Written Statements

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

Thursday 26 March 2026

British Steel

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Chris McDonald)]

The Government committed to updating Parliament on British Steel every four sitting weeks for the duration of the period of special measures being applied under the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025.

The Government’s priority remains to maintain the safe operation of the blast furnaces at British Steel. Government officials are continuing to provide on-site support in Scunthorpe, ensuring uninterrupted domestic steel production and monitoring the use of taxpayer funds.

On funding, the position remains that all Government funding for British Steel will be drawn from existing budgets, within the spending envelope set out at spring statement 2025. To date, we have provided approximately £419 million for working capital, covering items such as raw materials and salaries. This will be reflected in the Department for Business and Trade’s accounts for 2025-26.

We continue to work with Jingye to find a pragmatic, realistic solution for the future of the site. Once a solution is found, we will terminate the directions issued to British Steel under the Act and make a statement on the need to retain, or repeal, the legislation. As we have stated previously, our long-term aspiration for the UK steel sector will require co-investment with the private sector to enable modernisation and decarbonisation and to safeguard taxpayers’ money.

Liberty Pipes Hartlepool sale

We understand that Liberty has run a sales process for their site in Hartlepool, with Corinth Pipeworks announced as the buyer. This is a commercial sale in which Government have not been involved. We welcome the new investment in this site.

[HCWS1469]

Government Delivery: Simplifying Processes and Reducing Bureaucracy

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office (Nick Thomas-Symonds)]

My noble and learned Friend the Attorney General, the right hon. Lord Hermer KC, has today jointly laid this statement in the House of Lords:

Further to the written ministerial statement made by my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister on 20 January, which can be found at https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-01-20/hcws1260 I am writing to provide an update on some of our next steps to accelerate delivery. Working closely with the new Cabinet Secretary, we are launching a programme of work to simplify the state, removing unnecessary bureaucracy and speeding up the timeline from ministerial decision to delivery for citizens. Together with wider reforms to “re-wire” public services, the civil service and regulatory duties, we are creating a faster and better model for government that will have a real impact on people’s lives.

Our state does not work in the way intended, hindering our ability to deliver real change for British people. This is the result of overcomplicated bureaucratic processes that we have lived with for too long. Individual elements of the bureaucracy were, mostly, designed for good reasons, but they have now become layers built upon layers without any proper assessment of the overall effect. Despite the good intentions, the cumulative result has been a stifling effect on Government. The need for change is urgent. We are developing a plan to free Ministers, officials and the British public from the bureaucratic mire that prevents innovation and improvements to people’s lives.

Our agenda is simple: strip back the burdensome, disproportionate processes to speed up decision making and delivery across Government. Instigating this work is essential to reach the desire for radical reform across Government. It directly supports the Prime Minister’s ambition to “re-wire the state” to make it work for working people.

Immediate first steps include aiming to:

End the introduction of unnecessary reporting and consultation requirements through introducing a higher bar to their inclusion in legislation.

Use AI to identify existing disproportionate reporting and consultation duties that are slowing down delivery.

Take action on the use of equalities impact assessments to ensure they are proportionate and actually improve policy and outcomes.

Replace environmental impact assessments with environmental outcomes reports as part of a significant step in reducing bureaucracy around new infrastructure projects.

Simplify and improve Government controls—a reformed controls framework goes live from the start of the 2026-27 financial year, reducing bureaucracy in projects and programmes, empowering those closest to delivery.

Continue to deliver the Government’s commitments on arm’s length body reform, ensuring that decisions are taken at the right level. All Departments have been asked to set out their plans to reform their ALB landscape, with a view to confirming mergers, closures and repatriations ahead of the next spending review.

Working alongside the new Cabinet Secretary, Dame Antonia Romeo DCB, to deliver the Prime Minister’s priorities, Ministers will also implement a number of changes to:

Continue exploring new ways to reduce administrative burdens and speed up Government decision making, building on existing progress to digitise processes and improve efficiency.

Introduce a new accountability framework, working with permanent secretaries, to set clear expectations and measurable targets to drive delivery of the Prime Minister’s priorities, and innovation within their Departments, and hold people to account for doing so.

This is far from the limit of the Government’s ambition. We are scoping the significant longer-term opportunities for simplifying Government processes, to “ungum” the system and ultimately drive growth and deliver faster outcomes for people. Reforming these fundamentals will increase our capacity to get on with the business of government: delivering for the British public.

[HCWS1467]

European Union Finances: Annual Statement

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (James Murray)]

I am today laying before Parliament, “European Union Finances Statement 2025: Statement on the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement” (CP 1538). This is an annual publication; this year’s edition covers the period from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. This publication is available on the gov.uk website.

The publication sets out the Government’s updated estimate of the financial settlement on withdrawal from the EU. HM Treasury estimates that the total net value of the financial settlement is £30.9 billion since the UK ceased to be an EU member state in February 2020. Of this, £25.7 billion has been paid up to the end of December 2025, and the forecast of future outstanding net liabilities is £5.3 billion.

[HCWS1478]

National Savings & Investments

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury (Torsten Bell)]

On 18 December 2025, NS&I notified the Treasury of a failure to comprehensively trace accounts for some customers who had passed away. The result of this failure is that not all savings were identified by NS&I and paid to the beneficiaries of their estates.

Specifically, processes failed to comprehensively trace some customers’ holdings where those were spread across multiple profiles or systems despite consistent identifying details, such as name, address and date of birth, that should have made that possible.

There have been wider related historical challenges, for example, the FCA took enforcement action in 2018 against Santander relating to the tracing of accounts following bereavement claims. It is now clear that NS&I did not respond to these warning signs as fully as we in the Government, and more importantly their customers, would expect.

Action so far

Since being notified of this issue, HM Treasury has ensured external advisers, including EY and Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, have been engaged to identify the scale of these errors. Through this work NS&I has reviewed 34 million customer records.

Their work is ongoing, but it points to up to a maximum of around 37,000 customers, with up to £476 million in deposits, being affected. This number is likely to fall in future, but while it currently represents less than 0.2% of NS&I’s customers, it is still far too many.

NS&I is not regulated by the FCA, but the Government expect it to live up to the same standards as regulated deposit taking banks. It is therefore right that NS&I is apologising for these failings today.

The Government’s priorities are now threefold:

Fixing the problem going forward

First, and immediately, the priority is to ensure that the problem is no longer taking place.

NS&I has received written assurances from its customer facing supplier, SSL, that the causes of this tracing issue have been addressed and will not affect customers going forward. Its previous supplier, Atos, has also committed to full co-operation given this issue is long standing.

