Every parliamentary written question tabled by David Chadwick this session, with the full answer and department. See how every department answers, or back to the MP page.
Showing 241–260 of 359 · this parliament
What recent estimate she has made of the total cost of the electrification of the remainder of the South Wales mainline.
No recent cost estimates have been made by Network Rail for electrification of the South Wales Mainline, with the last available information dating from 2017. With bi-mode trains offering comparable journey times regardless of whether operating in diesel or electric mode, it is expected that any business case for electrification of this route would be very weak.
What recent estimate she has made of the total cost of the electrification of the North Wales mainline.
The government has not made any recent estimate of the cost of electrification of the North Wales Mainline. It is more than ten years since Network Rail were last asked to consider the electrification of this line. That work would need to be fully refreshed, taking account of current electrification technologies.
Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to reflect the findings of the Water Commission.
The Independent Water Commission, led by Sir Jon Cunliffe, will recommend reforms to reset the water sector regulatory system and is expected to form the largest review of the industry since privatisation. It is considering a wide range of areas, as set out in the Commission’s Call for Evidence. The Commission will report later in summer 2025 with recommendations to the UK and Welsh Governments to help restore our rivers, lakes and seas to good health, meet the challenges of the future and contribute to economic growth. These recommendations are expected to form the basis of further legislation to attract long-term investment and clean up our waters for good.
Whether the UK-India Free Trade Agreement includes tariff exemptions on steel imported from India.
Steel is a top priority for this Government. The UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) does not include any text related to the implementation of the UK’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.The FTA includes liberalised Most Favoured Nation tariffs on steel, but the UK’s trade remedies, including a global safeguard measure on certain steel products, continue to apply. Also, as part of our agreement, we included a ‘bilateral safeguard mechanism’ which allows us to temporarily increase tariffs or suspend tariff concessions if an industry is suffering or is at threat of serious injury as a result of reduced duties.
Whether the UK-India Free Trade Agreement includes tariffs on steel imported from India.
Steel is a top priority for this Government. The UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) does not include any text related to the implementation of the UK’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.The FTA includes liberalised Most Favoured Nation tariffs on steel, but the UK’s trade remedies, including a global safeguard measure on certain steel products, continue to apply. Also, as part of our agreement, we included a ‘bilateral safeguard mechanism’ which allows us to temporarily increase tariffs or suspend tariff concessions if an industry is suffering or is at threat of serious injury as a result of reduced duties.
Whether steel imports from India will be covered by UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism exemptions under the UK-India Free Trade Agreement.
Steel is a top priority for this Government. The UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) does not include any text related to the implementation of the UK’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.The FTA includes liberalised Most Favoured Nation tariffs on steel, but the UK’s trade remedies, including a global safeguard measure on certain steel products, continue to apply. Also, as part of our agreement, we included a ‘bilateral safeguard mechanism’ which allows us to temporarily increase tariffs or suspend tariff concessions if an industry is suffering or is at threat of serious injury as a result of reduced duties.
What estimate her Department has made of the (a) number of (i) Carer’s Allowance and (ii) carer element recipients who will lose their eligibility in Wales by the 2029-30 financial year and (b) the cost to the public purse of these changes; and what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of eligibility changes on carers in poverty.
The assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility of the impact of the proposed changes on carers was only made for England and Wales as a whole. The impacts can be found in table A4 here: Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts.
What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of the blast furnaces at the Tata Steel site on the economy in Neath Port Talbot.
We are aware of the impact of this transition on the local economy and community, and we have taken steps to assist and support those affected. Under the leadership of the Secretary of State for Wales, the Port Talbot Tata Steel Transition Board moved from discussion to delivery from last July. Since then, more than £50 million has been announced to support steel communities, from the £80 million available from UK Government. The latest release of funding, to support mental health, was announced just last month.
Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing the assets Tata Steel in Port Talbot into public ownership.
Tata Steel decided to close the blast furnaces at Port Talbot in January 2024, under the previous government. However, we negotiated an improved deal with Tata regarding the transformation of Port Talbot after just 10 weeks in office, with better terms for workers, future investment opportunities for the area and the highest voluntary redundancy package Tata has ever offered for workers. Work is proceeding on the development of the Electric Arc Furnace which will enable steelmaking to continue at the site and form a key part of our future steel sector.
Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to introduce a ban on personal meat imports, in the context of recent confirmed cases of Foot and Mouth in Europe.
On 12 April 2025, the Government banned personal imports of meat and dairy products from foot and mouth disease (FMD) susceptible animals from the European single market area, to protect our farmers from FMD. The Government had already banned personal imports of these commodities from Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria in response to confirmed outbreaks of FMD in those countries.
Whether she will consider proposals to support parents of chronically ill children from day 1 of that child's diagnosis.
The Government understands the difficulties and distress that children with serious health conditions or critical illnesses face. Children and their families who are living with a medical condition will be facing a difficult time in their lives which is why the department provides a wide range of financial support for both individuals and their carers. Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is open to new claims for children aged under 16 if a child’s condition or illness is both of a long-term nature and gives rise to care or mobility needs. The earliest that entitlement to DLA can start is when a three-month qualifying period condition has been met. This qualifying period helps establish that the disability and resulting care, supervision or mobility needs are of a long-standing nature and ensures that disability benefits are targeted to support those with long-term health conditions or disabilities. The qualifying period starts from the point that care, or mobility needs commence rather than the date the condition is diagnosed. Children claiming DLA under the special rules for end of life do not have to satisfy the three-month qualifying period. In these cases, the claim is fast tracked, and the higher-rate care component is awarded from the date of claim.
