Al Pinkerton

The Government will assess the potential to drive the construction of solar canopies on outdoor carparks over a certain size through a call for evidence this year.

New standards will be introduced this year which will amend the energy efficiency standards in the Building Regulations in England. This will ensure all new homes and buildings, including warehouses and council-owned buildings, in England are zero-carbon ready.

Further details about how the Government will increase the deployment of solar panels will be set out in the forthcoming Solar Roadmap.

Current regulations require privately rented homes in England and Wales are to meet a minimum standard of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band E, unless a valid exemption applies. Government will shortly consult on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector.

Support is currently available to landlords and tenants to improve rental properties. An eligibility tool is available on our ‘Help for Households’ GOV.UK page that will help people find the support available to them via the Home Upgrade Grant and the Great British Insulation Scheme. There is also a zero-rate of VAT until March 2027 on energy saving measures, such as insulation and low-carbon heating.

Delivering the Warm Homes Plan is central to the clean energy mission. Targeting decarbonisation of heat in buildings, including the rental sector, will account for around 75% of reduction in all building emissions as well as reducing demand.

Government will shortly consult on increasing minimum energy efficiency standards in the domestic private rented sector. The consultation will be accompanied with the Department’s assessment of the potential emissions savings of consultation proposals.

As set out last December, the Government will assess the latest evidence on costs, benefits and feasibility before consulting on the role of hydrogen in home heating later this year.

Hybrid powertrains in vehicles, including hydrogen-based hybrids, are a transitional technology that could support the decarbonisation of UK transport in certain cases. The Government is currently consulting on the role of hybrid cars in the transition to net zero, with a focus on 2030-2035.

The Government recognises the challenges that AI-generated content, including deepfakes, can pose to the online environment. The Online Safety Act puts new requirements on social media platforms to swiftly remove illegal misinformation and disinformation - including where it is AI-generated - as soon as they become aware of it.

Our immediate focus is getting the Act implemented quickly and effectively. We will then of course look at where we could go further, as set out in the government’s manifesto. It is right that government continually assesses the law’s ability to keep up, especially where technology moves so fast.

The government recognises that access to the internet is increasingly essential for full participation in society and has taken steps to ensure households across the UK are able to access fast, reliable mobile and broadband services.

More than 25 providers now offer low-cost mobile and broadband packages for households in receipt of Universal Credit and some other means tested benefits (up from 10 providers in September 2022), with the average price of a broadband social tariff being £17.41 per month. Social tariffs could provide consumers with savings of over £220 per year on their fixed broadband bills.

At the recent Budget, the government took a number of difficult decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the foundations on public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability.

Ministers have met with representatives from the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector to discuss this issue and the department is aware of their concerns about the impacts of the increase to employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs).

The government recognises the need to protect the smallest businesses and charities, which is why we have more than doubled the Employment Allowance to £10,500. This means that more than half of businesses (including charities) with NICs liabilities will either gain or see no change next year.

We are also expanding eligibility of the Employment Allowance by removing the £100,000 eligibility threshold, to simplify and reform employer NICs so that all eligible employers now benefit. Businesses and charities will still be able to claim employer NICs reliefs including those for under 21s and under 25 apprentices, where eligible.

The Government publishes Tax Information and Impact Notes (TIINs) for tax policy changes, which give a clear explanation of the policy objective and an assessment of the impacts. The TIIN for the employer NICs changes was published on 13 November 2024.

Within the tax system, we provide support to charities through a range of reliefs and exemptions, including reliefs for charitable giving. More than £6 billion in charitable reliefs was provided to charities, Community Amateur Sports Clubs and their donors in 2023 to 2024. The biggest individual reliefs provided are Gift Aid at £1.6 billion and business rates relief at nearly £2.4 billion.

Universities are independent and autonomous bodies responsible for decisions such as admissions, diversity of provision, course content, teaching and assessment. As such, they are responsible for designing their own policies regarding the use of artificial intelligence and for taking steps to prevent academic misconduct, as set out in the Office for Students’ regulatory framework.

Academic integrity is crucial to protecting the reputation of the UK’s world-class higher education sector.

