Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with Cash Access UK on opening banking hubs at weekends.
Answered by Rachel Blake
The Government is committed to supporting the financial services industry’s roll-out of 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament, and industry agreed with my predecessor that they would achieve this. Over 275 hubs have been announced so far, and more than 235 are already open.
Industry has also agreed with my predecessors to improve the services available in banking hubs, including trialling Saturday opening in three locations. Cash Access UK have stated to the Treasury Select Committee that they will consider Saturday opening on a case-by-case basis, where there is a clear demand and need.
The Government understands the importance of banking services to communities and high streets and so on 14 May commissioned an independent Review into Access to Banking Services, to assess whether changes in access to in-person banking services are causing consumer detriment, the scale of any detriment, and who it affects. The Review will consider access to in-person banking for both personal and business customers.
HM Treasury launched the Access to Banking Services Review on 8 June, with the publication of the Call for Evidence. The Call for Evidence will run for six weeks and will close on 20 July. The evidence gathered will inform the development of the Review’s recommendations, and the Chair, Richard Lloyd OBE, is due to publish his findings in October. More information can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/access-to-banking-services-review-call-for-evidence.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to improve the cyber resilience of NHS suppliers following the 2024 ransomware attack on NHS testing provider Synnovis.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
Supply chain cyber security is a system-wide operational resilience and patient safety issue, with disruption from a single supplier capable of impacting care delivery at scale.
The health and care system operates within a highly complex and fragmented supply chain, with over 80,000 suppliers and limited central visibility of dependencies, increasing systemic cyber risk.
Cyber threats to the supply chain are increasing in pace, scale, and sophistication, and are now reflected as a top-level strategic risk for NHS England.
The Cyber Improvement Programme (CIP) is delivering a national, coordinated response to reduce supplier cyber risk and strengthen resilience across the health and care ecosystem.
Our immediate priority is to reduce frontline risk quickly, moving from risk identification to active remediation and engagement with critical suppliers.
Core national capabilities are being established to manage supplier risk, including:
a governed list of critical suppliers to prioritise action;
a national remediation process to identify, assess, and reduce risk;
a cyber third-party risk management standard to provide clearer, consistent expectations; and
a national platform to improve visibility of systemic risk.
The programme is reinforcing expectations through the Cyber Security Supply Chain Charter and strengthened contract frameworks, signalling clear leadership intent and supporting a transition from voluntary commitments to consistent, enforceable cyber requirements across National Health Service supplier contracts over time.
An iterative, scalable approach is being taken, implementing practical solutions now while building a longer-term operating model for consistent risk management across the system.
Engagement with suppliers and stakeholders is accelerating, with national events and communications reinforcing expectations and supporting adoption.
The direction of travel is clear, that raising cyber standards across the supply chain is non-negotiable to protect patient care, with progression from voluntary commitments to formal standards and legislative underpinning.
This work aligns to the Cyber Security Strategy for Health and Social Care to 2030 and emerging regulation, including the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, strengthening system-wide accountability and resilience.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure passengers who bought a train ticket via a 3rd party provider and chose to accept the advice not to travel due to the extreme heat warning can access a timely refund.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Passengers who choose not to travel due to the extreme heat between Tuesday 23 June and Friday 26 June 2026 can claim a fee-free refund from their point of purchase whether that is a train operator or independent retailer. The industry target is to process all claims within one month of receipt, and refunds should be paid within 14 days of the claim being approved.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish the research his Department commissioned on the effects of the Schengen immigration limit on the international operations of GB-based HGV and coach businesses that hold standard international operator licences.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The department has undertaken a study to improve our understanding of the effects of the 90-in-180-day Schengen immigration limit and planning for the European Union’s Entry/Exit System (EES) implementation on commercial vehicle operators. We intend to publish the report by the end of Summer.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has had discussions with technology companies on (a) strengthening protections to make stolen mobile phones harder for criminals to reactivate and (b) sharing device identifiers with police forces.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
Home Office Ministers and officials regularly engage with technology companies, policing and other parters to explore solutions to tackle mobile phone theft, including strengthening device protections and improving the sharing of data with law enforcement.
We welcome progress made in recent months. Technology companies, including Apple and Google, have introduced enhanced anti‑theft security features aimed at making the life of criminals harder. There has also been important progress in collaboration between industry and policing to improve data sharing and build a clearer picture of how stolen devices are being used.
However, we are clear that further progress is needed. We continue to engage closely with partners on additional measures, including improving access to data on stolen devices and exploring options to strengthen protections so that stolen phones cannot be reactivated. We are considering a range of options and will take further action if necessary.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made from the latest National Travel Survey of the number of trips per head made by people aged (a) 5-10, (b) 11-15 and (c) 16-17 by bus outside of London and Greater Manchester.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The below table shows the average number of trips per person by age band using buses outside London for residents of England, excluding Greater Manchester combined authority, aged 5 to 17. Figures are based on 2023 and 2024 combined to provide a large enough sample size for reliable estimates.
Average number of other local bus trips per person by age band: England, excluding London and Greater Manchester combined authority, 2023 to 2024
Age band | Other local bus trips per person | Unweighted sample size: individuals | Unweighted sample size: trips |
5 to 10 | 15 | 1,549 | 403 |
11 to 15 | 52 | 1,415 | 1,401 |
16 to 17 | 89 | 502 | 838 |
Statistics by mode of travel are published here: Mode of travel - GOV.UK.
Statistics for combined authority estimates are published here: National Travel Survey combined authority estimates - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will make an assessment of the potential merits of screening the People's Emergency Briefing on the parliamentary estate.
Answered by Nick Smith
The Commission has no plans to screen the briefing.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for its policies of the findings of the Food Foundation’s Broken Plate report, published on 10 June 2026.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra welcomes the Broken Plate report. It highlights many of the challenges facing our food system, especially around access and affordability of healthy food.
The Good Food Cycle sets out the government's vision for the food system. It identifies priority outcomes for healthier and more affordable and accessible food, alongside sustainability, food security, and good growth outcomes.
Defra will continue to support work across government, and with stakeholders across the food system, to deliver the priority outcomes in the Good Food Cycle, including via Defra policies such as the Farming Roadmap, Land Use Framework and Environmental Improvement Plan.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of public electric vehicle charging points in towns.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to accelerating the rollout of affordable and accessible charging infrastructure so that everyone, no matter where they live or work, can make the transition to an electric vehicle (EV). We closely monitor charge point rollout and regularly publish public charger statistics. As of 1 April 2026, 82.8% of public EV chargers in England and Wales were in urban areas, similar to the proportion of the population that live in urban areas (82.5%).
The Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund is expected to deliver another 100,000 public chargers close to people’s homes across England, while the £25 million EV Pavement Channels Grant will support residents without off-street parking to charge their vehicles at home.