Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will extend the offer of a free portrait of King Charles to churches.
Answered by Alex Burghart - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Government does not currently have any plans to extend the offer of a free portrait of The King to churches or other places of worship.
The UK Government launched an Official Portrait scheme in November 2023 to enable certain Public Authorities across the UK to apply for a free, framed official portrait of His Majesty The King for display in their buildings.
The scheme is ongoing and is due for completion by mid year 2024. His Majesty’s accession has marked the beginning of a new reign and the UK Government considers it is right that public authorities, as part of the fabric of our nation, have the opportunity to commemorate this moment, strengthen civil pride and reflect the new era in our history.
A portrait will be available for purchase in due course for those not eligible for this scheme and details will be communicated at the time.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when retired police officers subject to immediate detriment will be contacted with the resolution.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The relevant legislation provides that all eligible members of the police pension scheme will be given a choice to remedy the discrimination set out in the McCloud judgment and that information should be provided to eligible members by 1 April 2025.
Adjustments to individual members’ benefits are an administrative matter, and the police pension scheme is locally administered by each of the separate police forces in England and Wales. The Home Office does not hold information on administrative processes in forces.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will introduce alternative arrangements for HMRC to answer calls during the self-assessment telephone helpline closure between 8 April and 30 September 2024.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC has halted its planned changes to the Self Assessment, VAT and PAYE telephone helplines between April and September 2024 while it engages with stakeholders about how to ensure all taxpayers’ needs are met as the Department shifts more people to online self-service.
HMRC encourages customers to use its online services and the HMRC App where they can. These offer quicker and easier handling of most transactions and queries.
However, for those who are vulnerable, digitally excluded, or have complex tax affairs, HMRC's helpline and webchat advisers will remain available to provide the necessary support.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if she will establish an additional public holiday for St George's Day.
Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government regularly receives requests for additional bank and public holidays to commemorate a variety of occasions – such as cultural, historical, military and religious events.
While an additional bank holiday may benefit some communities and sectors, the cost to the economy of an additional bank holiday remains considerable. The latest analysis estimates the cost to the UK economy for a one-off bank holiday to be around £2bn.
The current pattern of bank holidays is well established and accepted and we have no plans to change it.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much compensation HMRC has paid in each of the last five years as a result of errors made on calculating taxes about which the relevant person has made a complaint.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC does not hold the information requested. Information on HMRC complaints can be found within the HMRC monthly performance reports at HMRC monthly performance reports - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Ukrainian nationals can extend their stay by (a) 18 months and (b) three years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
To provide future certainty, on 18 February we announced that existing Ukraine scheme visa holders who live mainly in the UK, will be able to apply for further permission to remain in the UK for an additional 18 months.
The Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme provides the same rights and entitlements to access work, benefits, healthcare, and education as the other Ukraine schemes. Those eligible to apply will not be required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge. Further details on eligibility and application processes will be available before the scheme opens for applications early next year.
The Ukraine Extension Scheme was introduced for those Ukrainians already in the UK at the time of the invasion and who could not return to Ukraine. It provides three years’ temporary sanctuary aligned to the other Ukraine schemes. Those who have been granted permission by 16 November 2023 will have until 16 May 2024 to submit an application under the UES.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) housing associations and (b) renter groups on the potential impact of a 53 week rent year in 2024-25.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There has been no recent conversations with housing associations or renter groups regarding the formula to convert weekly rental liabilities to calendar monthly values in Universal Credit.
Universal Credit always converts weekly amounts to monthly sums using 52 weeks. This may lead to a slight advantage to the claimant when converting weekly incomes and to a slight disadvantage when dealing with outgoings. The system is used because it is simple to operate and understand. The department has considered alternative options for those with weekly tenancies, but each have their own limitations and disadvantages for claimants and so there are no plans to change.
The legitimacy of this calculation formula in Universal Credit was confirmed by the High Court in 2020 who found it to be neither irrational or discriminatory.
Discretionary Housing Payments can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. Since 2011, the government has provided nearly £1.7 billion in Discretionary Housing Payments to local authorities.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of providing financial support to people who are (a) aged 66 when the State Pension age rises to 67 and (b) unable to continue working until they are 67 due to (i) illness and (ii) disability.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Financial support is available through the welfare system for working age people.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her letter to the hon. Member for Warrington North dated 5 March 2024, reference INT2024/01623/DC, what funding her Department has invested in grassroots sport facilities in each parliamentary constituency since 2021.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
We are committed to ensuring that every child, no matter their background or ability, has the opportunity to play sport and be active.
Between 2021 and 2025, the UK Government is delivering a historic level of direct investment of over £400 million to build or upgrade thousands of grassroots facilities across the UK.
This includes £327 million across the whole of the UK between 2021 and 2025, including £25 million for the Lionesses Futures Fund. All projects are publicly available and can be found by financial year here.
We are also investing £21.9 million to renovate over 3,000 tennis courts across Scotland, England and Wales between 2022 and 2024. Completed projects are publicly available to see here.
In England, we have provided £60 million via the Swimming Pool Support Fund in 2023/24 to support public swimming pool providers with immediate cost pressures, and investment to make facilities sustainable in the longer-term. Phase one projects can be viewed here, with phase two projects to be announced in due course.
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport also wrote to all MPs in early March, detailing the amount of funding and the different projects supported by the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme, the Park Tennis Court Renovation Programme, and the Swimming Pool Support Fund, in their constituency.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Second Report of the Business and Trade Committee of Session 2023-24 on UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, HC483, published on 19 February 2024, whether a debate will be held on a substantive motion on the UK’s accession to that Partnership before the period the treaty is laid before Parliament under the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 concludes on 22 March 2024.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to effective scrutiny of its trade agenda and has put in place a comprehensive framework for scrutiny of free trade agreements (FTAs). This includes a commitment to seek to hold a general debate on a new FTA where one is requested by the relevant Select Committee in a timely manner, subject to parliamentary time. The Government's view is that a general debate is the appropriate mechanism for Parliament to debate a new FTA.
The scheduling of parliamentary business is not a matter for the Department for Business and Trade, but the Government is aware of the Business and Trade Committee’s request for a debate.