Written questions by Collins.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the standard corporate insolvency regime for ensuring the timely and cost-effective transfer of client Self-Invested Personal Pensions; and if she will commit to reviewing the case for a bespoke Self-Invested Personal Pensions Operator insolvency regime to better protect retirement savings.

The Government recognises that the insolvency of a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) operator can have a significant impact on customers as we have seen in some high-profile cases recently. The current corporate insolvency regime does enable transfers of client assets in these situation, but HM Treasury is monitoring developments. The FCA regulates SIPP operators, and HM Treasury works closely with the FCA to monitor the sector and address emerging risks.

What steps the Financial Conduct Authority is taking to (a) enhance its oversight of Self-Invested Personal Pension operators and (b) review the capital adequacy requirements for those holding portfolios containing high volumes of non-standard or illiquid assets.

Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) are a type of personal pension regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that give savers more choice over how they invest their retirement savings. In December 2024, the FCA published their discussion paper “Pensions: Adapting our requirements for a changing market”. This paper invited feedback about due diligence and client asset requirements in the SIPP market. The discussion paper has now closed and the FCA expects to consult on new proposals in Q1 2026. The FCA continues to monitor developments and remains committed to making sure that its requirements are proportionate and effective.

What steps his Department are taking to review the state pension addition for individuals aged 80 and over; and whether the Department plans to adjust that addition in line with inflation to ensure it provides meaningful financial support.

The 25 pence a week Age Addition is part of the old State Pension, for those who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, and is paid with their State Pension, when they reach the age of 80. The Age Addition is not part of the new State Pension, but for those people who reached State Pension age before 6 April 2016, the 25 pence Age Addition under the existing rules will continue.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring police forces to record thefts (a) from and (b) of light commercial vehicles as distinct crime categories to enable accurate national monitoring of van-related offending.

The Home Office has access to a monthly extract of data from the Police National Computer (PNC) which provides additional intelligence information on the type of vehicles stolen in England and Wales. Such data already enables the monitoring of offences involving the theft of light commercial vehicles and so no additional crime code is needed to identify such thefts.When collecting data for national monitoring purposes there is always a tension between seeking to capture more detail to identify emerging threats, which are hidden within existing broad offence groupings, and adding to recording complexity and burden on the police.The Theft Act covers a wide range of criminality, and the Home Office currently require the police to record such offences under some fairly broad groups such as Theft from a motor vehicle, aggravated vehicle taking, and Theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle.

Whether he plans to make changes to the (a) accreditation, (b) certification and (c) guarantee regime of (i) installers and (ii) retrofit coordinators working under (A) ECO4, (B) future Warm Homes Plan programmes and (C) other Government-funded retrofit schemes to prevent (1) rogue and (2) negligent firms participating.

The government is reviewing the system of consumer protection and oversight for home retrofit installations that improve energy efficiency and decarbonise homes. This work is looking at the entire landscape: from how installers work in people’s homes to where homeowners turn for rapid action and enforcement if things go wrong. More information will be shared in the forthcoming Warm Homes Plan. The government is planning to consult on proposals for retrofit system reform early next year.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that homes which have received (a) insulation and (b) internal wall insulation under the ECO4 scheme are independently inspected any sub-standard or unsafe work is remediated at no cost to the homeowner, and that the homeowner is informed of their rights to redress.

Government is offering free inspections of all properties where external wall insulation was fitted under ECO4. Ofgem will contact every household with external wall insulation that has not yet been audited. Remediation is already taking place to address substandard and unsafe work, and over half of the issues identified to date have been fixed. They will be rectified at no cost to the consumer. Issues in external wall insulation are substantially higher than those for internal wall insulation. If customers have concerns about the quality of their internal wall insulation, they can contact their original installer or Ofgem’s dedicated helpline.

If he will bring vision rehabilitation services under the same regulatory and monitoring framework as other adult social care services; and what assessment he has made of the potential merits of doing so.

Under the Care Act 2014, local authorities have the duty to shape their care market and to commission a range of high-quality, sustainable, and person-centred care and support services to meet the diverse needs of all local people. This includes encouraging a wide range of service provision to ensure that people, including those with sight loss, have a choice of appropriate services and equipment that maximises independence.Although the Care Quality Commission (CQC) is not currently required to assess vision rehabilitation services, as regulated activities under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, sensory services, including vision rehabilitation, do form part of CQC’s overall assessment of local authorities’ delivery of adult social care.CQC assessments identify local authorities’ strengths and areas for development, in their delivery of their duties under part 1 of the Care Act. This facilitates the sharing of good practice and helps us to target support where it is most needed. It may be helpful to know that the CQC will report on sensory services when there is something important to highlight, for example, something being done well, innovative practice, or an area for improvement.

