Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the Governor of the Bank of England on her economic growth policies.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England meet regularly to discuss economic developments and the outlook for the economy.
Growth is the number one mission of this government and is how we will get people into good jobs, drive higher living standards, and increase productivity across the country.
At Mansion House in November 2024 the Chancellor issued new growth-focused remit letters to the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, Financial Policy Committee, and Prudential Regulation Committee. These letters made clear that the Chancellor expects them to fully support this government’s ambitions on economic growth.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the (a) Digswell Viaduct and (b) Welwyn North Station on levels of capacity on the East Coast Main Line.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
An assessment of the impact of Digswell Viaduct and Welwyn North Station on capacity levels on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) was completed by Network Rail whilst developing the timetable that will be introduced on the ECML in December 2025. The Minister has approved this timetable for implementation, following an industry taskforce recommendation to do so, to enable the full benefits of a £4 billion investment in the route.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department plans to take with Great British Railways to reduce levels of disruption on railways.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
GBR will be a directing mind, running the railways as one system, with a relentless focus on passengers. Track and train will be unified, creating a more efficient and reliable system meeting passenger and freight customers’ needs and ensuring value for the taxpayer.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 April 2025 to Written Question 43758 on NHS England, how any short-term upfront costs incurred will be funded.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Detailed plans are being formulated by a joint Department and NHS England programme team. The remit of work includes formulation of the relevant costs and securing the required funding. Funding conversations between the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England, and HM Treasury are ongoing. Further detail on the costs and funding mechanisms will be provided as this work develops.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed (a) railway station and (b) new town at Tempsford on (i) journey times and (ii) capacity on Thameslink services.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail will consider the impact of any new station at Tempsford as part of business case development for any East Coast Main Line infrastructure investment at the southern end of the route, including journey time and capacity implications for Thameslink services.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of young people who have been auto-enrolled in a pension since October 2012; and what their median expected annual pension payments will be.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Automatic enrolment has succeeded in transforming pension saving with over 11 million employees having been automatically enrolled into a workplace pension since 2012. These statistics are available from The Pensions Regulator and are updated on a monthly basis. However, this is not split by age
Automatic enrolment declaration of compliance report.
DWP publish statistics annually on pension participation by age. The latest statistics show 86% of 22-to-29-year-olds who are eligible for Automatic Enrolment are saving into a workplace pension as of 2023, up from 35% in 2012 (when AE was being rolled out). This is comparable to a participation rate of 88% for all eligible individuals aged (22 to 66). Further data on workplace pension participation and saving trends are available on GOV.UK.
Future pension income depends on many individuals factors across an individual’s life time, further analysis on future pensioner incomes by year of retirement are available on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37785 on Construction: Employers' Contributions, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) number of firms in the construction sector who will pay increased employers’ National Insurance and (b) market share of those firms within the construction sector.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The vast majority of firms in the construction sector are small or microbusinesses, which will see no change overall. The Government has protected small businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to Employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, and 865,000 employers will pay no NICs this year.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of introducing mandatory nature reporting on nature.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The government is committed to deliver for nature, taking action to meet our Environment Act targets, to restore and protect our natural world.
Annual Progress reports on the Environmental Improvement Plan and the Outcome Indicator Framework assess progress towards achieving Environment Act targets and whether the natural environment has, or particular aspects of it have, improved during the reporting period.
The 25 Year Environment Plan Outcome Indicator Framework (link: Outcome Indicator Framework for the 25 Year Environment Plan) collectively describes environmental changes as related to the 10 goals of government’s Environmental Improvement Plan. The Outcome Indicator Framework was first published in 2019 and is updated on a yearly basis showing the changes and trends over time.