Neil O'Brien MP: written questions 2025
425 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Home Office: EqualityHome OfficeTabled 28 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85866More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 12 March 2024 to Question 17707 on Home Office: Equality, how many and what proportion of people work in her Department's equality, diversity and well-being team.
Answer: There are 34 members of staff (31.56 FTE) working in the central Equality, Diversity and Wellbeing Team based on headcount, this represents 0.07% of the total staff (paid Civil Servants) working for the Home Office. The small increase compared to the answ...
Answered 11 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordOffice for Budget Responsibility: ForecastsTreasuryTabled 28 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 85865More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she had with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) on the risk that OBR productivity growth forecasts would be revised down before the (a) Autumn Budget 2024 and (b) Spring Statement 2025.
Answer: The Chancellor engages regularly with the OBR including in preparation for fiscal events. As the Government’s independent official forecaster, the OBR has full discretion over the judgements underpinning its forecasts. In the OBR's March Economic and Fisc...
Answered 3 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordStamp Duty Land TaxTreasuryTabled 21 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83857More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the number of transactions that will take place (a) up to £125,000, (b) from £125,001 to £250,000, (c) from £250,001 to £925,000, (d) from £925,001 to £1.5 million and (e) ab
Answer: A split of forecast property transactions by price band is not available. However, a forecast of overall property transactions from the Office for Budgetary Responsibility is available here: https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/the-economy-forecast/housing-m...
Answered 27 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordChurch of England: SlaveryChurch CommissionersTabled 15 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 82378More
Question: To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, on what date the board of trustees will meet to approve the application for project spire; and when they plan to make an application to authorise an ex-gratia payment under secti
Answer: The board of the Church Commissioners has authorised an application to register a new charity which it proposes to call the Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice. Subject to that application, the board would, in future, consider an application to authorise...
Answered 20 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordVisas: Married PeopleHome OfficeTabled 12 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76834More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many spousal visa applicants were exempted from the standard income threshold because their partner in the UK was receiving disability benefits in the last 12 months.
Answer: Data on the number of spousal visa applications which have been exempted from the standard income threshold does not form part of our data sets and is not published.Obtaining the specific information requested would involve collating and verifying informa...
Answered 13 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordCivil Society: Employers' ContributionsTreasuryTabled 9 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 76042More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on receipts to the Exchequer from the charity and voluntary sector.
Answer: The Government recognises the important role charities play in our society and has made it a priority to reset the relationship with civil society by developing a Civil Society Covenant. A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the...
Answered 15 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordMidland Main Line: ElectrificationDepartment for TransportTabled 2 Sept 2025AnsweredUIN 74601More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, further to the Answer of 1 September 2025 to Question 69372 on Midland Main Line: Electrification, what is her Department's estimate of the cost of completing electrification of the Midland Main Line to Notting
Answer: The Department’s most recent estimate to electrify the Midland Main Line to Nottingham and Sheffield was c. £1.5 billion, however, before the decision to pause the programme was confirmed, work was being undertaken by Network Rail to update their cost est...
Answered 8 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordPupils: LanguagesDepartment for EducationTabled 29 Aug 2025AnsweredUIN 70939More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many pupils who did not have English as their first language had each different non-English language as their first language in each of the last 10 years.
Answer: The department collects data where a pupil’s first language is known or believed to be other than English. Where a pupil is recorded to speak a first language known or believed to be other than English, a language is recorded. The attached document shows ...
Answered 10 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordMidland Main Line: ElectrificationDepartment for TransportTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69372More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of the reduction in expenditure from the cancelling the electrification of the midland mainline north of Wigston.
Answer: The decisions taken in the Spending Review on rail enhancements were about prioritising the schemes that provided the greatest contribution to the government’s missions affordably. Rail enhancements are funded as a portfolio and this portfolio received in...
Answered 1 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordGeneral Practitioners: Integrated Care BoardsDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69371More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) general practices and (b) GP premises there were in each integrated care board area in each month since June 2024.
Answer: NHS England has provided a table showing the number of general practices (GPs) by integrated care board (ICB) and the number of branch surgeries by ICB. It also shows the number of GPs that opened and closed since June 2024 and the number of branch surger...
Answered 6 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordSocial Services: InternetDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69355More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to publish the report on the adult social care relative needs formula on the Adult Social Care Policy Research Unit Website.
Answer: The report on the adult social care relative needs formula was published on the Adult Social Care Policy Research Unit’s website in June 2025.The Department funds independent research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute of Health and...
Answered 1 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordChurch of England: SlaveryChurch CommissionersTabled 21 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 69330More
Question: To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2025 to Question 63010 on Church of England: Slavery, whether the £5 million to be spent on project Spire in the triennium spending plans 2026-28
Answer: £5 million is not a forecast figure the Church Commissioners recognises in relation to the Spire programme in the triennium spending plans for 2026-28. The Church Commissioners’ triennium spending plan process involves forecasting high-level commitments o...
