Written Answers
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Cabinet Office
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Infected Blood Compensation Authority plans to prioritise older claimants when making payments.
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Department for Business and Trade
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has considered the potential merits of ending the export of demolition equipment to Israel.
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Department for Culture, Media and Sport
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to prevent UK-based charities from transferring funds to entities operating in illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
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Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what measures will be included in the Warm Homes Plan to ensure compliance with relevant standards and regulations.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has plans to align the commencement of measures in the Warm Homes Plan with the cessation of ECO4 funding.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether transitional support will be provided to energy efficiency installation and associated businesses.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether the Warm Homes Plan will provide energy efficiency measures to vulnerable households previously provided under the ECO4 scheme.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to ensure continuity between ECO4 funding and Warm Homes Plan measures in the case of ongoing works over the transition period.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department has taken to ensure that households impacted by measures in the ECO4 scheme will be impacted by the Warm Homes Plan.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when his Department plans to publish the Warm Homes Plan in full.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress his Department has made on switching consumers from Radio Teleswitch Service to smart meters.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what information his Department holds on the number of households that needed to switch from Radio Teleswitch Service meters to smart meters in Glasgow West constituency on 30 May 2025.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department plans to take to protect consumers if their Radio Teleswitch Service meters are not switched to smart meters by 30 June 2025.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to help protect consumers whose radio teleswitch service meters are not switched to smart meters by 30 June 2025.
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Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether Ofcom is taking steps to ensure that companies involved in age verification do not (a) retain and (b) misuse personal data.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made an estimate of the cost to health advice charities of setting up age verification procedures.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that computer generated proofs of age are not used to verify age on websites.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether organisations providing online health advice are required to age verify users.
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Department for Transport
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when MOD driving instructors will be deployed to driving test centres across the UK.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department is taking steps to discourage people from using third-party platforms to book Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency driving tests.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting time for a car practical driving test in Scotland was on 1 October 2025.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many car practical driving test appointments were available in (a) October, (b) November and (c) December 2025 in (i) Scotland and (ii) Glasgow.
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Department for Work and Pensions
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has issued guidance to staff on the timeframe in which they should respond to MP enquiries.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to monitor the (a) number of, (b) time taken to respond to and (c) urgency of MPs' enquiries to his Department.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken was for his Department to resolve MPs' enquiries in the last year.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the length of time taken by his Department to resolve MPs' enquiries.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what priority his Department gives to responding to MPs' enquiries.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the potential impact of the time taken for his Department to make decisions on the finances of applicants.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on reducing the time taken for Access to Work applications to be allocated to a case manager.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of adjusting in line with inflation the £30,000 threshold over which advice must be sought before a pension is transferred.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the level of the Housing Benefit disregard for young people living in supported accommodation.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will reduce the Housing benefit taper rate to 55% for those living in supported accommodation.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Pensions Ombudsman on the adequacy of the time taken for complaints to be resolved.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Pensions Ombudsman on the adequacy of the time taken for a complaint to be allocated to an adjudicator.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the time taken for Access to Work applications to be allocated to a case manager; and what steps she is taking to help reduce this waiting time.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the time taken for cases to be allocated to a case manager.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance her Department has issued on people requiring emergency assistance while they wait for a benefit claim to be assessed.
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Department of Health and Social Care
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to end the purchase of Israeli manufactured generic drugs by NHS England.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to end the use by NHS England of generic drugs manufactured by companies with links to Israel.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support trainee physicians affected by the withdrawal of speciality training places by the Membership of the Royal College of Physicians.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure there are adequate clinical fellowships available for junior doctors.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that adequate training places are available for junior doctors.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that the number of medical training places is proportionate to the increase in medical student numbers.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Infected Blood Compensation Authority on the proposed timetable for payments to family members of those affected.
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Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has requested that Israel allows forensic investigations to be carried out in Gaza regarding alleged human rights abuses.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the UN has submitted a request to allow forensic investigations to be carried out in Gaza in connection with alleged human rights abuses.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help provide (a) atrocity prevention and (b) civilian protection support in El Fasher, Darfur.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps with the Secretary of State for the Home Department to establish a scheme to facilitate the evacuation of Palestinian academics to the UK.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether there is a safe evacuation route that allows Palestinian academics to be evacuated from the Occupied Palestinian Territories to allow them to take up positions at universities in the UK.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the International Court of Justice’s finding that Israel is in breach of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of the report by Amnesty International entitled Amnesty International Investigation in Gaza highlights human toll of Israel’s Apartheid…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to continue to fund disability-inclusive education programmes.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to continue to fund the (a) treatment and (b) elimination of neglected tropical diseases.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he will continue to provide funding to (a) the Women's Integrated Sexual Health program, (b) other Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights programs and (c) access to those programs for (i) people with…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if a Minister from his Department will represent the UK at the Eighteenth Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from 10 to 12 June 2025.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether Ministers from his Department will attend the Second World Summit for Social Development between 4 and 6 November 2025 in Doha.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assistance his Department has provided to Alawite civilians living in Syria.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the risk of conflict minerals from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (a) being traded on the London Bullion Market and (b) appearing in UK (i) supply chains and (ii) products.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of (a) trends in the level of (i) gold, (ii) coltan and (iii) other conflict minerals being exported from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and (b) the role of external actors in…
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To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to support the work of the Council for At-Risk Academics.
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Home Office
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether Palestinian academics with offers of (a) positions and (b) study placements at universities in the UK can be issued with visas to allow them to travel to the UK.
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued on whether applicants for (a) leave to remain and (b) fee waiver who have (i) had their claims rejected, (ii) lost their right to work, (iii) lost their access to funds and (iv) have consequently had a…
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To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will facilitate the issuing of visas to (a) Gazan and (b) other academics whose supporting paperwork has been lost during the conflict in the Middle East.
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Ministry of Defence
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service present at the nuclear test on Christmas Island are entitled to a pension of compensation.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he takes to ensure UK components supplied to the F-35 programme can be subjected to (a) a product recall and (b) an air accident investigation process .
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To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he takes to trace the end user of UK components delivered to the F-35 programme.
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Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will consider the potential merits of amending the 1979 Estate Agents Act to ban the use of conditional selling.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether she has considered the potential merits of regulating estate agents to ensure best practise.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether each person impacted by the Grenfell Tower fire has been permanently rehoused.
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To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will consider amending legislation to allow overseas voters to receive ballots for elections by secure email.
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Scotland Office
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the the potential impact of the contract to supply Norway with Type 26 frigates on Scotland's economy.
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Treasury
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will (a) review and (b) update the Overseas Scale Rates during 2026.
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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding the Scottish Government will receive through Barnett consequentials as a result of highway maintenance funding being provided to England and Wales.
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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will (a) review and (b) update the Overseas Scale Rates.
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To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance her Department will issue to non-agricultural businesses on the changes to Inheritance Tax announced in the Autumn Budget 2024.
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Wales Office
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of increases in defence spending on Wales.
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