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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to increase reservoir infrastructure to mitigate potential extreme summer weather.

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

The Government is pushing ahead with reforms to the water sector under our Plan for Change, which includes £104 billion of private investment, including £8 billion dedicated to improved drought planning, long-term water resource management and the delivery of 9 new reservoirs alongside major infrastructure upgrades to reduce leakage and improve water security.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to embed wildfire resilience into land‑use, water and nature recovery policy.

Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra is delivering the change to land use needed to increase our resilience to the impacts of climate change. This includes restoring the peatlands, wetlands and woodlands that store carbon and reduce wildfire risk to farmland, homes, infrastructure and nature. Following the 2026 wildfires we are considering options to improve wildfire resilience.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help reduce costs to parents related to returning to school in September 2026.

Answered by Paul Waugh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

As part of the government’s work to reduce child poverty and ease cost pressures on families, the department has put in place a major package to support families with back-to-school costs.

Over 3 million children from families receiving Universal Credit will now benefit from free school meals, marking a major contribution to the government’s work to lift over a half a million children out of poverty, the biggest reduction in a single Parliament since records began.

This is alongside 1400 more free breakfast clubs opening across the country, saving families up to £654 per child per year on childcare costs, and new limits on expensive branded school uniforms, which could save some families up to £50 per child on the back-to-school shop.

Families benefiting from free school meals, free breakfast clubs and cheaper uniforms could save up to £1,200 a year, while eligible working parents using government-funded childcare could save up to £8,000 a year.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will reform the EPR before the publication of the Year 2 fees issued; and revisit and lower the fees for glass by at least 75%.

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

This Government is alive to the concerns of the glass industry and Ministers are working across Government to identify appropriate solutions to address pressures facing the sector.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps the government is taking to ensure that that public contracts are not awarded to companies blacklisting workers.

Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010 prohibit the compilation, usage, sale or supply of blacklists of workers.

Suppliers may be excluded for blacklisting offences under the exclusion regime in the Procurement Act in certain circumstances.

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress she has made on the implementation of the golden thread framework making the delivery of national sporting events such as Silverstone more streamlined and supported.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government recognises the value and impact of the UK’s leading events industry and has committed to publishing a new cross-sectoral events strategy by spring 2027. This strategy will cover events across the arts, culture, sport and business sectors and will support an events industry that tells our national story, drives economic growth, and projects the best of the UK to the world.

The Government is also proactively engaging and convening stakeholders from across sectors and the industry. I have hosted two roundtables with industry representatives this year, which provided valuable opportunities to hear directly from the industry. This engagement brought together departments across government including Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; Home Office; Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government; Skills England and Department for Health and Social Care.

To support the development of the strategy, DCMS facilitated a workshop in Sheffield in September which was attended by 60 stakeholders from across industry bodies; events delivery organisations; arm’s length bodies; youth voice; and regional representatives.

There is also regular ongoing engagement with industry through regional and operational working groups which convene stakeholders and government departments.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to end the overselling of seats on a flight.

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

UK law provides protections for passengers who are denied boarding as a result of overbooking. This includes a choice between reimbursement and re-routing, the provision of care and assistance such as meals and accommodation where required, and compensation.

As the UK aviation industry operates almost entirely in the private sector, decisions on ticket sales practices are generally a commercial matter for individual airlines. Airlines may oversell flights for a number of reasons, including to account for passengers who do not travel as booked or where operational circumstances require the use of a smaller aircraft than originally planned.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to introduce (a) a broader fast-track visa waiver programme for major sporting events and (b) an extension to the eligibility requirements for a Paid Permitted Engagement visa.

Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Standard Visitor route already has generous provisions for fans, sportspeople, and the personal and technical staff of sportspeople, coming to the UK to attend a sporting event. Non-visa nationals (such as visitors from the EU/EEA or the United States) do not require a visa to visit the UK and can travel on an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).

For those that do require a visa, the UK’s service standards for processing a visa are already among the fastest in the world and paid-for priority services are available for those who require an even faster decision.

