Blake Stephenson MP: written questions
865 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Armed Forces: Employers' ContributionsMinistry of DefenceTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37788More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to employers’ National Insurance contributions on the armed forces.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 5 February 2025 to Question 27805 to the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Rupert Lowe).
Answered 20 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordAstraZeneca: MerseysideDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37787More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2025 to Question 30737 on AstraZeneca: Merseyside, if he will publish the feedback his Department has received from AstraZeneca on their Merseyside
Answer: Company feedback on Government grant process continually informs improvements in grant delivery. However, to maintain confidentiality between companies and Government, we do not publish company specific feedback.
Answered 19 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordConstruction: Employers' ContributionsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37786More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2025 to Question 28604 on Construction: Employers' Contributions, whether he has held discussions with the construction industry on the potential impact of changes
Answer: The vast majority of firms in the construction sector are small or microbusinesses, which will see no gain or change overall. The Government has protected small businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to Employer National Insurance by inc...
Answered 19 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordConstruction: Employers' ContributionsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37785More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2025 to Question 28604 on Construction: Employers' Contributions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to employers’ National Insur
Answer: The vast majority of firms in the construction sector are small or microbusinesses, which will see no gain or change overall. The Government has protected small businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to Employer National Insurance by inc...
Answered 19 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordVoting Rights: Young PeopleMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37784More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether changing the minimum voting age would necessitate a change in the minimum age for voter registration.
Answer: The government is committed to delivering on the manifesto commitment to give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all elections during this Parliament, strengthening our democracy, empowering young people to participate and building an informed and ...
Answered 20 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordVoting Rights: Young PeopleMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37783More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will have discussions with the Boundary Commission on the impact of reducing the voting age to 16 on electoral equality at the next general election.
Answer: Drawing electoral boundaries is the responsibility of the independent parliamentary and local boundary commissions.When they next conduct their reviews, they will update boundaries where necessary to reflect any changes in the electorate that have occurre...
Answered 20 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordVoting Rights: Young PeopleMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37782More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of reducing the voting age to 16 on electoral equality in local council elections.
Answer: Drawing electoral boundaries is the responsibility of the independent parliamentary and local boundary commissions.When they next conduct their reviews, they will update boundaries where necessary to reflect any changes in the electorate that have occurre...
Answered 20 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordVoting Rights: Young PeopleMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37781More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of reducing the voting age to 16 on the electoral equality of parliamentary constituencies.
Answer: Drawing electoral boundaries is the responsibility of the independent parliamentary and local boundary commissions.When they next conduct their reviews, they will update boundaries where necessary to reflect any changes in the electorate that have occurre...
Answered 20 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordNeighbourhood Policing: BedfordshireHome OfficeTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37780More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department's news story entitled New powers for police to tackle neighbourhood crime, how many of the 13,000 additional neighbourhood policing roles will be in Bedfordshire.
Answer: The Government has committed to restoring neighbourhood policing through the delivery of a Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee. This includes putting 13,000 more police personnel on the beat in neighbourhood policing roles up and down the country. Every part...
Answered 20 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordSchools: Admissions and Pupil NumbersDepartment for EducationTabled 12 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37779More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2025 to Question 26151 on Schools: Admissions, what estimate she has made of the (a) number of pupils and (b) school capacity for (i) Central Bedfordshire, (ii) Bedford Boro
Answer: Data on state-funded school places is published at local authority level in the annual ‘School capacity’ publication. The full release can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-capacity.The latest availa...
Answered 29 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPlanning Permission: Environment ProtectionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37395More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to section 4.4 of the ADAS and Stephenson Halliday report entitled Review of the implementation of National Planning Policy Framework para 186c, issued on 27 Augus
Answer: The report in question confirmed that the National Planning Policy Framework contains a high level of protection for ancient woodland.The Framework makes clear that development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats should be ref...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordProperty Development: Environment ProtectionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37394More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring (a) arboricultural reports and (b) impact assessments for major developments.
Answer: The report in question confirmed that the National Planning Policy Framework contains a high level of protection for ancient woodland.The Framework makes clear that development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats should be ref...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPlanning: Environment ProtectionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37393More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 15 of the ADAS and Stephenson Halliday report entitled Review of the implementation of National Planning Policy Framework para 186c, issued on 27 August 20
Answer: The report in question confirmed that the National Planning Policy Framework contains a high level of protection for ancient woodland.The Framework makes clear that development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats should be ref...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPlanning Permission: ForestsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37392More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the average number of planning permissions expected to be granted within 15 metres of ancient woodland each year for the next five years.
