Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what support and guidance they are providing to non-governmental organisations and official Palestinian bodies, excluding Hamas, to help ensure the security and safety of women and children from internal violence within Gaza.

Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)

The UK has allocated £74 million so far this financial year to support the humanitarian response in Gaza. This includes £3 million for the United Nations Population Fund, which supports their response and early recovery under four pillars: sexual and reproductive health; sexual violence; adolescents and youths; and interagency coordination. We are also working closely with partners to support implementation of the next phase of the US-led peace plan, including establishing transitional security arrangements. Within this work, we will continue to prioritise the needs of civilians, particularly women and children.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what latest estimate they have made of the cost per year of (1) tax relief, and (2) National Insurance relief, on new pension contributions unions.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Estimates of Income Tax relief on pension contributions can be found online in Table 6 of the Private Pension Statistics publication. [1] Estimates of the cost per year of Income Tax and National Insurance contribution relief, broken down by type of pension, can be found in Tables 6.1 and 6.2 of the publication respectively.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-and-stakeholder-pensions-statistics

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of adults (1) 70–74 years old, (2) 75–79 years old, (3) 80–84 years old, (4) over 85 years old, and (5) under 70 years old, have a smartphone.

Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

We know that digital exclusion is a complex issue and the evidence base is significant but fragmented. Ofcom data from 2025 reports that 95% of 16 – 74 year olds, 78% of those aged 65+ and 65% of those aged 75+ have a smartphone in their household and personal use one.

In February, we published our Digital Inclusion Action Plan – First Steps which sets out the immediate actions we are taking on digital inclusion. One of these actions was to develop robust headline indicators to monitor progress and inform future digital inclusion interventions. We will evaluate the outcomes of these actions in due course.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what analysis they have carried out to quantify the loss of inherited benefits from pension schemes, in terms of reduced pension income and lower life insurance support, as a result of the imposition of inheritance tax on pensions at death.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

Most unused pension funds and death benefits payable from a pension will form part of a person’s estate for inheritance tax purposes from 6 April 2027. This removes distortions resulting from changes that have been made to pensions tax policy over the last decade, which have led to pensions being openly used and marketed as a tax planning vehicle to transfer wealth, rather than as a way to fund retirement.

Estates will continue to benefit from the normal nil-rate bands, reliefs, and exemptions available. For example, the nil-rate bands mean an estate can pass on up to £1 million with no inheritance tax liability and the general rules mean any transfers, including the payment of death benefits, to a spouse or civil partner are fully exempt from inheritance tax. More than 90 per cent of UK estates will continue to have no inheritance tax liability in 2029-30 following these changes and the reforms will only affect a minority of those with inheritable pension wealth. Around 213,000 estates are expected to have inheritable pension wealth in 2027-28, with only 10,500 estates becoming liable to pay inheritance tax as a result of these reforms, and around 38,500 paying more than would previously have been the case.

The Government is continuing to incentivise pensions for their intended purpose of funding retirement.

Found: DFI0219 - Draft Finance Bill 2025–26 Baroness Altmann Written Evidence

Found: Baroness Altmann: Thank you, Chair.