Reuniting funds and compensation

Our second priority is to ensure that we reunite beneficiaries of those customers who have passed away with any funds that NS&I holds.

We can confirm that those savings are 100% safe. This issue is about tracing, not the security of any funds.

NS&I has put in place a dedicated programme team to oversee this work, hiring an additional 100 staff, and will be publishing a delivery plan in May, detailing how it will take forward this work to reunite funds with their owners.

This will cover:

the numbers of cases affected

how NS&I will proactively contact representatives of estates to ensure they receive the funds they are due, including interest on savings;

and the compensation that, where appropriate, will be paid.

There is no need for individuals to utilise a claims management company or solicitor to reclaim this money. The onus is not on individuals but on NS&I to act and to contact estate representatives and reconnect beneficiaries with the money they are due. We are committed to ensuring NS&I supports those who have experienced a loss by making the process for reuniting beneficiaries with their money as easy as possible.

We also recognise that there may be tax implications for affected estates, and want to avoid bereaved families facing disproportionate disruption and administrative costs as a result of this error. We are exploring what support we can provide and will set this out alongside NS&I’s delivery plan.

Further information is available on the NS&I website and its contact centre is open seven days a week.

To confirm, current NS&I customers can access their accounts as normal. Any customers wishing to trace old accounts can use the tracing services direct through NS&I or the My Lost Account website.

The organisation

NS&I plays an important role, helping the public save and providing a material contribution towards Government financing. The organisation must continue to play that role, while also addressing the tracing issue.

NS&I must also complete what has proved a challenging digital business transformation programme. This programme was put in place back in 2020 but with little progress made in the latter years of the previous Parliament, as the recent Public Accounts Committee report set out. This Government have appointed David Goldstone —former chief operating officer at the Ministry of Defence—to support NS&I to bring the programme back on track.

It is important that NS&I has the very best leadership in place. Effective from today, we have appointed Sir Jim Harra, former HMRC first permanent secretary, to take over as chief executive of NS&I on an interim basis, to provide a fresh start for NS&I’s next phase of development. We would like to thank Dax Harkins, his predecessor, for his 22 years of public service at NS&I.

As well as providing leadership to the organisation, Sir Jim will undertake a review over the next three months to spell out in detail the background to this tracing problem, and to set out what lessons must be learned for NS&I going forward.

We will ensure Sir Jim’s review is shared with the Chairs of the Treasury and Public Accounts Committees upon completion.

[HCWS1482]

Hodge Review of Arts Council England: Government Response

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)]

We are a nation of storytellers. Through literature, television, film, music, fashion, dance and drama, and through our galleries, our libraries and our museums, we light up the world. In a time when it feels like we have lost our ability to understand one another, the arts are an essential force for good in a divided nation and our gift to a troubled world.

But in this last, lost decade, the arts have been treated as an unaffordable luxury—or worse, as a nuisance or a weapon for Governments in their ongoing, exhausting culture wars. Culture and creativity have been erased from too many classrooms and communities, the routes for working-class artists and performers have narrowed almost to the point of extinction and the contribution of most of us, in places with a proud history of culture and contribution, has been written off. As a result, too many of us no longer see ourselves reflected in the story we tell ourselves, about ourselves, as a nation.

An inclusive national story does not mean making movies where posh boys play gangsters. It means harnessing the strength of our nation; the extraordinary diversity of our people, places, traditions and disciplines—across ballet, northern soul, opera and street art—that creates one of the most vibrant, sought-after artistic scenes in the world, drawing on the contribution of the whole nation and all the people in it. All of us deserve the chance to be part of it and, in turn, we need all of us to sustain it.

We have put arts back at the centre of the curriculum, worked with our national institutions to bring collections out of the basement and into our communities and launched a new town of culture contest to recognise the cultural contribution of our whole country.

We have announced the biggest capital uplift to the arts in a generation so that the battle to keep the lights on and the doors open for institutions—especially outside of London—is no longer the struggle it has been for so long.

But we are impatient for change and our country deserves more. That is why I asked Baroness Hodge of Barking to review the role of the Arts Council, to ensure that this most precious institution, founded by a visionary generation who put arts and culture at the heart of our efforts to rebuild a nation after war, can thrive for generations to come.

We are convinced that her vision will help us to anchor our arts in our people and places, and help us to recover our sense of self-confidence as a nation and turn outwards to the world.

That is why we are accepting every recommendation made by the Hodge review.

This is not a licence for business as usual. For so long arts organisations have had to exist day to day, focusing on protecting and preserving our institutions. We will work with them to rebuild the foundations but in return ask them to blow the doors off, to become anchors in our communities, enable access to excellence everywhere and provide the chance for every person in our country to live richer, larger lives.

This Government believe that the arts are for everyone, everywhere. We know this vision is shared by people across the country and together, through the actions outlined in this report, we will write the next chapter in our nation’s story.

I will place a copy of the Government’s response in the Libraries of both Houses.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/arts-council-england-an-independent-review-by-baroness-margaret-hodge

[HCWS1464]

Afghan Special Forces Relocation Review

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry (Luke Pollard)]

I am pleased today to be able to update the House on the review of Afghan relocations and assistance policy scheme applications from former members of Afghan specialist units, including former members of Commando Force 333 and Afghan Task Force 444, commonly known as the Triples. As this House knows, these Afghans worked alongside UK armed forces in Afghanistan, fighting valiantly, with some dying alongside our troops. It is for this reason I know that former Triples have the support of veterans of the conflict and the British public, as well as Members on both sides of the House.

When in opposition, the Defence Secretary and I, alongside many sitting and former Members of the House, advocated for a review of decisions made on Afghan relocations and assistance policy applications from the Triples. This review was begun under the previous Government, but I am proud to have been able to drive its progression since I took office and ensure that those who we owe so much to are appropriately supported.

Last year, I announced a second and final phase of the Triples review, following the conclusion that, in some cases, evidence of certain top-up payments would also be sufficient to demonstrate a substantive and positive contribution to the UK’s military or national security objectives in Afghanistan due to the nature of the work undertaken by those individuals. This revised approach made it more likely that some individuals from these cohorts previously found ineligible could potentially secure a positive decision.

I believe this second phase was the right thing to do—to ensure we fully analysed and understood all available records that could inform eligibility decisions for the those who may have been impacted. Today I can announce that this review is complete, and over the two phases we have overturned 884 decisions.

I can assure the House that all those who have already had their applications reviewed under phase 1 and 2 of the Triples review and have had a fresh decision made have either been contacted or will be contacted in due course. All decisions made in phases 1 and 2 will still carry a right to have this decision reviewed.

