Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that the NHS follows guidance on the minimum age for gender dysphoria.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
On 7 August 2024, NHS England published a new service specification that describes the pathway onto the waiting list for NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services in line with the recommendations of the Cass Review. The service specification was agreed following a process of public consultation, respondents to which included medical bodies such as royal colleges of medicine. I would like to assure you that this service specification is followed by all commissioned providers of NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Services.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children under the age of seven have been treated for gender dysphoria since 1 April 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No children under the age of seven have been treated for gender dysphoria since 1 April 2024.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of business rates relief on supply of serviced office buildings.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is responsible for valuing non-domestic property for business rates purposes. At present many serviced offices are valued as separate units. This means that businesses occupying serviced office units are liable for business rates. Where eligible, these businesses may claim Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR). SBRR provides 100 per cent rate relief for properties with rateable values below £12,000, and tapered support to those with rateable values below £15,000.Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the maximum additional business rate revenue that could be raised by the proposed new higher rate multiplier.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable vales below £500,000 from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we intend to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties from 2026-27 - those with rateable values of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but cover the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants.
The exact rates for any new business rate multipliers will not be set until Autumn Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context. Costings for these policies will be certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility and published at the Budget.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the the potential impact of changes in business rates on serviced office buildings.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is the Valuation Office Agency’s (VOA) statutory duty to maintain up-to-date Rating Lists and they are required by law to review and correct assessments if supported by evidence.
Following developments in case law, the VOA have been reviewing their approach to valuing serviced offices for business rates, including seeking legal advice on a range of agreements between owners or operators and individual occupiers.
The VOA have concluded that, rather than each room within a serviced office being assessed separately, most serviced offices will need to be assessed as a single property, unless clear evidence demonstrates a need to split.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of removing the £110,000 business rates cap for (a) retail, (b) hospitality and (c) leisure businesses with a rateable value below £500,000 after April 2026; and how this will be funded.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
To deliver our manifesto pledge, we intend to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties, with rateable vales below £500,000 from 2026-27. This permanent tax cut will ensure that RHL businesses benefit from much-needed certainty and support.
This tax cut must be sustainably funded, and so we intend to introduce a higher rate on the most valuable properties from 2026-27 - those with rateable values of £500,000 and above. These represent less than one per cent of all properties, but cover the majority of large distribution warehouses, including those used by online giants.
The exact rates for any new business rate multipliers will not be set until Autumn Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context. Costings for these policies will be certified by the Office for Budget Responsibility and published at the Budget.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
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 implications for his policies of the recommendations on the minimum age for treatment for gender dysphoria in the Cass Review, published in April 2024.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Last year, NHS England held a public consultation regarding an updated referral pathway policy for children and young people to access NHS Children and Young People's Gender Services in line with the recommendations of the Cass Review.
The public consultation was supported by a detailed Equality and Health Inequalities Impact Assessment. A detailed report on the outcome of the consultation process, alongside guidance for secondary care health professionals, was published by NHS England on 7 August 2024.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure that Gift Aid claimed by online fundraising platforms goes to charities.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Charities have the flexibility to decide on their own strategy for fundraising and are free to partner with other organisations to process their Gift Aid claims. It will ultimately be a commercial decision on the part of a charity to work with a fundraising platform and whether it is appropriate to pay a fee for any services provided.
Many of the fundraising platforms are voluntarily registered with the Fundraising Regulator which can act if it believes standards have been breached.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will take steps to ban the charging of commission on Gift Aid.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Charities have the flexibility to decide on their own strategy for fundraising and are free to partner with other organisations to process their Gift Aid claims. It will ultimately be a commercial decision on the part of a charity to work with a fundraising platform and whether it is appropriate to pay a fee for any services provided.
Many of the fundraising platforms are voluntarily registered with the Fundraising Regulator which can act if it believes standards have been breached.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the use of tipping sliders by online fundraising platforms.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Fundraising platforms are commercial organisations that provide an important service to charities and donors. Most platforms are registered with the Fundraising Regulator, which is the independent, non-statutory regulator of charitable fundraising in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. DCMS meets with the Fundraising Regulator regularly to discuss a range of issues.
The Fundraising Regulator’s new Code of Fundraising Practice, which will come into force on 1 November 2025, includes requirements for fundraising platforms to include information for donors about how fees, including any voluntary tips, are calculated. The information must be easy to find, and include details on how voluntary tips can be amended or removed altogether in a straightforward way.
The government has no current plans to bring forward legislation on fundraising platforms. DCMS will continue working with the Fundraising Regulator, charities, and online giving platforms to support best practice across all forms of charitable fundraising.