Jamie Stone

Public engagement and participation are vital to the health of our democracy, and the Government will continue to support the public to make their voices heard.

Engagement with the political process must be built on trust. The Government is committed to returning to a politics of service.

As was the practice under the previous Administration, information about official ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals will be published as part of the Cabinet Office transparency returns and made available on the GOV.UK website.

As was the practice under the previous Administration, information about official ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals will be published as part of the Cabinet Office transparency returns and made available on the GOV.UK website.

To support more small businesses’ digitisation efforts, we announced at Budget 2024 that we would extend the work of the SME Digital Adoption Taskforce. The Taskforce is made up of industry experts and focuses on addressing the challenge of how to support SMEs to adopt and implement productivity-enhancing technologies, such as customer relationship management, accountancy, and resource planning software. We intend to publish a summary of the Taskforce’s draft recommendations soon and their full report will be published later this year.

We will be announcing further measures shortly.

Ministers engage regularly with Scottish Government counterparts across a range of policy areas, including through the Net Zero, Energy and Climate Change Interministerial Group (IMG). Departmental officials meet Scottish Government counterparts regularly, most recently in February 2025, on matters including Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) reforms. HM Government and Scottish Government will make independent decisions on what the EPC will measure but it is intended that both will use a common calculation framework, the Home Energy Model (HEM). It will support options for building types that are especially prevalent in Scotland including for traditional dwellings.

Since the General Election, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and her ministerial team have met with a wide range of stakeholders in the heritage sector, including representatives of the department’s arm’s length bodies. These meetings will continue periodically, in Westminster and around the country and we intend to announce the next date of the Heritage Council very soon.

The UK has the oldest building stock in Europe. Historic buildings - including listed buildings and buildings within Conservation Areas - have an important role to play in supporting growth in the construction sector and our transition to Net Zero. Listed Building Consent Orders (LBCOs) proactively encourage and streamline the sensible upgrade and development of our listed buildings, including installing decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures.

I have written to Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on some of the opportunities around planning that support heritage-led development and growth, including LBCOs. My officials and I are working closely with officials in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, to prioritise the roll out of LBCOs and support the wider Government's agenda around growth and decarbonisation.

Whilst transport is devolved, the Department for Transport is committed to is enhancing links between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The Department is providing funding for Transport Scotland’s feasibility study to explore options to bypass the villages of Springholm and Crocketford on the A75 and is supporting the Windsor Framework to streamline transport and customs processes. The Government is also supporting key aviation routes, including the Public Service Obligation between City of Derry Airport and London Heathrow Airport.

The hospitality sector plays a vital role in the UK economy, providing jobs and supporting local high streets and communities.

That is why the government announced a range of measures at Autumn Budget to support businesses, including those in the hospitality sector. These include:

• Extending the retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) business rate relief for one year at 40% (up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business). This will benefit over 250,000 properties.
• Freezing the small business multiplier (applied to properties with a rateable value below £51,000) for 2025-26. Taken together with Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR), over a million properties will be protected from inflationary bill increases.
• Protecting the smallest employers, many of whom are in the hospitality sector, by increasing the Employment Allowance to £10,500.
• Cutting duty on qualifying draught products – approximately 60% of alcoholic drinks sold in pubs – to cut 1p off the duty on an average strength pint.
• In addition, the Corporate Tax Roadmap provides the stability needed by businesses to make investments.

We keep all taxes under review and continue to explore ways to support the UK’s vital hospitality sector.

Insurers make commercial decisions about pricing and the terms of cover they offer based on their assessment on the likelihood of a claim being made and the cost of those claims. Motor insurance premiums have been affected by specific economic factors that increased the costs of claims, such as the rising cost of replacement car parts

However, the Government is determined that insurers treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules. The FCA requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive).

On 16 October, the FCA announced a package of work in the insurance market amid concerns about rising prices. This includes a market study on premium finance – a form of credit that allows insurance customers to spread the upfront annual cost of their premium. On the same day, the Government launched a cross-Government taskforce on motor insurance. This Taskforce has a strategic remit to set the direction for UK Government policy, identifying short- and long-term actions for departments that may contribute to stabilising or reducing premiums, while maintaining appropriate levels of cover.

