In line with the UK's longstanding position on Taiwan, we support Taiwanese participation at international organisations as a member where statehood is not a prerequisite or as an observer or guest where it is. As Minister West made clear in her speech to the House on 28 November, it is the UK's view that UNGA Resolution 2758 decided that only the government of the People's Republic of China would represent China at the UN. It did not make a determination over the status of Taiwan and should not preclude Taiwan's meaningful participation at international organisations. We always consider opportunities for engaging with Taiwan in the margins of international events.

AI tools have been used to help review and analyse the high volume of submissions received during the Strategic Defence Review (SDR) process, not to make recommendations. The SDR is being led by the Reviewers, and supported by a wider team of external experts as well as drawing on the expertise of the Ministry of Defence. The vast majority of the Review has been carried out by humans. Al tools play a supporting role. enhancing the team’s ability to focus on high-value tasks, like in-depth reading and discussion of submissions, thereby facilitating a more comprehensive review, whilst being one part of the process.

No need to change guidelines on submissions, executive summaries and bullet-point recommendations has been identified. The Strategic Defence Review is being led by the Reviewers, and supported by a wider team of external experts as well as drawing on the expertise of the Ministry of Defence. The vast majority of the Review has been carried out by humans. Al tools play a supporting role, enhancing the team’s ability to focus on high-value tasks, like in-depth reading and discussion of submissions, thereby facilitating a more comprehensive review, whilst being one part of the process.

There are a range of robust rules and restrictions which apply to gambling adverts, wherever they appear, to ensure they are socially responsible.

As part of the UK Advertising Codes, issued by the Committees for Advertising Practice (CAP) and Broadcast Committees of Advertising Practice (BCAP), sister organisations of the Advertising Standards Authority, adverts must not be placed in children’s media and advertisers must take all reasonable steps to ensure that under-18s are excluded from their targeted marketing. In addition, content with ‘strong appeal’ to children such as top flight footballers or celebrities popular with children is prohibited from appearing in gambling adverts. As the statutory regulator for gambling in Great Britain, the Gambling Commission requires all licensed operators to abide by the Advertising Codes.

As the Minister for Gambling set out in her speech at the GambleAware conference on 4 December, we want to see the gambling industry further raise standards to ensure that levels of gambling advertising does not exacerbate harm. This work will be monitored closely.

Following the Amir of Qatar’s State Visit to the UK, we have agreed to deepen cooperation in support of regional security while supporting growth and prosperity in both nations. This includes undertaking opportunities to strengthen our respective defence capabilities through broadening our cooperation on the Typhoon and Hawk partnerships. We will continue to hold discussions with Qatar on these issues as required.

The Government recognises the importance of a smooth transition for consumers away from Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) meters. The Government is working closely with Ofgem, industry stakeholders, and energy suppliers through the RTS Taskforce which is working to upgrade all RTS meters before the switch off in June 2025. We will continue to work closely with Ofgem and the RTS Taskforce to tackle this issue and to ensure that consumers get a good deal.

Details of the Treaty agreed between the UK and Mauritius will come before Parliament for scrutiny in the usual manner following its signature. It would be inappropriate to release further details at this stage.

Details of the Treaty agreed between the UK and Mauritius will come before Parliament for scrutiny in the usual manner following its signature. It would be inappropriate to release further details at this stage.

As part of the Cabinet Office-led UK-EU reset, teams in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office are working closely with teams across the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to work collaboratively to build our defence relationship with the EU including consultations on respective defence initiatives and defence industry matters, including advancing work towards a Security and Defence Partnership.

There are currently no staff solely dedicated to reviewing engagement with the EU through PESCO. However, teams in MOD are working to assess PESCO as part of their broader remits to consider international cooperation and UK interests, including through work to develop a UK-EU Security Partnership.

Our primary goal throughout negotiations was to protect the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, which plays a crucial role in regional and international security.

The operation of the base will continue unchanged with strong protections from malign influence. For the first time in over 50 years the base will be undisputed and legally secure.

Details of the Treaty agreed between the UK and Mauritius will come before Parliament for scrutiny in the usual manner following its signature. It would be inappropriate to release further details at this stage.

