Written questions by Stephenson.

If she will make an estimate of the additional lifetime tax paid by people entering the workplace in 2025 due to taxation of salary sacrifice pension contributions.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN)(opens in a new tab) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to pensions salary sacrifice. As set out in the TIIN, the average additional NICs liability for affected individuals is estimated to be £84 in 2029/30. Individuals earning below £30,000 making pension contributions through salary sacrifice are overwhelmingly protected by a £2,000 cap, with few (c. 5%) making salary sacrifice contributions above this threshold.

Representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the answer of 15 October 2025 to Written Question 79886, which (a) District and (b) County Councils have been the subject of reviews; and what the cost was of those reviews by Council.

The Local Government Boundary Commission for England estimates the costs incurred for reviews of district and county councils in the period between July 2024 and February 2025 to be as follows:District councilsBassetlaw£23,799Breckland£55,455Bromsgrove£5,019Canterbury£9,248Cherwell£3,642Colchester£9,812Cotswold£3,642Dacorum£53,055Great Yarmouth£3,642Hinckley and Bosworth£3,642Hyndburn£3,642Ipswich£0Melton£5,019North Warwickshire£9,812North West Leicestershire£49,010Oadby and Wigston£9,812Sevenoaks£9,812South Holland£3,642Swale£3,642Thanet£53,664Vale of White Horse£45,417Wealden£0West Oxfordshire£3,642 County councilsDerbyshire£44,247Essex£44,247Oxfords£5,019Canterbury£9,248Cherwell£3,642 These estimates have been developed based on the average cost for each stage of the review process. The figures for each individual authority take account of the stage(s) of the review process that were undertaken during the period from July 2024 to February 2025.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to promote soil education among planning officers, developers, landowners and the public.

The Government recognises the importance of soil education and promoting the importance of soil health, through sustainable and responsibly managed soil practices.Defra continues to engage with the industry to disseminate a range of material to support planning officers, farmers and land managers to make informed choices about how to sustainably manage their soil. This includes engaging with the British Society of Soil Science to introduce a soil scientist apprenticeship programme to increase the number of qualified experts to support them. The National Planning Policy Framework sets out that planning policies and decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by protecting and enhancing sites of geological value and soils. The associated guidance is clear that soil is an essential natural capital asset that provides important ecosystem services. More broadly, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have also established a ‘Planning Capacity & Capability’ programme to develop a wider programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to ensure that local planning authorities have the skills and capacity they need.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to open an Embassy in Palestine.

It is the longstanding position of the UK Government that Jerusalem should be a shared capital of two states, with its final status determined as part of a negotiated, peaceful settlement between Israelis and Palestinians, respecting the access and religious rights of all peoples. The future status of the British Consulate General in Jerusalem will be decided in light of progress towards this historic goal.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to protect Best and Most Versatile agricultural land from development.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) underlines the importance of the Best and Most Versatile agricultural land which is the land most valuable for food production. Where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary, areas of poorer quality land should be used in preference to that of higher quality.

With reference to the press release entitled Fresh drive to boost Pension Credit take-up as new figures reveal large regional gaps in those receiving benefit worth around £4,300 a year, published on 30 October 2025, if he will publish constituency level analysis.

Ad-hoc statistics on households potentially eligible for Pension Credit were published by DWP for the financial year 2023 to 2024 and are available at: Households potentially eligible for Pension Credit, 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK. Table 4a provides a breakdown of eligible households in receipt of Pension Credit, potentially eligible households and Pension Credit receipt rate by parliamentary constituency. These are estimates based on administrative data and are not derived from the official statistics (available here: Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year ending 2024 - GOV.UK). The official statistics should be used for estimates of Pension Credit take-up at the Great Britian level, with the ad-hoc statistics providing breakdowns at lower levels of geographical areas.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the operational costs of a) Mayors and b) Council Leaders enacting Police and Crime Commissioner functions.

No overall assessment has been made yet of the full operational costs for Strategic and Local Authorities of taking on functions from Police and Crime Commissioners. We will be working with authorities to assess those costs as the details of the new system are developed and legislated for. We will work with the Home Office to ensure that the new arrangements are fully funded.

What guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on prioritising a) reactive and b) proactive road maintenance interventions.

Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances. There are occasions where potholes need to be repaired quickly for safety reasons, but the Department encourages local authorities to also focus on long-term preventative maintenance to ensure that roads are fixed properly and potholes prevented from forming in the first place. This is also more cost-effective than the repeated and reactive patching of potholes. This year, the Government made available an additional £500 million for local highway authorities to maintain their highway network. A portion of the additional funding is contingent upon local highway authorities complying with criteria aimed at driving best practice and continual improvement in highways maintenance. This includes local highway authorities having to demonstrate to Government how much they are spending on highways maintenance, including the balance of spend between preventative and reactive maintenance. In this context, the department has written to all local highway authorities to emphasise that when determining the balance between preventative and reactive maintenance, authorities should adopt the principle that prevention is better than cure, as also set out in the Code of Practice for well-managed highway infrastructure, available online, at: https://www.ciht.org.uk/ukrlg-home/code-of-practice/

Pursuant to the answer of 15 October 2025 to written question 79794, if he will make an estimate of the proportion of residents in Mid Bedfordshire constituency who live within one mile of a post office.

Post Office’s performance against the Government’s Access Criteria is assessed at a national level rather than by individual constituencies. Information on how the Post Office measures network performance against these criteria is published annually in its Network Report, which is available on the Post Office’s website.

Pursuant to the answer of 3 October 2025 to written question 74972, if she will list the eleven schools in Bedfordshire.

