Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Topical Questions

Tuesday 1 July 2025 · 16 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Noah Law (Lab) questioned the Chancellor on the importance of redistributing wealth to those with the lowest incomes, to which the Chancellor agreed, highlighting the increase in the national living wage by 6.7%.
  • Mr Peter Bedford (Con) inquired about the impact of national insurance hikes on LOROS, a palliative care charity in Leicestershire, with the Minister stating that funding has been provided to compensate for the increases in national insurance.
  • Vikki Slade (LD) expressed concerns about the care sector feeling under attack by the Government, to which the Minister acknowledged the challenges and highlighted the commitment to social care funding, noting an increase of 4 billion by 2028-29 through local government funding.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Noah Law Lab St Austell and Newquay
Economy Employment
Context

The MP believes that redistribution is crucial for the economy's growth. He references previous decisions made by the government.

Question

I believe that redistribution should be core to everything that we do. It is core to the toughest decisions that we have had to make, and it is core to our efforts to achieve growth. Does the Chancellor agree that putting more pounds into the pockets of those with the lowest incomes is the best thing we can do to grow our economy?

Answer from The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Darren Jones)

The Government agree wholeheartedly with my hon. Friend. At the end of the current Parliament, people will be better off as a consequence of the decisions that this Labour Government are making. We have already increased the national living wage by 6.7% to benefit 3 million people, while full-time workers are seeing an increase of about £1,400 a year in their wages.

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Q2 Peter Bedford Con Mid Leicestershire
NHS
Context

The MP visits LOROS, a palliative care charity in his constituency. He expresses concern about the reduced capacity due to national insurance hikes.

Question

On Friday I had the privilege of visiting LOROS, Leicestershire’s much-respected palliative care charity. At full capacity it could offer 31 beds to local residents, but sadly, because of the measures that the Chancellor has introduced, such as the national insurance hike, it now operates only 18 beds. May I ask the Chancellor to look again at softening the impact of her measures, particularly on charities such as LOROS?

Answer from Rachel Reeves

I am sure that the relevant Health Minister would be happy to meet representatives of the hospice. The Health Secretary set out the settlement for hospices at the end of last year to compensate financially for the increases in national insurance, but those increases in national insurance are funding the NHS, which helps fund our hospices.

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Q3 Vikki Slade Lib Dem Mid Dorset and North Poole
Care & Healthcare Workers Social Care
Context

The MP meets residents and staff at Magna care home, highlighting recruitment issues due to changes in social care visas.

Question

Representatives of a not-for-profit care company in my constituency feel that the Government are waging war on the care sector. I met residents and staff at a Sunday lunch at Magna care home, and the managers told me that they cannot recruit locally at all and that, because of the changes to social care visas, they are struggling to recruit internationally. I know the Government want to build our own workforce, but what are they planning to do to support organisations while we get the training in place, so that we do not see care homes going bust?

Answer from Darren Jones

On behalf of the House, may I thank social care workers for the service they provide in all our constituencies? As a result of this Labour Government commitment’s to social workers and the social care system, we will have increased funding for social care by £4 billion by 2028-29 through the local government settlements, and we will bring forward a fair pay agreement to make sure that there is a fair deal for those people serving our constituents on the frontline.

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Q4 Stella Creasy Labour (Co-op) Walthamstow
Brexit
Context

The MP mentions the NAO's estimate of £4.7 billion cost for border arrangements due to Brexit.

Question

The main beneficiaries of Brexit have been printers, because of all the extra paperwork that the previous Government created. The National Audit Office has estimated that their border arrangements have cost us £4.7 billion and rising, and the single trade window will add to the red tape. Does the Chancellor agree that the best way to reduce the paperwork requirements in the first place is to do a good deal with Europe, and will she update us on her progress on that?

Answer from James Murray

My hon. Friend will have seen the Prime Minister’s work to reset relations with the EU. She mentions the single trade window, and it is the Government’s intention to deliver that. More widely, the Government are committed to minimising the administrative burdens and frictions experienced by businesses trading internationally.

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Q5 Jack Rankin Con Windsor
Benefits & Welfare Agriculture & Rural Affairs
Context

The MP mentions the government's U-turns on welfare cuts and winter fuel payments, questioning when they will support British farming.

Question

We all know that there is a difference between welfare cuts and welfare reforms. These cuts were the maths of Treasury mandarins. It is the same thinking that saw winter fuel payments taken from pensioners. Now that the Government have U-turned on both of those, when will they finally back British farming and U-turn on the family farm tax?

