Written questions by McMahon.

What assessment has been made of the potential impact of the lower rate of business rates retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers, revaluation, and transition arrangements on pubs, bars and restaurants.

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base. At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties, including those in the hospitality sector as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest. More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto. The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties, including pubs. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties. The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the level of commercial energy costs on Zoos in England, such as Chester and Blackpool Zoos.

Defra is responsible for the welfare and management of animals kept by zoos and aquariums, as well as the conservation work zoos and aquariums are required to undertake. However, we remain engaged on cross-cutting matters where relevant and the government is taking decisive action to protect and support businesses, facing difficulties with their energy costs, on multiple fronts.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the medium term viability of Thames Water.

Our current assessment is that the company remains stable. The Government will continue to work with the economic regulator of the water industry Ofwat to help support a market-led solution to the company’s issues of financial resilience and operational delivery, which is in the interests of customers and the environment. The Government has stepped up preparations and stands ready for all eventualities, including applying for a SAR if that were to become necessary.

Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the notional lost revenue to newspapers of online platforms using content without payment in return.

The challenges of quantifying the value exchange between newspapers and online platforms have been explored by a number of studies, including the independent Cairncross Review into sustainable journalism and advice from the CMA and Ofcom on how a digital markets regime might govern the relationship between platforms and content providers such as news publishers.Regardless of the exact transfer of value, the imbalanced commercial relationship between newspapers and online platforms has been raised as a key driver in the financial sustainability challenges facing news publishers in recent years. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (2024) gave new powers to the Competition and Markets Authority to boost competition in digital markets and help rebalance the relationship between online platforms and the businesses which rely on their services, including news publishers. The Government will continue to monitor this relationship and whether further action is required to ensure a level playing field with online platforms as AI and other new technologies continue to disrupt the market.

What assessment has been made of the potential impact of coordinating place-based (a) Government funding and (b) philanthropic, institutional and private sector investment on regional growth.

Following a review of the Green Book, the government has announced the introduction of place-based business cases. This new approach will highlight the reinforcing effects of different investments within an area and better coordinate both public sector funding decisions and non-public sector investments in specific places to support growth. Liverpool, Plymouth, Port Talbot and Birmingham will be the first adopters of place-based business cases. The government will set out plans to rollout place-based business cases further in due course. More widely, Government is giving local leaders and communtiies the power and resources to make decisions for their places.

Communities and Local Government, what discussions she has had with councils in the devolution priority programme areas on securing investment ahead of the delayed mayoral elections.

The English Devolution White Paper sets out how Local Growth Plans will galvanise action and investment, including through setting out a pipeline of investment opportunities for strategic authorities. Adopting a Local Growth Plan will be a duty conferred on combined authorities as soon as the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill receives Royal Assent, so we encourage all councils in the Devolution Priority Programme to use the guidance we’ve provided to develop their growth plans. In the interim period between the establishment of the Mayoral Strategic Authorities in the new year and inaugural mayoral elections, we will provide the authorities with a portion of their investment funds to ensure they can start delivering on key local priorities and deliver the benefits of devolution on the ground ahead of the Mayors taking office.

Media and Sport, how much funding her Department has provided to Irish cultural heritage groups in the last 12 months.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport recognises the importance of Irish Heritage, with funding administered through Arms-Length Bodies.Since November 2024, the National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded three grants totaling £290,074 to projects exploring the history and experiences of the Irish diaspora in Britain.A grant of £138,758 was awarded to the project St. Brigid’s Arms: Voices of Womxn of Irish Heritage in the North of England in Trafford in Greater Manchester from Emerald LENS CIC, which is exploring the stories and experience of womxn of Irish heritage in the north of England. A grant of £57,210 was awarded to Liverpool Irish Festival Resolve. This project will continue the Liverpool Irish Famine Trail heritage work by bringing compelling stories to audiences through innovative, accessible approaches as we approach the 180th anniversary of An Gorta Mór. A grant of £94,106 was awarded to the project Mix’n’Mortar: Plugging into Camden. This will go towards local audience development and co-programming for the world's first Museum of Youth Culture opening Spring 2026, which includes experiences of the Irish diaspora.

