Angus MacDonald MP: written questions
688 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Energy: MetersDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70275More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions she has had with Ofgem on the adequacy of seven-port smart meters as replacements for RTS meters serving households on the Total Heating Total Control tariff.
Answer: The Department and Ofgem agree that seven-port meters can be an adequate replacement option for households with more complex metering arrangements, such as Total Heating Total Control.
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordPigsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70274More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the uptake of (a) outdoor farrowing and (b) other higher welfare rearing systems for pigs.
Answer: We are firmly committed to maintaining and improving the lives of farm animals and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The Animal Health and Welfare Pathway supports farmers to improve the health and welfare of their li...
Answered 2 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordFarms: Animal WelfareDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70273More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with devolved Administrations on the consistency of on-farm animal welfare inspections across the United Kingdom.
Answer: Animal welfare is a devolved matter in the UK. This means that responsibility for animal welfare policy in the individual nations is the responsibility of the relevant nations’ Ministers. However, Defra works closely with the devolved Governments on a ran...
Answered 2 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAnimal Welfare: LabellingDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70272More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of mandatory animal welfare labelling for products from pasture-fed livestock on (a) farmers and (b) consumers.
Answer: On 12 June 2025, we published the summary of responses and the Government response to the fairer food labelling consultation, which was undertaken last year by the previous government. The response is available here on GOV.UK. We will consider the potenti...
Answered 2 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordState Retirement Pensions: Income TaxTreasuryTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70271More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential fiscal impact of exempting the state pension from income tax.
Answer: The Government is committed to making sure older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve in retirement. The State Pension is the foundation of the support available to them. Over the course of this Parliament, the yearly amount of the fu...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordState Retirement Pensions: Tax AllowancesTreasuryTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70270More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the personal allowance remaining below the value of the new state pension from April 2026 on pensioners.
Answer: The Government is committed to making sure older people can live with the dignity and respect they deserve in retirement. The State Pension is the foundation of the support available to them. Over the course of this Parliament, the yearly amount of the fu...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordState Retirement Pensions: Income TaxDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70269More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of people who will pay income tax on the state pension from April 2026.
Answer: The headline rates of the basic and new State Pensions are currently below the level of the Income Tax Personal Allowance, so pensioners for whom that is their sole income pay no income tax. It is pensioners with larger than average State Pension entitlem...
Answered 5 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordEnergy: MetersDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70268More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent estimate he has made of the number of households in the UK still using the total heating total control tariff.
Answer: The Government does not hold this information centrally. As tariffs are a commercial matter for suppliers, the Government is unable to comment on individual tariffs offered by energy suppliers.
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordEnergy: MetersDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70267More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of migrating from total heating total control meters to standard tariffs following the replacement of radio teleswitch service
Answer: Energy suppliers are best placed to advise on suitable tariffs for their customers, and to ensure that they inform affected customers of any changes to the cost of their energy. The Department and Ofgem have been clear with suppliers that we expect consum...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordEnergy: MetersDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70266More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what guidance his Department has provided to energy suppliers on maintaining tariff equivalence when replacing Radio Teleswitch Service meters for customers previously on Total Heating with T
Answer: Energy suppliers are best placed to advise on suitable tariffs for their customers, and to ensure that they inform affected customers of any changes to the cost of their energy. The Department and Ofgem have been clear with suppliers that we expect consum...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordEnergy: MetersDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70265More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions she has had with the DCC on the expansion of the smart meter network.
Answer: The DCC is obligated under the conditions of its licence to provide Wide Area Network (WAN) coverage to at least 99.25% of premises across Great Britain, and to assess opportunities to increase the overall level of coverage. The Government is working clos...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordEnergy: MetersDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70264More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if she will make an estimate of the number of households that are not on the smart meter network in each constituency in Scotland.
Answer: The Department does not collect data on Wide Area Network (WAN) availability at constituency level. The DCC is obligated under the conditions of its licence to provide Wide Area Network (WAN) coverage to at least 99.5% of premises in the ‘North’ region, w...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordBank of EnglandTreasuryTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70263More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring the Bank of England to pay interest on its reserves to commercial banks.
