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Oliver Dowden
CON✓ Current MP
🏛️ Hertsmere
📅 2015–2026
1,283 speeches on Hansard record
✅ Votes attended: 87.37% (#139 of 649 MPs)
🟢 Rebelled against party: 0.00%
📝 Topics: Green Belt, Planning: Local Government, Police: Social Media
🤝 Member of 7 All-Party Parliamentary Groups
Written Answers
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Cabinet Office
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people are currently employed in the hair and beauty sector.
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To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many apprentices are working in the hair and beauty sector.
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Department for Business and Trade
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking with local councils to tackle the anti-social use of fireworks in Hertfordshire.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Fireworks Regulations 2004 on tackling the purchase of fireworks for anti-social use.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department has taken to support the hair and beauty sector.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and HMRC of the number of people currently practicing in the hair and beauty sector using disguised employment practices.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support parents and carers with childcare flexibility in the freelance screen industries.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the (a) effectiveness of screen industry training pathways and (b) potential merits of additional support for industry-led, on-set training frameworks developed by working professionals.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support the development of standardised skills frame-works and transferable accreditation systems for freelance technical roles in the UK screen industries.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of skills and knowledge retention within the freelance film and high-end television workforce.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to improve accessibility and reduce financial barriers to training and career progression within the freelance screen workforce.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to support industry-led workforce development initiatives to provide consistent training and progression pathways across the UK screen sector.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changes to on-set mentorship on training and skills transfer on the film and television industry.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help support industry-led training and workforce infrastructure in the freelance screen workforce.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of income volatility among freelance workers in the film and high-end television sector.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to improve financial stability for film and television workers during periods of production slowdown.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions her Department has held with industry stakeholders on the potential for reinvestment mechanisms, such as sector-wide training and workforce support funds, to help improve the long-term sustainability of the freelance…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help retain experienced freelance technicians in the UK screen sector.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increased commissioning concentration among a small number of global studios and streamers on (a) employment conditions, (b) rate stability and (c) workforce sustainability…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help improve training standards in the film industry.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help retain skilled workers in the film industry.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support her Department is making available to camera trainees in the film industry.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support her Department is making available to freelancers in the film industry.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that arts organisations receiving public funding do not discriminate against events based on the political or philosophical viewpoints of the speakers.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what guidance her Department provides to Arts Council England regarding the political neutrality of National Portfolio Organisations.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with the BBC on the adequacy of the political impartiality in its news and current affairs output.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of removing the requirement for local authorities to publish statutory public notices in local newspapers on local transparency in Hertfordshire.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of removing the requirement to advertise new premises licences or variations to existing ones in local newspapers on local transparency in Hertfordshire.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions her Department has had with the BBC board on impartiality in news coverage of the conflict in Israel and Gaza.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support the film industry in (a) England and (b) Hertsmere.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to ensure growth in the British film industry.
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Department for Education
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken through the education system to educate young people on the harms of radicalisation.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of holding a public inquiry into antisemitism on university campuses.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of StandWithUs UK's Voice of Students 2024 Report into antisemitism on UK university campuses, published on 7 May 2025.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of implementing mandatory education on antisemitism in schools.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle funding gaps for statutory SEND duties in Hertfordshire.
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Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions his Department has had with relevant stakeholders in the last month on the a) termination of the Drax power station contract, b) issuing of a licensing penalty and c) suitability of its CEO.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the December 2022 report by the Drax company secretary into whistleblowing activity including the transcripts of discussions with Stuart Cotten, Hillary Berger,…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the (a) environmental and (b) ethical standards required for the continued provision of support to Drax.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of Ofgem’s ability to scrutinise Drax.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that wood from primary forests will not be used for the generation of energy.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions his Department has had with Ofgem on Drax.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussion his Department has had with Ofgem on companies receiving subsidies for unsuitable biomass.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking with Ofgem to help ensure there is adequate data (a) governance and (b) controls for sustainability arrangements at Ofgem.
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Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will prohibit bottom-towed fishing gear in all 41 Marine Protected Areas.
