Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing a (a) minimum and (b) standardised level of service for banking providers at banking hubs.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government continues to work closely with industry to roll out 350 banking hubs across the UK. The UK banking sector has committed to deliver these hubs by the end of this Parliament and it is important that services in banking hubs meet the needs of customers.

Banking hubs already offer everyday counter services provided by Post Office staff, allowing people and businesses to withdraw and deposit cash, deposit cheques, pay bills and make balance enquiries. They also contain dedicated rooms where customers can see community bankers from their own bank to carry out wider banking services.

The Government has been working closely with industry and significant progress has been made in enhancing baseline service standards, ensuring customers can access services without the need to bring their own devices and addressing service gaps.

Banking hubs are also currently piloting the use of printers, and some are experimenting with Saturday opening hours to better meet the demand for face-to-face banking services. The Government continues to work closely with industry to enhance service standards in banking hubs.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions his Department has had with businesses on investment in technology in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Fleur Anderson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office)

I am a passionate advocate for Northern Irish tech companies and for investment by international tech companies in Northern Ireland.

I recently attended the Big Data New York Conference – a spin off of Big Data Belfast – to highlight the international investment opportunities in Northern Ireland's well established and fast growing Cyber and Digital sectors.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the Environment Agency is taking steps to streamline the (a) application and (b) determination process for (i) abstraction and (ii) impoundment licenses for new hydropower projects.

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

Determining abstraction and impoundment licences for hydropower projects is a complex activity due to the wide-ranging risks to the environment and water users.

The Environment Agency has implemented several steps to streamline and improve its permitting process through a wide-ranging transformation programme across all its work areas from application acceptance through to assessment. These benefit hydropower projects and create efficiencies for the benefit of all applicants.

Specifically for water resources and hydropower, a new validation process has been introduced to quickly assess if an application is technically valid once received. The aim is for the initial assessments to be completed within 4 weeks and applicants are told if more information is required. New efficient assessment processes for staff, significantly reducing the time taken to assess applications, are being continually introduced.

Delays to the process are often caused by incorrect payments and applications with missing information. Applicants are urged to make use of the enhanced pre-application service which reduces the risk of delays and support applicants to apply for the right type of licences with the correct supporting information.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to ensure that non-mRNA covid vaccines are made available via the NHS to people unable to receive mRNA vaccines.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

All vaccines in the United Kingdom must be authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before they can be placed on the United Kingdom’s market. The updated 2024/25 Novavax (Nuvaxovid) COVID-19 vaccine has not been authorised by the MHRA.

The COVID-19 chapter of the publication, Immunisation against infectious diseases, also known as the Green Book, details that there are very few individuals who cannot receive the COVID-19 vaccines approved in the UK. The Green Book Chapter 14a can be found on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-the-green-book-chapter-14a

Published advice recommends that anyone with a prior allergic reaction to COVID-19 vaccines should be seen by an expert allergist and, after a review of the individual’s risks and benefits of vaccination, where vaccination is indicated, they could then be vaccinated in hospital under clinical supervision. NHS England will continue to follow this clinical guidance and offer mRNA vaccination under expert supervision in a hospital setting. This advice can be found at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/COVID-19-vaccine/

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average length of time was between the Environment Agency receiving a flood risk activity permit application and starting the determination process for the approval of said permit in the latest period for which data is available.

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

Flood risk activity permit applications are currently being allocated for assessment a maximum of 14 weeks from receipt.

For time critical applications that pose a significant risk to people or the environment, or where required for national infrastructure projects, we prioritise the assessment of the application. Currently about 40% of applications are prioritised.

A number of initiatives are underway to reduce application processing timelines, such as additional resourcing and streamlining our regulatory approach.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made a comparative assessment of the value-for-money of levels of abstraction license fees for hydropower schemes in (a) England, (b) Scotland and (c) other countries.

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

Determining abstraction licences for hydropower projects is a complex activity due to the risks to the environment and water users.

Hydropower application charges are based on a scheme’s output power and its risk rating. Annual subsistence charges cover costs to protect the environment and the rights of licence holders. There is no annual fee for hydropower licences for electricity production of up to 5 megawatts.

The Environment Agency (EA) does not receive any government funding to subsidise application or annual charges. The EA charging scheme sets out the charges for hydropower schemes.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending business rates relief for small businesses.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Currently, Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) is available to businesses with a single property below a set rateable value. Eligible properties under £12,000 will receive 100 per cent relief, which means over a third of businesses in England (more than 700,000) pay no business rates at all. There is also tapered support available to properties valued between £12,000 and £15,000, which an additional c.60,000 businesses benefit from.

The Government is committed to retaining SBRR, which is a permanent relief set down in legislation. As highlighted in the Transforming Business Rates Discussion Paper published at Autumn Budget 2024, the Government is interested in hearing stakeholders’ views on the extent to which the current system acts as a barrier to investment and specifically, whether the current eligibility criteria for SBRR impacts businesses' incentives to invest and expand into a second property.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Jess Brown-Fuller; Jonathan Davies; Mary Glindon; Alison Hume; Will

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Bob Blackman (Chair); Jonathan Davies; Mary Glindon; Alison Hume;