Every parliamentary written question tabled by Blake Stephenson this session, with the full answer and department. Back to the MP page.
Showing 961–980 of 1,468 · this parliament
With reference to his Department's press release entitled Hundreds of quangos to be examined for potential closure as Government takes back control, published on 7 April 2025, whether that review will consider Arms Length Bodies created since July 2024.
The review will cover all existing arm’s-length bodies (ALBs), and includes proposals for new ALBs.
If he will make an assessment of the return on investment of GREAT campaign funding in each year since it was introduced.
Since 2011, the GREAT campaign has developed a robust approach to evaluation, which has been validated by multiple external organisations, and consistently reported strong returns to the UK economy. The methodologies used continue to be reviewed and refined to support regular reporting, ensuring the campaign consistently drives good impact and value for money for the taxpayer.
With reference to the press release entitled PM tells councils to prove action on pothole plague to unlock extra cash and reveals £4.8 billion for major roads, published on 23 March 2025, whether her Department has made an estimate of the potential cost of publishing details by local authorities.
The additional costs to local highway authorities of complying with the Department’s new reporting requirements are likely to be minimal. The Department has made clear that it is looking for short reports in plain English, to be published on authorities’ websites, and it has provided templates for these to make the task simpler. It is only right that local highway authorities should be held to account in this way for their use of the £500 million of additional highway maintenance funding in the current financial year.
With reference to the press notice entitled PM tells councils to prove action on pothole plague to unlock extra cash and reveals £4.8 billion for major roads, published on 23 March 2025, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing information on councils' progress in mending potholes centrally.
In the first instance it will be up to local highway authorities to publish their progress reports on their own websites, as set out in the Department’s letter of 24 March to local authority chief executive officers which is available on gov.uk. The Department will review authorities’ reports and determine in due course what information to publish centrally.
If she will make an estimate of the number of pensioners who will be paying income tax in the 2029-30 financial year.
HMRC publishes the number of income tax payers by age. An estimate of the number of individuals of state pension age who are income taxpayers in financial year 2024/25 can be found in Table 2.1 of the income tax statistics and distributions collection published on 27 June 2024. This document is available here:Table 2.1 Number of individual Income Tax payers - GOV.UKFrom the above an estimated 8.51 million state pension age individuals paid tax in financial year 2024/25.Data on individuals paying income tax in future years will be published in the usual way.
If she will make an estimate of the number of pensioners who paid income tax in the 2024-25 financial year.
HMRC publishes the number of income tax payers by age. An estimate of the number of individuals of state pension age who are income taxpayers in financial year 2024/25 can be found in Table 2.1 of the income tax statistics and distributions collection published on 27 June 2024. This document is available here:Table 2.1 Number of individual Income Tax payers - GOV.UKFrom the above an estimated 8.51 million state pension age individuals paid tax in financial year 2024/25.Data on individuals paying income tax in future years will be published in the usual way.
What steps her Department plans to take with Great British Railways to reduce levels of disruption on railways.
GBR will be a directing mind, running the railways as one system, with a relentless focus on passengers. Track and train will be unified, creating a more efficient and reliable system meeting passenger and freight customers’ needs and ensuring value for the taxpayer.
With reference to paragraph 2.72 of the Spring Statement 2025, whether any of the Technical Excellence Colleges will be in Bedfordshire.
The department can confirm that there will be at least one construction Technical Excellence College for the East of England region but cannot confirm exactly where in the region it will be based, at this stage. Further information on Technical Excellence Colleges will be made available in due course.
If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the (a) Digswell Viaduct and (b) Welwyn North Station on levels of capacity on the East Coast Main Line.
An assessment of the impact of Digswell Viaduct and Welwyn North Station on capacity levels on the East Coast Main Line (ECML) was completed by Network Rail whilst developing the timetable that will be introduced on the ECML in December 2025. The Minister has approved this timetable for implementation, following an industry taskforce recommendation to do so, to enable the full benefits of a £4 billion investment in the route.
What discussions she has had with the Governor of the Bank of England on her economic growth policies.
The Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England meet regularly to discuss economic developments and the outlook for the economy. Growth is the number one mission of this government and is how we will get people into good jobs, drive higher living standards, and increase productivity across the country. At Mansion House in November 2024 the Chancellor issued new growth-focused remit letters to the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, Financial Policy Committee, and Prudential Regulation Committee. These letters made clear that the Chancellor expects them to fully support this government’s ambitions on economic growth.
With reference to line items 24 and 25 on p.33 of the Spring Statement, for what reason the levy revenue used is greater than the levy revenue generated.
