Written questions by Morton.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to help support Albania to tackle corruption.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) remains a consistent supporter of efforts to tackle corruption in Albania, through diplomatic engagement and programmes funded by the UK's Integrated Security Fund (ISF) and FCDO Official Development Assistance (ODA). Ongoing support includes working with Albania's security and justice institutions to strengthen accountability and transparency, support to lawmakers to improve the effectiveness of legislation, and empowering journalists to act as effective watchdogs for corruption in public procurement and appointments.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help support (a) Albania and (b) other Western Balkan to maintain regional stability in the context of Russian destabilisation efforts.

Russia has sought to undermine fragile democracies and fan ethnic tensions across the Western Balkans. This threatens hard-won peace and stability in the region and the ambitions for greater European integration chosen by states. We will continue work to counter other Russian hybrid threats in the region, including through support to North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) partners and programming on cyber security and counter-disinformation. Furthermore, the UK will host the 2025 Berlin Process, to support wider efforts for stability, security and economic co-operation across the Western Balkans region (including Albania).

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of China's position on the conflict in Ukraine.

China remains the decisive enabler of Russia's war against Ukraine through its large-scale support for Russia.On 13 February the Foreign Secretary met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, underlined the UK's ironclad commitment to Ukraine and urged China to prevent its companies supporting Russia's military. The Foreign Secretary made it clear that we would continue to sanction Chinese companies which are providing the vast majority of dual use components to Russia.The House will also wish to note that in light of the continued flow of these components from China to Russia this Government is now minded to refuse licenses for controlled goods on the Common High Priority list exported for stock to China. Guidance for UK exporters has been updated to this effect.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions (a) he and (b) his officials have had with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on a free trade agreement with the United States.

Both the Foreign Secretary and his officials are speaking regularly with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade and his officials about the future of the UK-US Trade partnership. To echo the Prime Minister's remarks during his meeting with President Trump on 27 February 2025: we will go further and work on a new economic deal with advanced technology at its core. We will set out more details as discussions evolve.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact on people of the planned increase in the Pension Credit qualifying age; and what steps she is taking to (a) inform and (b) support those affected.

The qualifying age for Pension Credit is linked to State Pension age and will therefore increase to age 67 over a two-year phasing period, 2026 to 2028, as a consequence of the increase to State Pension age over the same period. The changes were legislated for by the previous Government in Pensions Act 2014, as part of which an Impact Assessment on changes to State Pension age was published in May 2014. People due to reach State Pension age during the phasing period were sent letters informing them of the change between December 2016 and May 2018. Entitlement to Pension Credit is based on the circumstances of people at the point they make a claim and only established once a valid claim is made, which cannot be done automatically. It is not possible to identify people who will benefit from Pension Credit in advance. Information about Pension Credit, including the qualifying age, is available on gov.uk. Since September the Department has been running a campaign to promote Pension Credit and the work to raise awareness of Pension Credit continues through this year.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support the reconstruction of (a) water networks and (b) other essential infrastructure in Lebanon.

The UK is committed to supporting Lebanon to meet the humanitarian needs of both refugees and vulnerable Lebanese communities. The UK has played a leading role in addressing the humanitarian situation in Lebanon, providing over £41 million in humanitarian funding since April last year. This includes support to provide clean water, emergency latrines and showers for people displaced by the conflict as well the delivery of food, shelter, health, education, and protection services.We will continue to work in partnership with the Lebanese Government and international partners to support the stability, security and long-term prosperity of Lebanon and its people. This includes supporting Lebanon's new Government to prioritise enacting the necessary political and socio-economic reforms needed to facilitate the recovery, reconstruction, and state-building efforts.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is considering on UK-China cooperation on (a) climate change, (b) artificial intelligence and (c) clean energy.

From 14-17 March, The Secretary of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will visit Beijing to discuss energy and the climate crisis with Chinese Ministers. He will sign a UK-China Clean Energy Partnership, hold the eighth UK-China Energy Dialogue, and formally invite counterparts to London to take part in a Climate Dialogue and sign a Climate Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Since China was represented at Vice-Ministerial level at the Bletchley AI Safety Summit in November 2023, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials maintain regular contact with Chinese counterparts on AI safety issues.

Whether he has made an assessment of the readiness of UK Armed Forces to meet potential future defence commitments within Europe.

The UK offers almost all the British Armed Forces to NATO, with the majority at high readiness. These forces are across the full spectrum of military capability, including our nuclear deterrent, the ultimate guarantor of Alliance security.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the United States’ decision to freeze USAID funding on humanitarian aid programmes in Lebanon.

USAID spent $293 million on programmes in Lebanon in 2024 and $3.3 billion since 2017, primarily in education and water sectors. Changes in USAID programmes are a matter for the US. The UK is a strong supporter of Lebanon and supports humanitarian assistance through a range projects, including cash assistance to the most vulnerable, education for out-of-school children and strengthening social protection systems.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has considered using official development assistance as part of the financial arrangements for the Chagos Islands deal.