From September 2025 the Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF) will set out a minimum entitlement to training for new teachers and must be used by providers of Initial Teacher Training and those delivering provider-led early career training to create their curricula.

The department’s review of content for the ITTECF paid particular attention to the needs of trainees and Early Career Teachers (ECTs) when supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). There is now significantly more content related to adaptive teaching and supporting pupils with SEND. The content includes, for example, developing an understanding of different pupil needs, and learning how to provide opportunities for success for all pupils. The department tested this approach with SEND educational experts with consensus that the approach of ‘quality-first teaching’ would be the best way to improve outcomes for all children, particularly those with SEND.

The department recognises that continuous improvement is essential and have recently committed to a full review of the Early Career Teacher Entitlement in 2027 to ensure it continues to provide the best possible support for ECTs. This review will focus on the support we provide new teachers in teaching pupils with SEND.

Ofsted inspect all teacher training that leads to qualified teacher status, as well as department-funded lead providers of training for ECTs. Their inspections give an independent, external evaluation of a provider’s effectiveness and, where appropriate, highlight areas for improvement.

On 1 September 2024, the government introduced a new mandatory leadership level National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs). The NPQ must be completed within three years of taking up a SENCO post. The new NPQ will play a key role improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND by ensuring SENCOs consistently receive high-quality, evidence-based training.

The £12 million Universal Services programme also helps the school and further education workforce to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with SEND earlier and more effectively. The programme offers online training, professional development groups, bespoke school and college improvement projects, sector-led research, autism awareness training and an embedded focus on preparation for adulthood, including employer-led webinars for college staff.

Political and media literacy are currently taught through the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, which covers parliamentary democracy, the power of government, and how citizens and Parliament hold government to account. It also equips young people to distinguish between fact and opinion and understand the role of a free press. Primary schools can choose to teach citizenship, using non-statutory programmes of study at key stages 1 and 2. Complementary aspects of media literacy are also taught through relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) and computing, which together equip pupils to evaluate and apply information technology and to be a discerning consumer of information online.

Support for curriculum delivery is available through optional, free and adaptable resources from Oak National Academy (Oak). Oak launched its new curriculum sequences for secondary citizenship earlier this academic year, with the full package of curriculum resources expected to be available by this autumn. Oak resources are available here: https://www.thenational.academy/.

The Educate against Hate website also hosts a series of online media literacy resources, which seek to help young people evaluate the validity of information. These resources can be accessed here: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, conducted by a group of education leaders (the Review group) and chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The terms of reference were published last July and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/curriculum-and-assessment-review.

The Review will seek to deliver a curriculum that is rich and broad, which ensures children and young people are equipped with the essential knowledge and skills to enable them to adapt and thrive in the world and workplace of the future. The Review will consider the skills needed to ensure that children are resilient to misinformation and can distinguish fact from fiction.

The role of the Review group is to consider the evidence, the responses to the call for evidence and widespread engagement with the sector, and then make recommendations for the government to consider. The Review group will publish an interim report in early spring setting out its interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work, and will publish its final report with recommendations this autumn. The department will take decisions on what changes to make in light of these recommendations.

Political and media literacy are currently taught through the national curriculum for citizenship at key stages 3 and 4, which covers parliamentary democracy, the power of government, and how citizens and Parliament hold government to account. It also equips young people to distinguish between fact and opinion and understand the role of a free press. Primary schools can choose to teach citizenship, using non-statutory programmes of study at key stages 1 and 2. Complementary aspects of media literacy are also taught through relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) and computing, which together equip pupils to evaluate and apply information technology and to be a discerning consumer of information online.

Support for curriculum delivery is available through optional, free and adaptable resources from Oak National Academy (Oak). Oak launched its new curriculum sequences for secondary citizenship earlier this academic year, with the full package of curriculum resources expected to be available by this autumn. Oak resources are available here: https://www.thenational.academy/.

The Educate against Hate website also hosts a series of online media literacy resources, which seek to help young people evaluate the validity of information. These resources can be accessed here: https://www.educateagainsthate.com/.

The government has established an independent Curriculum and Assessment Review, conducted by a group of education leaders (the Review group) and chaired by Professor Becky Francis CBE. The terms of reference were published last July and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/curriculum-and-assessment-review.