As set out in the Policy Costings document, published at Spring Statement, the costing is calculated by applying the levy rates to forecasted leviable Gross Gambling Yields for each licence type using data from the Gambling Commission Industry Statistics. This gives the total yield from the Gambling Levy itself; all of which goes directly to the Gambling Commission. However, the costing also accounts for a behavioural response to the measure whereby the Levy is expected to slightly reduce betting and gaming duty receipts; as is standard, the costing for the Gambling Levy shows the net impact on overall government receipts, including this behavioural adjustment. Because of this behavioural impact on betting and gaming duty receipts, the total additional funding forecast to be received by the Gambling Commission in the forecast period is slightly larger than the net revenue figure resulting from the announcement of the Gambling Levy.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled £2 billion new investment to support biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation, published on 25 March 2025, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) social and (b) affordable homes that will be built in Bedfordshire in the 2026-27 financial year.
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 44049 on 22 April 2025.
When she plans to respond to the correspondence of 5 February 2025 from the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire on Swallowfield Primary School.
A response has been sent to the letter dated 5 February from the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire.
Pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2025 to Question 35856 on Railways: Standards, which stations in (a) England and (b) Bedfordshire are most impacted by cancelling stops to make services run faster; and on how many weekdays in 2024-25 one or more cancellations have happened at each of those stations.
Data on cancellations is published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) on their data portal which can be accessed here: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/performance/passenger-rail-performance/Data showing the punctuality of trains at individual stations across England is available for the first time ever on a periodic basis. The statistics cover over 1,700 stations and also show reliability of services. This service can be accessed here: https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/statistics/performance/performance-at-stations The available data identifies specific stations, but it does not provide cancellation reasons nor on which days cancellations occurred.Cancellations can be frustrating to passengers, especially when made at short notice. The department expects train operators to recover services as quickly as possible and minimize impact upon passengers. Ministers are meeting with managing directors of Train Operating Companies and Network Rail to address poor performance and demand immediate action to raise standards.
Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release entitled Public land unlocked for the next generation of homeowners, published on 27 March 2025, whether any of the land will be in Bedfordshire.
The Secretary of State for Defence has identified a long-term opportunity to build over 100,000 homes on surplus defence land, improving opportunities for homeownership and creating jobs across the country, while Network Rail has announced the establishment of a new property company to unlock up to 40,000 homes over the next decade.There are Bedfordshire sites in both the Ministry of Defence and Network Rail pipelines, including RAF Henlow, which is due to close in 2026, and the Bedford Station redevelopment – part of the major East West Rail project – which could unlock a substantial number of new homes close to the station.
If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed (a) railway station and (b) new town at Tempsford on (i) journey times and (ii) capacity on Thameslink services.
Network Rail will consider the impact of any new station at Tempsford as part of business case development for any East Coast Main Line infrastructure investment at the southern end of the route, including journey time and capacity implications for Thameslink services.
With reference to paragraph 2.72 on page 29 of the Spring Statement 2025, whether the funding will deliver 10 colleges per region or 10 colleges in total.
At the Spring Statement, this government committed £100 million to establish 10 new Technical Excellence Colleges specialising in construction across every region in England and to further build capacity to boost the provision of skills in construction. This means there will be ten construction Technical Excellence Colleges in total.
Pursuant to the Answer of 13 March 2025 to Question 35855 on Govia Thameslink Railway: Standards, what information her Department holds on when Great British Railways plans to publish provisional (a) timetables and (b) capacity improvement plans for services on the Bedford line.
The Government will establish a new access and charging framework in primary legislation, enabling Great British Railways to be a true directing mind for the railway. We will simplify the operational running of the railways by bringing together responsibility for managing allocation of railway capacity and timetabling with the management of infrastructure. Legislation will be introduced later this session to make these vital reforms.
Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of introducing mandatory nature reporting on nature.
The government is committed to deliver for nature, taking action to meet our Environment Act targets, to restore and protect our natural world. Annual Progress reports on the Environmental Improvement Plan and the Outcome Indicator Framework assess progress towards achieving Environment Act targets and whether the natural environment has, or particular aspects of it have, improved during the reporting period.The 25 Year Environment Plan Outcome Indicator Framework (link: Outcome Indicator Framework for the 25 Year Environment Plan) collectively describes environmental changes as related to the 10 goals of government’s Environmental Improvement Plan. The Outcome Indicator Framework was first published in 2019 and is updated on a yearly basis showing the changes and trends over time.
Pursuant to the Answer of 19 March 2025 to Question 37785 on Construction: Employers' Contributions, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) number of firms in the construction sector who will pay increased employers’ National Insurance and (b) market share of those firms within the construction sector.
The vast majority of firms in the construction sector are small or microbusinesses, which will see no change overall. The Government has protected small businesses and charities from the impact of the increase to Employer National Insurance by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500, and 865,000 employers will pay no NICs this year.