Every parliamentary written question tabled by Andrew Snowden this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 2,521–2,540 of 2,662 · this parliament
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Clean Heat Market Mechanism on the cost of installing new gas boilers for people in Fylde.
The Clean Heat Market Mechanism does not require any change in the price of fossil fuel boilers. The Government took steps before introducing the scheme to revise the 2023 proposals in order to reduce impacts on boiler manufacturers and provide them more time to scale up supply chains.
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of energy costs on business in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.
The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently. The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy with less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030. In the short-term, the Government wants to provide businesses with better protection from being locked into unfair and expensive energy contracts, and more redress when they have a complaint. Last year, the Government launched a consultation on introducing regulation of Third-Party Intermediaries (TPIs), such as energy brokers. This is aimed at enhancing consumer protections, particularly for non-domestic consumers. The consultation has now closed, and a Government response will follow in due course once all feedback has been reviewed. There is support in place through the British Industry Supercharger to reduce the cumulative impact of energy and climate change policies on industrial electricity prices for eligible energy intensive industries (EIIs), including compensation for indirect emission costs of the UK ETS and Carbon Price Support and reductions in the indirect cost due to the Contracts for Difference, Renewables Obligation and small-scale feed-in-tariffs.
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the creation of Great British Energy on household energy bills in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.
In an unstable world, the only way to guarantee energy security and protect billpayers is to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels. That is why government has a mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. We have a sustainable, long-term plan to protect all UK billpayers, including the people of Fylde and Lancashire, from volatile international gas markets. Backed by £8.3 billion, Great British Energy is part of this plan, driving the deployment of the clean, homegrown energy we need to boost our energy independence. As a publicly-owned company, Great British Energy will ensure UK taxpayers, billpayers, and communities reap the benefits of this.
Communities and Local Government, what steps she plans to take to support housebuilding in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.
The government’s Plan for Change includes a hugely ambitious milestone of building 1.5 million new homes in England in this Parliament. We have already taken decisive steps to increase housing supply including publishing a revised National Planning Policy Framework and introducing a Planning and Infrastructure Bill that will streamline the delivery of new homes. Our New Homes Accelerator will unblock and accelerate the delivery of housing developments that have for various reasons become delayed, or which are not progressing as quickly as they could be. At Spring statement, the government announced an immediate injection of £2 billion to support delivery of the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation and contribute to our ambitious Plan for Change milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in this Parliament. Further detail can be found in the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 March 2025 (HCWS549). The investment made at Spring statement follows the £800 million in new in-year funding which has been made available for the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme and that will support the delivery of up to 7,800 new homes, with more than half of them being Social Rent homes. We will set out set details of new investment to succeed the 2021-26 Affordable Homes Programme at the Spending Review. This new investment will deliver a mix of homes for sub-market rent and homeownership, with a particular focus on delivering homes for social rent. We also confirmed a range of new flexibilities for councils and housing associations, both within the Affordable Homes Programme and in relation to how councils can use their Right to Buy receipts. Having reduced Right to Buy discounts to their pre-2012 regional levels, we have allowed councils to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales. The government recognise that Registered Providers need support to build their capacity and make a greater contribution to affordable housing supply. Between 30 October 2024 and 23 December 2024, the government consulted on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement, to give Registered Providers the certainty they need to invest in new social and affordable housing. In Lancashire and Fylde, and across the country, we are engaging closely with industry, including developers, housing associations and local authorities to build more houses. Blackpool has received £90 million of capital funding from Homes England for the first phase of housing regeneration in the city. This investment will create high quality homes and regenerate the town centre.
Communities and Local Government, what plans she has to include local people in discussions on development in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.
The government acknowledges the importance of engaging local communities in the planning process. National planning policy and planning practice guidance is clear that when developing their local plan, local planning authorities should consult their local communities and ensure views are taken into account. The guidance also makes clear that local planning authorities must publicise planning applications for a minimum of 21 days and must take any material matters raised into consideration when making a decision on the application. As set out in the government’s response to plan-making reforms: consultation on implementation, which can be found on gov.uk here, we are committed to improving community engagement in plan-making. This will result in a more democratic plan-led system with planning decisions and local plans being informed by a larger and more diverse range of community views.
With reference to his Department’s Request for input on potential UK measures in response to US tariffs, published on 3 April 2025, whether (a) lethal and (b) non-lethal police firearms are classified under CN8 code 93039000 as military weapons.