This review has led to improvements in the ARAP casework function, and we have put in place additional resourcing and new processes to continue to drive those improvements. Enhanced training is now in place within the ARAP casework team to better identify organisations that may hold relevant records—and guidance has been amended to reflect this.

The Ministry of Defence is investing in both the systems and the people to improve our digital records management now and in the future, as well as enhancing our capability and approach to interrogating legacy data sets. In co-ordination with the recommendations made in the McIvor review into data protection compliance within the MOD, we have also been implementing a digital records management plan across defence. The journey of improvement is of course a continuous one, and the MOD will continue to build on the learning from this review.

Although I cannot change what happened in the past, I am proud of the work that we have undertaken to conclude this review and deliver on our promise to support eligible Triples who contributed to the UK mission in Afghanistan.

This Government are clear that we intend to conclude the Afghan resettlement programme by the end of this Parliament. The end of the Triples review is an important step towards this. However, there is more to do, and I will update the House shortly on further developments.

[HCWS1486]

Energy Infrastructure Planning: Botley West Solar Farm

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Martin McCluskey)]

This statement concerns an application for development consent made under the Planning Act 2008 by Photovolt Development Partners on behalf of SolarFive Ltd for the construction and operation of a solar farm on land in West Oxfordshire, Cherwell and Vale of White Horse districts, across approximately 1,400 hectares.

Under section 107(1) of the Planning Act 2008, the Secretary of State must make a decision on an application within three months of the receipt of the examining authority’s report unless a new deadline is set using the power under section 107(3) of the Planning Act 2008. Where a new deadline is set, the Secretary of State must make a statement to Parliament to announce it. The current statutory deadline for the decision on the Botley West solar farm application is 10 May 2026.

I have decided to set a new deadline of no later than 10 September 2026 for deciding this application. This is to enable my Department to seek further information from the applicant with sufficient time to allow for consideration of this information by other interested parties.

The decision to set the new deadline for this application is without prejudice to the decision on whether to grant or refuse development consent.

[HCWS1471]

Energy Infrastructure: Development Consent Application Deadlines

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Martin McCluskey)]

This statement concerns three separate applications for development consent made under the Planning Act 2008 by:

North Falls Offshore Wind Ltd for offshore wind turbines approximately 24.5 km from the port of Lowestoft, including onshore connection to the electricity transmission network. The current statutory deadline for the decision is 28 April 2026.

Morgan Offshore Wind Ltd and Morecambe Offshore Windfarm Ltd for the Morgan and Morecambe offshore wind farms transmission assets in the east Irish sea off the coast of north-west England, including onshore connection to the electricity transmission network. The current statutory deadline for the decision is 29 April 2026.

RWE Renewables UK Dogger Bank South (West) Ltd and RWE Renewables UK Dogger Bank South (East) Ltd for the Dogger Bank south offshore wind farms in the north sea approximately 100km for the east coast, including onshore connection to the electricity transmission network. The current statutory deadline for the decision is 30 April 2026.

Under section 107(1) of the Planning Act 2008, the Secretary of State must make a decision on an application within three months of the receipt of the examining authority’s report unless a new deadline is set using the power under section 107(3) of the Planning Act 2008. Where a new deadline is set, the Secretary of State must make a statement to Parliament to announce it.

Having consulted the relevant guidance and under advice from officials, I have agreed to set a new deadline of no later than 14 May 2026 for deciding these applications. This is because the current statutory dates for these three cases are within the pre-election period for local elections in England. This period commences on Thursday 16 April and the guidance advises that particular care should be taken where there is a specific local or geographical dimension to an announcement; where an announcement could have a particular impact on an area or areas where elections are being held; and where an announcement relates to matters which are likely to be raised in election campaigns. For that reason, I am moving the decision dates to 14 May.

The decision to set the new deadline for these applications is without prejudice to the decision on whether to grant or refuse development consent.

[HCWS1472]

Offshore Wind Investment

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Energy (Michael Shanks)]

Today I am setting out the Government’s position on the supply of offshore wind turbines from MingYang, a Chinese turbine supplier. This has followed offshore wind developers seeking the Government view on the use of MingYang smart energy turbines in British waters and in our energy system.

After careful consideration, the Government’s view is that we cannot support the use of them in UK offshore wind projects. We have informed offshore wind developers of this.

We will always act to protect our national security, and we are committed to strengthening and prioritising resilient and sustainable offshore wind supply chains.

We welcome investment from China where it is in our national interest, as demonstrated through the announcement of significant inward investment during the Prime Minister’s visit to Beijing early in the year. We will continue to take a long-term and strategic approach to managing relations with China, co-operating where we can, while being clear-eyed to any risks and ensuring security and resilience.

The UK continues to be a world leader in offshore wind, which provides secure, domestically generated electricity, and will play a key role in achieving clean power by 2030 and net zero, and attract investment, creating thousands of new jobs around the country.

[HCWS1468]

Trail Hunting Consultation

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Dame Angela Eagle)]

My noble Friend, the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Baroness Hayman of Ullock), has made the following written statement today.



Today we are launching a consultation to seek views on how best to deliver an effective and enforceable ban on trail hunting in England and Wales. The responses will be used to inform my Department’s assessment of any potential social, community, economic, business or environmental impacts of a trail hunting ban and the development of subsequent legislation to be introduced when parliamentary time allows.

The consultation invites views on a wide range of matters including:

how trail hunting should be defined for the purposes of a ban;

how to ensure that the ban on trail hunting will not inadvertently affect other activities which we intend should remain lawful such as drag hunting or “clean boot” hunting;

whether it should remain lawful to use animal-based scent trails when training dogs for specific purposes;

considerations relevant to the timing of introducing the ban;

the potential community, social, business, economic and environmental impacts of the proposed approach to banning trail hunting.

The consultation will be open for 12 weeks and close on 18 June. We welcome views from all those with an interest and all responses to the consultation will be considered carefully in developing our proposals.

A summary of responses to the consultation will be published in due course.

Background information on trail hunting

The Hunting Act 2004 made it an offence to hunt wild mammals with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some exemptions. Following the introduction of that Act, trail hunting grew in popularity as an alternative to hunting wild mammals with dogs.

Trail hunting aims to mimic a traditional hunt by laying an animal scent trail which simulates the natural movement of wild mammals through hedgerows, woods, and ditches for hounds and hunts to follow.

