Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department holds data on the tax gap disaggregated by (a) local authority and (b) parliamentary constituency.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimates the size of the tax gap, which is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid. The tax gap statistics and details of the estimate methodologies are published annually and are available at: Measuring tax gaps 2024 edition: tax gap estimates for 2022 to 2023 - GOV.UK.
HMRC does not estimate the tax gap by local authority or by parliamentary constituency.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the regional distribution of ineligible applicants for teacher training bursaries based on degree classification; and how many ineligible applicants there were in Wiltshire in each of the last five years.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are designed to incentivise more applications to ITT courses from high-achieving graduates. As such, for postgraduate bursaries, we take account of the grade of the trainee’s highest academic qualification. These bursaries are only awarded to trainees with at least a 2:2 undergraduate degree classification, unless the trainee possesses a higher academic qualification, such as a doctoral or master’s degree.
Graduates who do not hold a 2:2 degree can apply for student finance in the form of a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan to support their living costs. Additional funding is also available depending on individual circumstances, such as the childcare grant.
Subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses are designed to provide candidates for ITT with the minimum knowledge required to train to teach their chosen subject. Completion of a SKE course is not a requirement for all ITT candidates. The ITT provider determines whether it is requirement of the candidate’s offer after assessing their prior subject knowledge. Completion of SKE is not a factor in postgraduate ITT bursary eligibility.
ITT providers determine whether their trainees are eligible for a bursary, using the eligibility criteria set by the department. The department only holds data on trainees who are eligible for bursaries, alongside data on the overall number of trainees by subject and ITT provider. The department does not hold data on why trainees were ineligible for a bursary.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of trends in the level of compliance among individuals offering pet services via online platforms with the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 regulate commercial activity in relation to selling animals as pets; providing for, or arranging for, the provision of boarding for cats or dogs; hiring out horses; dog breeding and keeping or training animals for exhibition. Anyone conducting these activities as a business needs a valid licence. Licensees must meet strict statutory minimum welfare standards which are enforced by local authorities who have powers to issue, refuse or revoke licences.
Local authorities provide a statutory annual data return including information on the number of licences issued, varied and revoked by local authorities for each activity. Returns are published here.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of using degree classification as an eligibility criterion for teacher training bursaries in shortage subjects.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are designed to incentivise more applications to ITT courses from high-achieving graduates. As such, for postgraduate bursaries, we take account of the grade of the trainee’s highest academic qualification. These bursaries are only awarded to trainees with at least a 2:2 undergraduate degree classification, unless the trainee possesses a higher academic qualification, such as a doctoral or master’s degree.
Graduates who do not hold a 2:2 degree can apply for student finance in the form of a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan to support their living costs. Additional funding is also available depending on individual circumstances, such as the childcare grant.
Subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses are designed to provide candidates for ITT with the minimum knowledge required to train to teach their chosen subject. Completion of a SKE course is not a requirement for all ITT candidates. The ITT provider determines whether it is requirement of the candidate’s offer after assessing their prior subject knowledge. Completion of SKE is not a factor in postgraduate ITT bursary eligibility.
ITT providers determine whether their trainees are eligible for a bursary, using the eligibility criteria set by the department. The department only holds data on trainees who are eligible for bursaries, alongside data on the overall number of trainees by subject and ITT provider. The department does not hold data on why trainees were ineligible for a bursary.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the completion of a Subject Knowledge Enhancement course is considered as part of the eligibility criteria for postgraduate teacher training bursaries.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Initial teacher training (ITT) bursaries are designed to incentivise more applications to ITT courses from high-achieving graduates. As such, for postgraduate bursaries, we take account of the grade of the trainee’s highest academic qualification. These bursaries are only awarded to trainees with at least a 2:2 undergraduate degree classification, unless the trainee possesses a higher academic qualification, such as a doctoral or master’s degree.
Graduates who do not hold a 2:2 degree can apply for student finance in the form of a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan to support their living costs. Additional funding is also available depending on individual circumstances, such as the childcare grant.
Subject knowledge enhancement (SKE) courses are designed to provide candidates for ITT with the minimum knowledge required to train to teach their chosen subject. Completion of a SKE course is not a requirement for all ITT candidates. The ITT provider determines whether it is requirement of the candidate’s offer after assessing their prior subject knowledge. Completion of SKE is not a factor in postgraduate ITT bursary eligibility.
ITT providers determine whether their trainees are eligible for a bursary, using the eligibility criteria set by the department. The department only holds data on trainees who are eligible for bursaries, alongside data on the overall number of trainees by subject and ITT provider. The department does not hold data on why trainees were ineligible for a bursary.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to launch a public consultation on the future use of farrowing crates in the UK.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 2 April 2025 to the hon. Member for Birmingham Northfield, PQ 41698.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure timely reporting of suspected animal cruelty incidents to the Animal and Plant Health Agency; and whether guidance is issued to (a) industry and (b) the public on how and when to report.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is newly published guidance on what and how to report animal welfare
concerns in England (Report farm animal welfare concerns - GOV.UK); additional contact details are available at the top of the APHA contact list on GOV.UK.
For England and Wales, there is a telephone number which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In Scotland, people can call their local APHA field service office.
People should contact APHA immediately with concerns about farm animals being neglected, abused or mistreated. If the concern about the welfare of farm animals is not urgent, they can email APHA at customeradvice@apha.gov.uk.
APHA leads on responding to animal welfare concerns in livestock. For concerns about wild animals or pets, people can contact their local council, private veterinary surgeon or wildlife rescue centre.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of sows in the UK kept in farrowing crates in each of the last five years.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra does not hold official data, however, for the last five years estimates have consistently maintained that 60% of the UK breeding herd were kept indoors with the vast majority of sows using farrowing crates to give birth. The remaining 40% farrow freely on outdoor units with no option for confinement.
Recent industry estimates suggest that the number of sows kept indoors has declined to 50%. Of these, around 8% of the British indoor pig herd were reported to be flexibly farrowed where the sow can be confined on a temporary basis and for a limited period.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many applications have been received under the 2025 round of animal health and welfare grants; and what proportion of these applications have been approved in Wiltshire.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF 25) opened for applications on the 29 May this year and will close at midday on 10 July 2025. The application process is ongoing; therefore, applications have not been approved at this stage.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of allocating marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar in non-English GCSE subjects on students with dyslexia.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Chippenham to the answer of 12 June 2025 to Question 57812.