UK Town of Culture
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when her department plans to announce the UK Town of Culture.
We are delighted by the interest and excitement there has been in the UK Town of Culture competition. We have seen an incredible amount of support from across the whole country with hundreds of towns submitting their bid to become the UK Town of Culture 2...
Workplace Pensions
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the preference among trustee boards for buyout strategies, and how that preference may limit the level of defined benefit pension scheme surplus release.
Workplace Pensions
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the additional resources or regulatory capacity required by the Pensions Regulator if more defined benefit pension schemes are expected to operate on a run-on basis for longer periods.
Kideny Diseases
To ask His Majesty's Government when NHS England plans to publish the updated renal service specification; and what steps they are taking to ensure the specification supports increased access to home dialysis therapies and improved patient choice.
Workplace Pensions
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the difference between the estimate of £160 billion in defined benefit pension scheme surplus in the press release published on 21 May 2025, Record pension scheme funding means up to £160 b
Asylum: Crime
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information-sharing arrangements are in place between UK and French authorities regarding safeguarding disclosures made by asylum seekers relating to alleged criminal incidents prior to their arr
The Home Office has frameworks and processes in place to facilitate the sharing of sensitive information with stakeholders, including international partners. The sharing of such information is regularly reviewed by the Home Office to ensure it remains nec...
Asylum: Crime
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what mechanisms exist for national authorities to refer safeguarding disclosures made by asylum seekers to the relevant authorities in France where appropriate.
The Home Office has frameworks and processes in place to facilitate the sharing of sensitive information with stakeholders, including international partners. The sharing of such information is regularly reviewed by the Home Office to ensure it remains nec...
Probation Service: Staff
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce the length of time taken to complete security vetting for Probation Service staff.
The checks that HM Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS) undertake are required to assess individuals against a range of legislative requirements and security related factors that are pertinent to anyone working within a HMPPS environment. We are aware o...
Work Capability Assessment: Medical Examinations
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to increase the capacity of the Health Assessment Advisory Service to carry out Work Capability reassessments; and what service level agreements are in place to ensure that Serco
We have increased the recruitment and training of additional healthcare professionals across all suppliers, alongside improvements to workforce planning to better match resources to demand. Assessments are delivered through a multi-channel approach ensuri...
Universal Credit: Arrears
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure that staff who process Universal Credit advances take into consideration arrears owed to claimants by his Department.
Devolution
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will take legislative steps to bring into force section 63 and schedule 30 of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026.
I refer the hon. Member to the Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS65) made on 21 May 2026.
Artificial Intelligence: Intellectual Property
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether the provisions enabling AI Sandboxes in the Regulating for Growth Bill will include protections for UK Intellectual Property to ensure that it cannot be suspended to allow experimentation in re
The AI Growth Lab, enabled through the Regulating for Growth Bill, will support the safe testing of AI-enabled products and services by allowing, in limited and controlled circumstances, temporary modifications to certain regulatory requirements that may ...
Power Failures
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what was the average duration of an unplanned power outage in each Distribution Network Operator area in each of the last five years.
The UK has a highly resilient energy network, and industry works to continuously minimise the risk and impacts of unplanned outages. All DNOs are regulated by the independent regulator, Ofgem, and must report their performance against annual targets to Of...
Power Failures
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many unplanned power outages occurred in each of the last five years.
The UK has a highly resilient energy network, and industry works to continuously minimise the risk and impacts of unplanned outages. All DNOs are regulated by the independent regulator, Ofgem, and must report their performance against annual targets to Of...
Family Proceedings
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what mechanisms are currently used by his Department to ensure that private family law policy and guidance are evidence-based, representative of the wider population, and compliant with the Public Sector Equality
The Government recognises that the Family Courts must support all court users and that accurate demographic data is essential to that. That is why protected characteristics data, including data on ethnic group and religion, is routinely captured by the ne...
Family Proceedings
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if his Department will require courts, in private family law proceedings involving allegations of domestic abuse or child protection concerns, to collect and make available anonymised and aggregated data disaggre
The Government recognises that the Family Courts must support all court users and that accurate demographic data is essential to that. That is why protected characteristics data, including data on ethnic group and religion, is routinely captured by the ne...
Mobile Phones: Aerials
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what proportion of mobile phone mast sites servicing rural areas have alternative power generation or a battery back-up that can be accessed during an unplanned power outage.
Government does not hold this level of detailed information. Mobile network operators have legal obligations to put in place appropriate and proportionate measures to ensure the resilience of their networks and services. This is overseen by the independen...
Marriage Act 1949: Reform
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the consultation on the Marriage Act 1949 reforms will be launched.
The Government has announced its intention to reform weddings law when parliamentary time allows.The reforms reflect a commitment to making marriage law fairer, simpler, and more modern, whilst also protecting the solemnity and dignity of marriage. The cu...
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has considered extending the Lancaster House Treaties to include a formal mechanism for Franco-British cooperation on Arctic and High North security.
NATO provides the formal mechanism for Franco-British cooperation on Arctic and High North security. The UK and France work closely together on NATO's Arctic Sentry mission which is a critical and proportionate step to bolster security in the Arctic and H...
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has considered inviting French forces to participate in Arctic cold-weather training at Camp Viking in Norway under the framework of the Lancaster House Treaties.
The UK, France and other Allies already engage in cold weather training together in Norway through exercise COLD RESPONSE.
Tell Us Once Programme
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of including Members of Parliament as persons to be notified under the the Tell Us Once service.
Tell Us Once is a cross government voluntary death notification service, available in all local authorities within England, Scotland & Wales. The service allows recently bereaved citizens, at a very stressful time in their lives, to inform participati...
Family Proceedings
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the absence of routinely collected, disaggregated data on ethnicity, religion, and immigration or settlement status in private family law cases i
The Government recognises that the Family Courts must support all court users and that accurate demographic data is essential to that. That is why protected characteristics data, including data on ethnic group and religion, is routinely captured by the ne...
Children: Poverty
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to help reduce the number of children in poverty in (a) Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency and (b) Staffordshire.
Tackling child poverty is at the heart of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and improve the life chances of every child. Our Child Poverty Strategy sets out the steps we are taking to reduce child poverty in the short term, as...
Domestic Abuse: Family Proceedings
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 22 April 2026 to Question 127202, whether his Department has evaluated whether conclusions drawn from the evidence base underpinning the Cafcass harm review have been proportionate
The Government has no plans to undertake an assessment of the adequacy of the evidential basis underpinning the Harm Panel Report. The report was based on a call for evidence which received over 1200 responses from individuals and organisations, as well a...
Chronic Illnesses: Employment Schemes
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to support people with health conditions (a) into work and (b) to stay in work in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.
In the Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency, we have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems such as Employment Advice in Talking Therapies pr...