The Review will seek to deliver a curriculum that is rich and broad, which ensures children and young people are equipped with the essential knowledge and skills to enable them to adapt and thrive in the world and workplace of the future. The Review will consider the skills needed to ensure that children are resilient to misinformation and can distinguish fact from fiction.

The role of the Review group is to consider the evidence, the responses to the call for evidence and widespread engagement with the sector, and then make recommendations for the government to consider. The Review group will publish an interim report in early spring setting out its interim findings and confirming the key areas for further work, and will publish its final report with recommendations this autumn. The department will take decisions on what changes to make in light of these recommendations.

This government is committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity and ensuring every child has access to high-quality education. The government’s ambition is that all children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or in alternative provision receive the right support to succeed in their education and as they move into adult life. We are committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, as well as ensuring special schools cater to children and young people with the most complex needs.

At the Autumn Budget 2024, the government announced a £1 billion uplift in high needs funding in financial year 2025/26, providing additional support and improving outcomes for the more than a million children in the state sector with SEND.

Most children with special educational needs, including most with education, health and care (EHC) plans, are already educated in mainstream state-funded schools. All state-funded schools support children with SEND. All children of compulsory age are entitled to a state-funded school place that is free for parents. Where a private school place is necessary to support a child with SEND, the local authority will fund it through an EHC plan.

Local authorities have a statutory duty for ensuring sufficient state school places in their area. Local authorities routinely support parents that need a state-funded school place, including where private schools have closed or where pupils move between schools. The department does not collect data on in-year school applications or admissions, but where local authorities are experiencing difficulties in ensuring there are enough school places for children that need them, the department will offer support and advice.

The department expects all schools admitting new pupils in-year to provide them with appropriate support, including where they have SEND. Schools will need to work with their local authority where pupils have additional needs that cannot be met within the school.

For too long, water companies have discharged unacceptable levels of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas.

That is why we are placing water companies under special measures through the Water (Special Measures) Bill. The Bill will drive meaningful improvements in the performance and culture of the water industry as a first important step in enabling wider, transformative change across the water sector.

For Price Review 2024 (PR24), which runs from 2025 – 2030, Thames Water will invest £784 million to reduce the use of storm overflows including in and around the Surrey Heath constituency. Additional improvement actions also include increasing treatment capacity at sewage works, providing storage for high flows, reducing flows entering the system and provision of treatment for storm overflows which are separate from the main treatment route.

There have been significant pollution incidents at Camberley and Chobham Sewage Treatment Works in the last few years and these are still subject to Environment Agency investigations. We will not let companies get away with illegal activity and where breaches are found, the EA will not hesitate to hold companies to account. The Environment Agency has also undertaken recent inspections of Sewage Treatment Works, including at Camberley, Lightwater and Chobham.

From 1 January 2025, water companies will be required to publish data related to discharges from all storm overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning (under section 141DA of the Water Industry Act 1991 as inserted by section 81 of the Environment Act 2021).

In addition to this, the Water (Special Measures) Bill will introduce a duty for water companies to publish data related to discharges from all emergency overflows within one hour of the discharge beginning.

This will create an unprecedented level of transparency, enabling the public and regulators to see where, and how often, overflows are discharging, and hold water companies to account. This will meet the Government commitment to ensure monitoring of every outlet.

The Water (Special Measures) Bill will also introduce a statutory duty for all water companies in England and Wales to publish annual Pollution Incident Reduction Plans.

The measures in this Bill will provide the most significant increase in enforcement powers for the regulators in a decade, giving them the teeth they need to take tougher action against water companies in the next investment period, which is due to start in April next year.

It is essential to manage bottom trawling in our Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) appropriately due to the significant damage it can have on protected seabed habitats. 60% of England’s MPAs have bottom trawling restrictions already. The department is considering next steps in the context of our domestic and international nature conservation obligations and how we consider, and work with, the fishing industry as part of this.

This is a devolved matter, and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

The Government is committed to effectively protecting 30% of our land and sea by 2030. There are 181 Marine Protected Areas, including three Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs), covering over 40% of English waters.

We are currently focusing on implementing management measures to ensure these three HPMAs receive the high level of protection needed and will consider next steps on HPMAs in due course.