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Department for Transport
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her department has made of the potential merits of implementing clear rules on the speed and distance vehicles must maintain when passing horse riders.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to raise awareness of equestrian safety among new and existing drivers.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress she has made on supporting pothole repairs in Hertsmere constituency.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support local highway authorities in improving their road maintenance rating.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help increase pothole repairs in Hertsmere constituency.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had discussions with Hertfordshire County Council on potholes.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure local authorities repair potholes in Hertfordshire.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to improve the condition of road networks in Hertsmere constituency.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help support the maintenance of highways in Hertfordshire.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has had discussions with Hertfordshire County Council on improving their road maintenance rating.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many serious vehicle accidents have resulted from potholes in (a) Hertsmere constituency and (b) Hertfordshire since 2015.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she plans to introduce address checks for driving licenses and vehicle registrations.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the DVLA are taking to reduce levels of address fraud for vehicle registrations and driving licenses.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with the DVLA on levels of fraud.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the DVLA is taking to reduce the number of people using addresses not belonging to them for driving license applications.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will review the policy of verifying addresses for vehicle registrations and driving licenses.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she intends to introduce mandatory address verifications on driving license applications.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what is her Department’s timetable for announcing future rounds of funding for the Access for All programme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2025 to Question 58611 on Railways: Access, when her Department will fund Network Rail to undertake the next round of feasibility studies.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's announcement Railway stations awarded Access for All accessibility funding, published on 24 May 2024, what her planned timetable is for the completion of Access for All construction at Bushey Railway Station.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2024 to Question 9480 on Radlett Station: Access, if she will make it her policy to provide funding to improve accessibility at Radlett Station.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the merits of removing Appendix B from the Persons with Reduced Mobility National Technical Specification Notice.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her Department’s timetable is for announcing the next steps of the Access for All programme.
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Department for Work and Pensions
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to support the national rollout of (a) JobsPlus and (b) other community-led employment programmes following the conclusion of the pilot phase.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that Local Get Britain Working plans (a) are designed in partnership with community-led housing organisations and (b) reflect local labour market needs.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of lessons from (a) the JobsPlus and (b) other pilot programmes in informing the development of Local Get Britain Working plans.
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Department of Health and Social Care
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) quality and (b) provision of NHS wheelchairs by AJM Healthcare.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help recruit in clinical oncology and radiology.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the recruitment freezes on cancer and diagnostic departments.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the workforce capacity in cancer and diagnostic services.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to promote NHS innovation in genomics.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to promote NHS innovation in robotics.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to promote NHS innovation in nano surgery.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to promote NHS innovation in liquid biopsies.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on the phased implementation period for access to hybrid closed-loop technology for people with type 1 diabetes.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many virtual wards there are in the NHS across England.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there is a target for the number of virtual wards in the NHS across England.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the target number of virtual wards is in the NHS across England.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the current bed capacity is in the NHS across England.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to change the current bed capacity in the NHS across England.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase access to continuous glucose monitors for people with diabetes.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the (a) quality and (b) provision of NHS wheelchairs.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to (a) tackle, (b) prevent and (c) monitor poor quality care in council-commissioned care homes.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to support community pharmacies.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to expand the Pharmacy First scheme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to support NHS services in Hertfordshire, in the context of his Department's review of the New Hospital Programme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the New Hospital Programme review, when the (a) options and (b) recommendations for Watford General Hospital will be published; and when he plans to announce which hospitals will be prioritised.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on the New Hospital Programme Review, in the context of Watford General Hospital.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to next review the NHS Car Parking guidance.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to review the NHS Car Parking guidance.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to tackle losses to community pharmacies arising from delays in price concessions and drug tariffs.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will increase the staffing budget for the East of England Ambulance Service.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending NHS Outer London Weighting to (a) Hertsmere and (b) Watford.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much of the NHS funding announced in the Autumn Budget 2024, HC 295, will be allocated to ambulance services.
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Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she has taken to strengthen the UK's international work to protect freedom of religion or belief.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations she has made to her international counterparts to protect the religious freedom of Christians across the globe.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the United Nations on UNRWA neutrality.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he last met the Israeli ambassador to the UK; and what he discussed.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with (a) his counterpart in Israel and (b) the United Nations on reports of potential links between Hamas and UNRWA.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has had discussions with the UN on reports that Hamas hostages have been held in UNRWA facilities.