Answer from Rachel Reeves

The problem with the Conservatives is that they support all the funding, but they do not support any of the ways of funding it. Agricultural property relief means that estates worth more than £3 million will now be taxed at half the rate at which inheritance tax is usually charged. That can be repaid over a 10-year period, interest-free. I think that is the right and fair settlement, given the fiscal environment we face.

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Q6 Meg Hillier Labour (Co-op) Hackney South and Shoreditch
Economy
Context

The MP mentions the Treasury Committee's recognition of challenges with the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Question

The Economic Secretary is reviewing the work of the Financial Ombudsman Service. We on the Treasury Committee recognise that there have been challenges with the service, but how will she make sure that the consumer voice is central to her review?

Answer from Emma Reynolds

I have had meetings with Which? and other consumer representatives. I reassure my hon. Friend that we are reviewing FOS. We want to make sure that it is a simple, impartial dispute resolution service that quickly and effectively deals with complainants so that consumers can get a fair deal, but that financial services firms are not subject to a quasi-regulator in the way they are at the moment.

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Q7 Susan Murray Lib Dem Mid Dunbartonshire
Benefits & Welfare
Context

The MP asks about specific measures to support pre-1997 defined benefit pensioners.

Question

Following the Pensions Minister’s response to me about pensioner living standards, what specific measures announced in the Government’s pensions reforms will support pre-1997 defined benefit pensioners, who currently receive a minimal or no annual uplift?

Answer from Torsten Bell

The hon. Lady is right to highlight the question of pensioners’ living standards, and we are taking action right the way across the board to deal with that. She will have seen the increases in the state pension in April. We have seen nearly 60,000 extra awards for pension credit over the course of the year since last July, compared with the year previously. On her question about pre-1997 indexation, this issue was recently discussed at the Work and Pensions Committee, and we have set out our response to that Committee’s report.

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Q8 Blake Stephenson Con Mid Bedfordshire
Taxation
Context

MP cited responses to parliamentary questions indicating higher tax payments for median earners. He referenced the Chancellor's previous criticism of tax threshold freezes.

Question

From responses to my written parliamentary questions, we know that the median earner can expect to pay £273 more in tax this year under Labour. When the Chancellor sat on the Opposition Benches, she described freezing tax thresholds as “picking the pockets” of working people. Does the Chancellor accept that she is now the one picking the pockets of working people?

Answer from Rachel Reeves

In the Budget last year, we increased taxes by £40 billion, but without affecting the pay packets of ordinary working people. We did not increase their national insurance, their income tax or their VAT, and we did not go ahead with the wrong-headed increase in fuel duty that was put in place by the Conservative party. We are protecting working people; the Conservative party picked their pockets time and again.

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Q9 Perran Moon Lab Camborne and Redruth
Economy Transport Energy
Context

MP referenced manifesto commitments for a £1.5 billion ports fund to support economic growth, specifically mentioning Falmouth port.

Question

Ports are engines for economic growth in sectors such as energy and critical minerals. Falmouth port, in the constituency neighbouring mine, is surrounded by massive tin and lithium deposits, and it has ambitious plans to play its part. In line with our manifesto commitment for a £1.5 billion ports fund, will the Chancellor outline what mechanisms the National Wealth Fund and GB Energy can deploy to invest in ports?

Answer from Rachel Reeves

I thank my hon. Friend for that question. He will know that this Government have already invested through the National Wealth Fund in the tin mine in his constituency, bringing good-quality jobs paying decent wages to the people of Cornwall, as advocated by Cornish MPs. However, there is more we can do through the National Wealth Fund, including investing in our ports, which is absolutely vital for clean, cheap energy and for creating good jobs in this country, including in Cornwall.

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Q10 Esther McVey Con Tatton
Economy Employment
Context

MP asked about the potential employment outcomes resulting from recent policy changes related to employers' national insurance contributions.

Question

Does the Chancellor believe that the changes she has made to employer’s national insurance contributions will lead to higher levels of employment, or will they lead to higher levels of unemployment?

Answer from Rachel Reeves

Let us look at the record so far. There are 385,000 more jobs in the UK economy today than there were when Labour came to office a year ago, which is more than 1,000 jobs a day. So businesses are voting with their feet and taking on more workers, because of the policies of this Labour Government compared with the Tory policies that took our economy down.

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Q11 Callum Anderson Lab Buckingham and Bletchley
Economy
Context

MP welcomed the announcement of a simplified advice regime to help people make better-informed investment decisions, particularly for younger individuals and self-employed.