We encourage responses to the request for input from all organisations that think their imports could be affected by any potential UK tariffs on a particular commodity code.Lethal and non-lethal firearms under CN 93039000 are not classified as military weapons. Heading 9303 does not mention military weapons, military weapons are instead classified in the earlier headings, such as 9301 (9301 Military weapons, other than revolvers, pistols and the arms of heading 9307 (this heading covers semi-automatic firearms and rifles).Organisations that have additional specific classification enquiries can be directed to the mailbox: classification.enquiries@hmrc.gov.uk
Communities and Local Government, what her plans are for projects that received funding through the Levelling Up Fund in (a) Fylde and (b) Lancashire.
The Levelling Up Fund is fully committed, with £4.8 billion going to 271 projects across the UK. In Lancashire this includes 10 projects worth £260 million. We are supporting Local Authorities to help deliver the benefits of this investment to communities across the UK.
Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to protect the green belt in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.
The government is committed to preserving Green Belts which have served England's towns and cities well over many decades, not least in terms of checking the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas and preventing neighbouring towns merging into one another. The government’s new approach to the Green Belt, including prioritising the release of lower quality grey belt land and introducing ‘golden rules’ to ensure development benefits communities and nature, is set out in the revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) published on 12 December. On 27 February, Planning Practice Guidance was published to assist local authorities and other decision-makers, and to support a consistent approach to determining whether land is grey belt. It can be found on gov.uk here. This new guidance will support authorities in producing Local Plans, while also making sure that planning applications and development on suitable grey belt land can proceed in the short-term in areas without an up-to-date plan. The government has also provided 133 local planning authorities with £70,000 of pump priming funding each to contribute towards the costs of carrying out Green Belt reviews in their areas.
Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support first time buyers in (a) Fylde constituency and (b) Lancashire.
The affordability challenges facing prospective first-time buyers mean that too many people are now locked out of homeownership. This government is determined to change that, ensuring that young families and hardworking renters can buy a home of their own. Boosting the supply of homes of all tenures must be at the heart of any strategy to improve housing affordability which is why the government’s Plan for Change includes a hugely ambitious milestone of building 1.5 million safe and decent homes in England in this Parliament. In addition to increasing the supply of homes of all tenures, we are committed to introducing a permanent, comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme, to support first-time buyers, including those in Fylde and Lancashire, who struggle to save for a large deposit, with lower mortgage costs.
Pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2025 to Question 39625 on General Practitioners: Employers' Contributions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed increase to employers' National Insurance contributions on the level of employment in general practices.
We have made the necessary decisions to fix the foundations of the public finances in the Autumn Budget. Resource spending for the Department will be £22.6 billion more in 2025/26 than in 2023/24, as part of the Spending Review settlement. The employers’ National Insurance rise was implemented in April 2025.General practices (GPs) are valued independent contractors who provide over £13 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with the profession about what services GPs provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract, taking account of the cost of delivering services.We are investing an additional £889 million through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade, and we are pleased that the General Practitioners Committee England is supportive of the contract changes.
Pursuant to the Answer of 27 March 2025 to Question 39625 on General Practitioners: Employers' Contributions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed increase to employers' National Insurance contributions on the number of general practices.
We have made necessary decisions to fix the foundations of the public finances in the Autumn Budget. Resource spending for the Department will be £22.6 billion more in 2025/26 than in 2023/24, as part of the Spending Review settlement. The employers’ National Insurance rise was implemented in April 2025.General practices (GPs) are valued independent contractors who provide over £13 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with the profession about what services GPs provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract, taking account of the cost of delivering services.We are investing an additional £889 million through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade, and we are pleased that the General Practitioners Committee England is supportive of the contract changes.
Whether she plans to encourage schools to celebrate (a) Easter and (b) other Christian holidays.
Easter and other Christian holidays provide good opportunities for schools to celebrate the traditions of our country, and the department supports schools taking those opportunities with their pupils.
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed increase to employers’ National Insurance contributions on the defence industry in Fylde constituency.
As individual suppliers and contractors will manage the changes to Employer National Insurance Contributions differently, it would be extremely difficult for the Department to estimate the impact this will have on the defence industry, including those based in the Fylde constituency.
What steps he is taking to increase his Department’s support for SMEs in the defence industry in Fylde constituency.
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) make a vital contribution to economic growth and are a valuable source of technical innovation in defence. This is recognised in the Defence Industrial Strategy Statement of Intent, as well as the Department’s Social Value policies. We work with our largest suppliers through a network of their SME Champions, trade associations and SME representatives to ensure that SMEs have fair access to opportunities in our supply chain and that our prime contractors are adopting policies, such as fair payment practices, that support small businesses working in defence. We have announced the launch of a new hub to provide SMEs with better access to the defence supply chain and have committed to set direct SME spending targets for the Ministry of Defence by June this year, ensuring that thousands of small businesses in the UK, including those in the Fylde constituency, will benefit from the decision to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP.
