Alex Easton MP: written questions
242 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Small Businesses: Employers' ContributionsTreasuryTabled 15 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 902295More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking through the tax system to support small businesses with increases in employer National Insurance contributions.
Answer: The Government has protected the smallest businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500. This means that next year, 865,000 employers will pay no NICs at all. The government has also frozen the small business multiplier. Togethe...
Answered 21 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordInternet: SafetyDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 15 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24366More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department is taking steps to (a) clarify (i) liability and (ii) enforcement thresholds under the Online Safety Act 2023 and (b) help tackle the unintended consequences of t
Answer: All user-to-user and search services in scope of the Act must tackle illegal content and, where relevant, protect children from harm. Ofcom is the independent regulator for this regime and takes a proportionate and risk-based approach to regulation. Ofcom...
Answered 23 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordIndependent Review of the Windsor FrameworkCabinet OfficeTabled 14 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 24053More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many officials are in the team supporting the Windsor Framework Review; what their roles and responsibilities are; what criteria were used to select that team; what the composition is of the selection panel
Answer: Support arrangements for the Independent Review of the Windsor Framework are being put in place. Those arrangements will reflect routine Government practice for providing appropriate support to a panel or review. The Review will operate under the leadersh...
Answered 22 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordNHS: FinanceTreasuryTabled 13 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23657More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government is taking to ensure (a) equivalent health funding is allocated to the devolved Administrations and (b) all UK nations benefit equitably from health service improvements.
Answer: The devolved governments are each responsible for deciding how to allocate their funding across their devolved responsibilities in their respective nations, including health. The devolved governments’ Spending Review settlements for 2025-26 are the larges...
Answered 21 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordMotor Vehicles: TheftNorthern Ireland OfficeTabled 10 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 23230More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people in Northern Ireland who (a) have their vehicles damaged by stolen cars where the driver is not apprehended and (b) do not have comprehensive insu
Answer: The Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) is an independent organisation within the motor industry and separate from the UK Government. The Northern Ireland Office has no role in decisions relating to the investigation and payment of claims, which are the responsi...
Answered 20 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordAntisemitismForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 7 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 22494More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps his Department is taking to help tackle anti-Semitism.
Answer: Antisemitism has no place in our, or any, society and the UK has a long-standing track record of fighting it. Last year, the UK contributed to drafting new Global Guidelines for Countering Antisemitism, which were launched in Buenos Aires in July and endo...
Answered 15 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordAustralia: AntisemitismForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 7 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 22493More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Australian counterpart on (a) the arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne and (b) changes in the level of antisemitic inc
Answer: We regularly discuss issues relating to Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) with Australia. We condemn antisemitism globally and welcome the Australian government's condemnation of the global rise in antisemitism, as well as specific incidents in Austral...
Answered 14 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordChagos Islands: SovereigntyForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 7 Jan 2025AnsweredUIN 22492More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much Mauritius has requested in (a) reparations and (b) annual subsidy in the negotiations on sovereignty of the Chagos islands.
Answer: A financial element was crucial to securing the agreement between the UK and Mauritius on 3 October. It is not normal practice to reveal payments for military bases and we have not done so for any other base. Further details of the Treaty will be put befo...
Answered 15 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordEuropean Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillNorthern Ireland OfficeTabled 19 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21523More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 18801 on European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill, whether he received legal advice on that Bill.
Answer: I refer the Honourable Member to the Secretary of State’s reply of 17 December 2024 to Question 18801.
Answered 8 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordDrugsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 18 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 21121More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to review the regulations surrounding the sale of potent medications such as (a) finasteride, (b) dutasteride, and (c) selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors vi
Answer: There are no current plans to review the legal avenues of online prescribing and the dispensing of prescription-only medications.Decisions about what medicines to prescribe are made by the doctor or healthcare professional responsible for that part of the...
Answered 6 Jan 2025
Original Parliament recordEuropean Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillNorthern Ireland OfficeTabled 17 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20861More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he received legal advice on the European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill.
Answer: I refer the Honourable Member to the reply I provided to the question he previously tabled on this subject and published on 17 December 2024 (UIN 18801).
Answered 19 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordMultinational CompaniesDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 17 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20806More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to ensure greater oversight of UK-based multinational corporations.
Answer: As set out in the King’s Speech, the Government will publish a draft Audit Reform and Corporate Governance Bill to strengthen audit and corporate governance oversight of corporations including UK-based multinationals. The draft Bill will uphold standards ...
Answered 24 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: ChildrenDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 16 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20511More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the two-child limit on recent trends in the level of child poverty; and whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of e
Answer: We published the framework ‘Tackling Child Poverty: Developing Our Strategy’ on 23 October and will explore all available levers to deliver an enduring reduction in child poverty in this parliament, as part of a 10-year strategy for lasting change. The Ch...
