Andrew Snowden MP: written questions 2025
1670 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme: VATDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 10 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98968More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December to Question 95479, on Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme: VAT, how many applications to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme in the last 12 months exc
Answer: Since 1 December 2024, the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme has received a total of 222 applications that exceeded a value of £25,000, with a combined requested value of £12,442,052. Of these, 162 claims totalling £8,793,024 were subsequently approve...
Answered 19 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordChild BenefitTreasuryTabled 10 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98955More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the written answer of 9 December 25 to question 96953 on Child Benefit, how many of the 23,500 compliance enquiries (i) were confirmed to be eligible, (ii) were found to have been incorrectly receiving t
Answer: HMRC has now completed its review of Child Benefit compliance cases where a PAYE check had not been undertaken. As of 30 November 2025, out of the 23,794 cases opened between August and October 2025, 14,994 Child Benefit customers have been confirmed to b...
Answered 16 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordVisitor LevyMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 9 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98714More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which level of local authority will be responsible for collecting the proposed tourist tax; and what estimate his Department has made of the administrative costs of implementing
Answer: The design and scope of the new visitor levy power is still under development. The government is consulting on whether local authorities or a national authority should be responsible for administering the Visitor Levy in England. The administrative costs ...
Answered 18 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordVisitor LevyTreasuryTabled 9 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98713More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria will guide decisions on whether an overnight stay levy is “modest” and appropriate for local areas; and will there be a cap.
Answer: The precise design and scope of the power for Mayors to introduce a visitor levy is still under development. Mayors will decide whether to introduce a levy and, if so, consult on specific proposals. We expect Mayors to engage constructively with business...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordUndocumented Migrants: DrugsHome OfficeTabled 9 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98659More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the prevalence of drug smuggling among illegal migrants who arrive in the UK via the Channel.
Answer: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given to questions 71052, 71053 and 71054 on 4th September.
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordTerminal Illnesses: PovertyDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 9 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98658More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what mechanisms exist for healthcare professionals to report poverty in people with terminal illnesses to the Department for Work and Pensions.
Answer: The Department for Work and Pensions does not ask healthcare professionals to report a patient’s poverty status.The Government remains committed to providing a financial safety net for those who need it. Support is available through the welfare system to ...
Answered 5 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordRailways: NationalisationDepartment for TransportTabled 9 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98657More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether any train operator has failed to meet its performance benchmarks since entering public ownership.
Answer: Since April 2025, all operators funded by the Department - both public and private - have failed at least one performance benchmark. Performance is measured on a four-weekly basis against ambitious and realistic targets. We expect train operators to work ...
Answered 23 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordRailways: NationalisationDepartment for TransportTabled 9 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98656More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the comparative operational performance of publicly owned rail operators versus privately owned rail operators since December 2024.
Answer: The Department for Transport holds all the operators that it funds to account for delivering performance for passengers. The Rail Minister meets regularly with the Managing Directors of train operators and their Network Rail counterparts to address poor p...
Answered 23 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordSelf-assessment: FinesTreasuryTabled 9 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98655More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the online Self Assessment Time to Pay system in reducing the number of late payment penalties.
Answer: HMRC’s Time to Pay (TTP) arrangements help taxpayers to pay their liabilities in affordable and sustainable instalments. Late payment penalties do not apply provided the plan is agreed before penalty trigger dates and instalments are paid on time. HMRC’s ...
Answered 12 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordInternet: PrivacyDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 9 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98654More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the level of use of virtual private networks since July 2025.
Answer: The government and Ofcom continue to monitor the use of VPNs since the Child Safety Duties commenced in July.After these duties came into force, UK users of VPN apps temporarily doubled to around 1.5 million. Ofcom has since reported that VPN app usage dr...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPublic Houses: Business RatesTreasuryTabled 9 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98588More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions she has had with the brewing and pub sector on business rates affordability following the November Budget.
Answer: The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years...
Answered 15 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordCivil Servants: Political ImpartialityCabinet OfficeTabled 9 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98587More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what guidance has been issued to help civil servants distinguish between acceptable network activity and activity that may breach impartiality rules.
Answer: The Staff Network Policy was launched on 23 September 2025 and is applicable to all cross-Civil Service Staff networks, from this date. Departments have been strongly encouraged to adopt or align to this policy for their own departmental networks. The pol...
Answered 15 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordDepartment for Work and Pensions: EqualityDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 9 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98586More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in his Department are permitted to undertake diversity-related network time during core working hours; and what proportion of overall working time are they permitted to spend on such netw
Answer: DWP is transitioning its EDI Networks in line with the new Cabinet Office Guidance. Currently in DWP we have 8 Departmental EDI Networks. Each Network has 2 co-chairs who receive 25% time allowance and up to 10 committee members who receive 10%. When all ...