Trail hunting has become a focus of concern because, by its very nature, it is difficult to ensure that wild mammals such as foxes are not placed in danger:

trail hunting involves the laying of a trail using an animal-based scent for the dogs to follow;

the trail is not always laid constantly but may be lifted for a distance and dropped again to allow the hounds to search for the scent;

huntsmen and followers often do not know where trails have been laid.

These factors can result in the scent of a live wild animal being picked up. Once picked up, the hounds may follow the scent of the wild mammal rather than follow the intended trail, resulting in pursuit which could cause distress and lead to the death of, or injury to, the wild mammal.

A ban on trail hunting would ensure that wild mammals are not pursued and placed in danger as a result of trail hunting, prevent trail hunting from being used to avoid criminal liability for hunting with dogs and support effective enforcement of the law against hunting with dogs.

[HCWS1473]

British Council Annual Report and Accounts 2024-25

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Chris Elmore)]

The British Council is an important international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities for the UK. It supports peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. It does this by uniquely combining the UK’s deep expertise in arts and culture, education and the English language, its global presence and relationships, and its unparalleled access to young people and influencers around the world.

With a total reach of 598 million people in 2024-25, the British Council creates mutually beneficial relationships between the people of all four nations of the UK and other countries. Such connections, based on an understanding of each other’s strengths and shared values, build an enduring trust. This helps strengthen the UK’s global reputation and influence, encouraging people from around the world to visit, study, trade and make alliances with the UK.

In 2024-25 the British Council received £162.5 million core grant in aid from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and even in tight fiscal circumstances, that core grant was maintained at that level in 2025-26. On 19 March 2026, as part of the FCDO’s allocation of official development assistance funding for the next three years, it was announced that ODA funding for the British Council would be protected at its current levels up to the end of 2028-29, while non-ODA funding will be increased by £40 million over the same period. This supports our objective of a financially sustainable British Council for the long term.

This funding settlement—against a backdrop of substantial cuts that have had to be made in other FCDO-funded programmes—is also a recognition of the continuing financial pressures facing the British Council, including in relation to repayment of its loan from HM Treasury, and the underlying need to update the organisation’s business model. The British Council has put forward a financial turnaround plan, and the FCDO has commissioned an independent review of that plan, and the British Council’s cash-flow position, to provide a robust evidence base for future decision making in this area. FCDO officials are also engaging constructively and on an ongoing basis with the British Council Board and executive to work through the findings.

Copies of the British Council’s annual report and accounts for the 2024-25 financial year have been placed in the library of both Houses. The annual report can also be found at the British Council’s website:

www.britishcouncil.org/about-us/how-we-work/corporate-reports

[HCWS1470]

Six-monthly Report on Hong Kong: 1 July to 31 December 2025

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Yvette Cooper)]

The latest six-monthly report on the implementation of the Sino-British joint declaration on Hong Kong was published today and is attached. It covers the period from 1 July to 31 December 2025. The report has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and I commend it to the House. A copy is also available on the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/six-monthly-report-on-hong-kong-january-to-june-2025

Attachments can be viewed online at:

https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/commons/2026-03-26/hcws1483/

[HCWS1483]

Orgreave Inquiry

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Policing and Crime (Sarah Jones)]

Today I am announcing the formal launch of the Orgreave inquiry, a statutory public inquiry established under the Inquiries Act 2005, to investigate the events at the Orgreave coking plant on 18 June 1984.

I pay tribute to the campaigners, particularly the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign and the National Union of Mineworkers, whose tireless advocacy has brought us to this moment. Their voices will be central to the inquiry’s work.

This inquiry delivers on the Government’s manifesto commitment to uncover the truth about Orgreave and to rebuild public confidence in policing. It will investigate the events of that day, resulting in the arrest of 95 picketers and scores of injuries, which left a lasting impact on communities across South Yorkshire and beyond. It will examine the planning undertaken by the police and Government for the policing of the demonstration at Orgreave on 18 June 1984, including relevant decision making in the leadup to the day; what happened on the day; the immediate aftermath and lasting impact on individuals and communities, including the subsequent public narrative; and the charging decisions and prosecutions relating to those arrested at Orgreave.

As announced on 21 July last year, the inquiry will be chaired by the Right Reverend Dr Pete Wilcox, the Bishop of Sheffield. He will be supported by a panel of independent experts appointed in accordance with section 4 of the Act. I am pleased to confirm the appointment of the following panel members to support the Chair in his work:

Baroness Mary Bousted, a former senior trade union leader representing teachers, leaders, and support staff and workers. She led the panel which, in April 2025, published the report of its independent review of the Police Federation of England and Wales. She will provide relevant knowledge and insight concerning the strategic and operational leadership and management of trades unions

Wendy Williams CBE, a former chief prosecutor and, between 2015-2024, an inspector in His Majesty’s inspectorate of constabulary and fire and rescue services. She published the report of her independent Windrush lessons learned review in March 2020, and her update report on the Home Office’s response in March 2022. She will provide independent insight on police governance, and the decision-making and effectiveness of police forces.

Dr Joanna Gilmore, a senior lecturer in law at the University of York, whose research expertise includes public order law, human rights and policing policy. Drawing on her sociolegal and oral history research into the 1984-85 miners’ strike, she will contribute analysis of the broader societal, legal and political issues arising from the events at Orgreave.

Dr Angie Sutton-Vane, an historian with extensive experience in evidence-based research, historical accountability and the archiving, preservation of and access to police force records. She will provide expertise on the interpretation of historical records, particularly those of the police.

The panel will operate under the agreed terms of reference, a copy of which will be placed in the Library of each House today.

[HCWS1477]

Police Pension Scheme: Opt-out Contingent Decisions

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Policing and Crime (Sarah Jones)]

In 2014 and 2015, the previous Government reformed public service pension schemes. When the reforms were introduced, they provided “transitional protections”, which allowed members who were closer to retirement age to remain in the previous “legacy” schemes rather than move to the “reformed” schemes. In December 2018, the Court of Appeal found, in the McCloud and Sargeant cases, that these protections in the judicial and firefighters’ pension schemes gave rise to unlawful discrimination.

Governing legislation—the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022—was enacted to remedy the discrimination identified by the courts. A core element of the remedy is providing affected members with a choice of pension benefits, legacy or reformed, for the period the discrimination had effect from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022. It also provides affected members with an opportunity to unwind certain pension scheme decisions that they would have made differently but for the discrimination.

However, for police officers who opted out of their pension scheme due to the discrimination there is an unintended consequence of the legislative provisions of the Act, as it specifies the relevant legacy scheme for members who have suffered discrimination. A cohort of these members currently do not have access to the legacy scheme they had last accrued benefits in, as there is a barrier within the Act to rejoining the 1987 police pension scheme, so they have not yet been provided with a full remedy.

