Blake Stephenson MP: written questions
865 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Nature Restoration FundDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29578More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether funds given to the proposed national Nature Restoration Fund will be allocated to the county where the development they are offsetting takes place.
Answer: The details of how the Nature Restoration Fund will operate are being worked through in preparation for the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Our working paper on development and nature recovery was published last December. This noted that in addressing e...
Answered 18 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordOxford-Cambridge ArcDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29577More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an estimate of the potential impact of increases to employers’ National Insurance on employment in the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor.
Answer: Prior to the Government’s recent announcement on the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor, a Tax Information and Impact Note that covers the employer NICs changes was published by HMRC on 13 November.We have protected small businesses from the impact of the i...
Answered 13 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordCranfield UniversityTreasuryTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29576More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential contribution of Cranfield to his plans to double the size of the economy of the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor.
Answer: The Chancellor has recently announced the government’s commitment to unlock growth in the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor and the high potential sectors within it, as part of the government’s Plan for Change to kickstart economic growth.The Oxford-Cambri...
Answered 14 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordEnergy: Listed BuildingsDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29571More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 25798 on Listed Buildings: Energy, if he will request data on listed buildings from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Govern
Answer: We are working on our ambitious Warm Homes Plan, to transform homes across the country by making them cleaner and cheaper to run, from installing new insulation to rolling out solar and heat pumps. Whilst we are not currently seeking additional data speci...
Answered 14 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordGeneral PractitionersDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29569More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 26149, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the performance of ICBs in addressing gaps in service.
Answer: It is for integrated care boards (ICBs) to ensure there is sufficient access to local services, which would include making assessments of gaps in provision. ICBs are responsible for planning and commissioning services which meet the healthcare needs of th...
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordGeneral PractitionersDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29567More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 3035 to Question 26149, if his Department will give direction to integrated care boards to provide new GP surgeries where GP to patient ratios are not keeping t
Answer: The Primary Care Utilisation & Modernisation Fund was announced during the 2024 Spending Review and provides new capital funding of £102 million to support improvements in the primary care estate.Each general practice (GP) is required to provide servi...
Answered 13 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordGeneral Practitioners: BedfordshireDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29566More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 26149 on General Practitioners, what discussions his Department has had with the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board on
Answer: We know that patients are struggling to see a general practitioner (GP) and we are committed to improving GP provision across the country, including in the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board (ICB) area. In October 2024, we provi...
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordGeneral Practitioners: FinanceDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29563More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2025 to Question 26149 on General Practitioners, if he will list the 200 GP surgeries being funded.
Answer: The Primary Care Utilisation & Modernisation Fund was announced during the 2024 Spending Review and provides new capital funding of £102 million to support improvements in the primary care estate. We currently do not have a list of practices that will...
Answered 19 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordTax Yields: British Nationals AbroadTreasuryTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29562More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer to Written Question 25789 on Tax Yields: British Nationals Abroad, whether her Department made an assessment of the potential impact of (a) changes Capital Gains Tax and (b) the Autumn Budget
Answer: The Government assessed the impacts of all Budget measures across all levels of income. This includes the impact upon wealthy taxpayers domiciled in the UK. These impacts, grouped together cumulatively, are published online here: https://assets.publishing...
Answered 13 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordPensioners: IncomeDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29561More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the median income for pensioners in the 2024-25 financial year.
Answer: The Pensioners’ Incomes statistics contains estimates of the levels, sources and distribution of pensioners’ incomes. This is published by the department annually. The latest data covers financial year ending 2023. In financial year ending 2023, it is est...
Answered 11 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordImmigration and Nationality (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2025TreasuryTabled 6 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29545More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of paragraph 59 of the Impact Assessment for the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Order (Amendment) 2025, dated 13 January 2025.
Answer: The Impact Assessment for the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Order (Amendment) 2025 considered a range of economic costs and benefits of the proposed changes, of which the indirect impact on the exchequer was one. However, this was considered alongsid...
Answered 14 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordPensioners: Winter Fuel PaymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 5 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29296More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2025 to Question 24303 on Pensioners: Winter Fuel Payment, if she will make an estimate of the number of those pensioners who are on the basic state pension.
Answer: At May 2024, there were 3.5m pensioners with a basic State Pension income above £218.15: the Pension Credit Standard Minimum Guarantee (SMG) threshold for single pensioners. (Source: Stat-Xplore) However, some pensioners with a basic State Pension income ...