Answered 7 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordCivil Servants: LGBT+ PeopleCabinet OfficeTabled 9 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98585More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much funding was allocated to the Civil Service LGBT Plus Network in each of the last five years.
Answer: I refer you to the response given by Minister Gould to PQ43014 in April of this year which asked what the cost to the public purse was of this employee network. The Civil Service LGBT+ staff network is a volunteer collaborative group of Civil Service staf...
Answered 15 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordTreasury: EqualityTreasuryTabled 9 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98584More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff in her Department are permitted to undertake diversity-related network time during core working hours; and what proportion of overall working time are they permitted to spend on such network activity.
Answer: Participation in staff networks is primarily voluntary and carried out in addition to an employee’s job role.
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordTaxis: LicensingDepartment for TransportTabled 9 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98583More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 Oct 2025 to Question 81532 on Taxis: Licensing, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the powers available to local licensing authorities for ensuring the effective enforc
Answer: The Department for Transport is legislating to tackle inconsistent standards of taxi and private hire vehicle licensing. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill would enable the setting of national minimum standards in licensing.We are consi...
Answered 15 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordWater: InfrastructureDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 8 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98239More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of water infrastructure.
Answer: A record £104 billion of investment is planned for the water sector in the next investment cycle. This will provide the water supply and wastewater capacity to secure future water supplies, including nine new reservoirs and several large-scale water trans...
Answered 11 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordReservoirsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 8 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98235More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the total reservoir storage capacity in England (a) is in 2025 and (b) was in (i) 2020 and (ii) 2015.
Answer: The total capacity of reservoirs for all purposes in England, as per the public register of large raised reservoirs of over 25,000m3, which is managed by the Environment Agency.
Answered 16 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPolygamy: ProsecutionsAttorney GeneralTabled 8 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98229More
Question: To ask the Solicitor General, whether the Crown Prosecution Service has issued any recent guidance on the prosecution of offences related to illegal polygamous marriages conducted within the UK.
Answer: Bigamy is an offence contrary to section.57 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and is prosecuted as such. The CPS has not issued and has no plans to issue specific guidance.
Answered 16 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: PolygamyDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 8 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98228More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit claims in the last five years have involved individuals presenting as part of a polygamous household; and what the outcomes of those claims were.
Answer: Polygamous households are not recognised in Universal Credit. In claims where the claimant identifies as polygamous, the first spousal couple (the two partners who have been married longest) in the relationship could form a claim as a couple. However, all...
Answered 18 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordPolygamyHome OfficeTabled 8 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98226More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the number of polygamous marriages recognised for limited purposes under UK immigration or family law in the latest period for which data is available.
Answer: All marriages conducted within the UK must be monogamous under the Marriage Act 1949 and related legislation.In some countries, polygamous or polyandrous marriages are permitted under the law of the country in which the marriage took place. Under the UK’s...
Answered 16 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordBBC: Royal ChartersDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 8 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98165More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the answer of 13 November 2025 to question 90762 on BBC: Royal Charters, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of perceived bias in the programme Question Time on the p
Answer: The BBC is editorially and operationally independent from the Government and this is a crucial component of why people trust it. Under its Royal Charter, the BBC has a duty to deliver impartial and accurate news coverage and content, and the Government ex...
Answered 15 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordHolocaust: EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 8 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98015More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that schools educate pupils about the Holocaust in a way that counters misinformation and denial; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of curriculum gui
Answer: The Holocaust is the only historic event which is compulsory within the current national curriculum for history at key stage 3. The government has made a commitment that the Holocaust will remain a compulsory topic in the reformed national curriculum, whi...
Answered 24 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordAntisemitismHome OfficeTabled 8 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98014More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of legislation in tackling expressions of Holocaust denial that constitute threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour under the Public Order
Answer: Antisemitism has absolutely no place in our society, and the Government is committed to tackling it in all its forms.The Home Secretary launched an independent review of public order and hate crime legislation on 5 October. This review will assess whether...
Answered 5 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordCharities and Voluntary Organisations: GenderWomen and EqualitiesTabled 8 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 98013More
Question: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what support her Department will provide to smaller charities and volunteer-led organisations to help them comply with the Equality Act 2010 when applying single-sex provisions.
Answer: The EHRC has revised its Code of Practice for Services, Public Functions and Associations following the consultation and submitted it to the Minister for Women and Equalities. The Code will provide guidance to duty bearers, including single-sex service pr...
Answered 16 Dec 2025
Original Parliament record
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