Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of mitigating the combined impact of increased taxation and reduced benefit entitlement on low-income pensioners with no additional earnings or savings.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is a key priority for this Government to ease pressures on the cost of living. We remain firmly committed to protecting the most vulnerable pensioners and ensuring financial security in retirement.
The State Pension will remain the foundation of retirement income . In line with the Government’s commitment to the Triple Lock for the duration of this parliament, over 12 million pensioners will benefit from a 4.8% increase to their basic or new State Pension in April 2026, worth up to £575 a year. This follows a substantial increase in 2025/26, when those on the full new State Pension received a £360 boost.
Furthermore, the Chancellor has said that those whose only income is the basic or new State Pension without any increments will not have to pay income tax over this Parliament. At the Budget, the Government announced that it will achieve this by easing the administrative burden for pensioners so that they do not have to pay small amounts of tax via Simple Assessment from 2027/28. The Government will set out more details next year.
The Pension Credit Standard Minimum Guarantee will also increase by 4.8% in April 2026, from £227.10 to £238 a week for single pensioners and from £346.60 to £363.25 for couples, protecting the poorest pensioners. Over three quarters of pensioners will benefit from the Winter Fuel Payment for the duration of this Parliament, targeting help at those on lower and middle incomes while ensuring fairness for taxpayers.
Pensioners also benefit from free eye tests, NHS prescriptions and bus passes, and some may qualify for means tested benefits such as Housing Benefit and Cold Weather Payments.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate the Treasury has made of the additional income tax collected from pre-2016 State Pensioners as a result of the frozen personal allowance.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Revenue estimates from, and individuals impacted by frozen thresholds are set out by the Office for Budget Responsibility in Table A of their November 2025 Economic and fiscal outlook, and Table 3.19 of the detailed forecast table of receipts:
Office for Budget Responsibility – Economic and fiscal outlook – November 2025
Office for Budget Responsibility - Economic and fiscal outlook detailed forecast tables: receipts
Those whose sole income is the basic or full new State Pension without any increments will not pay any income tax in 2026/27.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people in receipt of a pre-April 2016 State Pension have become liable for Income Tax since the freeze in the Income Tax personal allowance threshold.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Revenue estimates from, and individuals impacted by frozen thresholds are set out by the Office for Budget Responsibility in Table A of their November 2025 Economic and fiscal outlook, and Table 3.19 of the detailed forecast table of receipts:
Office for Budget Responsibility – Economic and fiscal outlook – November 2025
Office for Budget Responsibility - Economic and fiscal outlook detailed forecast tables: receipts
Those whose sole income is the basic or full new State Pension without any increments will not pay any income tax in 2026/27.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many pre-April 2016 state pensioners have been issued with simple assessment tax demands in each of the last three tax years.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Revenue estimates from, and individuals impacted by frozen thresholds are set out by the Office for Budget Responsibility in Table A of their November 2025 Economic and fiscal outlook, and Table 3.19 of the detailed forecast table of receipts:
Office for Budget Responsibility – Economic and fiscal outlook – November 2025
Office for Budget Responsibility - Economic and fiscal outlook detailed forecast tables: receipts
Those whose sole income is the basic or full new State Pension without any increments will not pay any income tax in 2026/27.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many recipients of the pre-2016 State Pension have been issued with a simple assessment tax demand in each of the last three tax years.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Revenue estimates from, and individuals impacted by frozen thresholds are set out by the Office for Budget Responsibility in Table A of their November 2025 Economic and fiscal outlook, and Table 3.19 of the detailed forecast table of receipts:
Office for Budget Responsibility – Economic and fiscal outlook – November 2025
Office for Budget Responsibility - Economic and fiscal outlook detailed forecast tables: receipts
Those whose sole income is the basic or full new State Pension without any increments will not pay any income tax in 2026/27.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she intends to establish or increase strategic national food reserves.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK has a resilient food supply chain and is equipped to deal with situations that have the potential to cause disruption. Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to update or revise the public advice given on the prepare.campaign.gov.uk website.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
By following the advice on gov.uk/prepare, people can improve their preparedness for various types of disruption or emergency, irrespective of the cause. We also work closely with local and national partners to ensure they are aware of – and can share – this important advice with the public.
We regularly review the website's content and continue to explore options for improving it, and for increasing public awareness of emergency preparedness advice beyond the website.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he takes to ensure that military operations conducted from facilities in the UK are compliant with international law.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
UK military operations are conducted in accordance with International Humanitarian Law. Military personnel are bound by the laws of England and Wales for their actions under the Armed Forces Act 2006. All decisions on whether to approve foreign nations’ use of military bases in the UK for operational purposes consider the legal basis for any proposed activity.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how he is balancing rapid access targets with preserving continuity, especially for patients with long-term or complex conditions.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government values continuity in general practice (GP), but this isn't inconsistent with efforts to improve access, such as via the 24-hour access target where urgent treatment is required.
In the 2025/26 contract, one of the domains of the Capacity and Access Improvement Payment, worth £29.2 million, incentivises primary care networks to risk stratify their patients to support continuity of care, including patients with long-term or complex conditions. This allows GPs to deliver care to meet the specific needs of their patients
Over the past 16 months, the Government has invested an extra £1.1 billion into primary care, allowing for the recruitment of over 2,000 more GPs, and has halved the number of targets GPs are held to so that GPs can spend more time caring for patients. As a result, patient satisfaction with GPs has improved after a decade of decline, rising from 61% in July 2024 to 74% in July 2025, marking a 13-percentage-point increase over the last year.
Over ten million more GP appointments have been delivered in the 12 months to September 2025, compared to the same period last year, building capacity for continuity of care and improving access so that patients can be seen when they need to be in primary care.
We have always valued input from a range of stakeholders on the future of GPs and continue to engage with GPs broadly to ensure the targets are achievable, reflect the needs of the populations they serve, and understand any barriers to delivery of this target.
Asked by: Roz Savage (Liberal Democrat - South Cotswolds)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of access targets for general practice on continuity of care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government values continuity in general practice (GP), but this isn't inconsistent with efforts to improve access, such as via the 24-hour access target where urgent treatment is required.
In the 2025/26 contract, one of the domains of the Capacity and Access Improvement Payment, worth £29.2 million, incentivises primary care networks to risk stratify their patients to support continuity of care, including patients with long-term or complex conditions. This allows GPs to deliver care to meet the specific needs of their patients
Over the past 16 months, the Government has invested an extra £1.1 billion into primary care, allowing for the recruitment of over 2,000 more GPs, and has halved the number of targets GPs are held to so that GPs can spend more time caring for patients. As a result, patient satisfaction with GPs has improved after a decade of decline, rising from 61% in July 2024 to 74% in July 2025, marking a 13-percentage-point increase over the last year.
Over ten million more GP appointments have been delivered in the 12 months to September 2025, compared to the same period last year, building capacity for continuity of care and improving access so that patients can be seen when they need to be in primary care.
We have always valued input from a range of stakeholders on the future of GPs and continue to engage with GPs broadly to ensure the targets are achievable, reflect the needs of the populations they serve, and understand any barriers to delivery of this target.