Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many people are owed money by HS2 Ltd.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Individual land and property claimants can have multiple active claims at any given time so data in the form requested is not available. HS2 Ltd is strongly committed to paying compensation as quickly as possible, although some compensation claims can be complex and take time to settle in full. Where a property has been acquired under compulsory purchase, a claimant can request an advance payment, and HS2 Ltd is required to pay all valid advance payment claims within three months.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will meet the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme to discuss the potential merits of a direct train connection between Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station and Manchester Airport.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

West Midland Trains is working with the industry and stakeholders on a proposal to amend its Stafford to Crewe service including a potential extension to Manchester Airport. The introduction of new services will require a business case that demonstrates value for money, as well as minimising any risk to the performance of existing services.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has considered the potential merits of hosting a stand alone UK-Africa summit in the United Kingdom.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government regularly engages with African countries and African regional bodies. Any announcements of future summits to be hosted, or attended by, the UK Government will be made in the normal way in due course.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent engagement His Majesty’s Government has had with IGAD about a) food security and b) regional stability in East Africa.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We remain in regular contact with members of IGAD on a range of regional issues, including through the UK's Representative to IGAD based in Djibouti.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will visit the North Staffordshire Branch of Parkinson's UK in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Ministers regularly consider visits across the country to see the impact of their policy areas. Any plans to visit specific locations will be notified to the relevant Members of Parliament in advance.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to improve access to an NHS dentist for residents in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to the integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. For the Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire constituency, this is the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB.

We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available since April 2025.

ICBs are recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.

We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, on 16 December we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on the quality and payment reforms to the NHS dental contract. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with greatest need first, incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms/outcome/government-response-to-consultation-on-nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms

Question

To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what discussions the Church has had with the Government of Zimbabwe on John Smyth QC.

Answered by Marsha De Cordova

The National Church Institutions of the Church of England have engaged with the Church of Southern Africa and the Church of the Province of Central Africa regarding the historic safeguarding cases relating to John Smyth. The two provinces of the Anglican Communion are independent from the Church of England, and discussions with the Government of Zimbabwe would be a matter for the Province of Central Africa.

The Church of Southern Africa held its own review into the activity of John Smyth’s activities which was published on the 3rd February 2025 and can be found here: https://anglicanchurchsa.org/archbishops-panel-of-inquiry-pinpoints-churchs-failures-on-smyth-abuse-report/ and Archbishop Thabo published a statement, which can be read here: https://anglicanchurchsa.org/archbishop-thabo-apologises-for-churchs-failures-over-abuse/

There have also been extensive discussions with the Province of Central Africa, and Archbishop Chama has been encouraged to undertake a similar review to that held by the Church of Southern Africa.

Question

To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what lessons the Church has learned from the case of John Smyth QC.

Answered by Marsha De Cordova

The Church of England commissioned the Makin Review into the historic abuse surrounding John Smyth, which was published 7th November 2024 and can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/media/press-releases/independent-review-churchs-handling-smyth-case-published

Following the publication of the Makin Review, a task and finish group was established, which most recently produced a progress report for the February meeting of the General Synod. https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2025-11/gs-misc-1433-makin-task-and-finish-interim-report_0_0.pdf

The work in this area remains a high priority and is regularly reviewed. It is expected to publish its next progress report ahead of the July 2026 sitting of the General Synod.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps has he taken to help tackle fraud in the pension system.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government is resolute in its determination to protect pension scheme members from financial harm. There is a strong regulatory framework which allows pension scheme trustees to block pension transfers if there is risk of a scam and we are developing extended measures which seek to strengthen protections and combat any areas of evolving risk. DWP will continue to work closely with partners, including the police, the National Economic Crime Centre and anti-scams industry groups, to identify and disrupt unlawful activity and to ensure appropriate enforcement action is taken against those who exploit or seek to exploit pension savers. We will publicly consult on our work to strengthen the transfer process with enhanced protections in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent steps he has taken to help reduce industrial energy costs for businesses in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Our Modern Industrial Strategy will make industrial electricity costs cheaper with new support which could cut bills by up to 25% for more than 7,000 businesses. From 2027, the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme will reduce electricity cost for eligible businesses by c.£35-40/MWh.

We have also increased support for energy-intensive industries eligible for the British Industry Supercharger, with an uplift of the Network Charging Compensation (NCC) scheme from 60% to 90%.

