Asked by: Lord Bishop of Bristol (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the increase to the immigration health surcharge by 66 per cent in 2024.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office collects the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Devolved Health Administrations (DHAs). After deducting administration/collection costs, the Home Office transfers the balance to DHSC and the DHAs through the Estimates process, according to the Barnett Formula population percentages.
Information on the income raised by the IHS is published annually in the Home Office Annual report and Accounts. Note that the IHS total is made up of both amounts of Retained Income and amounts payable to the Consolidated Fund.
During the 2022-23 financial year, the IHS generated £1,706m.
During the 2023-24 financial year, the IHS generated £1,782m.
Information on the income for the 2024-25 financial year will be available once the accounts are published later this year.
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under regular review. The Home Office undertook an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) and an Impact Assessment (IA) alongside the IHS increase.
Asked by: Lord Nash (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many compliance breaches were identified among the ten largest installers participating in the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, measured by voucher volume, since the scheme was launched.
Answered by Lord Wilson of Sedgefield - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Boiler Upgrade Scheme is administered by Ofgem on behalf of the government. Given the nature of the data requested, Ofgem will write to the noble Lord and a copy of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to improve the safety of pensions.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
On State Pensions, we have made a commitment to the Triple Lock for the entirety of this Parliament which will mean the annual spend on people’s State Pensions is forecast to rise by around £31 billion. These rises are only possible because of the tough decisions made in the autumn statement 2024 to keep the public finances on a sustainable footing .
Over 12 million pensioners will benefit (over the course of this parliament) with the full yearly rate of the new State Pension is forecast to increase by around £1,900.
The Pension Schemes Bill, introduced in Parliament on 5 June, will legislate to transform the £2 trillion workplace pensions landscape – with a smaller number of bigger, better governed, better value pension providers investing in a wider range of productive assets, ultimately improving outcomes for savers and our economy. The Bill will also legislate for wider changes, from putting in place a value for money regime for Defined Contribution pensions to the introduction of flexibilities for trustees of well-funded Defined Benefit pension schemes to release surplus back to employers where it is safe to do so, enabling benefits for scheme members.
A bedrock of our reforms is the security of members’ benefits and protection of their best interests. The reforms to the existing regime will continue to maintain member protection, with appropriate and adequate safeguards in place underpinned by the role of regulators.
This government will work closely with the Pension Protection Fund as the administrator of the Fraud Compensation Fund to ensure that the fraud compensation system is effective and that schemes which have experienced of pension fraud receive fair and timely compensation.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help ensure that every child has access to a library in areas of high disadvantage.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
All children should have the opportunity to access books and other resources to support their learning and enjoyment.
Public libraries are delivered by local government in accordance with the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964. Local authorities must have regard to encouraging both adults and children to make full use of the library service and keeping adequate stocks sufficient in number, range and quality to meet the needs of their communities.
Public libraries are free to join and there are over 2,500 static statutory libraries in England, found in every type of community, including 30 in Wiltshire. The government is committed to getting local government back on its feet. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2025-26 makes available over £69 billion for local government, which is a 6.8% cash terms increase on 2024-25.
School libraries complement public libraries by giving pupils access to a range of books and other kinds of texts, both in and out of school. Individual schools will decide how best to provide and maintain a library service for their pupils and headteachers have autonomy to decide how best to spend the core schools funding that is allocated to them by government. School funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in 2025-26, meaning that core school funding will total £65.3 billion compared to £61.6 billion in 2024-25. Following the Spending Review announcement, core schools funding, including SEND investment, will increase from £65.3bn in 2025-26 to £69.5bn by 2028-29.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve the (a) availability and (b) quality of careers advice in secondary schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Schools and colleges are developing careers programmes for young people against the Gatsby Benchmarks, a clear set of standards for good careers guidance.
Overseen by the Careers and Enterprise Company, a national network of 44 careers hubs delivers careers support to 95% of secondary schools and colleges. The hubs connect careers provision to the needs of local economies and leverage support from employers, through strategic partnerships with strategic and local authorities.
Evidence shows that young people in schools and colleges achieving all eight Gatsby Benchmarks are 8% less likely to not be in education, employment or training. However, only 25% of schools and colleges fully achieve all benchmarks, so there is much more to do to.
To address this, the government has embedded updated Gatsby Benchmarks into statutory guidance, for implementation from September 2025. Evidence-based improvements to the benchmarks ensure a world-class framework that will lead to better outcomes for young people.
To boost work readiness, the government is also committed to ensuring every young person receives two weeks of work experience over the course of their secondary education. The goal is to ensure work experience builds up over time and focuses on growth sectors, such as advanced manufacturing and life sciences.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with business organisations on the impact of regulatory compliance costs on (a) profitability and (b) competitiveness.
Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Last year the Government launched a Call for Evidence on the UK's regulatory landscape to hear directly from business how regulation could be improved. In March we launched our Action Plan for Regulation, committing to cut administrative costs of regulation for business by 25%, giving them essential time back to focus on growing their businesses. The Secretary of State and I held a call with businesses and representative organisations, including Airbus, the British Retail Consortium and UK Space, to hear their feedback on the Action Plan. Officials in my department continue to engage regularly to support our regulatory reform agenda.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the provisions in her Department's guidance entitled Sensitive information in planning applications have been used for the planning application for the Chinese Embassy in relation to information provided by (a) the applicant and (b) third parties.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
There is no direction under section 321 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in force in respect of this case.
Asked by: Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Civil Superannuation Annual Report and Accounts 2023–24, published 18 December 2024 (HC 481), what was the average pensionable pay growth across active members of the Civil Service Pension Scheme in 2023–24; how that average compared to the pay growth assumption used in the 2022–23 accounts; and whether the level of growth in 2023–24 was consistent with the Civil Service Pay Remit Guidance issued for that year.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
In the pay remit for 2023-24, departments were able to offer average awards up to 5%, consisting of up to 4.5% across the delegated grades plus 0.5% targeted for the lower pay bands. This compares to 2022-23 where departments were able to make average pay awards up to 2%, with additional flexibility to pay up to a further 1% where they could demonstrate targeting of the pay award to address specific priorities in their workforce and pay strategies.
The Civil Superannuation Report and account does not contain the average pensionable pay growth for active members of the Scheme.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the amount of capital in the United Kingdom being invested overseas, particularly in the United States of America; and whether they intend to introduce measures to encourage greater investment within the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The total stock of UK assets invested abroad was £13.4 trillion in 2023 according to the ONS Pink Book of this £4.7 trillion was invested in the United States. While the total stock of foreign investment in the UK was £14.1 trillion in 2023. The UK government promotes and facilitates inward foreign direct investment in the UK through the newly expanded Office for Investment (OFI), FDI leads to direct economic benefits for the UK. The UK allows free movement of international capital, both inward and outward investment can lead to business opportunities, higher economic growth and higher investment returns.
Asked by: Baroness Eaton (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much is the 2025–26 council tax on the ministerial residence in Admiralty House.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Admiralty House residences are valued in Council Tax Band H.