Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average waiting time is for the DVLA to process applications from people that are reapplying for driving licenses following their disqualification (a) on medical grounds and (b) for a criminal offence.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) sends renewal reminders to drivers before their current licence is due to expire to prompt renewal applications to be made as early as possible.

Where the DVLA is made aware that a driving licence is required urgently for employment purposes the application will be processed as a priority. Most applicants will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing they meet certain criteria as outlined in this guidance at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inf1886-can-i-drive-while-my-application-is-with-dvla.

There are no delays in straightforward driving licence applications regardless of whether the driver was previously disqualified. These are being processed within normal turnaround times.

Driving licence applications where a medical condition(s) requires investigation can take longer as the DVLA is often reliant on information from third parties, including medical professionals, before a licence can be issued.

DVLA is continuing to make improvements to the services provided to drivers with medical conditions and is introducing a new strategic system to process cases. This will provide better services for customers and allow straightforward applications to be processed more quickly.

In the 2024/25 financial year, the average time to make a licensing decision in such cases was 44 working days, a significant reduction from 54 working days in the 2023/24 financial year.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to help tackle DVLA delays in the processing of applications for driving licenses by people who are reapplying following a disqualification.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) sends renewal reminders to drivers before their current licence is due to expire to prompt renewal applications to be made as early as possible.

Where the DVLA is made aware that a driving licence is required urgently for employment purposes the application will be processed as a priority. Most applicants will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing they meet certain criteria as outlined in this guidance at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inf1886-can-i-drive-while-my-application-is-with-dvla.

There are no delays in straightforward driving licence applications regardless of whether the driver was previously disqualified. These are being processed within normal turnaround times.

Driving licence applications where a medical condition(s) requires investigation can take longer as the DVLA is often reliant on information from third parties, including medical professionals, before a licence can be issued.

DVLA is continuing to make improvements to the services provided to drivers with medical conditions and is introducing a new strategic system to process cases. This will provide better services for customers and allow straightforward applications to be processed more quickly.

In the 2024/25 financial year, the average time to make a licensing decision in such cases was 44 working days, a significant reduction from 54 working days in the 2023/24 financial year.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to support people whose driving license expires whilst waiting for the DVLA to process their application for a renewal when this impacts their employment.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) sends renewal reminders to drivers before their current licence is due to expire to prompt renewal applications to be made as early as possible.

Where the DVLA is made aware that a driving licence is required urgently for employment purposes the application will be processed as a priority. Most applicants will be able to continue driving while their application is being processed, providing they meet certain criteria as outlined in this guidance at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inf1886-can-i-drive-while-my-application-is-with-dvla.

There are no delays in straightforward driving licence applications regardless of whether the driver was previously disqualified. These are being processed within normal turnaround times.

Driving licence applications where a medical condition(s) requires investigation can take longer as the DVLA is often reliant on information from third parties, including medical professionals, before a licence can be issued.

DVLA is continuing to make improvements to the services provided to drivers with medical conditions and is introducing a new strategic system to process cases. This will provide better services for customers and allow straightforward applications to be processed more quickly.

In the 2024/25 financial year, the average time to make a licensing decision in such cases was 44 working days, a significant reduction from 54 working days in the 2023/24 financial year.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether Wales will receive any consequential funding through the Barnett formula as a result of UK Government actions on the bluetongue virus in England.

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

The Barnett formula is applied in the usual way, as set out in the Statement of Funding policy, to all changes to Defra’s budget. It is applied when departmental budgets change - not when departments announce how they are spending their budgets.

Barnett consequentials provided to the Welsh Government are not ringfenced for a specific policy area. It is for the Welsh Government to allocate their funding in devolved areas, including agriculture, as they see fit. The Welsh Government can therefore take its own decisions on managing and investing available resources, reflecting its own priorities and local circumstances, and it is accountable to the Senedd for these decisions.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much funding the Welsh government requested from her Department for coal tip safety and remediation work as part of the Spending Review 2025.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

At the Spending Review, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that HM Treasury would provide the Welsh Government with the funding it requested to continue its vital coal tip safety work. Ensuring coal tips across Wales remain safe is of the upmost importance and this is why the UK Government is committing £118 million over the three years of the Spending Review period (over financial years 2026/27-2028/29). This is in addition to the £25m provided at Autumn Budget last year, bringing the total UK Government investment in coal tip safety to over £140m. This is another example of how two governments working in partnership are delivering for the people of Wales.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to her oral statement on Spending Review 2025, Official Report, column 985, for what reason she referenced Swansea and Bridgend in the context of the extension of free school meals in England.

Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The government will provide £410 million per year by 2028-29 to expand Free School Meals eligibility from September 2026 to all pupils in England with a parent receiving Universal Credit.

The Barnett formula will apply in the normal way; education is a devolved matter and so the Welsh Government is responsible for Free School Meals policy in Wales.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department plans to review its policy on defining military compensation as income in Pension Credit means tests.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The first £10 of any War Pension payment or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) award made due to injury or disablement is disregarded in Pension Credit. Income is calculated on a weekly basis, so the disregard is £10 per week.

Four additions to the War Disablement Pension are completely disregarded: Constant Attendance Allowance; Mobility Supplement; Severe Disablement Occupational Allowance; and dependency increases for anyone other than the applicant or her / his partner.

War Pensions and AFCS awards are a qualifying income for the Savings Credit element of Pension Credit, which is available to those who reached State Pension age before April 2016.

Armed Forces Independence Payments are fully disregarded in Pension Credit and can also allow the recipient to qualify for an additional disability amount.

There are no plans to review the treatment of military compensation in Pension Credit.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of imposing an all-England restricted zone from 1 July 2025 in response to the bluetongue virus on (a) livestock markets and (b) other businesses (i) in Wales and (ii) along the Wales-England border.

