion at Heathrow must be cost-effective, minimising the burden on passengers and coming at no cost to the taxpayer. The project will be privately financed, including the core scheme and any associated surface access improvements.

Crucially, expansion must be delivered in a way that aligns with our legal obligations on air quality, environmental protection, noise and climate change.

We recognise that expansion brings both opportunity and responsibility. My Department will therefore continue to work closely with the Civil Aviation Authority, local authorities, community representatives and the wider aviation sector to ensure any scheme is delivered transparently, responsibly and in partnership with those it affects.

Assessment of proposals

Following my update last month to confirm that two proposed schemes remained under active consideration, my Department has now undertaken a further assessment of those two proposed schemes—Heathrow Airport Ltd and Arora Group-Heathrow West Ltd. I would like to thank both promoters of the proposed schemes for providing this additional information, and for their constructive engagement with my Department.

Following a comparative assessment of the remaining proposals for Heathrow expansion, the Government’s view is that the north-west runway scheme brought forward by Heathrow Airport Ltd offers the most credible and deliverable option, principally due to the relative maturity of its proposal, the comparative level of confidence in the feasibility and resilience of its surface access plans, and the stronger comfort it provides in relation to the efficient, resilient and sustainable operations of the airport over the long-term.

The HAL scheme is considered comparatively more mature in its approach to road infrastructure. While the HAL scheme requires major works to the M25, assessment indicates that the HWL scheme would also have a considerable impact on the M25.

We know we must provide as much clarity and certainty for communities affected by expansion at Heathrow, as soon as possible. While HAL’s scheme requires more land, it would require the acquisition of fewer residential properties around the airport than HWL’s scheme.

The runway length proposed by HAL—up to 3.5 km —is considered to be advantageous in terms of providing greater resilience and potential futureproofing for next-generation aircraft when compared with the 2.8 km runway proposed by HWL.

The Government therefore consider that overall, the HAL scheme provides the greatest likelihood of meeting our ambition for a decision on development consent application within this Parliament. This scheme will now inform the ongoing ANPS review. Any scheme identified in an amended ANPS will still need detailed consideration—including matters such as runway length, layout and supporting infrastructure—in any development consent order sought under planning legislation.

Airports National Policy Statement Review

The airports national policy statement provides the policy framework for the Government’s approach to securing additional airport capacity in the south-east of England.

I announced on 22 October that it would be reviewed, particularly to consider updated aviation forecasts and how any changes in policy and legislation—in particular relating to climate and the environment—since its designation in 2018 may need to be reflected, as well as how the Government’s four tests will be applied to expansion. We have begun detailed analytical and policy work to this effect.

Further to this, today I am publishing the Government’s stakeholder engagement approach. This represents an important step in ensuring that the development and review of the ANPS is conducted in a manner that is transparent, inclusive, and informed by a comprehensive range of stakeholder views.

I have always been clear that any proposals for airport expansion must meet the Government’s four tests, including those relating to climate commitments. I am confirming that I have today written to the Climate Change Committee setting out how I intend to engage with it, so that its views can be fully considered as this process progresses.

Regulatory work

As I said in October, rigorous and effective cost control will be essential to the scheme’s success both in minimising any impact on airline charges and costs to passengers and in maintaining credibility with financial markets.

The Civil Aviation Authority is continuing its work to develop the regulatory framework that will support delivery of expansion at Heathrow. It will shortly set out further detail on its approach to early cost recovery by promoters and is today publishing a paper setting out potential future regulatory options for an expanded Heathrow. The Government welcome this work and will continue to co-ordinate closely with the regulator to ensure that any new regulatory framework supports the timely and efficient financing of expansion and, in line with the CAA’s statutory duties, that passengers’ interests are protected and the best possible value is delivered.

This ongoing collaboration between Government and the CAA will continue to align regulatory and policy frameworks as the ANPS review progresses. The Department has a clear interest in ensuring the best possible value and service for passengers and will continue to review the CAA’s independent assessment of regulatory options to achieve this.