Answer: The report in question confirmed that the National Planning Policy Framework contains a high level of protection for ancient woodland.The Framework makes clear that development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats should be ref...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPlanning: Environment ProtectionMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37391More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to page 7 of the ADAS and Stephenson Halliday report entitled Review of the implementation of National Planning Policy Framework para 186c, issued on 27 August 202
Answer: The report in question confirmed that the National Planning Policy Framework contains a high level of protection for ancient woodland.The Framework makes clear that development resulting in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats should be ref...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordProperty Development: FloodsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37390More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average time was between completion of a development in areas at risk of flooding and installation of flood defences agreed at planning stage since 2019; and how many de
Answer: The government does not monitor the status of individual planning conditions. Local planning authorities are responsible for ensuring compliance with planning permissions and conditions, including monitoring and taking enforcement action if necessary.Nati...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordProperty Development: FloodsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37389More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 182c of the National Planning Policy Framework, what penalties can be imposed on developers that do not comply with agreed maintenance arrangements on
Answer: Local planning authorities already have a wide range of planning enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance.The government is clear that effective enforcement is important to tackle breaches of planning control, including enforcing SuDS ...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordFlood ControlMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37388More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 182c of the National Planning Policy Framework, how she defines the lifetime of the development.
Answer: Paragraph 182(c) of the revised National Planning Policy Framework sets out that all major development should have maintenance arrangements for sustainable drainage systems in place to ensure an acceptable standard of operation for the lifetime of the dev...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordFlood ControlMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37387More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 182c of the National Planning Policy Framework, if she will publish guidance provided to local authorities on enforcement.
Answer: Local planning authorities already have a wide range of planning enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance.The government is clear that effective enforcement is important to tackle breaches of planning control, including enforcing SuDS ...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordFlood ControlMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 11 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 37386More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to Paragraph 182c of the National Planning Policy Framework, how she plans to enforce those maintenance arrangements.
Answer: Local planning authorities already have a wide range of planning enforcement powers, with strong penalties for non-compliance.The government is clear that effective enforcement is important to tackle breaches of planning control, including enforcing SuDS ...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture and Business: Inheritance TaxTreasuryTabled 10 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 36887More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 13 February 2025 to Question 29188 on Agriculture and Business: Inheritance Tax, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing her Department's data collection methods
Answer: The reforms to inheritance tax agricultural and business property reliefs come into effect from 6 April 2026.No estates, with or without woodlands, will be affected by these reforms in the 2025-26 financial year. There are no plans to review data collecti...
Answered 17 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPersonal Income: ExpenditureTreasuryTabled 10 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 36886More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the second bullet point in paragraph 2.3 of the document Impact on households: distributional analysis to accompany Autumn Budget 2024 and Spending Review 2025, Phase 1, whether her Department regu
Answer: HM Treasury distributional analysis only includes measures if they have a clear first-order impact on the benefit income, tax paid or the benefits-in-kind received through public services by UK residents. Therefore, this excludes the behavioural impacts o...
Answered 18 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordPersonal Income: ExpenditureTreasuryTabled 10 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 36885More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has considered the marginal propensity to consume when developing policies affecting individuals since 5 July 2024.
Answer: The marginal propensity to consume influences the level of consumption in the economy, and is relevant for economic forecasting. HM Treasury considers data on household consumption published by the Official for National Statistics as part of its ongoing m...
Answered 17 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordEnvironment Protection: PlanningDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 10 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 36884More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities & Local Government on the potential merits of requiring arboricultural (a) reports and (b) impact asses
Answer: We are using the evidence from this Review (Review of the implementation of the NPPF para 186 (c) in applications and appeals in or within 15 metres of ancient woodlands or near ancient and veteran trees), and subsequent engagement with stakeholders, to e...
Answered 19 Mar 2025
Original Parliament recordEnvironment Protection: PlanningDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 10 Mar 2025AnsweredUIN 36883More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page 6 of the ADAS and Stephenson Halliday's report entitled Review of the implementation of National Planning Policy Framework para 186c, published on 27 August 2024
Answer: We are using the evidence from this Review (Review of the implementation of the NPPF para 186 (c) in applications and appeals in or within 15 metres of ancient woodlands or near ancient and veteran trees), and subsequent engagement with stakeholders, to e...
Answered 19 Mar 2025
Original Parliament record
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