Neil O'Brien

My officials have been in discussion with Network Rail and will continue to do so regarding the works for Spion Kop bridge at Blaby Road.

The work is necessary to renew aging assets and enable the electrification of the railway. Network Rail are working with the local authority and are considering options for the works. They are mindful of minimising disruptive impacts whilst also delivering them efficiently.

My Officials have been in discussion with Network Rail regarding the necessary works for Spion Kop bridge at Blaby Road.

The work is necessary to renew aging assets and enable the electrification of the railway. Network Rail are working with the local authority and are considering options for the works and are mindful of minimising the disruptive impacts of the works whilst also delivering the works efficiently.

1.2 million households will be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments in England and 100,000 households in Wales post policy change (based on the number of current Pension Credit recipients). Source: Stat-Xplore - Table View (dwp.gov.uk). Winter Fuel Payments in Scotland are a matter for the Scottish Government.

Please note that Pension Credit claimants are the majority of those that will be eligible for Winter Fuel Payments, not all.

Also, the published Pension Credit figures refer to households, so the number of individuals will be higher (i.e. taking account of households where it is a couple claiming Pension Credit).

Furthermore, the above does not take into account any potential increase in Pension Credit take-up we might see as a result of the policy.

NHS England has committed to investing up to £12.7 million annually from 2024/25 on the provision of sight tests and associated optical vouchers in special educational settings. This represents an approximately 87% increase compared to previous levels of spending. This additional investment has the potential to increase coverage from 4% of special educational settings to 100%.

NHS England has engaged with key stakeholders throughout the life of the programme and continues to work closely with local integrated care boards and the ophthalmic and voluntary sector, to scale up and roll out sight tests in special educational settings.

A table showing the number if general practices and premises in each current integrated care board (ICB) area in England, each month since January 2014, is attached. Data is not available before 2014. Open and close dates for both practices and branches were identified using data from the NHS Organisation Data Service. Locations have been mapped to current ICB boundaries.

NHS England has committed to investing up to £12.7 million annually from 2024/25 on the provision of sight tests and associated optical vouchers in special educational settings. This represents an approximately 87% increase compared to previous levels of spending. This additional investment has the potential to increase coverage from 4% of special educational settings to 100%.

NHS England has engaged with key stakeholders throughout the life of the programme and continues to work closely with local integrated care boards and the ophthalmic and voluntary sector, to scale up and roll out sight tests in special educational settings.

On 29 July 2024, the Government published a technical note confirming that the Government will remove private schools’ eligibility for charitable rates relief under business rates in England.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government will bring forward primary legislation to amend the Local Government Finance Act 1988 to end relief eligibility for private schools. The change is intended to take effect from April 2025, subject to Parliamentary process.

As set out in the technical note, the Government recognises some pupils have special educational needs that can only be met in a private school. The Government has made clear that it will consider how to address the potential impact of these changes in cases where private school provision has been specified for pupils through an Education, Health and Care Plan

In the 2021 to 2022 tax year, around 50% of customers liable to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) declared in their Self Assessment return that they were in employment or were self-employed.

This figure is based on data reported by taxpayers who have filed a Self Assessment tax return and excludes a small proportion of taxpayers who have reported CGT exclusively via other filing systems.

HMRC does not routinely produce estimates of the proportion of capital gains taxpayers who have paid employee national insurance contributions. A reliable estimate would only be available at disproportionate cost.

Annual statistics on Capital Gains Tax including number of taxpayers are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/capital-gains-tax-statistics The statistics in this publication are for all customers liable to Capital Gains Tax including those who have and have not paid employee national insurance contributions.

The Government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly, including reducing the use of hotels over time. Additionally, the Government will be reviewing current Home Office arrangements to ensure efficiency and deliver value for money.

Accommodation costs are considered to be commercially confidential; therefore, the Home Office does not publish this information. The total specific breakdowns of hotel costs are not reportable in the format requested, but the expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at HO annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The number of asylum seekers in receipt of Section 95 support is published quarterly. At the end of quarter four 2003 published statistics indicate that there were 47,148 people housed in Dispersal Accommodation and a further 30,362 in receipt of subsistence only support. The geographical location of these supported asylum seekers was not published at that time. Since 2019 data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation has been published at Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The Government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly, and fairly, including reducing the use of hotels over time. Additionally, the Government will be reviewing current Home Office arrangements to ensure efficiency and deliver value for money.

Accommodation costs are considered to be commercially confidential; therefore, the Home Office does not publish this information. The total specific breakdowns of hotel costs are not reportable in the format requested, but the expenditure on asylum is published in the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts, available at HO annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The number of asylum seekers in receipt of Section 95 support is published quarterly. At the end of quarter four 2003 published statistics indicate that there were 47,148 people housed in Dispersal Accommodation and a further 30,362 in receipt of subsistence only support. The geographical location of these supported asylum seekers was not published at that time. Since 2019 data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation has been published at Asylum and resettlement datasets - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Data on asylum costs has been disclosed each year since 2013-14 in the Home Office’s Annual Report and Accounts. However, data for Financial Year 2024-25 is not yet published and will be available when the 2024-25 Annual Report and Accounts is published. Data for asylum costs was not published prior to Financial Year 2013-14.

Please refer to the below page references which are available through the following link:

Home Office annual reports and accounts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Financial Year 2023-24 page 243 (page 247 on the PDF reader)

Financial Year 2022-23 page 244

Financial Year 2021-22 page 171

Financial Year 2020-21 page 159

Financial Year 2019-20 page 150

Financial Year 2018-19 page 135

Financial Year 2017-18 page 124

Financial Year 2016-17 page 115

Financial Year 2015-16 page 132 (page 133 on the PDF reader)

Financial Year 2014-15 page 124 (page 127 on the PDF reader)

Financial Year 2013-14 page 110 (page 127 on the PDF reader)

Refugee Integration Loans were introduced in 2007 following a public consultation and have operated over the last seventeen years to help recipients with the costs of integrating into UK society. They are funded by the Home Office, who make the initial decisions on applications. They are then administered and recouped by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Single applicants can borrow between £100 and £500 and if applying jointly the maximum amount increases to £780.

The Home Office work with DWP to administer the loans across different IT platforms. Consequently, data on the level of loans provided on an annual basis is not held in an easily reportable format and would require a manual search of records that could only be conducted at a disproportionate cost.

Refugee Integration Loans were introduced in 2007 following a public consultation and have operated over the last seventeen years to help recipients with the costs of integrating into UK society. They are funded by the Home Office, who make the initial decisions on applications. They are then administered and recouped by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Single applicants can borrow between £100 and £500 and if applying jointly the maximum amount increases to £780.

The Home Office work with DWP to administer the loans across different IT platforms. Consequently, data on the level of loans provided on an annual basis is not held in an easily reportable format and would require a manual search of records that could only be conducted at a disproportionate cost.