Written questions by Cross.

Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to support the development of the space industry in the UK.

Space is a strategic priority for this government and is essential to achieving our mission to deliver growth as a priority. The National Space Strategy and our identified priority capability goals continue to drive government policy.We will publish an ambitious programme for space when the Spending Review has completed.

What steps her Department is taking to ensure (a) forestry timber, and (b) recyclable waste wood remain ineligible as feedstocks for the manufacture of sustainable aviation fuel.

Biofuel feedstocks under the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Mandate must be wastes or residues. The use of wastes in SAF production must adhere to the waste hierarchy, which ensures the best end use of a material. The waste hierarchy requires that only waste materials that can’t be prevented, reused or recycled can be used for fuel production. This means that forestry timber, which is considered a product, and recyclable waste wood are not eligible.

With reference to Chapter three of the Government's Get Britain Working White Paper, published on 26 November 2024, if she will publish an outline of the scope of the Government's planned health and disability benefit reforms; what her planned timetable is implementing the reforms; and whether she has plans to consult (a) affected individuals and (b) relevant stakeholders on the proposals before the publication of the Spring 2025 Green Paper.

We are working to develop proposals for health and disability reform in the months ahead and will set them out in a Green Paper in Spring. This will launch a consultation on the proposals, with a conclusion to be set out in a white paper later this year. This Government is committed to putting the views and voices of disabled people at the heart of all that we do, so we will consult on these proposals, where appropriate, with disabled people and representative organisations. Ahead of the formal consultation for the Green Paper, we have already started to explore ways of engaging with disabled people and their representatives, including through stakeholder roundtables and public visits. We look forward to progressing these initiatives over the coming months.

Whether recyclable waste wood will be eligible via the sustainable aviation fuel mandate.

Biofuel feedstocks under the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Mandate must be wastes or residues. The use of wastes in SAF production must adhere to the waste hierarchy, which ensures the best end use of a material. The waste hierarchy requires that only waste materials that can’t be prevented, reused or recycled can be used for fuel production. This means that forestry timber, which is considered a product, and recyclable waste wood are not eligible.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 27456 on Holiday Accommodation: Tax Allowances, what estimate her Department has made of the total tax receipts from properties operating under the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime in 2023-24.

HMRC does not hold data on the total tax receipts from Furnished Holiday Lettings. This is because income tax is calculated and charged based on an individual’s total taxable income, rather than a particular income stream.Further information on Furnished Holiday Lettings, including the amount of income declared, is published by HMRC here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/property-rental-income-statistics/property-rental-income-statistics-2024#income-from-uk-furnished-holiday-lettings

What assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of a guaranteed strike price for sustainable aviation fuel on the (a) costs (i) of air fares and (ii) for (A) manufacturers and (B) the wood panel industry and (b) market for feedstock materials.

We will be delivering a Revenue Certainty Mechanism to derisk Sustainable Aviation Fuel projects in the UK and encourage investment. This will play a key role in growing the economy and bringing down our transport emissions.A cost-benefit analysis will be published alongside the introduction of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (Revenue Support Mechanism) Bill, which was announced for this Parliamentary session in the King’s Speech. This will include its potential impact on air fares. We will control the cost of the revenue certainty mechanism by managing the scale and number of contracts entered into, as well as the prices negotiated, thereby helping protect consumers and airlines from price increases and fluctuations. We therefore expect any rises to be in line with the usual market variation of ticket prices. We have not assessed its impact on manufacturers, the wood panel industry or the market for feedstocks as these effects will depend significantly on the plants that are supported through the mechanism.We will regularly monitor the costs and impacts of the Revenue Certainty Mechanism to avoid undue burdens across the economy.

Whether she has considered including the role of promoters and intermediaries within the scope of the Loan Charge review.

The Government has commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge. Ray McCann, a highly respected figure in the tax world, is leading the review. His name was suggested by one of the Loan Charge campaigners. To ensure transparency, the terms of reference make it clear that Mr McCann will be supported by a team of officials who have not previously worked on this policy area and will be based outside of HM Treasury and HMRC. Information provided by HMT and HMRC to the review team and factual comments provided on draft reports will be published after the review has concluded. The Government does not think it is right for people affected by the Loan Charge to have to wait years to bring this matter to a close and has therefore ensured that the review has a focused remit, allowing it to report by this summer. The Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025. Alongside the review, the Government will consult in 2025 on measures to tackle promoters of marketed tax avoidance and has already announced measures to tackle the significant tax avoidance and fraud in the umbrella company market.

Pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2025 to Question 27456 on Holiday Accommodation: Tax Allowances, if she will hold discussions with the Scottish Government on sharing data from the Short-term Let Licensing Scheme to (a) identify the number of Furnished Holiday Let properties in Scotland and (b) inform the implementation of changes to the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime in Scotland.

The UK Government regularly engages with the Scottish Government, including on the implementation of policies. The Scottish Government regularly publishes statistics from its Short-term Licensing Scheme, which is publicly available. HMRC currently has no plans investigate Furnished Holiday Lettings in Scotland separately to those in the rest of the UK and the EEA.

What his Department's timetable is for announcing the Track 2 Cluster sequencing for carbon capture, usage and storage funding.

CCUS requires significant resources, and it is right that it is considered within the Spending Review. We continue to engage at both working and ministerial level with all future projects, including Track-2, and further decisions for future CCUS deployment will be taken in due course.

Whether she has plans to consult affected stakeholders when establishing the terms of reference for the Loan Charge review.

The Government has commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge. Ray McCann, a highly respected figure in the tax world, is leading the review. His name was suggested by one of the Loan Charge campaigners. To ensure transparency, the terms of reference make it clear that Mr McCann will be supported by a team of officials who have not previously worked on this policy area and will be based outside of HM Treasury and HMRC. Information provided by HMT and HMRC to the review team and factual comments provided on draft reports will be published after the review has concluded. The Government does not think it is right for people affected by the Loan Charge to have to wait years to bring this matter to a close and has therefore ensured that the review has a focused remit, allowing it to report by this summer. The Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025. Alongside the review, the Government will consult in 2025 on measures to tackle promoters of marketed tax avoidance and has already announced measures to tackle the significant tax avoidance and fraud in the umbrella company market.

What steps she is taking to ensure an independent appointment process is in place for the Loan Charge review.

The Government has commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge. Ray McCann, a highly respected figure in the tax world, is leading the review. His name was suggested by one of the Loan Charge campaigners. To ensure transparency, the terms of reference make it clear that Mr McCann will be supported by a team of officials who have not previously worked on this policy area and will be based outside of HM Treasury and HMRC. Information provided by HMT and HMRC to the review team and factual comments provided on draft reports will be published after the review has concluded. The Government does not think it is right for people affected by the Loan Charge to have to wait years to bring this matter to a close and has therefore ensured that the review has a focused remit, allowing it to report by this summer. The Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025. Alongside the review, the Government will consult in 2025 on measures to tackle promoters of marketed tax avoidance and has already announced measures to tackle the significant tax avoidance and fraud in the umbrella company market.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding the scope of the Loan Charge review to examine the wider contracting sector.

The Government has commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge. Ray McCann, a highly respected figure in the tax world, is leading the review. His name was suggested by one of the Loan Charge campaigners. To ensure transparency, the terms of reference make it clear that Mr McCann will be supported by a team of officials who have not previously worked on this policy area and will be based outside of HM Treasury and HMRC. Information provided by HMT and HMRC to the review team and factual comments provided on draft reports will be published after the review has concluded. The Government does not think it is right for people affected by the Loan Charge to have to wait years to bring this matter to a close and has therefore ensured that the review has a focused remit, allowing it to report by this summer. The Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025. Alongside the review, the Government will consult in 2025 on measures to tackle promoters of marketed tax avoidance and has already announced measures to tackle the significant tax avoidance and fraud in the umbrella company market.

What steps she is taking to ensure transparency in the conduct of the Loan Charge review.

The Government has commissioned an independent review of the Loan Charge. Ray McCann, a highly respected figure in the tax world, is leading the review. His name was suggested by one of the Loan Charge campaigners. To ensure transparency, the terms of reference make it clear that Mr McCann will be supported by a team of officials who have not previously worked on this policy area and will be based outside of HM Treasury and HMRC. Information provided by HMT and HMRC to the review team and factual comments provided on draft reports will be published after the review has concluded. The Government does not think it is right for people affected by the Loan Charge to have to wait years to bring this matter to a close and has therefore ensured that the review has a focused remit, allowing it to report by this summer. The Government will respond by Autumn Budget 2025. Alongside the review, the Government will consult in 2025 on measures to tackle promoters of marketed tax avoidance and has already announced measures to tackle the significant tax avoidance and fraud in the umbrella company market.

