Lord Booth

HM Treasury is responsible for assessing the potential cost of the Technical Advisory Panel as part of their business case development. The Cabinet Office does not centrally estimate costs for departments’ proposals.

The Government has conducted a full line-by-line Spending Review which covered the proposed costs of the Technical Advisory Panel to ensure value for money is being delivered for the taxpayer.

HM Treasury is responsible for assessing the potential cost of the Anti-Money Laundering Supervision Reform Body as part of their business case development. The Cabinet Office does not centrally estimate costs for departments’ proposals.

The Government has conducted a full line-by-line Spending Review which covered the proposed costs of the Anti-Money Laundering Supervision Reform Body to ensure value for money is being delivered for the taxpayer.

The Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero is responsible for assessing the potential cost of ‘Project Seahorse’ as part of their business case development. The Cabinet Office does not centrally estimate costs for departments’ proposals.

Departments are responsible for assessing the potential costs of proposed new bodies as part of their business case development. The Cabinet Office does not centrally estimate costs for departments’ proposals.

The government is conducting a full line-by-line Spending Review which will cover the costs of proposed and existing ALBs to ensure value for money is being delivered for the taxpayer.

On 6 April, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster announced a full review of all arm’s length bodies to ensure their existence can be strongly justified against key principles. Any future decision to set up any new ALBs would need to demonstrate alignment with these principles and follow the joint HMT and Cabinet Office approval process for new bodies.

The Cabinet Office considers an ALB to be in the process of being set up when we have either received a business case for a proposed new body, or the proposal has been allowed to seek approval retrospectively. We then conduct a detailed process to ensure there is sufficient due diligence to establish a clear rationale for a proposed new body. The following bodies are in the process of being set up: There are currently 26 proposed public bodies, which are as follows:

• Skills England

• Armed Forces Commissioner

• Infected Blood Compensation Authority

• NISTA

• Fair Work Agency

• Industrial Strategy Council

• Independent Football Regulator

• Great British Energy - NDPB

• School Support Staff Negotiating Body

• National Data Library

• Regulatory Innovation Office

• National Wealth Fund - NMD

• Anti-Money Laundering Supervision Reform Body

• Technical Advisory Panel

• "Project Seahorse"

• Border Security Command

• Passenger Standards Authority

• National Care Service

• National Centre of Policing

• Ethics and Integrity Commission

• Building Standards Regulatory Body

• AI Regulation Body

• Adult Social Care Negotiating Body

• Local Audit Office

• Office of Product Standards and Safety

• Tax Advisory Body - Advisory NDPB

• Animal Welfare Advisory Body

• Heat Network Technical Assurance Scheme (HNTAS)

• Ploughshare

The Industrial Strategy Advisory Council is supported by a team of DBT civil servants, housed in the existing DBT estate. The costs of its secretariat are expected to be comparable to the secretariats of similar advisory bodies. Precise budget estimates are subject to Spending Review and business planning processes.

The government is committed to ensuring the FWA has the resources it needs to do its job. Further details around the implementation and funding will be provided in due course.

In the meantime, the published impact assessment on our plans to create the Fair Work Agency provides data on the budgets of the state enforcement bodies which will be brought together in the first phase of this important work.

The Department has an extensive programme of engagement to raise awareness of CPTPP, an agreement comprising over 500 million people and a combined GDP of £12 trillion in 2023, when including the UK, among small and medium-sized enterprises.

We aim to reach as many businesses as possible to ensure they have the knowledge needed to take advantage of the commercial opportunities afforded to them in CPTPP markets. This includes running over 60 webinars, workshops, roundtables and events for, and often in partnership with, UK businesses.

The Department has also published 70+ practical CPTPP guides on great.gov.uk, aimed at supporting SMEs.

The Department for Business and Trade has an active programme of FTA Utilisation to promote the benefits of the UK’s Free Trade Agreements with Japan, including CPTPP and the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). This includes running Export Academy webinars on our FTAs, training sessions for UK business delegations visiting Japan, podcasts on our FTAs with Japan, and an ambitious programme of business engagement on CPTPP which included over 50 DBT-led events across October and November. On the 15^th December, the department published 11 new CPTPP guides with Japan-specific content on great.gov.uk, designed to support UK exporters.

The Department has a dedicated team focused on the implementation of the CPTPP Agreement now it has entered into force. They work closely with the Free Trade Agreement Utilisation (FTAU) team who exist to promote the benefits of the UK’s FTAs. To coincide with entry into force of CPTPP, the department published 70+ new guides for exporters on great.gov.uk. There is an ambitious programme of business engagement on CPTPP which included over 50 DBT-led events across October and November. Following entry into force, FTAU will continue to deliver practical support in utilising the agreement, including through workshops and webinars.