Defra officials are in the process of conducting a Post Implementation Review of the Environmental Regulations 2020, which includes the bans and restrictions on plastic straws, stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds. This is due to be published in October 2025. The department has also commissioned a report to evaluate the policies under the Environmental Regulations 2023.

Defra officials are working with trading standards officers in local authorities, online platforms, and relevant businesses to ensure restrictions are effective and that any breaches of the legislation are being enforced. Breaches in legislation are the responsibility of local authorities.

The Government funds rail upgrades through the 'Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline'. Network Rail, or a third party, such as Midlands Connect or West Midlands Rail Executive, can bring forward proposals and make the case for development funding through this process, and schemes are assessed on alignment with the Government's priorities, value for money, and affordability.

We want a new geopolitical partnership with the EU, that drives closer coordination and that complements our unshakeable commitment to NATO, which will remain the foremost vehicle for European security. We will continue to monitor EU defence initiatives and projects, in particular the extent to which they build capabilities that are required by NATO and allow meaningful participation of non-EU NATO Allies.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has committed to accelerating and the continued investment in UK Sovereign Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) technology, to provide cutting edge capability to the Armed Forces at pace. The programme is delivering capability demonstrators, accelerated Minimum Deployable Capabilities including DragonFire delivering Laser DEW into operational capability from 2027, and preparing to deliver DEW capability into core service in the 2030's.

Since 2020, Defence has invested in the Directed Energy Weapons Programme with the DragonFire Laser DEW accelerated programme, seeing £350 million in Government investment by April 2027 to deliver minimum deployable capability. The MOD is committed to the continued investment in UK Sovereign DEW technology, to provide cutting edge capability to the Armed Forces at pace.

The Office for Budget Responsibility produces regular and comprehensive forecasts on the fiscal and economic impact of government tax policies, including those relating to corporate tax.

HMRC releases a corporation tax statistics publication annually, which provides a thorough breakdown of receipts and liabilities, including by industry sector and company size.

This government is committed to driving economic growth and supporting opportunity for all. To help achieve these missions, we announced £300 million in the 2025/26 financial year for further education (FE) at the Autumn Budget 2024. We will set out how the additional funding will be distributed in due course.

The department has a number of schemes available to support young people in accessing FE facilities.

The Residential Bursary Fund (RBF) provides financial help towards the costs of accommodation for students attending a number of designated institutions delivering specialist provision. These specialist colleges mainly offer support for study programmes in the land-based sector, for example agriculture and horticulture.

The Residential Support Scheme (RSS) provides financial help for students aged 16 to 18 with the costs of living away from home to participate in a study programme where the substantial level 2 or level 3 qualification within their study programme is not available within daily travelling distance.

The department recognises that the cost and availability of transport can be difficult for some students in rural areas.

The 16-19 Bursary Fund helps young people who couldn’t otherwise afford the costs of education to participate. In the 2024/25 academic year, over £166 million of bursary funding has been allocated to institutions to help disadvantaged 16 to 19 year olds with costs such as travel. The allocation to institutions is based, among other factors, on whether students live in rural areas and how far they travel to learn.

It is the responsibility of local authorities to put in place transport arrangements to help young people aged 16 to 18 to access education or training, using funds they have available locally. All local authorities have to prioritise their spending carefully. Local authorities in rural areas face unique challenges, but in these difficult economic times authorities in other types of areas face challenges too.

The actual transport provided by local authorities varies, but sometimes involves giving 16 to 18 year olds access to school transport or bus travel for payment of a flat fee. Unlike for school travel, provision does not need to be free.

Many young people in rural areas have access to a discount or concession on local bus or train travel, either from their local authority or local transport providers. The government also supports local bus travel, including in rural areas, through the Bus Service Operators Grant.

The government publishes guidance for local authorities on their post-16 transport duty. Guidance makes it clear that local authorities need to look at the transport needs of those who live in particularly rural areas where the transport infrastructure can be limited.