Insurers make commercial decisions about pricing and the terms of cover they offer based on their assessment on the likelihood of a claim being made and the cost of those claims. Motor insurance premiums have been affected by specific economic factors that increased the costs of claims, such as the rising cost of replacement car parts

However, the Government is determined that insurers treat customers fairly and firms are required to do so under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules. The FCA requires firms to ensure their products offer fair value (i.e. if the price a consumer pays for a product or service is reasonable compared to the overall benefits they can expect to receive).

On 16 October, the FCA announced a package of work in the insurance market amid concerns about rising prices. This includes a market study on premium finance – a form of credit that allows insurance customers to spread the upfront annual cost of their premium. On the same day, the Government launched a cross-Government taskforce on motor insurance. This Taskforce has a strategic remit to set the direction for UK Government policy, identifying short- and long-term actions for departments that may contribute to stabilising or reducing premiums, while maintaining appropriate levels of cover.

A prosperous rural economy will be underpinned by improvements to rural connectivity and productivity, the availability of affordable energy and access to services. To this end, the UK Government is investing £5 billion in broadband connectivity which will support growth in rural areas across the UK.

We are also providing more than £3 billion of UK-wide funding this year to farmers and land managers, supporting rural prosperity.

The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was formed by a Royal Warrant on 21 May 1947; this Warrant was re-issued by Her Late Majesty The Queen several times, most recently in July 1966. The Warrant laid down that, while the Defence Council would be responsible for the ROC’s organisation, training, financing and conditions of service, amongst other elements, for operational control it came under the Home Office.

This was reflected in the ROC’s own Regulations which stated that it was a uniformed civilian organisation, subject to the provision of the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) civilian pay, staff and travel regulations. In addition, the regulations stated that the Commandant ROC was responsible to the Home Office for its operations, and to the MOD for administrative matters with direct access to the Assistant Under-Secretary Civilian Management (Administrators).

From this, it is very clear the ROC was a civilian, and not a military, organisation, which, even when interacting with the MOD, was treated on the same terms as Civil Servants rather than Service Personnel. For that reason, the MOD does not believe there is any rationale which would justify the retrospective recategorisation of past members of the ROC (or any other civilian defence organisation) as having been Regular or Reserve members of the Armed Forces. However, this in no way diminishes the Government’s admiration of those who performed such a vital role during the Cold War.

European security is this Government’s foreign and defence priority. We will strengthen relationships with key European Allies through bilateral defence agreements, such as our recent Trinity House Agreement with Germany, and an ambitious UK-EU security pact which will bolster Euro-Atlantic security and complement our commitment to NATO.

Paragraph 167 of the revised National Planning Policy Framework published on 12 December 2024 sets out that when determining planning applications, local planning authorities should give significant weight to the need to support energy efficiency and low carbon heating improvements to existing buildings, both domestic and non-domestic.

The Framework also makes clear that plans should take a proactive approach to mitigating and adapting to climate change and that the need to mitigate and adapt to climate change should be considered in preparing and assessing planning applications.

Connectivity is essential for economic growth which is why the Chancellor committed £5m in the Budget to explore improvements to the A75, which is the key route for road transport, using the ferry between Cairnryan and Belfast and Larne. We look forward to continuing work with the Scottish Government on this project, and welcome the recent addition of flights between Edinburgh and Liverpool and Derry City Airport.

The UK Government is committed to the effective delivery of compensation schemes in relation to miscarriages of justice.

Scottish Parliament has been in recess since the formation of the new Government, so no discussions have taken place. However, through the resetting of the relationship between the UK and Scottish Governments, Scotland’s two governments will be able to work together in addressing the causes of delays to miscarriages of justice claims in order to bring justice to those affected.

We are committed to resetting the relationship with the Welsh Government, and my Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales meets regularly with the First Minister to discuss a range of issues.

The Department for Health and Social Care also works collaboratively with the Devolved Governments on shared objectives. The First Minister for Wales has said improving access to social care in Wales is one of her priorities.