Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery will have the power to compel witnesses.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The ICRIR currently has the power to require a person to provide information or produce any documents they have in their possession, for examination or testing. Failure to comply with this can result in a financial penalty of up to £5,000. This power will be carried forward into the new Legacy Commission (Clause 14 of the Northern Ireland (Troubles) Bill).

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to support car dealers in Northern Ireland unable to access the UK market for vehicles due to manufacturers choosing not to dual approve under the UK–NI type approval system.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

This Government is committed to meeting our obligations under the Windsor Framework relating to the approval of vehicles for the market in Northern Ireland, and to ensuring that dealers and consumers in NI are not restricted in their choice of vehicles.

Since the requirements for vehicle approval in Great Britain are derived from the EU's it makes sense to consider amendments made by the EU favourably. This government closely monitors those amendments and takes an explicit presumption in favour of alignment with them.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what analysis she has commissioned from HMRC of the tax contribution made by the 257,000 British nationals who the ONS estimates left the UK in 2024.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Chancellor has not commissioned any analysis from HMRC on the tax contribution of the ONS estimate of 257,000 British nationals who left the UK in 2024.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans she has to support John Smith Trust fellowship programmes during the Spending Review Period.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We are proud to be supporting the John Smith Trust this year to run their excellent fellowship programme in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, supporting leading professionals to take action in their countries on climate change. We are working through detailed decisions on how the Official Development Assistance budget will be used from 2026/27 to 2028/29, informed by internal and external consultation and impact assessments. We plan to publish indicative allocations for the next three years in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the answer of 4 November 2025 to question UIN 86627, has the Minister convened the roundtable together with with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, the Post Office and key banks on potentially expanding the range of banking services available at post offices.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Together with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, I plan to co-chair a roundtable with the Post Office and key banks. Due to diary constraints this has not been possible yet but will happen in due course.

Exploring opportunities for further collaboration between Post Office and the banking sector remains a priority and I plan to continue raising the issue at all appropriate opportunities, including the upcoming roundtable.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has conducted a sectoral impact analysis of the potential UK accession to the PEM Convention.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

As set out in the UK’s Trade Strategy, the Government recognises that PEM accession could bring benefits to British businesses but that the potential benefits and risks will likely vary both within and across sectors. Our Call for Evidence, launched on 17 November, seeks input from business directly to better understand these sectoral impacts. It will end on 15 December.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefits and risks to UK exporters of joining the Pan-Euro Mediterranean Convention.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

As set out in the UK’s Trade Strategy, joining the PEM Convention could simplify rules of origin across the UK’s nearest neighbours and increase supply chain flexibility for UK exporters. However, the Government recognises the benefits and risks of accession could vary both within and across sectors. We have therefore launched a Call for Evidence to seek direct business and partner input on the opportunities and risks that might flow from joining PEM. This will run until 15 December.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to publish a summary of responses to the call for evidence on the Pan-Euro Mediterranean Convention on Rules of Origin.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Once the Call for Evidence has closed, the government will review and analyse the responses received and decide how best to proceed and what to publish.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the time and resources required to negotiate UK accession to the PEM Convention with existing members.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

No decision has been made on UK accession to the PEM Convention. As set out in the Trade Strategy, we are now engaging business and PEM partners to consider the potential merits of accession and launched a Call for Evidence on 17 November. A decision to seek to join the PEM Convention will only be taken if it is in the national interest and reflects business sentiment. It would be premature therefore to comment on the nature of hypothetical negotiations or the resources that might be required to engage in them, hypothetically.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will break down the total £4.2 billion to flood defence spending in the Spending Review 2025 into capital and resource spending.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

As part of the Government’s Plan for Change, we are investing £4.2 billion over three years (2026/27 to 2028/29) to construct new flood and coastal erosion schemes and maintain and repair existing defences across the country.

This is £1.4 billion on average each year – a 5% increase on the current average of £1.33 billion over 2024/25 and 2025/26.

Found: Q12 Dame Harriett Baldwin: You are talking about bitcoin.

Found: Dame Harriett Baldwin: There will be.

Found: Dame Harriett Baldwin: There will be.

Found: Q229 Dame Harriett Baldwin: Are you currently undertaking any assessments?

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Chris Coghlan; Bobby