What steps his Department is taking to (a) prevent and (b) mitigate the potential impact of (i) offshore wind farm, (ii) solar farms and (ii) transmission infrastructure projects on (A) land disturbance, (B) scenery, (C) levels of traffic, (D), health and safety, (E) tourism and (F) property prices in (1) rural and (2) coastal communities.

Developers prepare a thorough and comprehensive environmental assessment in preparation for the planning process. This is then subject to careful scrutiny by the Planning Inspectorate and during the decision-making stage, by the Secretary of State, for nationally significant energy projects considered under the Planning Act 2008. Local planning authorities do the same for those developments considered under the Town & Country Planning Act 1990. All of the issues listed, and many more, are routinely considered as relevant planning considerations, and are set out in the published Decision Letter for development consent decisions.

Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology on ensuring broadcast network resilience is considered in potential decisions on the future of television broadcasting.

The Government understands how important it is that everyone can access information in times of national emergency and that television has a role to play in providing such access. The Government’s project looking into the future of TV distribution is considering a range of relevant factors, including resilience. It is important that audiences continue to receive consistent levels of service regardless of how they receive their television, and ensuring that this can happen will be a priority for the project.

Pursuant to the Answer of 10 February 2025 to Question 27711 on Holiday Accommodation: Taxation, what quantitative information her Department holds on (a) the number of properties converting between longer-term rentals and short-term holiday lets, (b) comparative tax advantages between short-term holiday lets and longer-term rentals and (c) property investment patterns that demonstrate potential market distortion.

The Government will abolish the Furnished Holiday Lettings (FHL) tax regime from April 2025. The FHL tax regime has created a distortion that favours short-term holiday lets over longer-term rentals, by providing a tax incentive to invest in and provide the former over the latter. Abolishing it will equalise the tax treatment of FHL and non-FHL landlords' income and gains, making the tax system fairer.

Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the loss of terrestrial digital television services after current licences expire in the 2030s on (a) elderly people, (b) low-income households and (c) rural communities.

The Government’s project on the future of TV distribution is seeking to understand how people receive their television now and in the next decade. This will inform any decision concerning the future of digital terrestrial television services after 2034.As part of this process, a wide range of views are being sought from across the TV sector, audience groups and infrastructure, including through a stakeholder forum that I chair. Membership of the Stakeholder Forum includes a number of groups representing rural, older and lower income audiences, including the Rural Services Network, Silver Voices and Digital Poverty Alliance.In addition to independent research led by Exeter University and published last year, the Government has commissioned follow up research to understand in more detail the specific preferences, motivations and barriers regarding TV viewing among a variety of groups including rural, older and low-income households.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the availability of terrestrial television services in rural areas after the expiry of current broadcasting licences in the early 2030s.

The Government’s project on the future of TV distribution is seeking to understand how people receive their television now and in the next decade. This will inform any decision concerning the future of digital terrestrial television services after 2034.As part of this process, a wide range of views are being sought from across the TV sector, audience groups and infrastructure, including through a stakeholder forum that I chair. Membership of the Stakeholder Forum includes a number of groups representing rural, older and lower income audiences, including the Rural Services Network, Silver Voices and Digital Poverty Alliance.In addition to independent research led by Exeter University and published last year, the Government has commissioned follow up research to understand in more detail the specific preferences, motivations and barriers regarding TV viewing among a variety of groups including rural, older and low-income households.

What recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the long-term future of free-to-air terrestrial TV and radio services in Scotland.

I meet regularly with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues.I understand that DCMS, as the lead department, are currently seeking to understand how people receive their television and radio services now and in the next decade. As part of this process, DCMS has established a stakeholder forum which will take views on this topic from a range of broadcasters active in Scotland, including STV, the BBC and ITV.

Whether he has taken steps to provide Ofgem with enforcement powers to help ensure that energy suppliers provide Radio Teleswitch Service-affected customers with a tariff closely equivalent to their existing arrangement; and what steps Ofgem plans to take to penalise potential non-compliance.

Ofgem has been clear that suppliers must take all reasonable steps to ensure former RTS consumers stay on a closely equivalent tariff.Ofgem is also consulting on plans to introduce new RTS specific licence conditions for energy suppliers, which include a proposal that would require energy suppliers to take all reasonable steps to provide a tariff that leaves their customers ‘no worse off’ than previously once their RTS meter is replaced. The consultation closes on 11 March and is available here: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/consultation/radio-teleswitch-service-rts-electricity-supply-licence-changes