Answered 1 Sept 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversal CreditCabinet OfficeTabled 17 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68832More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what information his Department holds on the number and what proportion of Universal Credit claimants who have (a) no qualifications, (b) Level 2 qualifications, (c) Level 3 qualifications, (d) Level 4 qualifica
Answer: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 17th July is attached.
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordAfghanistan: ResettlementMinistry of DefenceTabled 17 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68809More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will publish the assumptions used to generate the figure of a 5.5 to 6 billion lifetime cost of the Afghan re-settlement schemes.
Answer: Yes, the lifetime cost quoted of the Afghan resettlement schemes includes family members coming to the UK. Projected costs are based on per person costs used for planning purposes, and estimated numbers of future arrivals. The estimate is based on costs i...
Answered 23 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordMinistry of Defence: Temporary AccommodationMinistry of DefenceTabled 17 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68801More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2024 to Question 19002 on Ministry of Defence: Temporary Accommodation, how many Afghans are being accommodated on the defence estate.
Answer: As of 18 July 2025, there are currently 972 eligible Afghans in transitional accommodation on the Defence Estate under the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP). Use of the Defence Estate will be gradually reduced over the coming months, with a view to ceas...
Answered 24 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordAfghanistan: ResettlementMinistry of DefenceTabled 17 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68793More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to his oral statement of 15 July 2025 on Afghanistan, Official Report, column 149-152, whether the £5.5 to 6 billion lifetime cost of the Afghan resettlement schemes includes further family members
Answer: Yes, the lifetime cost quoted of the Afghan resettlement schemes includes family members coming to the UK. Projected costs are based on per person costs used for planning purposes, and estimated numbers of future arrivals. The estimate is based on costs i...
Answered 23 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordUniversal CreditDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 15 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67961More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were claiming Universal Credit who were (a) in employment and (b) not in employment and whose immigration status was (i) Common Travel Area - UK, Ireland, Right of Abode, (ii) EU Settlem
Answer: The Department recently published new Universal Credit - Immigration Status and Nationality statistics. Further breakdowns of these statistics are not currently available.
Answered 24 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordMedicine: Higher EducationDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67449More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medical school places he expects there to be in each year up to 2031.
Answer: The total maximum fundable limit for medical school places in England set by the Office for Students is 8,230 places for the 2025/26 academic year. The limit is confirmed on an annual basis.We will publish a new 10 Year Workforce Plan later this year to d...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordWork Experience: Secondary EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67448More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of secondary schools provide two weeks of work experience.
Answer: The department has asked the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC) to collect national baseline data on the delivery of two weeks’ worth of work experience for every secondary pupil, across schools in England. CEC plan to publish this data by the end of 20...
Answered 17 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordFamily Hubs: ExpenditureDepartment for EducationTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67447More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much she plans to spend on the Best Start for Life programme in the (a) 2026-27, (b) 2027-28 and (c) 2028-29 financial years.
Answer: The department has allocated close to £1.5 billion over the next three financial years on improving family services and early years education. This funding includes both programme and capital funding, and is separate from the additional funding being prov...
Answered 1 Aug 2025
Original Parliament recordFree School Meals: CostsDepartment for EducationTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67446More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the real terms cost to the public purse is of Free School Meals in 2025-26; and what she expects this to be in future years.
Answer: The department published information on pupil free school meal eligibility in the annual Schools, Pupils and Characteristics publication, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-the...
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordFree School Meals: EligibilityDepartment for EducationTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67445More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of pupils she expects to be eligible for Free School Meals (a) this year and (b) in future years.
Answer: The department published information on pupil free school meal eligibility in the annual Schools, Pupils and Characteristics publication, which can be accessed here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-the...
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordChurch of England: SlaveryChurch CommissionersTabled 7 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 65336More
Question: To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2025 to Question 63010 on Church of England: Slavery, how much has been spent on this project so far.
Answer: From 2019 to the end of the financial year 31 December 2024 inclusive, the Church Commissioners' expenditure in connection with Project Spire was approximately £1 million. This is related to commissioning research and developing our formal responseThe Chu...
Answered 30 Aug 2025
Original Parliament recordPrisons: LeicestershireMinistry of JusticeTabled 30 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63644More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the cost of the new prison at Gartree in Leicestershire.
Answer: The value of the main works for the new prison next to HMP Gartree is planned to be published later this year.
Answered 3 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordIndustry: InvestmentDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 30 Jun 2025AnsweredUIN 63607More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much his Department has allocated for the (a) advertising and (b) promotion of the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy 2025, published 23 June 2025 in the (i) 2025-26 and (ii) 2026-27 financial years;
Answer: Marketing including paid advertising is necessary to reach a target audience of senior business decision makers, raising awareness of the UK’s new modern industrial strategy and the opportunities it presents for business growth. The Department of Business...
Answered 14 Jul 2025
Original Parliament record
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