Written questions by Dixon.

Pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2024 to Question 10637 on the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, whether he plans to (a) extend the scheme and (b) offer an alternative scheme to veterans who served before May 1987.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 30 October 2024, to Question 10637.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme available to all veterans.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 30 October 2024, to Question 10637.

Whether her Department is taking steps to provide financial support to people to make deposit payments on wheelchair accessible vehicles.

The Department for Work and Pensions are responsible for the disability benefits that provide a passport to the Motability Scheme. The Scheme is operated by the Motability Foundation. Should an individual choose to join the Motability Scheme, then Scheme customers can apply to Motability Foundation for a means tested grant that can help towards the cost of an advance payment on a vehicle including wheelchair accessible vehicles.

What number and proportion of pupils in (a) state and (b) independent schools had access arrangements for extra time during (i) GCSEs and (ii) A-Levels in the summer exams 2024.

This is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sir Ian Bauckham, to write to the hon. Member directly and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

If she will conduct a review into apprenticeships that includes taking representations from existing functional skills teachers.

The department keeps all aspects of apprenticeships policy under review, including the English and mathematics requirements, to make sure it is striking the right balance in equipping apprentices with the right skills, without putting up unnecessary barriers to starting or completing an apprenticeship.More widely, the government will be transforming the apprenticeships levy into a new growth and skills levy, which will offer greater flexibility to employers and learners and align with the government’s Industrial Strategy. Skills England will be working closely with employers, training providers, unions and other key partners to identify priority skills gaps, helping to ensure that levy-funded training delivers value for money, meets the needs of business and helps kick start economic growth. Details on Skills England engagement plans will be set out in due course.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of amending the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to increase statute of limitations to 20 years for faulty medical devices.

The Consumer Protection Act, which contains our product liability legislation, has been in place since 1987 and my department is indeed undertaking a review of it, during which we will consider all aspects, including those claim limits my Honourable friend mentions. Following this review, should we believe changes are needed, we will bring forward the necessary primary legislation to ensure our laws remain up to date and fit for the future.

If she will make it her policy to ring-fence Business Asset Disposal Relief in the upcoming Budget.

At Autumn Budget, the government announced that it would maintain Business Asset Disposal Relief, with its £1 million lifetime limit. The Chancellor also announced that the Capital Gains Tax rate for Business Asset Disposal Relief will increase from 10% to 14% from 6 April 2025, and will increase again to match the lower main rate at 18% from 6 April 2026.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help (a) reduce and (b) prevent fraud against people paying Clean Air Zone charges online via fake websites.

The Government is aware of fake and fraudulent websites relating to Clean Air Zone payments and takes this matter very seriously. We continue to monitor this issue and take appropriate action. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) investigates reports of organisations which act illegally or are actively misleading users about their services. Where appropriate such sites can be and are taken down promptly. The DVLA uses its external communication channels, including social media, to remind motorists that GOV.UK is the only website for government motoring services and provide advice on how to report suspected scams.

If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme to all veterans.

The Ministry of Defence runs two main active no-fault compensation schemes:Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS)War Pension Scheme (WPS) The AFCS provides compensation for injury or illness caused or made worse by Service; or death caused by Service from 6 April 2005. Claims before 6 April 2005 are made under the WPS and provides compensation and supplementary allowances for disablement or death due to injury. There is a long-standing principle of not making retrospective changes to Government Pension Schemes. This principle ensures the long-term sustainability and affordability of these schemes. Both schemes have and are already open to all veterans where sickness or injury has arisen due to their Service. There are no plans to extend the scheme to all veterans whose injury or illness was not due to their Service, and which may have happened under other circumstances. The AFCS continues to be independently reviewed every five years to ensure it remains fit for purpose – a process known as the Quinquennial Review, led by an independent, external reviewer.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to Section 51 of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, what steps his Department has taken to help British Overseas Territories establish a publicly accessible register of the beneficial ownership of companies registered in their jurisdiction.

The FCDO has funded an expert NGO, Open Ownership, to provide technical assistance to Overseas Territory governments to establish publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership (PARBO). The UK Government has also provided legal drafting assistance to some OTs and funding to Montserrat for costs associated with implementing their publicly accessible register. I have written to all OT Leaders and Governors including in person meetings over the last few days with the Governments in Anguilla and BVI, setting out my expectations of urgent progress. I was delighted Montserrat launched their PARBO on 11 October.Since 2023, the UK has held several technical workshops on beneficial ownership with Overseas Territories. The most recent on 31 October 2024, following discussions between officials at the 'UK-OT Illicit Finance Dialogue' held on 07-09 October.I look forward to further discussions at the Joint Ministerial Council in late November, where this will feature on the agenda.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure the McCloud remedy is implemented for affected NHS workers by April 2025.

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) is implementing the McCloud remedy for impacted members of the NHS Pension Scheme. Remedy implementation is a complex and large-scale undertaking. The core element of the remedy will provide members with a choice of benefits at retirement for the period the discrimination identified by the McCloud judgment was effective. Approximately 350,000 retired members will be offered this choice retrospectively.The Department expects that the majority of impacted retired members will not receive their choice until after April 2025.Whilst the majority of impacted retired members are likely to already be in receipt of their most beneficial set of benefits, the Department is working with the NHSBSA to accelerate the provision of this choice, particularly for members for whom there would be an immediate financial impact. The NHSBSA will communicate revised timelines with members once these are confirmed.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to abolish leasehold marriage value.

