Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to resolve ongoing issues with accessing the legal aid portal.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This is an unprecedented event involving sophisticated organised crime. Every effort is being made to restore systems following the criminal attack on our services. The Legal Aid Agency’s (LAA) digital services have been taken offline to negate the threat and prevent further exposure of legal aid providers and users. We will not reopen the system until the appropriate steps have been taken to enable us to do so. We have been able to return some to internal use, enabling an improved ability to support criminal legal aid applications and payments.

The Government are committed to ensuring that operational delivery of legal aid continues. We have put in place contingency plans to ensure that those most in need of legal support can continue to access the help that they need and that those providing vital legal services can be confident they will continue to receive payments whilst systems are offline.

Emergency legislation came into force on 27 June enabling the LAA to implement enhanced business continuity arrangements, including increased delegation of decision making to legal aid providers. These enhanced measures are designed to support legal aid providers and prevent a significant case backlog while contingency measures are in place.

The recent data breach is the result of serious criminal activity, but it was enabled by the fragility of the LAA’s IT systems as a result of the long years of underinvestment under the last Conservative Government. By contrast, since taking power this Government has prioritised work to reverse the damage of over a decade of under-investment. That includes the allocation of over £20 million in extra funding this year to stabilise and transform the Legal Aid Agency digital services. This investment will make the system more robust and resilient in the face of similar cyber-attacks in future.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to a residence-based inheritance tax system on the numbers of UK residents with permanent homes outside of the UK.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

A supplementary forecast information release around the costings of reforms to the non-domicile regime, including the move to residence-based inheritance tax system, was published by the Office for Budget Responsibility in January 2025. This costing outlines the certified impact of ending the non-domiciled tax status on revenues to the Exchequer and the underlying behavioural assumptions.

https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/Non-doms-supplementary-release-Jan-2025.pdf

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government plans go give additional powers to policing forces to deal with allegations of (a) trespassing and (b) modern slavery and human trafficking, in the context of the commencement of the abolition of the Vagrancy Act 1824.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is repealing the outdated Vagrancy Act and introducing new offences which deal with specific risks.

Repealing the Vagrancy Act 1824 will leave a gap for the police to tackle organised begging and trespassing, which police have highlighted as a particular concern.We have therefore introduced, in the Crime and Policing Bill, a new offence of facilitating begging for gain and a new criminal offence of trespassing with intent to commit a criminal offence.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the tax revenue from ensuring compliance with rules on eligibility of short-term lets for business rates.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Before a short-term let can be assessed as a self-catering accommodation (short-term let) for business rates purposes it must have been available to let for at least 140 days in the past year and demonstrate at least 70 days of actual letting activity in the last year.

It is for local authorities to bill and collect business rates. The government does not make an estimate of the number of short-term lets who choose not to be assessed for business rates or do not meet these criteria. However, the government does collect data on the number of short-term lets assessed for business rates. The latest available data from March 2025 shows that there are 65,380 short-term lets assessed for business rates in England.

Where a property does not meet these criteria, it will usually be considered domestic, and liable for council tax in the same way as any other domestic property.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many full-time equivalent staff will be needed to enforce the short-term lets database.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Detailed operational requirements, including staffing levels, are being determined as part of the development process.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of using artificial intelligence in the regulatory process for short-term lets.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is committed to being at the forefront of artificial intelligence innovation across public services and regulatory processes. Decisions about which technologies, including potential AI applications, will best support the Short Term Lets registration scheme's effectiveness are being determined during the design phase. Any specific assessment of AI applications in the registration process would be a matter for DCMS as the lead department for this policy area. Public testing on the register is due to start later in 2025 and a full version of the scheme in 2026.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's consultation outcome entitled Consultation on a registration scheme for short-term lets in England, updated on 19 July 2024, when she will publish a full response to the consultation.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

DCMS has commenced the second phase of digital development, with public testing due to start in September. The full consultation response will be published alongside the necessary secondary legislation.

Found: July 2025 at 10.00 am Meeting in the Speaker’s Study Present: The Speaker, in the Chair Rachel Blake

Found: of Alcluith (Chair, by virtue of office) 1/1 Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP (from December 2024) 0/1 Rachel Blake

Found: of Alcluith (Chair, by virtue of office) 1/1 Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP (from December 2024) 0/1 Rachel Blake

Found: Room 4A Meeting time 17:00–18:30 Attendees Client Board Programme Board (in attendance) Rachel Blake

Found: Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Chair) Dame Harriett Baldwin (Conservative; West Worcestershire) Rachel Blake

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Rachel Blake; Chris

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Rachel Blake; Chris

Found: Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Chair) Dame Harriett Baldwin (Conservative; West Worcestershire) Rachel Blake

Found: Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Chair) Dame Harriett Baldwin (Conservative; West Worcestershire) Rachel Blake

Found: and provided the Secretariat to the All-Party Group for Compassionate Politics now chaired by Rachel Blake

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Rachel Blake; Chris

Maternity APPG
Thursday 10th July 2025

Found: Wednesbury), Paula Barker MP (Liverpool Wavertree), Lee Barron MP (Corby and East Northamptonshire), Rachel Blake