The Government has invited proposals for a third runway at Heathrow to be brought forward by the summer.

Once proposals have been received, the government will review the Airports National Policy Statement, which provides the basis for decision making on granting development consent for a new runway at Heathrow.

The government has been clear that any airport expansion proposals need to demonstrate that they contribute to economic growth, can be delivered in line with the UK’s legally binding commitments on carbon and meet strict environmental requirements on air quality and noise pollution.

On the 18 December, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) set out further plans to reduce driving test waiting times across the country. These steps include recruiting 450 driving examiners (DEs). Full details of these steps can be found on GOV.UK.

As part of driving test centres (DTC) that serve the Surrey Heath constituency, Guildford DTC and Farnborough DTC form a recruitment cluster that newer driving examiners (DE) move between.

As part of recent recruitment, two new DEs were recruited last year at Guildford DTC. DVSA has also made offers to two more potential new entrants from its most recent recruitment campaign and is currently planning for the next campaign beginning later this year.

The DVSA is committed to providing its customers with the best service possible. DVSA continually reviews its estate to ensure it represents good value for money and is efficient. It currently has no plans for any additional driving test centres.

National Highways play a key role in the planning process to determine the necessary strategic road requirements of new major housing projects, and new major developments are a key consideration in future network investment planning as part of the Road Investment Strategy. Alongside this, the Department continues to work with colleagues in the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government and other partners to deliver a well-designed, integrated, and affordable transport network that unlocks homes and supports new developments. This is key to realising wider growth benefits, including reducing congestion and emissions, and ensuring communities can access jobs and services.

To ensure fairness for everyone wanting to book a practical driving test, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continues to work hard to combat the unscrupulous practice of reselling tests, very often at significant profit.

DVSA deploys enhanced bot protection on its public facing booking system to stop automated systems from buying up tests unfairly. These applications, however, are constantly evolving and changing and DVSA continues to take steps to block cancellation services from accessing the booking system.

DVSA operates an online booking service (OBS) for Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs) and trainers so that they can book and manage driving and riding tests for their pupils. DVSA has made changes to the OBS by stopping automatic online registrations to use the service, ensuring each company that registers employs an ADI and removing access for any companies not linked to driving instructors.

In January 2023, DVSA changed its booking service terms and conditions to help prevent anyone from selling tests at profit. Since then, the DVSA has issued 327 warnings, 779 suspensions, and closed 727 business accounts for misuse of its booking service.

The law requires all driving licence holders to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of any medical condition that could affect their fitness to drive and failure to do so is an offence.

When a driver declares a medical condition to the DVLA, or a third party (for example a doctor, police officer, family, friends or neighbours) raises concerns, the DVLA will carry out an investigation and a driving licence will only be issued or retained if the individual can meet the appropriate health standards. These medical investigations can range from the consideration of information provided by the driver or applicant to a more detailed investigation. This can include information provided by medical professionals, reports, examinations, eyesight tests or driving assessments.

All drivers are encouraged to discuss any concerns about their fitness to drive with their own healthcare professionals. Healthcare professionals, doctors and opticians play an important role in the driver licensing process. They advise their patients of the implications of their condition on driving and the effect of any treatment or medication and they advise when a patient should notify the DVLA. If a patient is unwilling or unable to notify the DVLA, the General Medical Council offers clear guidance of when doctors should report any concerns and the DVLA treats such notifications as a high priority. Similar guidance is available to opticians.

Neurodivergent people bring many positive benefits to businesses but can face stigma and disadvantage. We understand the importance of tackling discrimination and encouraging employers to adopt neuro-inclusive working practices so that everyone can thrive at work.

In our plan to Make Work Pay, we committed to raising awareness of neurodiversity in the workplace. We will be gathering expert evidence on how best to improve employment for all neurodivergent people and will be considering the Buckland Review of Autism Employment’s findings.

Employers have a key role to play. Our support to employers includes a digital information service for employers, and the Disability Confident scheme. Both help employers to understand their legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010. We will be considering how to enhance our work with employers in the months ahead, including in response to the independent employer review announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper.

We are committed to removing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) from the National Health Service estate as a priority.