Whether the government has held discussions with Motability following the revision of vehicle brands supported by the scheme to prioritise British made vehicles and to report accurate data on the number of British and non-British made vehicles procured.

Motability Operations, an independent commercial company which delivers the Motability Scheme, has announced plans to support the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy. The number of British made vehicles purchased by the scheme will reach 25% by 2030, with an ambition of 50% of vehicles registered on the Scheme being made in the UK by 2035. The Department for Work and Pensions will continue to meet regularly with Motability Foundation, the independent charity with responsibility for overseeing the Scheme, to discuss the Schemes operation.

What assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential implications for Government policies of trends in the level of street clutter on the character of urban areas.

Management of local roads, including placement of fixed street furniture such as signs, benches, bins and cycle racks, is the responsibility of local traffic authorities. Neither good traffic management, nor good streetscape design is helped by over-provision and clutter. The Department’s good practice advice in the Traffic Signs Manual and the Manual for Streets stresses the importance of designing streets in such a way as to reduce clutter. These are available at the following links: www.gov.uk/government/publications/traffic-signs-manual www.gov.uk/government/publications/manual-for-streets.

How many assaults on staff working in Job Centres were reported for each region for each year from 2015 to date.

The Department for Work and Pensions take any form of abuse and harassment (including violence-at-work incidents) of its staff very seriously. Robust controls are in place to mitigate the risk of unsafe interactions and eliminate violence-at-work as far as reasonably practicable, including security presence, risk assessments and training for our staff.We review outcomes of our most serious incidents and consider any lessons learned to make improvements to our processes and training when necessary to help prevent reoccurrence. DWP define assault as intentional physical contact which is directed at DWP or Partner employees (including Security Officers) in connection with working for DWP. Assaults range from minor to most serious. Actual assaults may include reports that resulted in no injury to those that result in major cuts and bruises. Prior to 2025, regional breakdowns are not held centrally, to provide this information would incur disproportionate cost, however we can provide the national annual breakdown of JC assaults from 2015 to 2024 and a breakdown of JC assaults by region for 2025. The following table provides the information requested for DWP reported assaults.YearNumber of AssaultsJan - Dec 2015233Jan - Dec 2016137Jan - Dec 2017238Jan - Dec 2018257Jan - Dec 2019145Jan - Dec 202065Jan - Dec 2021107Jan - Dec 2022183Jan - Dec 2023212Jan - Dec 2024314Jan - Nov 2025265 2025 assaults by regionGroup Name Central & West Scotland9Central Midlands13East & North Scotland5Eastern England17London62North East & Cumbria20North West27North York & Lincolnshire25South East17South West23Wales & the Marches10West Midlands35Not recorded to a Group Name2 265

Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of approaches to bringing empty residential properties back into use.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 80458 on 20 October 2025.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment has been made of the number of domestic boilers sold in England against the number of installations reported to local authority building control.

Neither the department nor the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) hold figures on boiler sales. Figures held by the BSR show 1,089,862 total gas appliance work notifications between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025 under the Gas Safe Register scheme. Of this total, 1,039,920 was for central heating natural gas boiler installations. This is more than 95% of the total gas installation work. A much smaller number of other gas boiler installations, such as for water heaters or warm air heating appliances, were also registered. The Gas Safe Register scheme is run by the Health and Safety Executive but the BSR has access to the scheme’s installation registration numbers. The BSR regulates other installation schemes, also called competent person schemes, which include installation of non-gas types of boilers but neither the BSR nor the department hold figures specifically on non-gas boiler installations. Local authorities must make available to the public details of building control notifications in their area including for boiler installations.

Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending Asset of Community Value protections to local newspaper titles and community radio stations.

The Government is aware of the National Union of Journalists’ (NUJ) calls to confer Asset of Community Value status on local newspapers.We are committed to supporting local journalism and DCMS is developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. We are working across Government and with other stakeholders as the Strategy develops. While there is limited evidence to show that this proposal would have a substantial impact on the sustainability of local media, we have not yet ruled any options out for the Strategy as we continue to engage with stakeholders, including the NUJ.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment has been made of the potential merits of introducing legislation to regulate designed in bias in AI programmes such as ChatGPT, GROK, CoPilot and others.

