Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the report entitled The Price of Safety by women's aid, published in September 2024, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Spring Statement 2025 on (a) survivors of domestic abuse and (b) the ability of survivors of domestic abuse to flee their homes.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Home Office funds a range of organisations providing vital frontline support to victims of violence against women and girls (VAWG), including domestic abuse. The Home Office is providing a small increase in funding for VAWG victims’ services in this financial year (25/26).
In 2024/25, the Home Office in 2024/25 provided £2.69m to support victims fleeing domestic abuse via the Flexible Fund. The fund, delivered by Women’s Aid Federation England and a consortium of over 470 services, was accessible to all adult victims of domestic abuse in England and Wales, including victims with no recourse to public funds.
The Home Office also provided £3.6m in 2024/25 to fund a range of specialist national VAWG helplines which provide guidance and support to all victims.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has had discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the use of the Transformation Fund to reform (a) palliative and (b) end of life care services.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Spending Review is underway, and details will be announced on 11 June.
As part of the Spring Statement, Government announced a £3.25bn Transformation Fund to drive efficiencies across government and save money later in the Parliament, and set out how this would be allocated over the Spending Review process.
Government is determined to make sure that everyone has access to high-quality end of life care. In December 2024 we announced a £100 million boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care, and £26 million revenue to support children and young people’s hospices.
Asked by: Terry Jermy (Labour - South West Norfolk)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she made of the potential implications for her policies of the report by the Financial Regulators Complaints Commissioner on the Financial Conduct Authority's handling of Safe Hands Plans Limited, published on 11 March 2025.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
I am sympathetic to all the Safe Hands customers who have lost money, following the collapse of the firm in 2022.
Once concerns were raised about the funeral plan market, in 2021 the Government legislated to bring all pre-paid funeral plan providers and intermediaries within the regulatory remit of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This made it illegal to sell pre-paid funeral plans without authorisation from the Financial Conduct Authority, protecting 1.6 million customers and their families.
The FCA has published its response to the Financial Regulator Complaints Commissioner. The FCA has been clear that it is not possible to immediately act on every piece of anonymous intelligence they receive and Safe Hands failed to meet the threshold for authorisation due to underlying issues with their business model.
We support the FCA's handling of Safe Hands, and it is clear that they acted reasonably in this case, as they had a clear plan to properly scrutinise Safe Hands’ business during the authorisations process. As the Commissioner acknowledges, there is also no evidence that alternative action from the FCA would have led to different outcomes for Safe Hands customers.