This Government will use the additional provisions for special cases set out in the Act to disapply sections 4(2) and 4(3) of the Act for any eligible member who had opted out due to the discrimination and now, under the terms of section 5 of the Act and regulation 6 of the Police Pensions (Remediable Service) Regulations 2023, makes an election to buy back all the opted-out service during the remedy period. This will be applied retrospectively so that opted out service within the remedy period—1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022—can become remediable service in the correct legacy scheme.

Police pension scheme managers should apply this, effective immediately, and in anticipation of the amending legislation. We will correct the position through a statutory instrument as soon as parliamentary time allows.

[HCWS1475]

EU Entry/Exit System: UK Preparations

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Border Security and Asylum (Alex Norris)]

In July 2024, this Government set out the steps we were taking to strengthen readiness for the European Union’s entry-exit system—EES—and to minimise disruption for journeys via the United Kingdom’s juxtaposed border controls. Since then, the Government have continued to work closely with ports, carriers and international partners, including supporting the delivery of necessary infrastructure and technology at juxtaposed sites. Today, I am updating the House ahead of full implementation on 10 April 2026, setting out the context for its introduction, the preparations undertaken at UK ports, and the practical implications for travellers.

The Government have been working to prepare UK citizens, ports and carriers for the introduction of the EU’s new digital border system. EES is an EU-owned system, introduced by the European Union and its member states as part of their external border reforms, and its design, delivery and implementation timetable are determined by the EU.

In October 2025, the EU introduced EES, which many British citizens will already have experienced. EES replaces passport stamping throughout the Schengen area. The system was launched with a six-month phased implementation period and is due to come into force in full on 10 April 2026. Most travellers from the UK and other non-EU countries who do not hold a long-term visa or residence permit will be required to register for EES at the border. This will include capture of both fingerprints and a facial image on entry to the Schengen area, as well as some checks on exit. EES will strengthen the security of the EU’s external border, and the UK remains supportive of this objective as part of our shared commitment to secure and well-managed borders.

The decision to introduce EES, and the timing of its implementation, rest with the EU and its member states. The Government have engaged closely with the European Commission and member states throughout the development and phased implementation period to ensure the implications for British travellers are understood, to advocate for a proportionate and pragmatic approach, and to make sure we are able to support our citizens to navigate these new border arrangements.

At UK ports with juxtaposed border controls—Dover, Eurotunnel, and Eurostar at St Pancras—EES registration will take place on UK soil before passengers’ departure. The Government have supported the ports and carriers to ensure that appropriate technology and processes are in place. This included providing £10.5 million to support the juxtaposed ports in installing new technology and complete infrastructure works, recognising that these changes represent a significant operational shift at some of the UK’s busiest routes to Europe. The UK juxtaposed ports have undertaken a substantial programme of work to prepare for EES.

Last year, the Government launched public communications to raise awareness of the new border checks among British travellers, and this will continue as EES is fully implemented. Travellers are advised to check with their operator and follow the latest advice on gov.uk, which may include allowing extra time for EES exit processing when returning to the UK.

The Government remain committed to maintaining fluidity at the border, and to supporting both industry and the public as they adapt to the changing landscape of modern border systems. We will continue to engage with the EU and its member states to press for smooth implementation and to advocate for the interests of British citizens travelling to Europe.

[HCWS1476]

Correction to Written Statement HCWS1455

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

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

On 25 March I made a written statement on local government reorganisation. There was a minor error in the statement. In outlining the new councils to be created in Suffolk, it said:

“Central and Eastern Suffolk Council (current local government areas of West Suffolk, 21 parishes from Mid Suffolk, and Babergh (less 31 parishes)).

Western Suffolk Council (current local government areas of Mid Suffolk (less 29 parishes), and East Suffolk (less 25 parishes).”—[Official Report, 25 March 2026; Vol. 783, c. 49WS.]

It should have said:

“Western Suffolk Council (current local government areas of West Suffolk, 21 parishes from Mid Suffolk, and Babergh (less 31 parishes)).

Central and Eastern Suffolk Council (current local government areas of Mid Suffolk (less 29 parishes), and East Suffolk (less 25 parishes).”

[HCWS1485]

Fire Safety and Building Control

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Samantha Dixon)]

Today, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government launched a public consultation on proposals to establish a fire risk assessor profession with consistently high levels of competency, where trust is rebuilt, and where a strong, diverse pipeline of talent ensures improved standards of fire safety.

Context

Fire risk assessments are a fundamental part of the fire safety regime established under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. This legislation requires responsible persons to make a suitable and sufficient assessment to help make sure hazards are identified and the right fire precautions are delivered to keep people safe in the buildings where they live, work, and visit.

RPs can currently undertake this assessment themselves, or appoint someone, commonly known as an FRA, to assist them. Competent and professional FRAs therefore play a critical role in keeping people safe.

Despite this vital life-safety role, FRAs are not currently recognised as a regulated profession. There is no single professional body, no agreed definition of the role, no defined career pathway, and no specified training or qualifications.

While many FRAs are highly competent, we want to see an FRA profession with consistently high and demonstrable standards of competency across the board. Further, we want these proposals to rebuild trust in the FRA profession so that those who rely on their expertise, whether occupying, buying or selling, can feel confident in the fire safety of their homes or other premises.

The Grenfell Tower inquiry phase 2 report identified serious shortcomings in the fire risk assessments produced by the FRA for Grenfell Tower, including failures to identify critical fire safety hazards and to verify that previously identified risks had been addressed. In response to recommendation 26 in the inquiry’s phase 2 report, the Government committed to introduce mandatory certification for FRAs.

Consultation

The consultation we have launched today is an important step in delivering recommendation 26 of the inquiry’s phase 2 report and fulfilling our commitment to introduce mandatory certification for FRAs.

We have engaged stakeholders across Government, the devolved Governments, and industry to secure their initial contributions to our plans and help shape the future of a profession that can consistently deliver its vital fire safety role.

The consultation will remain open for 12 weeks until 18 June 2026. We encourage as many responses as possible, to make sure future measures strengthen confidence in the FRA regime and so that those undertaking this critical work are appropriately competent, supported, and accountable. Following the consultation, Government will carefully consider the responses received and set out next steps in due course. The consultation can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/fire-risk-assessors-profession

This work forms part of a wider programme to implement inquiry recommendations and improve fire and building safety, including proposals for the establishment of the single construction regulator, recent publications on the fire engineering profession and ongoing work to develop a new strategy for the built environment professions.