Companies in Newcastle-under-Lyme operating in frontier industries, or those supplying critical inputs to frontier industries such as specialised ceramics, are well placed to benefit from this support.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to increase skills and employment support for people in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire in receipt of sickness benefits.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

I refer the Hon. member to the answer I gave on 2 December to PQ 93871.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support a) security, b) stability c) co-operation and d) prosperity in sub-Saharan Southern Africa.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon Member to the written ministerial statement published on 15 December 2025 (HCWS1168).

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of reports of the treatment of inmates from minority religions in prisons in Pakistan.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 21 October 2025 to Question 81646.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps has he taken to help tackle fraud in the welfare system.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Since Autumn Budget 2024, the Government has committed to gross savings of £14.6bn up to the end of 2030/31 from fraud, error and debt activity in Great Britain, which includes savings from the new powers contained within the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act.

The Act has been published on the Parliament website and is available here: Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Act 2025.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to support dairy farmers in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The UK dairy sector is highly resilient and adaptable and continues to supply healthy and affordable products, both capitalising on the opportunities and rising to the challenges it has faced in recent years.

Following a recent period of enhanced profitability for the UK sector, supply of dairy is currently exceeding demand on both our domestic and wider global markets. This is resulting in reductions to UK farmgate milk prices.

Ensuring fairness in supply chains is key for UK dairy farmers and supporting the sustainability of the sector. The Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2024, which fully came into force on 9 July 2025, improve fairness and transparency, requiring dairy contracts to include clear terms on pricing, termination, and prohibiting unilateral changes. However, these regulations are not intended to set prices.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the length of time of a call to HMRC before it was answered.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC publishes its call waiting times on GOV.UK:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmrc-quarterly-performance-updates

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to increase the number of probation officers.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Government recognises the vital role probation officers play in protecting the public and reducing reoffending. Recruitment and retention continue to be a priority and through these efforts we are starting to see the positive impact of a centralised recruitment process as a large number of qualified probation officers come through the pipeline.

In 2024/25, we exceeded our commitment to onboard 1,000 trainee probation officers, successfully onboarding 1,057. We are now going further, having committed to onboard a total of 1,300 trainee probation officers in 2025/26. Probation officer numbers have increased over both the last quarter and the last year. The Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) 20 recruitment campaign, which went live on the 19^th of January, will further support our efforts to maintain strong recruitment momentum and sustain the pipeline of future probation officers.

A retention toolkit has been developed, informed by research into the drivers of attrition. This toolkit supports local, regional, and national interventions and is used alongside structured exit interviews which were introduced to gather feedback and shape future actions. It is positive that we are seeing a continued reduction in Probation Service attrition.

Both probation officer numbers in post and leaving rates can be found at HM Prison and Probation Service workforce quarterly: September 2025 - GOV.UK

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to support the creation of well-paid jobs in a) Newcastle-under-Lyme and b) Staffordshire.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department for Business and Trade is supporting the creation of jobs and opportunities across the UK, including in Staffordshire and Newcastle-under-Lyme, by championing free trade agreements, supporting small and medium sized enterprises to export, securing foreign investment, developing the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy and investing in growth sectors like life sciences, advanced manufacturing and digital technologies.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what fiscal steps he is taking with Cabinet Colleagues to help lower energy bills for people in Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Government action at the Budget, to end the ECO scheme and shift 75% of the domestic Renewables Obligation to the exchequer, will remove an average of £150 of costs from energy bills from April. In addition, expanding the Warm Home Discount means around six million low‑income households will receive £150 this winter.

Through the Warm Homes Plan, the Governemt has also announced £15 billion to upgrade up to five million homes and help lift up to one million families out of fuel poverty by 2030.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent engagement his Department has had with Action Bladder Cancer UK.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

As part of the Department’s engagement to inform the development of the forthcoming National Cancer Plan, officials from the Department’s cancer team have worked closely with patient organisations, clinicians, cancer partners and have considered over 11,000 responses to the call for evidence. These included submissions from organisations, such as Fight Bladder Cancer and Cancer52, of which Action Bladder Cancer UK is a member of, as well as from individuals.

TMT First in Newcastle-under-Lyme

British forces on the front line in Afghanistan

Audley Festive 5k Run

Newcastle-under-Lyme Community Orchestra Christmas Concert 2025

75th anniversary of the Lyric Theatre Belfast

Investment and Growth in Antrim and Newtownabbey

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Chris Bloore; Sorcha Eastwood; Claire Hanna; Simon Hoare; Adam Jogee