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Home Office
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 on UK cyber resilience, skills and innovation; and what impact the current framework has on the UK’s competitiveness compared with other jurisdictions.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support is in place for Iranian nationals seeking to visit family members in the UK.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to proposed changes to the Computer Misuse Act 1990, whether she plans to ensure any potential statutory defence covers cybersecurity researchers who are conducting threat intelligence.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the impact of the Computer Misuse Act 1990 on the competitiveness and growth of the UK cyber security sector.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to promote free speech.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to protect free speech.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers are being housed in homes of multiple occupation in Hertsmere constituency.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of asylum accommodation contracts on the private rented housing market in Hertsmere constituency.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to help prevent the radicalisation of young people.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support she is providing to local authorities to help them prevent people from being radicalised.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what her Department’s timetable is for publishing the response to the call for evidence entitled Controls on the use of crossbows on public safety grounds, which closed on 9 April 2024.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of adding wider information on offences involving crossbows in the Annual Data Requirement.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of police staff regularly monitor social media for malicious communications.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of police forces have dedicated teams for monitoring social media for malicious communications.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of police staff are dedicated solely to monitoring social media.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the total cost was of police initiatives to monitor social media for malicious communications in the most recent period for which data is available.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many arrests were made for online malicious communications in 2024.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff are dedicated solely to monitoring social media for malicious communications in Hertfordshire Constabulary.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many arrests were made of for online malicious communications in Hertfordshire in 2024.
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many data centre developments have been granted consent under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he collects data on the number of data centre developments that have been granted consent by local planning authorities.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of data centre developments have been granted consent by local planning authorities since July 2024.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of data centre developments have been granted consent by local planning authorities on green belt land since July 2024.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to raise the standards of rented properties in Hertsmere.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure tenants living in Clarion Housing properties have adequate and safe homes.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure tenants living in Clarion Housing properties have issues resolved in an adequate and timely manner.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department will make it a requirement for developers of sites near rail stations to contribute to Section 106 monies to help deliver future accessibility improvements at those rail stations.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to protect local democracy when changing the referral criteria to require Local Planning Authorities to notify the Department where they intend to refuse an application for 150 homes or more.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide the evidence base used to determine that 800m is the appropriate radius for station-based Green Belt release.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has conducted an assessment of the potential for "Grey Belt" designations to encourage speculative planning applications on land in an area that does not have an up-to-date Local Plan.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many "Grey Belt" planning applications have been approved on appeal against the wishes of the local planning authority since the publication of the revised NPPF in December 2024.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Planning Practice Guidance on the Green Belt, how the Department defines (a) large built-up areas, (b) towns and (c) historic towns.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many homes his Department plans to build on brownfield land.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Green Belt protection is factored in when making decisions on new towns.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2025 to Question 58228 on Planning: Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Local Authorities are upholding the Golden Rules under the revised National…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will publish further guidance to Local Planning Authorities on the weight given in the planning balance to a failure to comply with the Golden Rules.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that Local Planning Authorities have enough resources to enforce planning conditions if developers do not comply with planning applications.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will take steps to include leasehold houses in Right To Manage eligibility.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that appropriate infrastructure is built when building new towns.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Local Planning Authorities have an up-to-date local plan before local government reorganisation.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the consistency of Local Planning Authorities in applying the (a) NPPF and (b) Planning Practice Guidance.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2025 to Question 58609 on Green Belt: Planning, and the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39471 on Green Belt, for what reason her Department has decided to exclude Green Belt purposes…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2025 to Question 58609 and the Answer of 26 March 2025 to Question 39471, for what reason only Green Belt purposes (a), (b) and (d) were included in assessing grey belt land.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the consistency of Local Planning Authorities in identifying grey belt land.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of changing the Planning Practice Guidance assessment criteria of identifying grey belt land from being judged as strongly contributing to any one of purposes…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of continuing to commission new neighbourhood planning support services.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to replace new neighbourhood planning support services with any other services.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department has taken to protect localism when neighbourhood plans are being created.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2025 to Question 60598 on Neighbourhood Plans, what guidance her Department has provided to local planning authorities so that they can continue to be appropriately funded for their…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the decision to end the commissioning of new neighbourhood planning support services on Neighbourhood Plans that have finished their public consultation…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that Local Planning Authorities have an up-to-date local plan.