What steps his Department is taking to develop national guidelines and quality standards for vision rehabilitation services; and if he will commission the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to develop evidence-based standards in this area.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body that develops authoritative, evidence-based guidelines and quality standards for the health and care system on best practice. Topics for the development of NICE guidelines and quality standards are identified by the NICE prioritisation board, chaired by the NICE Chief Medical Officer, in line with its published prioritisation framework. NICE does not currently have any plans to develop a guideline or quality standard on vision rehabilitation. The NICE prioritisation board considered vision rehabilitation as a potential topic for the development of guidance in August 2024 and concluded that there is insufficient evidence in this area to develop useful guidance.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the current six‑month deadline for the payment of Inheritance Tax in cases of administrative delays in the granting of probate.

The deadline for payment of Inheritance Tax (IHT) is the end of the sixth month after the month in which the death occurs. Personal representatives (PRs) are required to make a payment of IHT before applying for probate. This is a longstanding requirement which ensures that the tax due can be collected quickly and efficiently. HMRC offers several payment options if there are not sufficient liquid funds in the estate to pay IHT before applying for probate, including the Direct Payment Scheme and the option to pay IHT by yearly instalments. For assets which are eligible for payment of IHT by instalments, only the first instalment will be due before PRs can proceed to apply for probate. Further information on IHT payment options is available at: https://www.gov.uk/paying-inheritance-tax In certain circumstances, PRs may also apply to HMRC to defer payment of the IHT until probate has been granted (a ‘grant on credit’). Once probate has been issued, the PRs will be expected to pay the outstanding tax as soon as possible. Further information on this option is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/applying-for-a-grant-on-credit-for-inheritance-tax HM Courts & Tribunals Service has invested in more staff, alongside system and process improvements to reduce and maintain lower processing times for probate applications during the last year. The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on probate timeliness in the quarterly family court statistics bulletin: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly

What recent progress his Department has made on working with expert stakeholders to review the impact of four-weekly employer pay cycles on Universal Credit payments.

We are committed to reviewing Universal Credit, to make sure it is doing the job we want it to, to make work pay and tackle poverty. As part of the review we have considered the impact that fluctuating incomes including those paid on a four-weekly cycle has on households including engaging with expert stakeholders and those with direct experience. The Department is considering this insight and will provide updates on the review in due course.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to establish standardised testing frameworks for identifying bias in AI datasets; and whether she will consider introducing requirements for the quality of databases used to train artificial intelligence systems.

AI is already regulated in the UK. A range of existing rules already apply to AI systems, such as data protection, competition, equality legislation and sectoral regulation. The government is committed to supporting regulators to promote the responsible use of AI in their sectors, including identifying and addressing bias.To help tackle this issue, we 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.The government is committed to ensuring that the UK is prepared for the changes AI will bring.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the benefits of (a) a duty of candour requiring AI developers and deployers to publicly disclose when biases are discovered in their algorithms or training data and (b) providing clear mitigation strategies, similar to disclosure requirements in other regulated sectors such as medicines.

A range of existing rules already apply to AI systems such as data protection, competition, equality legislation and sectoral regulation. The government is also committed to supporting regulators to promote the responsible use of AI in their sectors and mitigate AI-related challenges, such as identifying and addressing algorithmic bias.To help tackle this issue, we 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.This is complemented by the work of the AI Security Institute (AISI) who work in close collaboration with AI companies to assess model safeguards and suggest mitigations to risks pertaining to national security.To date, AISI has tested over 30 models from leading AI companies, including OpenAI, Google DeepMind and Anthropic.The government is committed to ensuring that the UK is prepared for the changes AI will bring and AISI’s research will continue to inform our approach.

What assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the Curriculum Review to provide algorithm literacy and AI education to help children understand that AI systems can have inaccurate outputs; and what steps will be taken through the curriculum to ensure that young people are educated on the potential harms of AI including a) Deepfakes and CSAM content, b) AI generated online fraud and scams, c) Chatbot algorithmic biases.

The department has accepted the Curriculum and Assessment Review’s recommendations for computing and are committed to going further through explicitly including AI within the curriculum, and exploring a potential Level 3 qualification in data science and AI. This will empower students to harness the opportunities of AI, whilst navigating its risks responsibly.We will work with subject experts to ensure that AI and issues like bias in technology will be included within the refreshed computing curriculum in an age-appropriate way. The exact content will be determined following engagement with experts, and we will publicly consult on the draft proposals next year.It is worth noting that algorithms and online harms are currently covered in the curriculum, through computing and relationships, sex and health education (RSHE). In July, the government published updated RSHE statutory guidance introducing new content on AI, online safety and pornography, which will be mandatory from 1 September 2026.

Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that safety-by-design principles are integrated into AI systems from inception rather than as retrospective additions especially given the persistence in harmful online content including deep-fake CSAMs that are visible across the internet.