The Standard Visitor route Permitted Paid Engagement (PPE) rules are also generous. These rules exceptionally permit professional sportspersons to be paid for carrying out an activity directly relating to their profession for the first 30 days of their visit, provided they have been invited by a sports organisation, agent, or broadcaster based in the UK.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will provide an update on recent progress on the reintroduction of keystone species like beavers.

Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra supports the reintroduction of keystone species where benefits to the environment, people and the economy are clear. Three licensed beaver wild release projects have been approved in England, with two further applications underway. Defra has approved £1m of funding for golden eagle reintroduction work and supported white-tailed eagle releases.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to scale up peatland restoration, woodland expansion and wetland recovery.

Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

This Government is investing over £1 billion in tree planting and support to the forestry sector over this parliament, as well as £85 million between 2026 and 2030 to improve and restore our peatlands, including extending the Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme until March 2027.

The Environment Agency's Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) initiative is working to restore at least 15% of saltmarsh, seagrass and native oyster reef habitats along the English coast by 2043.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to increase ranger numbers in landscapes at high‑risk to wildfires.

Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

It is crucial that we learn lessons from the 2026 wildfires and we are taking a number of steps to prepare for future wildfire seasons by strengthening coordination across Government, working closely with fire and rescue services, land managers and local authorities, and improving our understanding of wildfire risk. Our focus is on building resilience, through better prevention, preparedness, response and recovery. We recognise that rangers play an important role in managing wildfire risk, working closely with Fire and Rescue Services where needed, and ensuring staff are appropriately trained to support safe and appropriate action.

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps is the government taking to create a national youth forum to consult young people on policies that affect them, giving them powers to challenge policies that will affect their interests.

Answered by Vicky Foxcroft - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

DCMS is taking a number of steps to ensure there are a variety of national forums through which young people are consulted and involved in decisions that affect them. Too many young people feel that their voice does not matter and this needs to change. The ‘Seen and Heard’ chapter of Youth Matters sets out our ambitions to put young people in the driving seat and give them more opportunities to influence policy locally, regionally and nationally. Some examples are as follows:

Firstly, the department is creating a new ‘Youth Policy Network’ to ensure that whichever part of the government is making decisions, if they affect young people, a diverse range of young people can take part.

Secondly, the department continues to work closely with a Youth Advisory Group on the delivery of Youth Matters, and previous members play a key role as ambassadors.

Thirdly, to hold the government accountable, the department will invite a diverse group of young people to run an annual national hearing on the Strategy's delivery.

Alongside this, DCMS youth funding programmes are required to be co-designed with young people. We are also working closely with young people and partners to co-design our approach to youth participation in democracy and decision-making. Outcomes of this engagement with young people will be shared in the Autumn.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will examine the potential for a Cardiff–Newport–Bristol economic corridor which would examine how transport, infrastructure, investment and closer collaboration between businesses and universities could create an integrated economic corridor to encourage more investment and high-value employment within Wales.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)

The Government's ambition is to support good growth across all parts of the United Kingdom.

At SR 25, the Government delivered the largest spending review settlements in real terms for the Welsh Government since devolution in 1998.

The UK and Welsh Governments have agreed a long-term plan for Welsh rail and we are committed to delivering that plan; unlocking 12,000 jobs and connecting the people of Wales to tens of thousands more across the country.  This represents a long term commitment to a pipeline of 43 projects worth up to £14bn in North, South, Mid and West Wales that will deliver the transport network Wales deserves.

We are also investing in the West of England, with the West of England Combined Authority receiving £800m of transport investment via the Transport for City Regions fund over 5 years (2027/28 – 2031/32), which will support mass transit development between Bristol, Bath, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset.

Bristol and Newport are each receiving £20m from the Pride in Place Fund over 10 years. Businesses across South Wales are benefiting through the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, Cardiff Capital Region is receiving £30 million to build on its strengths in semiconductors and the creative industries, while South West Wales has secured up to £20 million for clean energy and advanced materials.

Risk ratings for quarries near legacy mine workings

National Emergency Briefing