Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on support for steel production in Scotland.

Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland

This Government is steadfast in its commitment to the steel industry, and that includes Scotland. On 1 July, we took bold steps to limit tariff-free steel imports, with the aim that half of the steel used in the UK is made here.

We are closely engaged on Dalzell - the UK's only heavy steel plate mill. The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland and I routinely engage with ministerial colleagues to ensure Scotland's specific circumstances are reflected in the Government's wider approach to supporting the domestic steel sector.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how the Government plans to help ensure that guaranteed-hours offers calculated by reference to hours worked during a seasonal peak do not require employers to provide the same hours during periods of lower seasonal demand.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The government is currently consulting on the regulations of the zero hours measures and will carefully consider the responses received before finalising the policy detail. Employers will still to be able to manage seasonal demand in a number of ways, including through fixed-term contracts where reasonable.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if the Department will publish an assessment of the potential impact of the guaranteed-hours provisions in the Employment Rights Act 2025 on (a) seasonal recruitment and (b) employment opportunities for people under 25 in the tourism and hospitality sectors.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The government has published a comprehensive assessment of the potential impacts of the zero hours contract measures in the Employment Rights Act 2025. This includes consideration of impacts on young, entry-level workers and sectors where variable demand is common.

The Government is now consulting on the detailed regulations for the right to guaranteed hours, including issues relevant to seasonal recruitment such as reference periods and temporary need. We are engaging with employers, workers and representative bodies, before determining a way forward for regulations.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of taking account of recurring seasonal fluctuations in demand in the tourism and hospitality sectors when developing regulations on guaranteed hours.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The government is engaging with multiple stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality sectors during the consultation period and will carefully consider views on seasonal fluctuations in demand when developing the regulations.

Employers will continue to be able to manage fluctuating demand in a number of ways, including through fixed-term contracts where reasonable.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England has made an assessment of trends in the level of variation in referral pathways for adult audiology services in England, including referrals between community providers, NHS trusts and specialist centres.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning audiology services to meet the needs of their local populations, taking account of relevant national guidance and local service arrangements. Adult audiology services are delivered through a range of service models, resulting in some variation in referral pathways.

NHS England collects national activity and waiting time data for audiology services but has not undertaken a specific assessment of referral pathway variation. NHS England has established a National Audiology Improvement Collaborative which provides improvement support to audiology services to review and redesign pathways, including referral pathways, and the learning from this improvement collaborative is shared nationally.

By shifting care from hospital to community and investing in digital tools and neighbourhood health services, the 10-Year Health Plan will deliver simpler, faster, and more coordinated referral pathways, helping people access the right care at the right time.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what timetable she has set for ending operator self-monitoring by water companies; what assessment she has made of the additional data, staffing, laboratory, digital and enforcement capacity required by regulators to replace operator self-monitoring; and whether she plans to publish that assessment.

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

The Environment Agency is making a step change in regulatory scrutiny across the sector, moving away from operator self-monitoring towards a more transparent, intelligence-led approach to monitoring. This includes increased inspections, independent audits, check sampling, stronger compliance requirements and enhanced data analytics to improve confidence in environmental monitoring.

The move to end operator self-monitoring is a transition rather than a single deliverable and no fixed end date has been set. Defra and the Environment Agency are assessing the staffing, laboratory, digital, data and regulatory capabilities required to support this transition. This work is ongoing.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the timetable is for establishing a statutory Water Ombudsman; what assessment she has made of the powers required to provide effective redress to customers; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of an Ombudsman on access to redress for customers served by water companies operating in coastal communities, including Southern Water.

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

The Government will establish the Water Ombudsman at the earliest opportunity.

The Government is applying best practice from other sectors, such as energy, communications, finance and rail, to develop a model which includes the powers required to provide effective redress to customers. The Government is also engaging with the relevant regulator and other persons appearing to be representative of persons who have an interest in the matter.

The Government will ensure there are routes for redress and legally binding resolutions for water customers, including those in coastal communities, under the Water Ombudsman when a water company has failed to resolve a customer complaint.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what transitional governance arrangements she plans to put in place before the establishment of a single integrated water regulator; which body will be responsible during that transition for coordinating functions exercised by Ofwat, the Environment Agency, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and the Consumer Council for Water; and whether she plans to publish a transition plan.

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

Work is already underway to support transition arrangements, including the appointment of Professor Dame Julia Black as Senior Adviser to the Secretary of State on Water Reform Transition to inform the strategic design of the new regulator and oversee transition arrangements. The Clean Water Bill was announced as a second session Bill in the King’s Speech and will be introduced in due course.

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 publish an implementation plan for the recommendations of the Independent Water Commission setting out whether each recommendation (a) has been accepted, rejected and remains under consideration and (b) requires primary legislation, secondary legislation, regulatory action and non-legislative departmental action; and if she will set an indicative timetable for implementation of each recommendation accepted.

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

Work is already underway to support transition arrangements, including the appointment of Professor Dame Julia Black as Senior Adviser to the Secretary of State on Water Reform Transition to inform the strategic design of the new regulator and oversee transition arrangements. The Clean Water Bill was announced as a second session Bill in the King’s Speech and will be introduced in due course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what timetable she has set for introducing primary legislation to reform the regulation of the water sector; and whether she plans to publish (i) draft clauses and (ii) a policy paper setting out how that legislation will provide for the (a) establishment of a single integrated water regulator, (b) transfer of functions from existing regulators and (c) commencement of the new regulatory framework.

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

Work is already underway to support transition arrangements, including the appointment of Professor Dame Julia Black as Senior Adviser to the Secretary of State on Water Reform Transition to inform the strategic design of the new regulator and oversee transition arrangements. The Clean Water Bill was announced as a second session Bill in the King’s Speech and will be introduced in due course.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has undertaken an assessment of geographical variation in access to cochlear implant assessment and treatment services in England; and what the average travel distance and travel time is for patients resident in West Sussex referred for cochlear implant assessment and treatment.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No assessment of the trends in the level of variation in referral pathways for adult audiology services in England has been made.