Once an agreement is signed further details of the Treaty will be put before both Houses for scrutiny and treaty ratification in the usual way. This will include costs.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the National Planning Policy Framework, published in December 2024, what instruction has been given to the planning inspectorate on determining land as grey belt.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers to Question UIN 26011 on 31 January 2025 and Question UIN 26507 on 5 February 2025. Land is Green Belt if designated as such in a Local Plan.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.

What recent assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) on the ability of farming families to pass on agricultural (a) businesses and (b) property to future generations.

The Government believes its reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief from 6 April 2026 get the balance right between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances. The reforms reduce the inheritance tax advantages available to owners of agricultural and business assets, but still mean those assets will be taxed at a much lower effective rate than most other assets. Despite a tough fiscal context, the Government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992. Where inheritance tax is due, those liable for a charge can pay any liability on the relevant assets over 10 annual instalments, interest-free. The reforms are expected to result in up to 520 estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those also claiming business property relief, paying more inheritance tax in 2026-27. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief, including those that also claim for business property relief, will not pay any more tax as a result of the changes in 2026-27, based on the latest available data.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the National Planning Policy Framework, published in December 2024, what steps she plans to take to ensure consultation with local communities before any developments are approved on grey belt land.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers to Question UIN 26011 on 31 January 2025 and Question UIN 26507 on 5 February 2025. Land is Green Belt if designated as such in a Local Plan.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.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 March 2025 to Question 33016 on Pension Credit: Aldridge-Brownhills, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of publishing data on the number of outstanding Pension Credit claims at the constituency level.

There are currently no plans to publish volumes of Pension Credit Outstanding Claims at a constituency level. Statistics on the number of Pension Credit outstanding claims for Great Britain were published on 27 February 2025. This includes numbers of applications that were received, awarded and not awarded, and outstanding, up to week commencing 17 February 2025. Pension Credit applications and awards: February 2025 - GOV.UK. Outstanding Pension Credit claims for Great Britain totalled 30,400 at the end of week commencing 3rd March 2025. This includes 7,100 advanced claims. Advanced claims are where the application can be started up to 4 months before reaching State Pension age. At the end of week commencing 24th June 2024, the last full week of the previous government, outstanding Pension Credit claims for Great Britain totalled 35,000. This includes 5,500 advanced claims. Pension Credit caseload statistics are available at a constituency level on Stat-Xplore: Stat-Xplore - Log in.

Communities and Local Government, with reference to the National Planning Policy Framework published in December 2024, what her Department's definitions of (a) grey belt and (b) green belt are.

I refer the hon. Member to the answers to Question UIN 26011 on 31 January 2025 and Question UIN 26507 on 5 February 2025. Land is Green Belt if designated as such in a Local Plan.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.

What steps she is taking to help mitigate the impact of public sector pay settlements for 2025 on inflation.

For 2025-26, public sector pay awards for most frontline sector workforces are subject to the ongoing Pay Review Body (PRB) process. The majority of PRBs are required, per their terms of reference, to consider the government’s inflation target when forming their recommendations. The Chancellor has also been clear that departmental settlements for 2025-26 and beyond will need to fund these public sector pay awards, given that additional borrowing to fund pay awards could increase inflationary pressures.

Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to remove the cap on charity lottery ticket sales.

Society lotteries are a vital fundraising tool for many charities, community groups, sports clubs and other non-commercial organisations. We are carefully considering calls to increase or remove limits on ticket sales, alongside the results of independent research into the lotteries sector. We will provide an update on our policy position before the Summer Recess.

Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to increase the (a) transparency and (b) accountability of lottery fundraising by charities.

The transparency and accountability of society lottery operators is a matter for the Gambling Commission through its Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). The Minister for Gambling has no current plans to take action in this area.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the number of empty retail units in town centres; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing new (a) grants and (b) funding streams to encourage small businesses to occupy vacant spaces.

The commercial vacancy rate is 13.3% in England and 16.2% in the West Midlands. This government is committed to tackling high street vacancy and supporting small businesses. On 4 March, we launched the Plan for Neighbourhoods, a £1.5 billion investment to help revitalise local areas and fight deprivation in 75 places across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. We also introduced High Street Rental Auctions (HSRAs), a power to auction the lease of persistently vacant commercial properties. This is backed by a fund of over £1 million to help local authorities implement these measures. Our Small Business Strategy, to be published in due course, will set out how we intend to further support small businesses on the high street and beyond.

Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to support (a) councils and (b) local authorities to improve high streets.

The commercial vacancy rate is 13.3% in England and 16.2% in the West Midlands. This government is committed to tackling high street vacancy and supporting small businesses. On 4 March, we launched the Plan for Neighbourhoods, a £1.5 billion investment to help revitalise local areas and fight deprivation in 75 places across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. We also introduced High Street Rental Auctions (HSRAs), a power to auction the lease of persistently vacant commercial properties. This is backed by a fund of over £1 million to help local authorities implement these measures. Our Small Business Strategy, to be published in due course, will set out how we intend to further support small businesses on the high street and beyond.