As outlined in the King’s Speech, the Government will act quickly to provide homeowners with greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes by implementing the provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. This includes a new valuation scheme that leaseholders must follow to calculate how much they should pay to enfranchise and includes measures such as removing the requirement to pay marriage value, capping the treatment of ground rents at 0.1% of the freehold value in the calculation, and prescribing rates for the calculation. A small number of provisions came into force on 24 July, two months after Royal Assent, relating to rentcharge arrears, building safety legal costs and the work of professional insolvency practitioners.The Government will further reform the leasehold system by enacting remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to enfranchisement and the Right to Manage, tackle unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, and removing the disproportionate and draconian threat of forfeiture. We will also reinvigorate commonhold through a comprehensive new legal framework and ban the sale of new leasehold flats so commonhold becomes the default tenure.The Government has made clear it intends to publish draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform in this session so that it may be subject to broad consultation and additional parliamentary scrutiny.

If he will review the tapered annual allowance threshold for NHS pensions.

Tax policy is a matter for my Rt Hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The tapered annual allowance threshold applies universally and restricts the amount of tax-free pension saving available to the wealthiest in society.

If the Taskforce on Child Poverty will make an assessment on the potential impact of ending the two-child benefit limit for families in Shipley constituency..

Tackling child poverty is at the heart of this Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. The Child Poverty Taskforce has started work and will explore all available levers to drive forward short and long-term actions across government to reduce child poverty. The Child Poverty Strategy will be published in the Spring and is UK-wide. In September, the Taskforce heard from local leaders about the challenges faced in their communities, and how it can best work with Mayors, local authorities and other bodies to develop innovative solutions to tackle child poverty. This marked the first of a series of thematic sessions with key organisations, charities and experts on specific topics that will help to shape the strategy.

Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of ringfencing fines paid by water companies for the Water Restoration Fund.

The Water Restoration Fund, which launched under the previous Government in April this year, is currently being examined carefully by the relevant Ministers.

What steps his Department is taking to help reduce waiting times for ADHD assessments.

The Department is currently considering next steps to improve access to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) assessments. It is the responsibility of integrated care boards to make appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of their local population, including ADHD assessments, in line with relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.We are supporting a taskforce that NHS England is establishing to look at ADHD service provision and its impact on patient experience. The taskforce will bring together expertise from across a broad range of sectors, including the National Health Service, education, and justice, to better understand the challenges affecting people with ADHD and to help provide a joined-up approach in response to concerns around rising demand.Alongside the work of the taskforce, NHS England will continue to develop a national ADHD data improvement plan, carry out more detailed work to understand the provider and commissioning landscape, and capture examples from local health systems which are trialling innovative ways of delivering ADHD services to ensure best practice is captured and shared across the system.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to help improve mobile phone coverage in Shipley constituency.

The Government is committed to improving mobile coverage across the UK. Ofcom’s recent coverage reporting shows that 99% of Shipley has 4G geographic coverage from all four mobile operators. Non-standalone 5G is available from at least one mobile operator outside 99% of premises.I am aware that Ofcom’s coverage data does not always reflect consumers’ experience of mobile networks at a local level, and I am intent on ensuring Ofcom takes all necessary steps to improve its accuracy. Our ambition is for all populated areas to have high-quality standalone 5G by 2030, and we are committed to ensuring we have the right policy and regulatory framework to support investment and competition.

What steps her Department is taking to increase public awareness of the required parental contributions when accessing student loans.

Guidance on ‘Understanding Student Living Costs’ from the Student Loans Company is available on GOV.UK and reviewed on a regular basis. More information on this guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/understanding-student-living-costs. This guidance makes it clear that students are expected to make up the difference between the maintenance loan amount available to them and their total living costs.Students supplement their living costs support through a variety of means, including parental support, part-time employment, or savings. Students’ living costs vary widely, according to their individual circumstances and where they study and reside, so it is not possible to provide a single figure for any parental contribution.Students can also find more information about some of the alternative sources of funding, and guidance on how to budget for university, at Student Space here: https://studentspace.org.uk/.

What steps his Department is taking to enforce equal pay rights in the (a) public and (b) private sector.

This Government is committed to ending pay discrimination at work. The plan to Make Work Pay includes clear action to strengthen the right to equal pay. We will put in place measures to ensure that outsourcing of services can no longer be used by employers to avoid paying equal pay, and improve enforcement by establishing an Equal Pay Regulatory and Enforcement Unit. As set out in the King’s Speech in July, the upcoming Equality (Race & Disability) Bill will also extend the right to make equal pay claims to ethnic minority people and disabled people. These steps will apply across both the public and private sectors.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing funding for local authority teacher supply pools.

Supply teachers perform a valuable role and make an important contribution to the smooth running of schools by filling posts on a temporary basis and covering teacher absences.Schools and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers. Local authority supply pools are one of the approaches to providing supply teachers, and local authorities have the autonomy to decide whether to operate supply teacher pools.The department, in conjunction with the Crown Commercial Service, has established the agency supply deal, which supports schools to obtain value for money when hiring agency supply teachers and other temporary school staff. More information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/deal-for-schools-hiring-supply-teachers-and-agency-workers.