Further, a consultation was launched today on improving proportionality and safety outcomes in the higher-risk building control regime, which can be found here: https://consult.communities.gov.uk/higher-risk-buildings/redefining-category-a-building-work-consultation/

This is launched alongside the announcement of a £70 million building professional workforce programme to address shortages of capacity and capability in two safety-critical professions: building control and fire engineering. The funding for fire engineering will contribute to our response to the inquiry recommendations on increasing education for fire engineers.

A separate statement has been laid providing further detail on these announcements.

[HCWS1480]

Firefighters’ Pension Scheme: Opt-out Contingent Decisions

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Samantha Dixon)]

In 2014 and 2015, the previous Government reformed public service pension schemes. These reforms introduced “transitional protections” that allowed members closest to retirement to remain in their legacy schemes rather than move to the reformed schemes. In December 2018, the Court of Appeal found that these protections in the judicial and firefighters schemes constituted unlawful age discrimination: the McCloud and Sargeant judgments.

To remedy this, Parliament enacted the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022. The Act gives affected members a choice between legacy and reformed scheme benefits for the period 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2022 and permits certain pension decisions to be revisited where they would have been made differently but for the discrimination.

However, an unintended consequence has arisen for firefighters who opted out of their pension scheme because of the discrimination. The Act fixes the “relevant legacy scheme” in legislation. As a result, some affected members cannot be reinstated into the actual legacy scheme in which they last accrued service, preventing them from buying back opted-out service and leaving them without a full remedy.

To resolve this, the Government will use the Act’s special-case power to amend regulations with the effect of disapplying sections 4(2) and 4(3) for the particular cohort of eligible members who opted out due to the discrimination and who now elect, under section 5 of the Act and regulation 6 of the Firefighters’ Pensions (Remediable Service) Regulations 2023, to buy back opted-out service between 1 April 2015 and 31 March 2022—the remedy period. This will mean that opted-out service within the remedy period can be treated as pensionable service in the last-accrued legacy scheme.

The Government will now bring forward a statutory instrument under the Act’s special-case power to correct this position and will do so as soon as parliamentary time allows.

[HCWS1479]

Building Safety: Higher-Risk Buildings and Professional Development

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Samantha Dixon)]

An effective and efficient building control system underpins the fundamental safety of homes and communities across the country, built on the expertise of skilled professionals. Today I announce further steps the Department is taking to make sure this system is working effectively and supporting our ambitious remediation and house building targets.

This will restore confidence in the work done to ensure safety in the building sector and boost the housing supply and the improved operation of the Building Safety Regulator’s gateway regime.

Today, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is launching a consultation on improving proportionality and safety outcomes in the higher-risk building control regime. This consultation is seeking views on how building work in existing higher-risk buildings is categorised, to make sure the application requirements reflect the scale and complexity of the work. We are committed to making sure the higher-risk regime is applied in a proportionate way without compromising on safety. It must strike the right balance between robust oversight of safety-critical works and enabling safer building works to proceed efficiently and without undue delays.

Alongside this, MHCLG is announcing a £70 million building profession workforce programme to address shortages of capacity and capability in two safety-critical areas of the built environment: £55 million for building control and £15 million for the fire engineering profession. These professions play a key role in making sure building work is delivered in accordance with the building regulations and that engineering solutions protect people and mitigate harm to the built environment in the event of fire.

Our funding will enable the recruitment and training of up to 700 new building inspectors to increase overall capacity, the training of more building inspectors to class 3 to enable them to work on HRBs, and the expansion of masters level education for fire engineers. This takes forward the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower inquiry, in line with our recently published next steps on fire engineering profession reform.

These announcements form part of a wider programme to keep people safe in the buildings where they live, work and visit. As part of this, a consultation was launched today for fire risk assessors. A separate statement has been laid providing further detail on these proposals.

Our priority remains, as it must, ensuring the collective safety of residents in buildings across the country, while speeding up progress on crucial building work such as cladding remediation and delivering the new homes this country urgently needs.

The consultation on proposed changes to HRB categorisation can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/proportionality-in-building-control-categorisation-of-higher-risk-building-work

We will announce further details on availability of the building profession workforce programme funding in due course.

[HCWS1484]

Planning Decisions: National Scheme of Delegation

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)]

Planning is principally a local activity, and the Government recognise the vital role that planning committees play in ensuring that decisions about what to build and where are shaped by local communities and reflect the views of local residents. However, in providing essential local democratic oversight of planning decisions, we must ensure planning committees operate as effectively as possible, focusing on those applications which require member input and not revisiting the same decisions.

At present, every local planning authority has its own scheme of delegation to identify the circumstances in which planning decisions are taken by planning committee rather than delegated to officers. Most local planning authorities already delegate a significant proportion of applications to such officers—such that 96% of planning decisions in England are already not made by planning committees. However, there is significant variation across the country, and this creates risk and uncertainty in the system.

It is for this reason that we took powers in the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 to allow the Government to introduce a national scheme of delegation. By setting out which planning functions should be delegated to planning officers for a decision and which should go instead to a planning committee or sub-committee, a national scheme of delegation will ensure greater consistency and certainty across England about who in a local planning authority will be responsible for making planning decisions.

During the passage of the Act, the Government consulted on proposals relating to the delegation of planning functions, the size and composition of planning committees and mandatory training for members of planning committees. We are today publishing the Government response to that consultation.

As required by the Act, I am also publishing today a further consultation on draft regulations which set out the national scheme of delegation and the maximum size of planning committees, and statutory guidance to support local planning authorities in implementing the reforms. This consultation will run until 23 April 2026.

The draft regulations, which were informed by the responses to the earlier consultation, implement the national scheme of delegation through the creation of a two-tier structure. Schedule 1 of the regulations sets out the applications which must be determined by officers in all circumstances. Schedule 2 sets out the applications that are presumed to go to officers unless they meet the criteria specified in the regulations and the nominated officer, usually the head of planning, and nominated member, usually the chair of the committee, agree that they should be referred to committee—the gateway test.

There are separate provisions for applications made by, or on behalf of, a local planning authority itself, or an officer or member of the authority, to be referred to committee where appropriate even if they do not raise any significant planning, economic, social or environmental issues. The draft regulations also set a maximum size limit of 13 members for a planning committee.

Subject to consideration of the responses received to this latest consultation, we will finalise the regulations and associated statutory guidance, which will then be subject to further scrutiny through the affirmative procedure. The Government’s intention is that the regulations will come into effect in Autumn 2026. We continue to work on the arrangements for the mandatory training of committee members, and these will be announced in due course.