Great British Energy has an estimated total expenditure of £184,403,000 for 2025-26 as set out in the Main Supply Estimates for 2025-26 published by HM Treasury on 15 May 2025.

This constitutes £34,403,000 for Resource Departmental Expenditure and £150,000,000 Capital Departmental Expenditure.

The annual costs of the Regulatory Innovation Office are met within DSIT’s budget allocations, as set out in the Spending Review.

The National Data Library has a budget of £9.6m for FY25/26. Funding beyond this will be considered as part of the forthcoming Spending Review, with further details to follow in due course.

The Football Governance Bill Impact Assessment, which was approved under the last government, estimates that the operating costs of the Independent Football Regulator will be between £8.0m per annum and £10.2m per annum, for the first 10 years. While these are reasonable estimations of the levy charge they should not be treated as conclusive final costs. Final costs will be dependent on the scope of the Bill passed by Parliament and the work necessary to ensure clubs are complying with the regulatory regime.

These estimates have been adjusted to account for the impact of inflation, and future costs have been converted to their present value, as per Green Book guidance issued by His Majesty’s Treasury for Impact Assessments.

Once established, costs associated with the School Support Staff Negotiating Body will be limited to small administrative costs and fees, including a salary for an independent chair. All expenditure will be subject to normal government approvals processes.

This Government supports the fishing industry and recognises its key role in food supply. As part of this support, Defra has reopened the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme on 9 June 2025, allocating around £6 million to create a sustainable and resilient seafood sector. In addition to this, the £360 million Fisheries and Coastal Growth Fund will support the next generation of fishers and breathe new life into our coastal communities.

The consultation on the Railways Bill closed on 15 April, and as part of this we sought views on the creation of a new passenger watchdog. We are currently considering the responses and the best way of establishing the Watchdog. This will include the consideration of costs.

An application for a Development Consent Order has been made by Gatwick Airport Limited to bring their existing Northern runway into routine use alongside their main runway.

The Planning Inspectorate submitted its recommendation report to the Department for Transport on 27 November 2024 and the Secretary of State for Transport has until the 27 February 2025 to make a decision.

As this is a live planning application, it would not be appropriate to comment.

Outstanding Pension Credit claims totalled 92,400 at the end of week commencing 23^rd December 2024. This includes 8,500 advanced claims. Advanced claims are where the application can be started up to 4 months before reaching State Pension age. We do not hold this information at regional level.

Please note, the data shown is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard.

For Winter 2023 to 2024, the number of households paid a Winter Fuel Payment was 8.5 million. For further details, please visit Winter Fuel Payment statistics for winter 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK.

The number of households in receipt of the Winter Fuel Payment for Winter 2024 to 2025 is not yet available. Official Winter Fuel Payment statistics for Winter 2024 to 2025 are expected to be released by the end of 2025.

On 28 November we published Pension Credit applications and award statistics. This publication provides application volumes up to 17 November 2024. Pension Credit applications and awards: November 2024 - GOV.UK, which is the nearest available data to the 30 November.

• This shows we have received around 150,000 applications since the announcement on 29 July 2024 to 17 November 2024.
• In the previous year we received around 67,000 applications for the closest comparable period, 31 July 2023 to 19 November 2023.

Please note, the figures presented are from DWP’s Pension Credit system which has previously been collected for internal departmental operations use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standards.

The most recent information on processing times for Pension Credit was published in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts on 22nd July 2024 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024-html). This shows that in 2023/24 DWP cleared 192,000 Pension Credit claims within the planned 50 working day timescale, equating to 77.7%, which meant 22.3% were not settled within the 10-week timescale.

We are deploying around 500 additional staff to manage the increase in volumes.

Please note, if a claim is made by 21 December, Pension Credit can be backdated for three months if the entitlement conditions have been met throughout that period, and if the claimant was eligible, they would also receive a Winter Fuel Payment.

The most recent information on processing times for Pension Credit was published in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts on 22nd July 2024 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2023-to-2024-html). This shows that in 2023/24 DWP cleared 192,000 Pension Credit claims within the planned 50 working day timescale, equating to 77.7%, which meant 22.3% were not settled within the 10-week timescale.

We are deploying around 500 additional staff to manage the increase in volumes.

Please note, if a claim is made by 21 December, Pension Credit can be backdated for three months if the entitlement conditions have been met throughout that period, and if the claimant was eligible, they would also receive a Winter Fuel Payment.