Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
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 proposed changes to higher education funding on creative arts courses, and the potential consequences for the creative industries.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government is committed to supporting creative arts subjects in higher education and acknowledges the importance of this provision to the creative industries. These subjects will benefit from further increases in tuition fee limits in line with forecast inflation that we have announced for the 2026/27 and 2027/28 academic years.
For this academic year, we have maintained the funding at £57 million for the 20 small and specialist providers previously identified by the Office for Students as world leading. Of these providers, 13 are focused on creative arts. These 20 providers will retain their world leading status for 2026/27.
Decisions around funding through the Strategic Priorities Grant for 2026/27 have not yet been made. We will prioritise subjects that are essential to delivery of our Plan for Growth, and the Industrial Strategy, and we will issue guidance to the OfS setting out our funding priorities for 2026/27 in due course.
Asked by: Debbie Abrahams (Labour - Oldham East and Saddleworth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of regional variations in the level of public transport provision on (a) the number of people who rely on cars and (b) levels of rural poverty.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government knows how important reliable public transport services are in enabling people to stay connected and access education, work and vital services across the country. We also know that local bus services can be a lifeline in rural areas and can be the only means for communities to stay connected.
The Government is taking ambitious steps to improve local bus services across the country, including introducing the Bus Services Act 2025 which puts passenger needs, reliable services and local accountability at the heart of local bus services by putting the power back in the hands of local leaders right across England.
We also recently confirmed long-term investment of over £3 billion from 2026/27 to support local leaders and bus operators across the country to improve bus services for millions of passengers. This includes multi-year allocations for local authorities under the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) totalling nearly £700 million per year, ending the short-term approach to bus funding and giving councils the certainty they need to plan ahead to improve services for local communities. LABG allocations have been calculated using a fair and transparent approach that considers population size, levels of deprivation, the extent of existing bus services, and rurality.
Greater Manchester Combined Authority will be allocated £133.5 million under the LABG from 2026/27 to 2028/29. This is in addition to the £46.8 million they are already receiving under the LABG this financial year.
The Department for Transport has developed and published a Connectivity Tool to measure people’s ability to get where they want and need to go, using walking, cycling and public transport to reach jobs, shops, schools, healthcare and other essential services in any location in England and Wales. The Connectivity Tool combines transport and land use data to generate a national measure of connectivity and provides new insights to those developing new transport schemes or planning for growth to more easily understand how new transport infrastructure can impact an area’s connectivity.
As announced in the Child Poverty Strategy, published on 5 December 2025, the Government will also develop a transport poverty tool, which will aim to capture where poor transport connectivity and affordability limits people’s access to employment and essential services.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
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 review the NHS Pension Annual Allowance rules to prevent excessive charges for staff covering rota gaps.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The annual allowance limits the amount that an individual can save in their pension pot before they have to pay tax. It aims to ensure that the incentives for pension saving, which are costly to the taxpayer, are appropriately targeted across society. Tax policy, including the level of the annual allowance, is a matter for my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
From 6 April 2023, the previous administration introduced reforms to the annual allowance, increasing both the standard and tapered annual allowances, allowing National Health Service staff to save more into their pensions each year before facing a tax charge.
Where NHS staff have pension savings that exceed the annual allowance, for example due to unexpected circumstances such as taking on extra hours or additional responsibilities within the NHS, they can carry forward any unused annual allowance from the previous three tax years. This will increase their current year’s allowance, reducing or potentially avoiding any annual allowance tax charge that is due.
Additionally, the NHS Pension Scheme offers a Scheme Pays facility which allows impacted members to pay charges using the value of their pension. This spreads the cost of paying a tax charge over the lifetime of the pension rather than requiring an immediate outlay. For most members, the growth in their pension benefits at retirement, even net of a charge, would still represent an excellent return on their pension contributions.
Information for trusts is available on NHS Employers website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsemployers.org/publications/annual-allowance.
Information for members is available on the NHS Pensions website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/annual-allowance.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how his Department is supporting senior NHS staff in West Dorset constituency who face large Annual Allowance charges due to extra hours worked during staffing shortages.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The annual allowance limits the amount that an individual can save in their pension pot before they have to pay tax. It aims to ensure that the incentives for pension saving, which are costly to the taxpayer, are appropriately targeted across society. Tax policy, including the level of the annual allowance, is a matter for my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
From 6 April 2023, the previous administration introduced reforms to the annual allowance, increasing both the standard and tapered annual allowances, allowing National Health Service staff to save more into their pensions each year before facing a tax charge.