[HCWS1481]

Local Audit Backstop: 27 February 2026

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Local Government and Homelessness (Alison McGovern)]

When this Government took office in July 2024, one of our top priorities was to fix the broken local audit system it inherited, which was failing both local bodies and taxpayers alike. Determined to fix the foundations, restore confidence and put the system back on a stable footing, we took decisive action to introduce a series of statutory audit opinion backstop dates in autumn 2024. The backstops have successfully cleared the backlog of unaudited local body accounts and are now restoring a system of timely reporting and assurance. This progress provides a strong platform for rebuilding assurance and delivering wider reforms of the local audit system.

27 February 2026 backstop—financial year 2024-25

Unless exempt, all local bodies in England were required to publish their statement of accounts, including the audit opinion, for 2024-25 by 27 February 2026. The system has taken another significant step forward in returning to timely publication, with over 91% of opinions published by this date. This demonstrates a consistent improvement in timely publication since the introduction of the backstops, up from 84% at the first backstop and 87% at the second backstop. As of 9 March 2026, the publication figure for 2024-25 had subsequently increased to 93%.

Progress on rebuilding assurance

Due to the time constraints of the backstops and in line with expectations, approximately 45% of bodies received a disclaimed opinion at this backstop, and 9% of published opinions have moved from a disclaimed opinion to a qualified opinion. Almost 3% of published opinions demonstrate fully restored assurance by moving to an unqualified opinion. Approximately 44% of bodies received an unmodified opinion, with only a very small number receiving a disclaimed opinion for the first time. This represents encouraging progress, despite the ongoing challenges to rebuilding assurance that I set out in my statement on 2 December 2025.

Non-compliance

In total, 33 non-exempt bodies failed to publish their opinions by the backstop. A list of these bodies has been published on gov.uk, including where opinions were published shortly after the backstop.

Publication of prior-year opinions

In December 2025, I also provided an update on the status of the publication of audit opinions up to and including 2023-24. Since this update, further outstanding opinions for these years continue to be published as factors preventing the issuance of opinions are resolved. Over 99% of opinions have now been published for financial years outstanding, and 97% for financial years up to 2023-24. The non-compliance lists for the two previous backstops have also been updated.

The Department continues to engage with bodies with outstanding opinions to ensure that they are published as soon as practicable, and it will not hesitate to take further action with bodies demonstrating a pattern of continued non-compliance.

Looking ahead to the 31 January 2026 backstop for 2025-26 accounts

The deadline for publication of audited accounts for the financial year 2025-26 is 31 January 2027. In line with amendments made to the accounts and audit regulations 2015, bodies are required to publish their draft accounts for this financial year by 30 June 2026.

My Department will continue to work proactively and co-operatively with local bodies and audit firms to support a return to timely account publication and to drive the system-wide rebuilding of assurance.

[HCWS1474]

Prison Workforce

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Mr David Lammy)]

I am today confirming the Government’s decision on the pay award for prison staff.

Prison service pay award 2026-27

Having carefully considered the 12 recommendations made by the Prison Service Pay Review Body for the 2026-27 pay award, I can announce that we are accepting in full the recommendations made by the PSPRB for all staff within its remit.

Prison service staff are some of our finest public servants. The role that prison staff play in keeping communities safe and supporting rehabilitation is crucial. Accepting these recommendations in full reflects our commitment to ensure that prison staff are able to continue delivering this essential frontline service. This also recognises the unwavering dedication of our prison staff, whose work is largely out of view of the public, but is vital for those under their care and to keep the public safe.

The award will deliver a pay rise of at least 3.5% of base pay for all eligible prison staff between operational support grade and governors—bands 2 to 11—with a targeted focus on the lowest paid.

The award delivers headline pay increases of:

3.5% for prison officer grades (bands 3 to 5)

3.5% for managerial and prison governor grades (bands 7 to 12)

3.5% increase for operational support grades (band 2), in addition to the national living wage increase that band 2 staff received from 1 April 2026. Operational support grades will continue to receive a temporary increase at 25% of base pay until publication of the 2027 report. This is while we finalise work to agree an appropriate permanent approach to unsocial hours working, noting however that the departmental and Government budgets and affordability position for the coming years are not yet known.

This pay award will be paid by the end of June, and will be backdated to 1 April 2026.

Against a backdrop of tight public finances, the Government have had to make tough choices across public spending. Within this context, the Ministry of Justice will fund this award from existing budgets and will require continued prioritisation across the Department’s spending plans.

This Government recognise the essential role played by the more than 6 million public sector workers across the UK, who provide the public services we all rely upon. Accepting the PSPRB’s recommendations is expected to further stabilise the recruitment and retention position in the prison service. This is vital to ensure that prisons have the staff they need to deal with an increasing population and ageing estate.

I would like to thank the PSPRB for their valuable advice and response to the Government’s evidence.

The report has been laid before Parliament today. I am grateful to the chair and members of the review body for their report.

[HCWS1463]

Third Road Investment Strategy

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

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

I am pleased to inform the House that the Government will today publish the third road investment strategy. Backed by over £27 billion of investment over five years, this will support our drive to deliver the biggest overhaul to transport in a generation.

The investment delivers on the Government’s ambition to kick-start economic growth, supporting living standards and jobs. The roads that form our strategic road network are the key economic arteries which keep people and goods moving throughout the country. Keeping them flowing supports mobility and jobs, and helps to boost essential sectors like manufacturing, construction and retail. Overall, RIS3 is expected to support tens of thousands of jobs, bolstering supply chains across the nation and helping British businesses.

The strategic road network is a critical national asset, and our priority is to ensure that it remains a network which people and businesses can rely on for decades to come. RIS3 therefore includes an unprecedented £8.4 billion of investment in renewals to strengthen the performance and long-term resilience of the network through replacing structures and worn-out road surfaces, as well as modernising roadside technology to support safe, smooth journeys.

It also includes £3.8 billion of targeted enhancements to tackle pinch points and unlock national, regional, and local economic growth and housing opportunities. These improvements will benefit the whole economy, tackling capacity issues as well as improving safety and journey time reliability.

In the north, the strategy commits over £4.4 billion to key enhancement and renewal schemes. This will support the Government’s northern growth strategy and complement investment across other modes such as Northern Powerhouse Rail. Enhancement schemes include upgrades to the A66 northern trans-Pennine route, which plays an essential role in connecting people and places across the north and is critical for freight and links to international ports.