Whether the East West Rail will be designated as an England and Wales project.
East West Rail is set to cover the route from Oxford to Cambridge and is therefore part of the RNEP portfolio which covers funding for projects in England and Wales. The RNEP portfolio can be distributed to any scheme across England and Wales.
Media and Sport, if she will reconsider the maximum cap on the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme which can be claimed by any one church in 2025-26.
The Department has no plans to reconsider the £25,000 cap in 2025/26. Based on previous scheme data, we expect 94% of claims to be unaffected by the change.Future Government spending is a matter for the 2026 Spending Review.
With reference to the Secretary of State for Transport's Oral Statement of 24 March 2025 on Road Maintenance, whether she has made an estimate of the Barnett consequential funding for Wales of the additional £500 million highway maintenance funding.
At Phase 1 of the 2025 Spending Review, an additional £500 million was allocated to the Department for Transport to fund local highways maintenance in 2025-26. The Barnett formula was applied in the usual way to changes in the Department for Transport’s Delegated Expenditure Limit (DEL) budget. At Spending Reviews, the Barnett formula is applied to changes to each UK Government department’s overall DEL budget, rather than to individual programmes. The Welsh Government’s Spending Review settlement for 2025-26 is the largest in real terms of any Welsh Government settlement since devolution. The Welsh Government is receiving at least 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in England. That translates into over £4 billion more in 2025-26 and includes £1.7 billion through the operation of the Barnett formula. The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. The most recent report was published in July 2023. An update to Block Grant Transparency to include Autumn Budget 2024 changes will be published in due course:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-july-2023
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the roll-out of facial recognition surveillance in Cardiff on (a) residents and (b) visitors.
All police forces must comply with legislation and published guidance when they use facial recognition technology. This includes carrying out their Public Sector Equality Duty. South Wales Police has published equality and data protection impact assessments on live facial recognition technology on their website.
Whether her Department has issued guidance to South Wales Police on the roll-out of facial recognition surveillance in a city-wide CCTV network.
All police forces are expected comply with existing legislation and published guidance when they use facial recognition technology. In particular, when forces use live facial recognition, they must comply with the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice. Its use must always be justified and pass the tests of necessity, proportionality and use for a policing purpose.
What steps her Department is taking to help ensure (a) that the rollout of digital quarterly submissions for tax returns under MTD for ITSA does not lead to penalties for non-compliance and increased stress for vulnerable groups who do not have the digital skills or digital access to meet the new requirements and (b) that measures are in place for people without digital access or digital skills to continue to submit manual books where necessary.
Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax is designed to make it easier for users to get their tax right and keep on top of their affairs. Taxpayers will use software to keep digital records and send simple quarterly updates to HMRC; in turn, this will help to finalise their Income Tax position after the year end. A new fairer penalty regime will also be introduced to support taxpayers submitting more frequent updates under MTD. They will not be penalised for occasionally missing a deadline. Instead, they will receive a penalty point towards a points threshold. They will only receive a financial penalty once that threshold is met. The government recognises that not everyone is able to interact with HMRC digitally. Digitally excluded taxpayers will be able to apply for an exemption from MTD and will continue to file using existing processes. HMRC will set out further information on the exemption process when it opens later in 2025.
If she will bring forward proposals for a furlough scheme for parents of chronically ill children.
The Government recognises the important role parents and carers play in looking after disabled people and people with health conditions, including chronically ill children. Significant support is available to support disabled people and their families and carers, such as Disability Living Allowance for children worth up to £184.30 per week, and Carer’s Allowance worth up to £81.90 per week. This Government is going further to give carers greater flexibility to work and increase their financial security by raising the Carer’s Allowance Weekly Earnings Limit to the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage from 6th April 2025. This will be the largest increase to the earnings limit since Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976.We are also strengthening the right to request flexible working arrangements through the Employment Rights Bill, enabling parents and carers to better balance work around their caring commitments.
How many people in Wales will be impacted by welfare reform.
Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, with some information already published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found here Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper - GOV.UK. There are currently 347,100 Universal Credit claimants in Wales, with 267,100 claimants of Personal Independence Payments. 89,000 claimants in Wales are receiving both Personal Independence Payments and Universal Credit. Overall, 15% of working age people in Wales receive a disability or incapacity benefit and around a quarter are neither in work nor looking for work. To raise living standards in every corner of our country, we need to unleash the talents of people across the UK wherever they live. However, the system we inherited has left millions of people trapped on benefits, without the support they need to build a better life. We know many sick and disabled people want to work, with the right help and support. They deserve the same rights, chances and choices to get good jobs as anybody else. That is why the government is fixing the social security system so that it gives those who could work the help they need, and those who can’t work the dignity and security they deserve. The Department for Work and Pensions will continue to work with the Welsh government and other devolved governments, which will include looking at Welsh specific impacts to help support people back into work if they are able to, but also protect those who rely on our social security system.
What steps she is taking to improve productivity rates in Wales.
Growth is the number one mission of the government. Our new Industrial Strategy is central to that Growth Mission and our Plan for Change. The Industrial Strategy will channel support to eight growth-driving sectors – those in which the UK excels today and will excel tomorrow. The Strategy will play to Wales’s sectoral strengths, including Advanced Manufacturing, Clean Energy, Life Sciences and Creative Industries. My department has been working closely across UK Government and the Welsh Government on the Industrial Strategy. I have also established the Welsh Economic Growth Advisory Group, a group that brings together business, industry, university and trade unions to discuss key economic issues across Wales.