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

From 1 July 2025 the restricted zone for bluetongue will be extended to cover all of England. This change is being made because the area of England where disease has been found is now too large for movement restrictions to remain an effective and proportionate way of controlling the disease.

Disease control is a devolved matter, and it is for the devolved administrations to assess their disease risks and respond accordingly. However, Defra and the Devolved Governments work closely together with the aim to provide, where possible, a consistent and coordinated response across the UK. A key forum for this is the Animal Disease Policy Group, which is a UK-wide policy decision making group. Defra and Devolved Governments also engage closely with industry to inform policy development and implementation through the Livestock Core Group.

The Government recognises that keepers and businesses can also be affected not only by the impacts of bluetongue disease on animals, but also by disease control measures. That is why Government seeks to minimise these burdens where safe to do so using exemptions under licenses, whilst maintaining the integrity and efficacy of measures intended to mitigate the risk of disease spread.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the spread of bluetongue virus on food security in (a) Wales and (b) other parts of the UK.

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

Bluetongue does not impact human health or food safety, and the current outbreak of bluetongue serotype 3 affecting England has not had an impact on food security in the UK.

Disease control is a devolved matter, and it is for the devolved administrations to assess their disease risks and respond accordingly. However, Defra and the Devolved Governments work closely together with the aim to provide, where possible, a consistent and coordinated response across the UK. A key forum for this is the Animal Disease Policy Group, which is a UK-wide policy decision making group.

Defra’s disease control measures aim to limit the spread of infection, seeking to contain the number of animals that need to be culled, either for disease control purposes or to safeguard animal welfare, whilst balancing the burdens of controls against the benefits of eradication of bluetongue.

Our approach aims to reduce adverse impacts on the rural and wider economy, the public, rural communities and the environment (including impact on wildlife), whilst safeguarding the health and safety of those involved in controlling the outbreak and minimising the overall cost of any outbreak.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of potential merits of establishing a compensation scheme for farmers affected by the imposition of restricted zones in response to the bluetongue virus.

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

The Government recognises that keepers and businesses can be affected not only by the impacts of bluetongue disease on animals, but also by disease control measures. That is why Defra seeks to minimise these burdens where safe to do so by using exemptions under licenses, whilst maintaining the integrity and efficacy of measures intended to mitigate the risk of disease spread.

Compensation is available for keepers whose animals are required to be culled for disease control purposes by the Government. However, we would not expect to cull large numbers of animals due to bluetongue since culling becomes ineffective once disease is established within the biting midge population. There are no plans to introduce a wider compensation scheme in relation to bluetongue. As set out in The Animal Health Act 1981 compensation is not paid for consequential losses or business interruption including those caused by measures in force in disease control zones.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Animal and Plant Health Agency’s capacity to effectively tackle the spread of bluetongue virus.

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

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) leads Government action on animal disease control and has outbreak response plans, supported by the bluetongue virus (BTV) national reference laboratory at The Pirbright Institute. Response times are kept under regular review between Defra, Welsh Government, Scottish Government and APHA and appropriate action initiated where additional operational support is required.

Defra’s disease control measures aim to limit the spread of BTV infection through proportionate and evidence-based control measures, whilst balancing the burdens of controls against the benefits of eradication of bluetongue and minimising the cost of any outbreak both to government and farmers.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2025 to Question 45439 on Personal Independence Payments and with reference to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, published on 18 June 2025, whether PIP claimants of pension age who (a) are subject to a planned award review and (b) request a change of circumstances review from November 2026 will be impacted by changes to eligibility requirements.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The vast majority of claimants over State Pension age are on ongoing awards, with a light-touch review scheduled for 10 years. This is because we know that, as people get older, their conditions tend to get worse rather than better, and as such we think that is sensible and proportionate to reduce reassessment burdens on people over the pensionable age.

These claimants will therefore not undergo a review of their PIP award at the 10-year light touch review point, unless they request one due to change in their circumstances.

In line with existing policy, if they do request a review – such as due to an improvement or deterioration in their condition – after the new rules come into effect in November 2026, the four-point criteria will apply.

There is a small number of claimants over State Pension age on fixed-term awards, often because they have a planned operation or treatment that is likely to make a significant difference to how their condition affects them. Case managers will consider these on a case-by-case basis.

Post Offices in rural areas

Recognition and support for the creator economy

Protections for the welfare of wild animals in tourism

Safe Inside Prisons Charter

Wales Women's Team UEFA Women's Euro 2025

Loan Charge and settlement terms offered to large companies and individuals

MG ALBA and global recognition for Gaelic broadcasting

Government policy on the Hillsborough Law

Funding for training of professional journalists

Ynys Môn’s status as a UNESCO Global Geopark

Parliamentary approval for UK military action against Iran

50th anniversary of Ynys Môn Gymnastics Club

UK trade with illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Air India crash

Found: our further consideration of the evidence we heard: • In your response to Question 12 from Ann Davies

Found: following our further consideration of the evidence we heard: • In response to Question 12 from Ann Davies

Found: interested to hear your views and those of the other witnesses in response to Question 36 from Ann Davies

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Ruth Jones (Chair); David Chadwick; Ann Davies; Simon Hoare; Claire

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Ruth Jones (Chair); David Chadwick; Ann Davies; Gill German; Simon

Found: Ribeiro-Addy Liz Saville Roberts Carla Denyer Mrs Sharon Hodgson Maya Ellis Dame Siobhain McDonagh Ann Davies

Found: Gideon Amos Olly Glover Jess Brown-Fuller Tom Gordon Ben Maguire Vikki Slade Llinos Medi Ann Davies