The midlands is at the heart of the country’s connectivity, and investment to upgrade the A46 at Newark will support sectors such as logistics and manufacturing, which are dominant in the local economy and reliant on roads for growth, as well as improving access to Humber ports.

Elsewhere, the lower Thames crossing will be the most significant road-building scheme in a generation. It will provide a significant boost to the UK economy, easing congestion at the Dartford crossing, strengthening connectivity across the UK to major ports, and improving resilience and reliability for all road users.

RIS3 will contribute to the ambitions set out in the recently published road safety strategy to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on roads across Great Britain. It includes a safety national programme to deliver targeted safety improvements on major A roads with poor safety performance such as the A1 between Morpeth and Scotland, and it sets National Highways a stretching target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on its roads.

It also includes a small schemes national programme aimed at reducing congestion to unlock economic growth, and a new growth and housing accelerator fund to help unlock development sites where infrastructure is currently a constraint.

It balances the requirements of the network with our obligations to the environment, and includes programmes to improve water quality, reduce noise exposure and support biodiversity, as well as to tackle air quality issues on the network. It includes a performance indicator for National Highways on litter collection, and includes a commitment to explore options to give National Highways new powers as a litter enforcement authority when parliamentary time permits.

Major road network and large local majors programme

I am also today making an announcement on schemes in the major road network and large local majors programme, further to my statement to the House on 8 July 2025. The previous Government left us with an unrealistic and unaffordable programme of schemes which we have had to review in the best interests of local and national taxpayers.

I am today able to confirm that my Department will continue to support 16 of these schemes across the country, with the details set out on gov.uk. In total this represents a Government funding commitment of around £1 billion, subject to each scheme securing the necessary business case and other approvals in due course. Each of these schemes has the potential to deliver benefits such as unlocking housing and economic growth and reducing congestion at key locations. Funding for each will be conditional on their satisfying the Department that they have an acceptable business case.



Many of the other schemes that formed part of the review are being withdrawn on the grounds that the local authority can no longer afford its funding contribution, and my Department is confirming the details of these with the relevant authorities. In respect of the remaining schemes, the Department is finalising the way forward and will announce next steps in the early summer.

[HCWS1466]

Incomes and Living Standards: Statistics Release

Thursday 26th March 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Dame Diana Johnson)]

The Department for Work and Pensions has today published its annual statistics on incomes and living standards covering 2024-25—the last three months of the previous Government as well as the first nine months of this Government.

These include households below average income statistics, which contain estimates of household incomes and a range of poverty rates and low-income indicators for 2024-25, derived from the family resources survey.

Further publications in today’s release are: income dynamics; the pensioners’ incomes series; children in low-income families; improving lives indicators; separated families statistics; and the family resources survey. These publications cover the four statutory measures of child poverty required to be published by the DWP under the Child Poverty Act 2010.

Accurate data is fundamental to making effective policy interventions to support low-income households and allows us to track and to be accountable for the progress we make. In 2024-25, we have therefore made two important methodological changes that improve the accuracy of the HBAI statistics.

For 2024-25, we have for the first time been able to link HBAI survey responses to benefits administrative data following several years of work started under the previous Government. This means that our statistics now address the fact that survey respondents, for a variety of reasons, do not always report their benefit income accurately, with people more likely to under-report rather than over-report their income. This improvement in methodology produces reduced overall rates of poverty as people in low income generally receive a greater proportion of their income from benefits.

The improved methodology has also been applied to all years from 2021-22, enabling consistent comparisons over the most recent years.

For the statistics released today, the baseline year for absolute poverty has been updated from 2010-11 to 2024-25. The baseline year is updated every 10 to 15 years to ensure it remains relevant to modern-day incomes. This change increases the reported level of absolute poverty while leaving key trends unchanged.

The proportion of individuals living in relative poverty after housing costs in 2024-25 was 20%, unchanged from 2023-24. Within this, the proportions of working age adults and of children living in relative poverty were also unchanged, at 19% and 27% respectively. However, the relative poverty rate for pensioners increased to 14%, compared with 12% in 2023-24.

The percentage of children in food insecure households has decreased from 18% to 14%, with 2 million children overall living in a food insecure household in 2024-25. For working age adults, the food insecurity rate fell from 11% to 9%, whereas for pensioners it remained stable at 3%. The number of individuals in households that had accessed a food bank in the previous 12 months fell from 2.8 million to 2.5 million, around 4% of the population.

These high inherited levels of poverty and food insecurity are wholly unacceptable and, since we first came into government, we have taken robust action to change the course we are on, drive down poverty and deliver lasting change for the millions of families whose lives are damaged by poverty now and in the future.

In December, we published our UK-wide child poverty strategy. This represents our first step towards ending child poverty and will lift 550,000 children out of relative low income after housing costs in 2029-30; this will lead to the largest reduction in a single UK Parliament since comparable records began. The removal of the two-child limit from April alone will lift 450,000 children out of poverty in the last year of this Parliament. Alongside this, we are putting in place robust arrangements to ensure that we can continue to build on our success as part of a long-term, 10-year strategy for lasting change.

We know that getting more people into better jobs is crucial to reducing poverty and improving living standards, as well as to the UK’s future economic prosperity. Through the proposals in our Get Britain Working strategy, we are driving forward the biggest reforms to employment support in a generation, with funding of £3.8 billion by 2028-29, to help more people into work and to get on in work.

Alongside this, we have taken substantive action to support those on the lowest incomes, including:

Boosting the national living wage, which will increase again to £12.71 an hour from next month—an increase of £900 a year for a full-time worker.

Introducing a fair repayment rate for deductions from universal credit from April 2025, allowing 1.2 million of the poorest households to retain more of their award.

From next month, introducing the first sustained above-inflation rise in the basic rate of universal credit since it was introduced, with just under 4 million households benefiting from our decision to increase the universal credit standard allowance.

Providing a £1 billion package, including Barnett, to reform crisis support in England from April—the first ever multi-year settlement for crisis support.

Despite having to make the tough decisions to deal with our fiscal inheritance, this Government remain absolutely committed to giving pensioners the security they deserve in retirement. The basic and new state pensions will increase by 4.8% in April, benefiting over 12 million pensioners by up to £575, and our commitment to protect the triple lock means that annual spending on state pensions is forecast to be an estimated £30 billion more a year by the end of this Parliament. Alongside this, we are delivering the biggest ever drive to increase pension credit take-up, which has seen some 208,900 applications received in 2025, with nearly 33,500 extra pension credit awards compared with 2024.

[HCWS1465]