Answered 10 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordPatients: Older PeopleDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 5 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29231More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential causes of the increase in the number of over-65s being hospitalised in November and December (a) 2023 and (b) 2024.
Answer: NHS England publishes information on admissions by age group, including for those aged 65 years old and over. The proportion of admissions has remained relatively stable between the years at approximately 4%. There is a long-term growth trend overall in t...
Answered 13 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployment Rights BillDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 5 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29194More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill on recent trends in economic growth.
Answer: My department has published a set of Impact Assessments that provide a comprehensive analysis on the potential impact of the Employment Rights Bill. This analysis includes consideration of impacts on economic growth. This analysis is available at: https:/...
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordHospitality Industry: EmploymentTreasuryTabled 5 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29193More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Autumn Budget 2024 on trends in the level of employment in the hospitality sector in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.
Answer: The Office for Budget Responsibility’s October 2024 forecast, which considers the impact of all the Budget measures, expects the employment level to increase from 33.1 million in 2024 to 34.3 million in 2029. The Autumn Budget 2024 introduced measures tha...
Answered 13 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordEast West Rail Line: ConstructionDepartment for TransportTabled 5 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29192More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the East West Railway Company Limited consultation document Connecting people, building communities, published in November 2024, and pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2025 to Question 22408
Answer: The capital cost estimate for East West Rail includes costs for relocating stations on the Marston Vale Line, should this option be chosen. This is subject to the outcome of the consultation and decisions have not yet been on taken on this.
Answered 14 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordEast West Rail Line: ConstructionDepartment for TransportTabled 5 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29191More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2025 to Question 22408 on East West Rail Line: Construction, if she will make an estimate of costs for financial year 2025-26.
Answer: An update on costs for the East-West Rail project will be released at a future statutory consultation.
Answered 14 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordEast West Railway Company: Employers' ContributionsDepartment for TransportTabled 5 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29190More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department has made an estimate of the cost to the East-West Railway Company Limited of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions.
Answer: East West Railway Company has not yet completed a detailed analysis.
Answered 14 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordAgriculture and Business: Inheritance TaxTreasuryTabled 5 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29188More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2025 on Question 25795 on Agriculture and Business: Inheritance Tax, how many of the 2,000 estates will contain woodlands.
Answer: Woodlands may be eligible for certain inheritance tax reliefs and exemptions, depending on the type of woodland and its purpose. Guidance is available at www.gov.uk/guidance/woodland-owners-tax-guidance. It is estimated that a total of around 2,000 estate...
Answered 13 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordElectronic Travel AuthorisationsHome OfficeTabled 5 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29187More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of recent increases in the cost of Electronic Travel Authorisations on future trends in economic growth over the next five years.
Answer: The published Impact Assessment supporting the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Order provides provisional estimates of economic impacts from increasing ETA fees from current levels to the proposed fee maxima: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2025/9/...
Answered 13 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordWinter Fuel PaymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 5 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 29186More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the winter fuel payment on recent trends in the level of economic growth.
Answer: It is not possible to attribute changes in consumer spending or economic growth to any changes to Winter Fuel Payments. It is not possible to disentangle these from other much larger factors that could affect economic growth or consumption.
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordLloyds Bank: ClosuresTreasuryTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28664More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she discussed bank branch closures with the Chief Executive Officer of Lloyds during their meeting on 28 January 2025.
Answer: Ministers and treasury officials regularly meet with the retail banks to discuss a wide variety of topics. Banking has changed significantly in recent years with many customers benefitting from the ease and convenience of remote banking. FCA guidance expe...
Answered 10 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordWinter Fuel PaymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28613More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to eligibility for Winter Fuel Payments on consumer spending.
Answer: It is not possible to attribute changes in consumer spending or economic growth to any changes to Winter Fuel Payments. It is not possible to disentangle these from other much larger factors that could affect economic growth or consumption.
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordWinter Fuel PaymentDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28612More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an estimate of the proportion of Winter Fuel Payments that were spent through (a) direct and (b) indirect taxation in 2023-24.
Answer: The department does not hold information on how Winter Fuel Payments were spent in 2023–24.
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordPensioners: ExpenditureTreasuryTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28611More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the marginal propensity to consume of (a) all pensioners, (b) pensioners under the threshold for Pension Credit and (c) pensioners over the threshold for Pension Credit.
Answer: HM Treasury does not hold this information. The average award of Pension Credit is worth more than £4,200 a year, providing a safety net for pensioners on the lowest incomes. The UK Government is focused on maximising Pension Credit take-up to ensure thos...
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament record
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