We are still in the financial year 2024-25 so the FCDO will not have final full year numbers until April 2025. However, at the start of the year, £500 million of ODA was allocated to research & development in FCDO.

The UK is a leader on global health and one of the largest providers of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for health, including to organisations like Gavi, helping to vaccinate one billion children through the Global Fund, which has cut the global death rate from HIV, malaria and TB by 50 per cent, and as the largest flexible funder of the World Health Organization.

In 2024/25, we are prioritising predictability and stability after years of turbulence under the previous Government. We will publish the FCDO's ODA programme allocations for 2024/25 shortly. We are considering how to allocate our ODA programme budget for 2025/26 to lay the foundations for our ODA spending in future years; the allocations will be published in due course.

VAT is the UK’s second largest tax, forecast to raise £171 billion in 2024/25. At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government took a number of difficult but necessary decisions on tax, welfare, and spending to fix the public finances, fund public services, and restore economic stability.

At £90,000, the UK has a higher VAT registration threshold than any EU country and the joint highest in the OECD. This means the majority of UK businesses are out of the VAT system. Any consideration of changes to the threshold would have to carefully balance the potential benefits to small businesses, the economy as a whole, and tax revenues.

The Written Statement, HCWS281, outlined that Greater Anglia’s services will transfer into public ownership in autumn 2025 and that an expiry notice will be issued to Greater Anglia in due course to confirm the exact date. Bringing passenger services into public ownership was a clear manifesto commitment and the Department has no plans to consult on this.

Bringing these services into public ownership is an initial step towards wider rail reform, including establishing Great British Railways. The Department will set out proposals for these further, fundamental reforms in a consultation which will be launched around the turn of the year.

The Government published information about the reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief at www.gov.uk/government/publications/agricultural-property-relief-and-business-property-relief-reforms.

It is expected that up to around 2,000 estates will be affected in 2026-27 by the changes to APR and BPR, with around half of those being claims that involve AIM shares. Almost three-quarters of estates claiming agricultural property relief (or those claiming agricultural property relief and business property relief together) are expected to be unaffected by these reforms.

In accordance with standard practice, a tax information and impact note will be published alongside the draft legislation before the relevant Finance Bill.

The UK has a long-standing commitment to the promotion and protection of human rights, including Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). Following the student-led protests in July and August, we have been closely monitoring the situation for minorities in Bangladesh. In November, Minister West visited Bangladesh and discussed the importance of the protection of religious minorities, including the Hindu community, with Chief Adviser Yunus. We are providing up to £27 million under the Bangladesh Collaborative, Accountable and Peaceful Politics programme for protecting civic and political space, fostering collaboration, reducing corruption, and mitigating tensions that lead to violence. We will continue to engage with the Interim Government of Bangladesh on the importance of FoRB.

The UK has taken extensive action to limit energy revenues that are funding Russia's war. The UK prohibited the import of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in January 2023 and banned the export of energy related goods. In September 2024 we used new powers to sanction carriers transporting Russian LNG, followed by a second set of vessels in October. These carriers were shipping LNG from Russia's flagship Arctic LNG 2 project which has ceased production as a result of UK and partner sanctions. We are committed to working with partners, including the EU, to take further steps to constrain Russian revenue.

Departmental settlements have been set by The Treasury following the Budget announcement on October 30. Individual programmes will now be assessed during the departmental Business Planning process.

Through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS), the government provides a subsidy of up to £4,500 for residents and businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband via local community-led broadband projects.

Approximately 2,300 premises in Stirling and Strathallan have received a gigabit-capable connection via the GBVS and its previous iterations. The voucher scheme is currently paused in the constituency while Building Digital UK finalises the scope of a wider Project Gigabit contract for Central and Northern Scotland.

Through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS), the government provides a subsidy of up to £4,500 for residents and businesses towards the cost of installing gigabit-capable broadband via local community-led broadband projects.

Approximately 2,300 premises in Stirling and Strathallan have received a gigabit-capable connection via the GBVS and its previous iterations. The voucher scheme is currently paused in the constituency while Building Digital UK finalises the scope of a wider Project Gigabit contract for Central and Northern Scotland.