A range of regulation and legislation applies to AI systems such as data protection, equality legislation and sectoral regulation. Where AI systems contravene or are non-compliant with those rules, enforcement and mechanisms for redress will apply. The government is committed to supporting regulators to promote the responsible use of AI in their sectors including identifying and addressing bias.To further tackle this issue, the government ran the Fairness Innovation Challenge (FIC) with Innovate UK, the Equality and Human Rights Council (EHRC), and the ICO. FIC supported the development of novel of solutions to address bias and discrimination in AI systems and supported the EHRC and ICO to shape their own broader regulatory guidance.

What assessment he has made of the take up of flu vaccinations so far this year.

For England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publishes provisional vaccine uptake data throughout the flu season. Weekly national level data for general practice (GP) patients is available from October to January, at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-flu-and-covid-19-surveillance-reports-2025-to-2026-seasonMonthly national and regional level data for GP patients, school-aged children, and frontline healthcare workers is available from October to January. The first monthly data for the 2025 to 2026 season includes all vaccinations given between 1 September to 31 October 2025, and is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake:-figures Compared with the equivalent time period last season, from 2024 to 2025, influenza vaccine uptake is higher in two and three year olds, school-aged children, pregnant women, and frontline healthcare workers, and for those who are aged 65 years old and over and those in clinical at-risk groups, uptake is comparable, with a less than a 1% difference.Final end of season data is published in the annual reports in late spring, with data available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#seasonal-flu-vaccine-uptake:-figuresAnnual reports contain final end of season data from multiple previous seasons.

Food and Rural Affairs, what plans does the Government have to reduce food waste in the public sector.

Defra's Food and Drink Waste Hierarchy outlines how all businesses, including those which supply the public sector, should deal with food surplus and waste, preventing food surplus where possible and redistributing any surplus should it arise. Defra funds the groundbreaking UK Food and Drink Pact, a voluntary agreement with industry to tackle food waste, managed by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). Through the Pact, we support the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, which provides a toolkit to help businesses identify their food surplus and waste and take steps to reduce it.

What assessment she has been made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the annual subscription limit of ISA savings for under-65s on the range of building society lending products.

This government’s number one priority is growth, putting more money in people’s pockets and creating an economy that both works for and rewards working people. A key part of this is people’s savings, which are not working hard enough for them or the economy because hundreds of millions of pounds are sitting in low-interest earning accounts. We want to get more people investing so they can also benefit from the growth of the FTSE which has grown by 50% in the last 5 years. Investing generates better returns over the long term, and this is about getting the balance right cash savings and investment. If you invested £1,000 a year in an average stocks and shares ISA every year from 1999, you would be £50,000 better off compared to having saved the same amount in a cash ISA This policy will affect those aged under 65 from April 2027, but the overall ISA limit will remain at £20,000 for all savers when the annual Cash ISA limit is set at £12,000. It will not affect existing cash ISA savings. The government regularly engages with the building societies sector to understand how best to support its growth.

Whether she has made an estimate of the (a) value of and (b) tax lost from the black economy in (i) England, (ii) Greater Manchester and (iii) Oldham.

HMRC estimates the size of the tax gap, which is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid. The tax gap statistics are published annually and are available at: Measuring tax gaps - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Within the tax gap, HMRC publishes an illustrative breakdown by behaviour. For the 2023 to 2024 tax year, the estimated value of the hidden economy was £2.6 billion.

How long has the HMRC helpline number 0300 200 3822 been out of service.

The Debt management Self Assessment (SA) payment helpline, 0300 200 3822, was retired at the end of July 2025.From March to July 2025, an announcement was played to all customers phoning the Debt management SA payment helpline advising them that the number had closed and providing the relevant HMRC helpline number to call. Customers with SA debt or payment enquiries are still able to speak to an adviser by calling the phone number stated on the letter which they have received from HMRC. Customers can also find further support and guidance on GOV.UK – including how to manage payments.

If he will take steps to establish Cadet units in Oldham; and whether he will make available funding, resources and organisational assistance to facilitate their formation in areas without Cadet units.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 16 September 2025 to Question 76173 to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Al Pinkerton). https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-09-09/76173