The department has published details of successful projects and applicants to the Condition Improvement Fund for the 2025/26 financial year, including the local authority and constituency. This list can be found on GOV.UK here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/condition-improvement-fund-2025-to-2026-outcome.

What the take up rate is amongst targeted pupils for free breakfast clubs.

Free Breakfast Clubs are for all pupils to give children life chances and parents work choices. Through our free breakfast club early adopter schools, we have served more than 5 million meals, and we are expanding the programme by further funding an additional 2,000 schools this year, benefitting half a million more children.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of taxation of salary sacrifice pension contributions on levels of pensions saving.

A Tax Information and Impact Note (TIIN) was published alongside the introduction of the Bill containing the changes to pensions salary sacrifice. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) set out in their November 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook that they do not expect a material impact on savings behaviour as a result of Budget 2025 tax changes. The government supports all individuals to save into pensions through a generous system of income tax and NICs reliefs worth over £70 billion a year.  Employers must also meet their automatic enrolment obligations.

How many visas a) his Department, b) the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency, c) the UK Health Security Agency, d) the Care Quality Commission, e) the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, f) the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, g) NHS Blood and Transplant, h) NHS Business Services Authority and i) NHS Resolution have sponsored since 4 July 2024.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on 11 December 2025 to Question 96902.

Whether he has made an (a) estimate of the age of inheritance for the next five decades and (b) assessment of the potential impact of increased longevity on the adequacy of assets held at state pension age for comfortable retirement.

The Department for Work and Pensions has published analysis on the number and proportion of working age individuals who are undersaving for retirement. This analysis is published here: Analysis of Future Pension Incomes 2025 - GOV.UK This analysis looks at Target Replacement Rates, the percentage of pre-retirement earnings an individual would need to replace to meet an adequate income in retirement, and also at expenditure-based measures of income adequacy in retirement. This analysis includes estimates of longevity as part of assessing the level of savings needed to achieve the various levels of income. No specific assessment has been made of the age of inheritance. The Government has also revived the Pensions Commission, with a broad and comprehensive remit to consider the long-term future of our pension system, to ensure it delivers financial security in retirement through a framework that is strong, fair and sustainable. This includes exploring the long-term questions of adequacy and how to improve retirement outcomes for future generations of retirees.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, where the UK recognises as the capital of the State of Palestine.

It is the longstanding position of the UK Government that Jerusalem should be a shared capital of two states, with its final status determined as part of a negotiated, peaceful settlement between Israelis and Palestinians, respecting the access and religious rights of all peoples. The future status of the British Consulate General in Jerusalem will be decided in light of progress towards this historic goal.

Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing planning protections for high-functioning soils by designating them as Soil Conservation Zones.

The Government has no plans to assess or introduce new planning-based protected designations for high functioning soils. However, the Government recognises the importance of improving and protecting soil health, through sustainable and responsibly managed soil practices. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) states that the planning system should protect and enhance soils and ensure new development does not lead to unacceptable levels of soil pollution. It also requires planning authorities to safeguard ‘best and most versatile land’ (BMV) agricultural land. Surveys under the Agricultural Land Classification (ALC) system are required to be carried out on agricultural land, so that planners can determine whether a site contains BMV land before making planning decisions. Other soil functions are also protected or managed through various existing mechanisms within the planning system, including those relating to flood risk, pollution and contaminated land, biodiversity, landscape and cultural heritage.

If she will make an estimate of the a) number and b) proportion of dependent visa holders who are employed.

An estimate of the number and proportion of dependant visa holders who are employed is not available, as not all the required information is held. HMRC and Home Office have introduced a data sharing process to match visa data to administrative tax data. The Home Office published a research report on 12 May 2025 on the earnings, employment, and Income Tax liabilities of visa holders on Sponsored Work (Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, and Senior or Specialist Worker (Global Business Mobility)) and Family routes. This report covers the cohort of visa holders (and their dependants) whose visas were granted between April 2019 and March 2023 The publication estimated that at least 45% of adult dependants of those granted Skilled Worker entry clearance visas and 63% of those granted Skilled Worker extensions of stay had PAYE earnings in financial year 2023 to 2024. For Health and Care Worker dependants, this was 67% and 70%, and for Global Business Mobility dependants, 25% and 24%, respectively.

Whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of Royal Mail’s delivery performance in rural areas.

The government is committed to an efficient universal service for users throughout the UK, including those in remote and rural areas.It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to monitor Royal Mail’s service standards. The regulator sets Royal Mail enforceable targets to deliver a certain proportion of 1st and 2nd class post on time each year. Ofcom takes compliance with its regulatory targets seriously and this involves conducting thorough investigations where failures have been identified.

Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the press release entitled Reed: Government to cut sewage pollution in half by 2030, published on 19 July 2025, what proportion of the £104bn funding has been allocated to Bedfordshire.

The Government has secured £104 billion of investment which includes over £10 billion to reduce sewage discharges from over 2,500 storm overflows in England and £4.8 billion to reduce phosphorus pollution. This will deliver on cleaning up our rivers, lakes, and seas. Further information on Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) actions for water companies to deliver within the 2025-2030 period is available for the public here: Price Review 2024 Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP) App. This can be filtered by Local Authority.

Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the average cost per elector of elections for a) Police and Crime Commissioners and b) Mayors.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) publishes detailed reports on the cost of running Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections, including the average cost per elector. These reports are available on gov.uk here. It is intended that a report on the cost of the 2021 PCC elections will be published in due course. The cost of the 2024 PCC election is subject to future publication once all the costs relating to that poll have been finalised and settled. For combined authority mayoral and local authority mayoral elections, costs are met by the relevant local authorities. MHCLG does not hold any data on the cost of these elections.