Blake Stephenson MP: written questions
1633 published records · newest first.
Written questions
General 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 recordEmployers' ContributionsTreasuryTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28610More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an estimate of the impact of her policies on employers’ National Insurance contributions on economic growth.
Answer: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on indi...
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordEast West Railway Company: Employers' ContributionsDepartment for TransportTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28609More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether funding has been provided from the public purse to offset the impact of changes to employers’ National Insurance contributions on the East-West Rail Company.
Answer: At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government set aside funding for public sector employers for additional NIC costs. This is in line with the government’s usual approach to supporting the public sector, as was the case with the previous government’s Health and S...
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployers' Contributions: Public SectorTreasuryTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28608More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has provided funding from the public purse to offset the impact of changes to employers’ National Insurance contributions on public sector arms-length bodies.
Answer: The Government will provide support for departments and other public sector employers for additional employer National Insurance Contributions costs only. This funding will be allocated to departments, with the Barnett formula applying in the usual way, w...
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployers' ContributionsTreasuryTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28607More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has produced modelling on the potential behavioural impact of increases to employers’ National Insurance.
Answer: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on indi...
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordEmployers' ContributionsTreasuryTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28606More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department made of job losses when calculating the contribution to the public purse of the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions.
Answer: A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to employer NICs. The TIIN sets out the impact of the policy on the exchequer, the economic impacts of the policy, and the impacts on indi...
Answered 12 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordConstruction: Employers' ContributionsMinistry of Housing, Communities and Local GovernmentTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28605More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to employers’ National Insurance contribution on the plan to build 1.5 million houses in this Parliament.
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 21627 on 17 January 2025.
Answered 18 Feb 2025
Original Parliament recordConstruction: Employers' ContributionsDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 4 Feb 2025AnsweredUIN 28604More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make an estimate of the potential impact of changes to employers’ National Insurance contributions on employment in the construction industry.
Answer: More than half of employers, including small businesses in the construction sector will see no change or gain overall. The Government has protected small businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to Employer National Insurance by increasing...
Answered 13 Feb 2025
Original Parliament record
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