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed increase to employers National Insurance contributions on hospices in Lancashire.
We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations in the public finances at the Autumn Budget, enabling the Spending Review settlement of a £22.6 billion increase in resource spending for the Department from 2023/24 outturn to 2025/26.The employer National Insurance contribution rise will be implemented in April 2025, and planning guidance published on 30 January 2025 sets out the funding available to integrated care boards and the overall approach to funding providers in the next financial year. It considers a variety of pay and non-pay factors and pressures on providers of secondary healthcare, including charitable hospices. Further information on the planning guidance is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/2025-26-priorities-and-operational-planning-guidance/We are supporting the hospice sector with a £100 million capital funding boost for adult and children’s hospices in England, to ensure they have the best physical environment for care. We are pleased to confirm that the Government has released the first £25 million tranche of that funding, with Hospice UK kindly allocating and distributing the money to hospices throughout England. An additional £75 million will be available from April 2025.We are also providing £26 million of revenue funding to support children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. This is a continuation of the funding which until recently was known as the children and young people’s hospice grant.
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed increase to employers National Insurance contributions on general practices in Fylde constituency.
We have made the necessary decisions to fix the foundations of the public finances in the Autumn Budget. Resource spending for the Department will be £22.6 billion more in 2025/26 than in 2023/24, as part of the Spending Review settlement. The employers’ National Insurance rise will be implemented in April 2025.General practices (GPs) are valued independent contractors who provide over £13 billion worth of National Health Services. Every year we consult with the profession about what services GPs provide, and the money providers are entitled to in return under their contract, taking account of the cost of delivering services.We are investing an additional £889 million in through the GP Contract to reinforce the front door of the NHS, bringing total spend on the GP Contract to £13.2 billion in 2025/26. This is the biggest increase in over a decade, and we are pleased that the General Practitioners Committee England is supportive of the contract changes.
Whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed increase in employer National Insurance contributions on social care providers in Fylde constituency.
To enable local authorities to deliver key services such as adult social care, the Government is making available up to £3.7 billion of additional funding for social care authorities in 2025/26, which includes an £880 million increase in the Social Care Grant.The additional funding available to Lancashire in 2025/26 means that they will see an increase to their core spending power of up to 7.3% in cash terms.Local authorities are best placed to understand and plan for the needs of their population, which is why, under the Care Act 2014, they are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to meet the diverse needs of all local people.
What steps he has taken to increase NHS capacity for winter 2025-26 in Fylde constituency.
Local National Health Service winter resilience plans for the Flyde area specifically are an operational matter for NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) working in partnership with local NHS providers. The ICB’s planning for 2025/26 is ongoing, including the allocation of £24 million of capital funding to improve urgent and emergency care services.At national level, we have communicated priorities for urgent and emergency care this year through the NHS England mandate and the operational planning guidance for 2025/26. We will shortly set out further actions and improvements to be taken this year to support urgent and emergency care services.
What steps he is taking to improve the safety of NHS maternity services in Fylde constituency.
The Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust entered the national Maternity Safety Support Programme (MSSP) in September 2022, following a Care Quality Commission inspection earlier that month which rated Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s maternity services in the Fylde constituency as ‘requires improvement’ overall. The programme provides intensive support to the trust to assist in the improvement of their maternity services, including a dedicated Maternity Improvement Advisor and support to implement a tailored improvement plan. A full diagnostic assessment has identified key areas of focus with an associated improvement plan and agreed exit criteria.The Local Maternity and Neonatal System arm of the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board receives reports from the MSSP, so it can support the service with focused improvement work.A MSSP assurance visit on 27 January 2025 concluded that significant improvements had been made across a number of areas, with evidence of data demonstrating sustained improvement. The next review meeting for the service is to take place on 28 May 2025.
What steps he is taking to support cadet forces in Fylde constituency.
The Government is convinced of the benefits of cadets, not just for young people who participate, but for society. Participation in the Cadet Forces has significant positive impacts on young people, increasing their performance at school and improving their employment and career prospects. The Cadet Forces instil values and standards and provide the opportunity for young people to develop key skills including self-discipline, confidence, and resilience which equip them for life. The skills, confidence, and cultural capital that young people gain from being cadets improves their social mobility, and in terms of health and wellbeing alone, participation in the Cadet Forces produces an annual return on investment in the region of £120 million. Independent research has shown the cost of cadets is fully covered if the life outcomes of just 1% of cadets change each year so that they are in education, training, or employment. For all these reasons, we are committed to sustaining the Cadet Forces across the UK, including within the Fylde constituency, where there are currently nine separate Cadet Units.