Answer: The Bank of England has operational independence from the government to carry out its statutory responsibilities for monetary policy and financial stability. Monetary policy, including quantitative easing, is the responsibility of the independent Monetary...
Answered 2 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordSyria: White HelmetsForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70253More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken recent steps to cooperate with the Syria Civil Defence.
Answer: The UK has long supported the Syrian Civil Defence (also known as the White Helmets) in their vital work to facilitate humanitarian access, conduct search and rescue operations, and enable the safe removal of unexploded weapons. We are proud of this partn...
Answered 4 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordNeighbourhood Health Centres: Public Private PartnershipsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70247More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to p.16 of the document entitled Fit for the future: 10 Year Health Plan for England, published on 3 July 2025, what progress his Department has made on the development of the busine
Answer: As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, the Department and the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority are working on a business case for a public-private partnerships model around Neighbourhood Health Centres that sets out the potenti...
Answered 1 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordMilitary AircraftMinistry of DefenceTabled 22 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 70246More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 22 July 2025 to Question 67746 on Military Aircraft, whether any aircraft leasing contracts include the provision of ground crew services.
Answer: Yes.
Answered 1 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversal Credit: DyslexiaDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69729More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to make reasonable adjustments for people with dyslexia to complete Universal Credit applications.
Answer: The Department is committed to ensuring that Universal Credit is accessible to all claimants, including those with dyslexia.We recognise that some individuals may require reasonable adjustments to complete their Universal Credit application. A range of su...
Answered 1 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversal Credit: Learning DisabilityDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69728More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to make reasonable adjustments for people with complex learning difficulties to complete Universal Credit applications.
Answer: The Department is committed to ensuring that Universal Credit is accessible to all, including individuals with complex learning difficulties. We recognise that some claimants may require additional support to make and maintain their claim. A range of reas...
Answered 1 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversal Credit: AutismDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69727More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to make reasonable adjustments for autistic people to complete Universal Credit applications.
Answer: The Department is committed to ensuring that the Universal Credit (UC) service is accessible to all, including autistic people and others with complex needs.We recognise that some customers may require additional support to make and maintain a UC claim. A...
Answered 1 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordAdvertising Standards AuthorityDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69726More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the time taken to investigate advertisements by the Advertising Standards Agency.
Answer: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is responsible for regulating advertising in the UK across traditional forms of media (print, radio, TV) and online and is independent of the Government. The process the ASA follows when handling complaints is pub...
Answered 3 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordArtificial Intelligence: Offences against ChildrenHome OfficeTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69725More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to use artificial intelligence to bypass end-to-end encryption to reduce access to the livestreaming of child abuse.
Answer: The Home Office is actively developing options to support more systematic and effective deployment of such technology to fully mitigate harms to children from producing and sharing such imagery. This includes actively considering requirements on device op...
Answered 1 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordArtificial Intelligence: Offences against ChildrenHome OfficeTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69724More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of utilising artificial intelligence to reduce the livestream of child abuse online.
Answer: The Home Office is actively developing options to support more systematic and effective deployment of such technology to fully mitigate harms to children from producing and sharing such imagery. This includes actively considering requirements on device op...
Answered 1 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordNHS: Public Private PartnershipsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69713More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to take steps to ensure that the public are (a) consulted and (b) involved in decisions on the use of public-private partnerships in the NHS.
Answer: The business case to assess the feasibility of using a public-private partnership (PPP) model for Neighbourhood Health Centres is being co-developed by the Department of Health and Social Care and the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Aut...
Answered 1 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordFinancial Services: EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 18 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69200More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of existing financial education provision in helping pupils understand (a) saving, (b) budgeting, (c) mortgages and (d) banking.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43513.
Answered 28 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordFinancial Services: EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 18 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69199More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that financial education in schools adequately prepares young people for (a) adult life and (b) work.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire to the answer of 9 April 2025 to Question 43513.
Answered 28 Jul 2025
Original Parliament record
Published records only — not a full account of an MP’s work. How we work →