Question

As people are living longer, they face more complex financial choices. The new, simplified advice regime announced by the Government and the Financial Conduct Authority yesterday is hugely welcome and will help more people make better informed investment decisions. Will the Minister provide more detail on the steps the Government will be taking to help firms deliver better advice at scale, especially to young people and the self-employed?

Answer from Emma Reynolds

We are really excited about targeted support, because it means that firms will be able to make suggestions to consumers with similarities, so that they have the confidence to invest in the long term and can get better support—not advice—on their pensions.

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Q12 Sonia Kumar Lab Dudley
Economy Business & Trade
Context

MP highlighted the importance of UK company investment in ISAs, citing a desire for increased confidence from investors.

Question

Some 58% of investors think it is important that stocks and shares ISAs are invested in UK companies. Currently, it is estimated that £100 billion is held in the cash ISAs of people who do not have stocks and shares ISAs. What steps is my right hon. Friend taking to encourage further investment in UK stocks and shares, and investment in UK companies?

Answer from Emma Reynolds

As we set out at the spring statement, we are looking at the balance between investments in cash and investments in stocks and shares in ISAs. We want to get that balance right. We understand the importance of a rainy day buffer in cash, but we need to give people the confidence to invest. That is a win-win: it is a win for them and a win for British companies listed on our stock exchange.

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Q13 Sarah Dyke Lib Dem Glastonbury and Somerton
Benefits & Welfare
Context

MP raised a case of Jackie, suffering from multiple health conditions, who is concerned about losing entitlement to personal independence payment and employment support allowance.

Question

Jackie from Street suffers with Crohn’s disease, fibromyalgia and mental health issues. She worked for most of her life until ill health made it impossible. Under the reforms, she will lose her entitlement to personal independence payment and employment and support allowance, plunging her into poverty. Can the Chancellor give Jackie the reassurance she needs that she will not be left in poverty?

Answer from Rachel Reeves

Yes, I can absolutely give my assurance to Jackie, and to other people who are currently claiming PIP, that they will see absolutely no change in their entitlement. That is what my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions announced to the Chamber yesterday: everybody who is currently on those benefits will see no change whatever. The Timms review, which will be co-produced with disabled people and those who represent them, will build a new system for the future.

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Q14 John Slinger Lab Rugby
Economy Transport Business & Trade
Context

The MP references specific government investments, including £15.6 billion for transport projects in city regions and additional support seen in Warwickshire.

Question

Does the Minister agree that we are driving growth across every part of the country with investments at the spending review, including £15.6 billion for transport projects in city regions and additional support I saw myself in Warwickshire with the launch of an electric bus fleet, including buses built at Alexander Dennis in this country; and that this shows a Government who are investing in the future prosperity of our country?

Answer from Rachel Reeves

It was great to be with my hon. Friend in Warwickshire just a couple of weeks ago to welcome some of the investment, through our industrial strategy and our spending review, which will turbocharge the British economy, creating more good jobs and paying decent wages in all parts of the country, including in Warwickshire.

Answered
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Q15 Sarah Olney Lib Dem Richmond Park
Business Compliance Business & Trade
Context

The Lending Standards Board announced it would be closing following the withdrawal of support from major high street banks, which was going to be a groundbreaking step towards tackling barriers for ethnic minority business owners in accessing finance.

Question

Last week, ahead of the launch of its ethnicity code, the Lending Standards Board announced it would be closing, following the withdrawal of support from major high street banks. This was going to be a groundbreaking step towards tackling the barriers that ethnic minority business owners face in accessing finance. What steps will the Government take to ensure that the ethnicity code is implemented, supported and scaled, so that its principles are embedded across the financial sector?

Answer from Emma Reynolds

I am aware of the situation. I reassure the hon. Lady that the Government are committed to ensuring that firms continue to deliver good customer outcomes, now and in the future, with proportionate regulation and oversight. I am happy to engage with her in more detail on the subject she mentions.

Partly answered

Not addressed: specific steps and timeline for implementation

How: Will Focus On, Commitment

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Q16 Melanie Onn Lab Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes
Climate Energy
Context

The MP seeks an update on the Viking Carbon Capture Storage (CCS) project in the Humber.

Question

Will the Chancellor please provide an update on the invaluable Viking CCS project in the Humber?

Answer from Rachel Reeves

At the spending review, we were able to build on the investment we had already made in Merseyside and Teesside with Track-1 of carbon capture and storage, and put investment into both the Acorn project in Scotland and Viking CCS in the Humber to support the Government’s ambitions for Britain to lead the way in carbon capture and storage, creating more good jobs in all parts of the country, including in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

Answered
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