The government is committed to tackling the atrocious harm of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA). Making, distributing or possessing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is a serious criminal offence, and the Online Safety Act requires services to proactively identify and remove such content.The Act requires in-scope services, including AI services, to take a safety by design approach to tackling these harms. Ofcom has set out safety measures, including requiring risky services to use technology to detect known images and scan for links to such content. There are also measures to tackle online grooming.We are taking further action in the Crime and Policing Bill to criminalise AI models which have been optimised to create CSAM and creating a new legal defence which will allow designated experts (such as AI developers and third sector organisations) to stringently test whether AI systems can generate CSAM, and develop safeguards to prevent it.The government remains committed to taking further steps, if required, to ensure that the UK is prepared for the changes that AI will bring.

Whether she has made a recent assessment of the cumulative impact of multiple concurrent airport expansions at Luton, Gatwick and Heathrow.

The Government recognises a role for, and is supportive of, airport expansion where it provides economic growth and is compatible with our legally binding net zero target and strict environmental standards. The Secretary of State has approved Luton and Gatwick Airport’s Development Consent Order (DCO) planning applications on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the relevant national policy and any material considerations. I can't comment on the merits of the Luton or Gatwick DCOs as legal proceedings are ongoing. The Government is reviewing the Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), which provides the primary basis for decision making on DCO applications for a third runway at Heathrow Airport. As part of this we will review and update the existing Appraisal of Sustainability which includes an assessment of potential cumulative effects, in line with any amendments made to the ANPS. Any DCO application for a third runway at Heathrow Airport will need to include an assessment of the cumulation of effects with other existing and, or approved projects in its Environmental Statement.

Innovation and Technology, what transparency conditions are currently required when government departments procure AI systems from private companies; and what mechanisms are in place to ensure public sector bodies can explain AI-driven decisions to citizens when the underlying models are proprietary.

Since February 2024, all government departments and arm’s-length bodies must comply with the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS), which mandates publishing details on algorithmic tools, including decision-making processes, human oversight, technical specifications, and risk assessments. Suppliers are required to provide sufficient information for transparency records, with exemptions balancing commercial sensitivities. Over 36 ATRS records have been published to date.The AI Knowledge Hub further enhances transparency by sharing open-source code, problem statements, and performance metrics.Additionally, the Open Source AI Fellowship promotes explainability through publicly inspectable models. These measures enable government to explain AI-driven decisions while maintaining accountability.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to help tackle misleading advertising online.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent regulator for advertising in the UK and enforces the Advertising Codes. These codes include specific rules intended to protect consumers from misleading marketing communications, including online. If advertising includes the omission, exaggeration, or ambiguous presentation of information, it can be considered misleading. The ASA works with online platforms via its Intermediary and Platform Principles to promote greater adherence to the non-broadcast advertising codes, resulting in more responsible advertising online. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 also prohibits unfair commercial practices, including misleading actions and omissions, that are likely to impact the average consumer’s transactional decisions. The Government commenced Part 4, Chapter 1 of the Act, which sets out rules on unfair trading, in April 2025.

How many children with drug-resistant epilepsy have been prescribed cannabis-based medicinal products through private prescriptions in each of the last three years; and what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of access to cannabis-based medicinal products for children with severe epilepsy unable to afford private prescriptions.

The NHS Business Services Authority does not hold the information in the form requested. National Health Service or private controlled drug prescription forms to do contain information on the condition being treated, or why a medicine has been prescribed.No assessment has been made of trends in the level of access to cannabis-based medicinal products for children with severe epilepsy unable to afford private prescriptions.The Department does not make provision for the funding of medicines outside of the NHS’ commissioning systems and it remains that the cost of treatments sought privately are the responsibility of patients.

What steps his Department is taking to support clinical trials for multi-compound cannabis-based medicinal products for the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy in children.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR is funding two trials to investigate the safety and efficacy of cannabinoid treatments for drug-resistant epilepsy in both adults and children. Further detail on the trials can be found on the NIHR’s website, at the following link:https://fundingawards.nihr.ac.uk/award/NIHR131309The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with epilepsy, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments. We are working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of the medicines and therapies of the future, including treatments for epilepsy.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of unspecified price increases in fixed-term telecoms contract on consumers; and whether her Department has had discussions with Ofcom about reviewing the regulation of such increases.

It is imperative that people feel empowered when interacting with the telecoms market and that they can be confident they are getting a fair deal.The Secretary of State wrote to Ofcom’s CEO on 31 October to seek Ofcom’s assessment of existing consumer protections and to explore what could be done further and faster on transparent and fair pricing. The Secretary of State has also met with consumer advocate Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert, to discuss issues raised in the letter and ideas to further strengthen protections for ordinary people.