Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to help ensure that older people feel able to challenge ageism in the workplace.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the Hon member to the answer on 1 September 2025 (PQs 69429, 69430).
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of costs for businesses on unemployment levels.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Economic growth is this government’s number one priority.
Businesses have choices about how they respond to changes in their costs, including through adjusting profits, prices, and patterns of employment, meaning employment is not mechanically affected by any increase in costs.
The OBR’s November forecast, which accounts for the impacts of government policy, judge that employment will increase in every year of the forecast, and will be higher in every year, than in their Spring 2025 forecast.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of her policies on levels of unemployment.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Economic growth is this government’s number one priority.
The OBR’s November forecast, which accounts for the impacts of government policy, judges that employment will increase in every year of the forecast, and will be higher in every year than in their Spring 2025 forecast.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps she is taking to help ensure that older people feel able to challenge ageism in society.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
I refer the Hon member to the answer on 1 September 2025 (PQs 69429, 69430).
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support hair salons.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Small businesses in the hair and beauty sector play an important role in supporting jobs, high streets and local economies. We’ve introduced permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties and have provided £4.3bn to shield ratepayers from bill increases.
We continue to back employers who take on apprentices, by providing £1,000 to both employers and training providers when they take on apprentices aged under 19; employers are not required to pay National Insurance Contributions for all apprentices aged up to age 25 (when the employee’s wage is below £50,270 a year). Additionally, the government pays the full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care, when their employer has fewer than 50 employees.
I will continue to engage closely with the sector, including through the Personal Care Roundtables, to ensure the industry’s long-term growth. This includes working with hair and beauty businesses as we bring forward a new High Streets Strategy later this year.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help improve access to public tennis courts.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities. That has to mean delivering a range of facilities across the country based on what each local community needs.
We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through Sport England - which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding into grassroots sport across England, including providing support for the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).
In 2026/27, £15 million will be invested into innovative facilities in England to help improve access to the sports that people wish to participate in.
We are working closely with the sport sector - including the LTA - and local leaders to develop plans for funding for a range of sports across the country. This will ensure that our investment in community grassroots sports facilities reaches as many people as possible to reduce inactivity levels.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will provide an estimate of the total cost of legal aid for foreign nationals in the last 5 years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department hold data on the number of foreign nationals who have received legal aid.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This information requested is not held centrally.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of the business rates system on hair salon businesses.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.
At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties.
To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. Government support also means that most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
The Government is also introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £1 billion per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
More broadly, later this year, the Government will bring forward a new High Streets Strategy to reinvigorate our communities. The Government will work with businesses and representative bodies to pull this Strategy together.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of business rates on hospitality businesses in Ashfield constituency.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.
At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties.
To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including to protect ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. Government support also means that most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.
The Government is also introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £1 billion per year and will benefit over 750,000 properties.
More broadly, later this year, the Government will bring forward a new High Streets Strategy to reinvigorate our communities. The Government will work with businesses and representative bodies to pull this Strategy together.