Where NHS staff have pension savings that exceed the annual allowance, for example due to unexpected circumstances such as taking on extra hours or additional responsibilities within the NHS, they can carry forward any unused annual allowance from the previous three tax years. This will increase their current year’s allowance, reducing or potentially avoiding any annual allowance tax charge that is due.
Additionally, the NHS Pension Scheme offers a Scheme Pays facility which allows impacted members to pay charges using the value of their pension. This spreads the cost of paying a tax charge over the lifetime of the pension rather than requiring an immediate outlay. For most members, the growth in their pension benefits at retirement, even net of a charge, would still represent an excellent return on their pension contributions.
Information for trusts is available on NHS Employers website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsemployers.org/publications/annual-allowance.
Information for members is available on the NHS Pensions website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/annual-allowance.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures are being considered to prevent NHS staff nationally from being deterred from covering rota gaps due to Annual Allowance charges.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The annual allowance limits the amount that an individual can save in their pension pot before they have to pay tax. It aims to ensure that the incentives for pension saving, which are costly to the taxpayer, are appropriately targeted across society. Tax policy, including the level of the annual allowance, is a matter for my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
From 6 April 2023, the previous administration introduced reforms to the annual allowance, increasing both the standard and tapered annual allowances, allowing National Health Service staff to save more into their pensions each year before facing a tax charge.
Where NHS staff have pension savings that exceed the annual allowance, for example due to unexpected circumstances such as taking on extra hours or additional responsibilities within the NHS, they can carry forward any unused annual allowance from the previous three tax years. This will increase their current year’s allowance, reducing or potentially avoiding any annual allowance tax charge that is due.
Additionally, the NHS Pension Scheme offers a Scheme Pays facility which allows impacted members to pay charges using the value of their pension. This spreads the cost of paying a tax charge over the lifetime of the pension rather than requiring an immediate outlay. For most members, the growth in their pension benefits at retirement, even net of a charge, would still represent an excellent return on their pension contributions.
Information for trusts is available on NHS Employers website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsemployers.org/publications/annual-allowance.
Information for members is available on the NHS Pensions website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/annual-allowance.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has provided to NHS trusts in West Dorset constituency on managing staff concerns over Annual Allowance charges.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The annual allowance limits the amount that an individual can save in their pension pot before they have to pay tax. It aims to ensure that the incentives for pension saving, which are costly to the taxpayer, are appropriately targeted across society. Tax policy, including the level of the annual allowance, is a matter for my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
From 6 April 2023, the previous administration introduced reforms to the annual allowance, increasing both the standard and tapered annual allowances, allowing National Health Service staff to save more into their pensions each year before facing a tax charge.
Where NHS staff have pension savings that exceed the annual allowance, for example due to unexpected circumstances such as taking on extra hours or additional responsibilities within the NHS, they can carry forward any unused annual allowance from the previous three tax years. This will increase their current year’s allowance, reducing or potentially avoiding any annual allowance tax charge that is due.
Additionally, the NHS Pension Scheme offers a Scheme Pays facility which allows impacted members to pay charges using the value of their pension. This spreads the cost of paying a tax charge over the lifetime of the pension rather than requiring an immediate outlay. For most members, the growth in their pension benefits at retirement, even net of a charge, would still represent an excellent return on their pension contributions.
Information for trusts is available on NHS Employers website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsemployers.org/publications/annual-allowance.
Information for members is available on the NHS Pensions website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/annual-allowance.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review the rules on NHS Pension Annual Allowance charges to reduce the risk of staff being financially penalised for working additional hours.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The annual allowance limits the amount that an individual can save in their pension pot before they have to pay tax. It aims to ensure that the incentives for pension saving, which are costly to the taxpayer, are appropriately targeted across society. Tax policy, including the level of the annual allowance, is a matter for my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
From 6 April 2023, the previous administration introduced reforms to the annual allowance, increasing both the standard and tapered annual allowances, allowing National Health Service staff to save more into their pensions each year before facing a tax charge.
Where NHS staff have pension savings that exceed the annual allowance, for example due to unexpected circumstances such as taking on extra hours or additional responsibilities within the NHS, they can carry forward any unused annual allowance from the previous three tax years. This will increase their current year’s allowance, reducing or potentially avoiding any annual allowance tax charge that is due.
Additionally, the NHS Pension Scheme offers a Scheme Pays facility which allows impacted members to pay charges using the value of their pension. This spreads the cost of paying a tax charge over the lifetime of the pension rather than requiring an immediate outlay. For most members, the growth in their pension benefits at retirement, even net of a charge, would still represent an excellent return on their pension contributions.