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce cases of antisemitism.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of permitted development on the number of Houses of Multiple Occupation in Hertsmere constituency.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in demand for houses in multiple occupation accommodation on (a) England and (b) Hertsmere.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions her Department has had with Hertsmere Borough Council on houses in multiple occupation.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the oral contribution from the Leader of the House in response to a question from the Rt hon. Member for Hertsmere on 5 June 2025, Official Report, col 462, how the Renters' Rights Bill will increase the…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of Houses in Multiple Occupation on local communities.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of local authorities in upholding the Golden Rules under the revised NPPF.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with local authorities on applying the Golden Rules in local planning decisions.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department plans to take if local authorities do not comply with the (a) Golden Rules and (b) revised NPPF in local planning decisions.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will bring in further guidance on how local authorities can uphold the Golden Rules in local planning decisions.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with Hertsmere Borough Council on the application of the Golden Rules in local planning decisions.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 143 of the National Planning Policy Framework, if she will ensure that grey belt land is assessed against the five green belt purposes.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the written statement entitled Building the Homes We Need, of 30 July 2024, HCWS48, what steps she has taken to ensure that development on the green belt will offer at least 50 per cent affordable homes.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with Hertsmere Borough Council on protecting the green belt.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the written statement entitled Building the Homes We Need, of 30 July 2024, HCWS48, what steps she has taken to ensure local authorities are reviewing their green-belt boundaries where they cannot meet…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with local authorities on consistency in local planning decisions.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if her Department will formalise the role of representative community groups in local planning decisions.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether local plans will need to be updated following local government reorganisation.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with local authorities on the revised NPPF.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with Hertsmere Borough Council on local planning decisions.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the English Devolution White Paper, CP 1218, published on 16 December 2024, what plans she has to introduce legislative proposals for a ministerial directive to allow the creation of Strategic Authorities.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with Hertsmere Borough Council on local government reorganisation.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions her Department has had with Hertfordshire County Council on local government reorganisation.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the English Devolution White Paper, CP 1218, published on 16 December 2024, what steps she is taking to ensure local identity is respected in local government reorganisation.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the English Devolution White Paper, CP 1218, published on 16 December 2024, what guidance she has issued on deciding between alternative local government reorganisation proposals for one area.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant of the Answer of 24 October 2024 to Question 9472, what progress her Department has made on supporting leaseholders at Horizon Place in Borehamwood affected by cladding remediation issues.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 2 August 2024 to Question 1688 on Planning, what progress her Department has made on the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to postpone local authority elections in Hertfordshire in 2025.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria she uses to create regional authorities.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what her Department’s planned timetable is for publication of the English Devolution Bill; and how that Bill will impact Hertfordshire.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what powers she plans to devolve to Hertfordshire.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an estimate of the cost of further devolution in Hertfordshire.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's consultation entitled Proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system, updated 24 September 2024, what assessment her Department has…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's consultation entitled Proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system, updated 24 September 2024, what assessment her Department has…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's consultation entitled Proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system, updated 24 September 2024, what assessment her Department has…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's consultation entitled Proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system, updated 24 September 2024, what steps her Department is taking…
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Ministry of Justice
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will take steps to increase levels of transparency in litigation funding.
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Treasury
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has considered (a) reviewing tax relief eligibility for childcare costs for freelancers in irregular employment sectors such as film and television and (b) enabling greater flexibility in the use of Government-funded childcare hours for…
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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing tax breaks for the training budgets of craft organisations in the film and high-end television sector.
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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to (a) Business Property Relief and (b) Agricultural Property Relief on the level of resources required at HMRC.
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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to tackle disguised employment practices in the hair and beauty sector.
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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the increase in employer National Insurance contributions on hair and beauty sector.
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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for his policies of the British Hair Consortium commissioned CBI Economics report entitled Securing the future of UK hairdressing and beauty: the economic, fiscal and societal case for VAT…
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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of the British Hair Consortium's report entitled Securing the future of UK hairdressing and beauty: the economic, fiscal and societal case for VAT reform, published in…
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