The NHS has been surveying hospital sites to identify the presence of RAAC since 2019. Once the presence of RAAC is confirmed at a hospital site, the trust joins NHS England’s national RAAC programme, which has delivered mitigation, safety, and eradication works across all hospital sites with confirmed RAAC to keep facilities safe and open, and is working to remove RAAC fully from the NHS estate. There are nine hospital sites in the South East currently in the NHS RAAC programme, and one hospital site in the South East, specifically Medway Maritime Hospital, has completely eradicated RAAC.

We confirmed £440 million specifically for RAAC mitigation and eradication in 2025/26 as part of NHS capital guidance. National RAAC funding is allocated annually based on NHS trust plans and delivery progress, and funds mitigation works at the seven hospitals built wholly or primarily from RAAC.

We are working at pace to ensure that the seven hospitals built wholly or primarily from RAAC in the New Hospital Programme (NHP) will be replaced as quickly as possible, including Frimley Park Hospital in the South East, to protect patient and staff safety. Construction for all RAAC replacement schemes is planned to commence and substantially deliver between 2025 and 2030 as part of Wave 1 of the NHP.

No assessment has been made of the potential merits of reducing the level of car-parking charges for staff in National Health Service hospitals in the Surrey Heath constituency.

NHS trusts are expected to follow the principles set out in the NHS Car Parking Guidance. The guidance makes clear that charges, where they exist, should be reasonable for the area.

All NHS trusts that charge for car parking provide free hospital car parking in England for those most in need. This includes Blue Badge holders, frequent outpatient attenders, parents of sick children staying overnight in hospital, and NHS staff working night shifts. The Department has issued guidance to NHS trusts on the implementation of this commitment.

It is for local National Health Service organisations to adopt digital health technologies and services which best meet the needs of their local populations. However, digital health tools should be part of a wider offering that includes face-to-face support with appropriate help for people who struggle to access digital services. The GP Contract is also clear that patients should always have the option of visiting their practice in person. NHS England successfully ran a number of programmes to support patients, carers, and health service staff with their digital skills. These include:

• the Digital Health Champions programme, a proof of concept to support citizens who have no or low digital skills with understanding how to access health services online;
• the Widening Digital Participation programme, aimed to ensure more people have the digital skills, motivation and means to access health information and services online; and
• the NHS App Spoken Word Pilot project, designed to test the efficacy of promoting NHS digital health products and services in languages other than English.

NHS England has also published a framework for NHS action on digital inclusion and is developing further resources to support practical actions. All digital programmes are actively considering how they can contribute to improvements in healthcare inequalities and digital inclusion.

The Government is committed to tackling the retention and recruitment challenges that face the National Health Service. Bringing in the staff we need will take time, but this is an absolute priority for the Government. NHS England is leading a range of initiatives to boost retention of existing staff and ensure that the NHS remains an attractive career choice for new recruits. This includes building a compassionate and inclusive culture, supporting staff wellbeing, and promoting flexible working opportunities.

Targeted retention work for midwives is being undertaken by NHS England, led by the Chief Nursing Officer. This work contains a range of measures, including the creation of a midwifery and nursing retention self-assessment tool, mentoring schemes, strengthened advice and support on pensions, and embedded flexible retirement options. NHS England has also invested in unit-based retention leads which, alongside investment in workforce capacity, has seen a reduction in vacancy, leaver, and turnover rates.

The Frimley Health midwifery workforce, which includes the Surrey Heath area, now has in place a fully resourced midwifery workforce. This follows five-years of work, led by the trust, on recruitment and retention, in addition to the ongoing work by NHS England.

Most hospices are charitable, independent organisations which receive some statutory funding for providing National Health Services. As independent organisations, charitable hospices are responsible for their own recruitment and employment terms.

The NHS has been facing chronic workforce shortages for years, and we have to be honest that bringing in the staff we need will take time. We understand that this will also impact the voluntary sector, including hospices, like those in the Surrey Heath area.

We are committed to training the staff we need to get patients seen on time. The Government will make sure the NHS has the staff it needs to be there for all of us when we need it, including at the end of life.

We will continue to proactively engage with our stakeholders, including the voluntary sector and independent hospices, on an ongoing basis, in order to understand the issues they face.