Broader programme progress

As we set out in October, the Government have acted in a range of areas that will enable expansion at Heathrow, including through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, our work on judicial reviews, and the initiation of slot reform. Since October, we have continued to make progress on policies that enable the delivery of an operational third runway at Heathrow.

On airspace modernisation, the Department is today launching a consultation on a package of changes to help streamline airspace design while retaining the important principles of a transparent, evidence-based airspace change process.

Alongside this, we continue to make progress on work to decarbonise aviation, including increasing the uptake of sustainable aviation fuel, and innovation in aviation technology.

This is a historic opportunity for the UK aviation sector and wider economy. The Government are committed to ensuring expansion is delivered in a timely, cost-efficient, and environmentally responsible way, and we will consult on any amendments to the ANPS by July 2026.

[HCWS1093]

Carer's Allowance Overpayments Review

Tuesday 25th November 2025 Written Statements

[The Minister for Social Security and Disability (Sir Stephen Timms)]

The Government have today published the report from the independent review into overpayments of carer’s allowance linked to earnings and the Government’s response to its recommendations. These are available on gov.uk and copies will be placed in the Library of the House.

Finding out what went wrong with carer’s allowance

The Government inherited a system where some busy carers, already struggling under a huge weight of caring responsibilities, have found themselves with unexpected debts due to overpayments of carer’s allowance. This only affected some of the relatively small number of carer’s allowance claimants who also do paid work, but the impact on some of these unpaid carers has been significant.

Liz Sayce OBE was asked to lead an independent review into the matter. The review’s report has been invaluable in helping us assess how these overpayments have arisen; what we can do to support unpaid carers who have incurred debts in the past; and how we can minimise further overpayments in future.

For those who receive carer’s allowance, 92% say they have a positive experience, and most find the rules easy to understand. However, the review has shown that some mistakes were made, and we are determined to put them right. We welcome the report and are accepting or partially accepting 38 of the 40 recommendations. In some cases, we have already made the changes the report is asking for. Others will take more time to put in place.

The review finds that some carers could not have known that they were building up overpayments because it was not clear how their earnings would affect their entitlement, and this lack of clarity was due to issues with operational guidance. The Government accept this and we will act to put it right.

Averaging earnings and putting things right

The earnings limit in carer’s allowance is a weekly one, but in some cases, earnings can be averaged over a number of weeks. The review found issues with departmental guidance. And we accept that, between 2015 and summer 2025, the guidance on whether and how to average earnings did not accurately reflect the statutory position.

The Department will, therefore, be reassessing carer’s allowance cases with an earnings-related overpayment in England and Wales between 2015 and summer 2025 where the treatment of fluctuating earnings may have given rise to an incorrect overpayment. If that was the case, the Department will reduce the outstanding overpayment accordingly, and pay back any debts it should not have pursued in the first place. We will set out plans in the new year.

The independent review went beyond averaging earnings though and made recommendations in a number of other areas which we are accepting—for example, rebuilding trust with carers; improving communications and processes; and appointing a senior responsible owner, who will be responsible for taking forward the agreed recommendations and reporting on progress.

Modernising for the future

Carer’s allowance was introduced in 1976 and—unlike universal credit, which is the other main benefit to support unpaid carers—it has not kept up with changes in how people work or modern patterns of unpaid care. Many carers now want the flexibility to combine more paid work with their caring responsibilities.

The Government acknowledge this and have taken action to:

Increase the weekly carer’s allowance earnings limit to match 16 hours work at national living wage levels. This change from April this year resulted in the largest ever increase in the limit to £196 net earnings a week and the highest percentage increase since 2001. It means more than 60,000 additional people will be able to receive carer’s allowance between 2025-26 and 2029-30;

put in extra resources to process the earnings information we receive from HMRC through the verify earnings and pensions system. This allows us to contact people if it looks like they may have exceeded the earnings limit, meaning we can take action to prevent overpayments from building up;

correct and improve our guidance so carers and our own staff are clearer about what the benefit rules are and what information needs to be provided; and

begin scoping work to explore potential solutions to reduce the impact of the cliff edge, and automating the handling of earnings where possible using data collected by HMRC.

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