Information for trusts is available on NHS Employers website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsemployers.org/publications/annual-allowance.
Information for members is available on the NHS Pensions website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/annual-allowance.
Asked by: Edward Morello (Liberal Democrat - West Dorset)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps are being taken to ensure that NHS staff are not penalised financially for taking on extra responsibilities to maintain patient care.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The annual allowance limits the amount that an individual can save in their pension pot before they have to pay tax. It aims to ensure that the incentives for pension saving, which are costly to the taxpayer, are appropriately targeted across society. Tax policy, including the level of the annual allowance, is a matter for my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
From 6 April 2023, the previous administration introduced reforms to the annual allowance, increasing both the standard and tapered annual allowances, allowing National Health Service staff to save more into their pensions each year before facing a tax charge.
Where NHS staff have pension savings that exceed the annual allowance, for example due to unexpected circumstances such as taking on extra hours or additional responsibilities within the NHS, they can carry forward any unused annual allowance from the previous three tax years. This will increase their current year’s allowance, reducing or potentially avoiding any annual allowance tax charge that is due.
Additionally, the NHS Pension Scheme offers a Scheme Pays facility which allows impacted members to pay charges using the value of their pension. This spreads the cost of paying a tax charge over the lifetime of the pension rather than requiring an immediate outlay. For most members, the growth in their pension benefits at retirement, even net of a charge, would still represent an excellent return on their pension contributions.
Information for trusts is available on NHS Employers website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsemployers.org/publications/annual-allowance.
Information for members is available on the NHS Pensions website, which is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/member-hub/annual-allowance.
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
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 the 10-year health plan of the findings of the report by NHS Providers entitled Investing in the NHS: empowering the sector to drive productivity, renewal and growth, published on 15 October 2025 on local authority funding for NHS infrastructure.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work proactively with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and local authorities to reform National Health Service infrastructure in England. The 2025 Autumn Budget confirmed that the Department of Health and Social Care’s capital budgets will rise to £15.2 billion by the end of the Spending Review period of 2029/30, delivering the largest ever health capital budget, as well as medium-term certainty to the sector to enable multi-year planning.
This settlement commits to a major transformation of care delivery, moving from analogue to digital systems, hospital to community-based care, and from treatment to prevention, and also confirmed £300 million additional capital investment in NHS technology which will support NHS productivity improvements. Additionally, this includes the establishment of 250 neighbourhood health centres across England, of which 120 will be operational by 2030. These will be delivered through upgrading and repurposing existing buildings, and building new facilities through a combination of public sector investment and a new model of public-private partnerships. This is being developed by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, supported by the Department of Health and Social Care, and will build on lessons learnt from past and current models and harness private sector expertise to deliver the new neighbourhood health centres.
Additionally, in November 2025, NHS England published the Capital guidance 2026/27 to 2029/30, which introduced several national reforms to the capital regime which addresses several of the recommendations in the report. These include: multi-year operational capital envelopes allocated directly to providers for the first time, providing firm funding until 2029/30 and indicative assumptions for a further five years; a new balance between national control and regional autonomy, giving regions a lead role in strategic estates planning and delivery oversight; expanded capital freedoms and flexibilities, including greater delegated authority and the ability for high-performing providers and newly authorised foundation trusts to reinvest surpluses; streamlined approvals and higher delegated limits, enabling faster delivery of capital schemes; and integration with the 10-Year Health Plan shifts, namely hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention, ensuring that capital investment underpins the long-term transformation of NHS services.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her department is taking to change (i) the tax system and (ii) public sector funds to encourage further investment in start-ups and early stage companies.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is committed to making the UK the best place to start and grow a business, recognising the importance of a competitive investment environment for economic growth.
The UK is already the best place in Europe to start a business, and Autumn Budget 2025 sets out measures which will unlock even more investment in UK entrepreneurs and innovators, including start-ups and early stage companies.
On tax, we are doubling the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCT) investment limits, and expanding eligibility for the Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) scheme. These changes will encourage further investment in our most successful companies, and attract top talent to help companies grow.
On public finance, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) will direct £7 billion to support innovative company growth, and, as a first step, Innovate UK will launch a £130 million Growth Catalyst programme to accelerate frontier firms. The British Business Bank (BBB) will increase annual deployment by two-thirds, aiming to unlock £26 billion of private capital alongside £13 billion in public funding, and enable up to £10 billion in small business lending through guarantees.
Together, these steps will strengthen the UK’s start-up and scale-up ecosystem, giving founders the confidence and capital to start here, scale here, and succeed here.