Data on waiting times for specific specialist audiology pathways such as tinnitus, cochlear implant, balance disorders, and complex hearing loss services is not held.

NHS England does, however, publish data on waiting time data for the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialty which includes some audiology patients. The available data is not broken down to individual specialist audiology pathways or by constituency.

The latest published data, from April 2026, shows that patients in the NHS Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Board, which covers West Sussex, are receiving ENT care quicker, with 57.9% of patients now waiting within 18 weeks, an increase of 6.1% on a year earlier. This data can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/rtt-data-2026-27/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England collects comparative data on waiting times for specialist audiology services, including tinnitus, cochlear implant, balance disorder and complex hearing loss pathways; and what the latest available waiting time data is for patients served by NHS providers in West Sussex.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No assessment of the trends in the level of variation in referral pathways for adult audiology services in England has been made.

Data on waiting times for specific specialist audiology pathways such as tinnitus, cochlear implant, balance disorders, and complex hearing loss services is not held.

NHS England does, however, publish data on waiting time data for the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialty which includes some audiology patients. The available data is not broken down to individual specialist audiology pathways or by constituency.

The latest published data, from April 2026, shows that patients in the NHS Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Board, which covers West Sussex, are receiving ENT care quicker, with 57.9% of patients now waiting within 18 weeks, an increase of 6.1% on a year earlier. This data can be found at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/rtt-data-2026-27/

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS audiology providers in England are subject to (i) high assurance, (ii) partial assurance and (iii) improvement support under NHS England’s national audiology improvement programme; and what assurance status applies to NHS providers delivering audiology services in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton constituency.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill

The National Audiology Improvement Collaborative, delivered by NHS Elect and commissioned by NHS England, supports audiology services to improve access, reduce waiting times, and improve patient experience and quality. It began in 2024/25 with four teams, three of which achieved significant, measured improvements in waiting times. A further eight teams were supported in 2025/26 and 20 more will join in 2026/27. Learning is being shared through webinars and conferences, and NHS Elect will publish an improvement guide later in 2026.

Data on how many audiology providers are in each rating category is currently being collected. Bognor Regis and Littlehampton are served by the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, whose paediatric audiology service has been rated as high assurance since the start of the programme, most recently confirmed in May 2025.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the outcome was of the NHS England Elect Audiology Improvement Collaborative; and whether he plans to publish its findings and recommendations, including data relating to NHS providers serving West Sussex.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill

The National Audiology Improvement Collaborative, delivered by NHS Elect and commissioned by NHS England, supports audiology services to improve access, reduce waiting times, and improve patient experience and quality. It began in 2024/25 with four teams, three of which achieved significant, measured improvements in waiting times. A further eight teams were supported in 2025/26 and 20 more will join in 2026/27. Learning is being shared through webinars and conferences, and NHS Elect will publish an improvement guide later in 2026.

Data on how many audiology providers are in each rating category is currently being collected. Bognor Regis and Littlehampton are served by the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, whose paediatric audiology service has been rated as high assurance since the start of the programme, most recently confirmed in May 2025.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a Statutory Sick Pay rebate or reimbursement scheme for small and medium-sized employers following the changes introduced on 6 April 2026.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Strengthening Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is part of the Government’s Plan to Make Work Pay ensuring the safety net of sick pay is available to those who need it most. Widening eligibility to the up to 1.3mn employees who were previously not entitled to SSP, and removing the waiting period so that SSP is paid from the first day of work missed due to sickness, were introduced to help ensure that no one should have to worry about whether they can take time off when they are ill.

The government conducted a Regulatory Impact Assessment on the changes to strengthen Statutory Sick Pay in the Employment Rights Act, which was published in October 2024 and can be found here: Impact assessment: Improve access Statutory Sick Pay removing Lower Earnings Limit and waiting period.

Previous SSP rebate schemes that were available to employers, such as the Percentage Threshold Scheme were seen as complex, expensive to administer, underused by small businesses and did not encourage employers to support their employees during sickness absence.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate the Department has made of the additional annual cost to employers arising from the removal of the Statutory Sick Pay waiting period and Lower Earnings Limit, broken down by (a) business size and (b) industrial sector.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Strengthening Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is part of the Government’s Plan to Make Work Pay ensuring the safety net of sick pay is available to those who need it most. Widening eligibility to the up to 1.3m employees who were previously not entitled to SSP, and removing the waiting period so that SSP is paid from the first day of work missed due to sickness, were introduced to help ensure that no one should have to worry about whether they can take time off when they are ill.

Prior to the introduction of the SSP reforms, the Government published an impact assessment which can be found at Impact assessment: Improve access Statutory Sick Pay removing Lower Earnings Limit and waiting period.

The government will monitor the impact of the SSP changes and consider the experiences of employers as part of the post implementation review.

Found: Redditch) John Cooper (Conservative; Dumfries and Galloway) Sarah Edwards (Labour; Tamworth) Alison Griffiths

Found: the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Alison Griffiths

Found: Redditch) John Cooper (Conservative; Dumfries and Galloway) Sarah Edwards (Labour; Tamworth) Alison Griffiths

Found: Derbyshire) Barry Gardiner (Labour; Brent West) Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat; Chippenham) Alison Griffiths

Found: Redditch) John Cooper (Conservative; Dumfries and Galloway) Sarah Edwards (Labour; Tamworth) Alison Griffiths

Found: Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths

Found: Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Antonia Bance; Chris Bloore; John Cooper; Sarah Edwards; Alison Griffiths