Answered 23 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordMobile Phones and TelevisionDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 16 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20445More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will hold discussions with Ofcom on the adequacy of (a) the competitiveness of pricing, (b) customer retention practices and (c) service standards in the (i) mobile and (ii) telev
Answer: I have held regular meetings with Ofcom, both on their own and with others, when these and many other issues have been discussed.
Answered 24 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordCycling: SafetyDepartment for TransportTabled 16 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 20384More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help improve road safety for cyclists; and what financial support she has provided for programmes delivered by The Bikeability Trust since July 2024.
Answer: In 2022, Active Travel England was established as an executive agency to the Department for Transport, with the strategic aim of enabling people to walk, wheel and cycle and protecting them when they do by reducing road danger through the creation of safe...
Answered 19 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: DisabilityDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 11 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 19563More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that planned reforms to the disability benefit system provide adequate (a) security and (b) support for (i) seriously ill and (ii) disabled people while ena
Answer: This government believes there is a strong case to change the system of health and disability benefits across Great Britain so that it better enables people to enter and remain in work, and to respond to the complex and fluctuating nature of the health co...
Answered 17 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordConsumer Goods: UK Trade with EUNorthern Ireland OfficeTabled 10 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 19184More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the EU General Product Safety Regulations on (a) businesses and (b) consumers in (i) Northern Ireland and (ii) Great Britain; and what s
Answer: The updated General Product Safety Regulations largely formalises how businesses are already operating in the UK and the measures are therefore likely to have in practice a limited impact overall. Where businesses need to make changes, many will be adapti...
Answered 17 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordPublic LavatoriesMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 10 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 19183More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment the Department has made of the adequacy of public toilet provision; and if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of appointing a public toile
Answer: Local authorities are best placed to understand local priorities, including on the important issue of provision of public toilets whether they are operated by local councils directly or through community schemes.As set out in the Local government finance ...
Answered 18 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordMigraines: Health ServicesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 10 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 19182More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) improve support, (b) ensure equitable access to specialist services and (c) promote workplace adjustments for people living with migraine; and what plans
Answer: As health is a devolved matter, no plans have been made to work with local health boards to review the level of need for migraine-specific services and ensure appropriate provision. In England, NHS England is responsible for allocating funding to integrat...
Answered 17 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordClimate ChangeDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 10 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 19181More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to increase the use of nature-based solutions to tackle climate change.
Answer: Defra has a vital role to play to ensure nature-based solutions are a core part of tackling climate change and averting its impacts. Nature-based solutions deliver multiple benefits for climate, biodiversity and people, and can therefore play a critical r...
Answered 18 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordRenewable Energy: Seas and OceansDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 10 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 19180More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure that the deployment of offshore renewables does not impact on blue carbon stores.
Answer: The UK Government is committed to reaching clean power by 2030 and restoring nature. We need to ensure that our marine ecosystems are healthy, and capturing and storing carbon too. This means that new energy infrastructure needs to be planned and develope...
Answered 17 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordTibet: BuddhismForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 10 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 19179More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the security of Buddhists in Tibet in (a) November and (b) December 2024.
Answer: This Government stands firm on human rights, including China's repression of the people of Tibet. We will champion freedom of religion or belief for all abroad, and work to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief through the UN, G7 and other mul...
Answered 16 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordEuropean Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) BillNorthern Ireland OfficeTabled 9 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 18801More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will published the legal advice he received on the European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill.
Answer: The Government set out its position on the Bill during its Second Reading on 6 December 2024. Legal advice provided to the Government is privileged.
Answered 17 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordVeterans: Northern IrelandMinistry of DefenceTabled 5 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 18297More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he plans to take to support (a) veterans and (b) bereaved service families in Northern Ireland, in the context of the closure of the Veterans' Support Office.
Answer: The Government is committed to ensuring that veterans and the bereaved community, wherever they live in the UK, are able to access timely and appropriate support should they require it. The Government also recognises the unique commitment that Service fam...
Answered 11 Dec 2024
Original Parliament recordDomestic AbuseHome OfficeTabled 4 Dec 2024AnsweredUIN 18020More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to (a) recognise domestic abuse as a form of violence against women and girls, (b) prioritise funding for specialist services, (c) implement reforms to family court
Answer: Domestic Abuse is a form of Violence Against Women and Girls and this Government is committed to tackling VAWG in all its forms.Our new VAWG strategy will be published next year and will set out our continued recognition of the fundamental importance of s...
Answered 10 Dec 2024
Original Parliament record
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