We provide information and guidance in our Travel Advice on the issues most likely to be of relevance to British nationals visiting or living in each country/territory. In determining what we include in our Travel Advice we assess a range of factors, including drawing on local knowledge and monitoring trends in consular cases. The risk of carbon monoxide poisoning is currently covered in our Travel Advice pages for China and Nepal. In addition, two of our Travel Aware partners, RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) and the Safer Tourism Foundation, run campaigns and continue to develop messaging to alert travellers to the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning around the world. We regularly review the work we do with all our Travel Aware partners ensuring that they are highlighting appropriate issues to British travellers.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development (FCDO) travel advice remains under regular review to ensure it reflects our latest assessment of risks to British nationals. The risks of carbon monoxide poisoning is currently covered in our Travel Advice pages for China and Nepal. We aim to include information in our travel advice on the issues most likely to be of relevance to British nationals visiting or living in each country/territory. In determining what we include in our Travel Advice we assess a range of factors, including drawing on local knowledge and monitoring trends in consular cases.

Our international climate finance continues to prioritise support to the most vulnerable communities who are experiencing the worst impacts of climate change, including children. For example, we will triple our funding for adaptation from £500 million in 2019 to £1.5 billion in 2025. In addition, we are committed to amplifying the voices of the most marginalised, empowering them as decision-makers, advocates and leaders in the climate response, ensuring gender and inclusion are a key part of our policy and programming. At COP29, I championed gender-responsive and inclusive international climate finance and policy, announcing over £5.8 million to support women's economic empowerment and in the context of insecurity created by the climate crisis.

The Government is completely committed to ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement, also known as the High Seas Treaty), which is in line with our determination to reinvigorate the UK's wider international leadership on climate and nature. Work is in hand on the measures needed to implement the detailed and complex provisions of the Agreement before the UK can ratify.

The Government is working to support people and improve living standards for everyone across the country. As part of this, the Government committed to making no increase in employee National Insurance, Income Tax or VAT as we want to keep taxes as low as possible for working people. The Government has also put growth as its number one mission, which will help families by boosting wages and putting more money in people’s pockets.

The Budget announced a £240 million Get Britain Working package to help people into work which will help to tackle the root causes of economic inactivity and to get those who can work, off benefits and into good employment. Further details have been set out in the Get Britain Working White Paper, published on 26 November 2024.

On 1 April 2025, the new National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates will come into force, expecting to benefit over 3 million eligible workers. For a full-time worker on NLW, the 6.7% increase of the rate to £12.21 per hour will provide a £1,400 increase to their annual earnings. These increases will ensure that the lowest-paid workers are supported and marks a step towards the government delivering a genuine living wage for all adults.

In addition, the Government is also supporting those on low incomes through continuing the Household Support Fund, increasing the Carers’ Allowance weekly earnings limit by nearly 30% from April 2025, and creating a new Fair Repayment Rate ensuring 1.2 million households claiming Universal Credit are on average better off by £420 per year, by capping the amount of debt deductions at 15% of the standard allowance.

On mental health, the Government has continued to expand access to mental health support to address the high levels of demand since the pandemic ended. This has included increasing the mental health workforce, treating more people through NHS Talking Therapies and improving urgent and emergency mental health care though new crisis houses and alternatives to A&E as well as making support available to those experiencing a crisis through the new ‘mental health option’ on 111.

The Government will abolish the Furnished Holiday Lets (FHLs) tax regime from April 2025. This will equalise the tax treatment of FHL and non-FHL landlords’ income and gains.

The Government wants to support the visitor economy alongside housing for longer-term residents to rent or buy. Achieving this balance is crucial in supporting the tourism sector, and many of the people who work in the sector need access to local housing.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government committed to an independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers.

Further details about the review will be set out in due course.

The Government is committed to an independent review of the Loan Charge to help bring the matter to a close for those affected whilst ensuring fairness for all taxpayers.

Further details will be set out in due course.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption, and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer.

One of the key considerations when assessing a new VAT relief is whether the cost saving is likely to be passed on to consumers. Evidence suggests that businesses only partially pass on any savings from lower VAT rates. The Government has no current plans to zero-rate VAT on pedal and electric bicycles, but keeps all taxes under review.