Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what financial support his Department provides to the recycled plastic industry.

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

Government is committed to improving the business environment for the recycled plastic industry. This includes support for eligible firms through the Energy Intensive Industry relief schemes, depending on scheme eligibility criteria and firm levels of electricity usage. Other mechanisms include the market-based Packaging Waste Recycling Notes (PRN) system that provides direct funding to the reprocessing sector.

DEFRA’s collection and packaging reforms will also stimulate investment in recycling services and provide feedstock certainty, and while we cannot endorse individual technologies, Government have a range of funding sources available to support innovative and emerging technologies within this space through Innovate UK.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of how imported plastic from Saudi Arabia might impact on the viability of domestic recycled plastic production.

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

The Department for Business and Trade has not made any specific assessment of the impact of plastic imports from Saudi Arabia on domestic recycled plastic production.

We are, however, working to ensure the viability of domestic production. This year marks the start of DEFRA’s collection and packaging reforms and a Deposit Return Scheme which will provide feedstock certainty through guaranteeing supply of materials for recycling, whilst also stimulating private investment in infrastructure. Government departments also continue to work closely together to identify interventions necessary to stabilise the sector and set it up for success.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help tackle deaths among homeless people caused primarily by drug use.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

People dying whilst homeless is devasting and we must do all we can to prevent avoidable deaths.

The government’s £61.7 million Rough Sleeping Drug and Alcohol Treatment programme funds drug and alcohol treatment services to improve substance misuse and recovery outcomes, reduce the number of people sleeping rough due to substance misuse, and prevent deaths from drug and alcohol poisoning.

We are also tackling the root causes of homelessness, including delivering 1.5 million homes over this Parliament and the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding for a generation.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 74930 on Midwives: Recruitment and Training, if he can outlines measures his Department is taking to increase the number of jobs available for newly qualified midwives.

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

On 11 August 2025, the Government announced the Graduate Guarantee for nurses and midwives. The Graduate Guarantee will ensure that there are enough positions this year for every newly qualified midwife in England. Vacant maternity support worker posts will be temporarily converted to Band 5 midwifery roles, backed by £8 million to create new opportunities specifically for newly qualified midwives and to further ease the recruitment strain.

Furthermore, the Government is committed to publishing a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed service set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will ensure the National Health Service has the right people in the right places, with the right skills to care for patients, when they need it.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department has carried out an assessment of the potential merits of providing childcare support for midwives in training.

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

The Department for Education provides the primary funding support package for English domiciled students in higher education through the student loans system. Eligible students can also apply for the Childcare Grant and Parents’ Learning Allowance.

The Department of Health and Social Care provides eligible healthcare students, including midwifery students, with supplementary, non-repayable support via the NHS Learning Support Fund. This includes a non-repayable grant of £5,000 per academic year and, for eligible students with childcare responsibilities, an additional £2,000 per academic year for parental support. These funding arrangements are reviewed ahead of the start of each academic year.

Midwifery apprentices can access childcare support schemes available to working parents, subject to meeting the eligibility criteria.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Andy Slaughter (Chair); Pam Cox; Linsey Farnsworth; Sir Ashley Fox

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Andy Slaughter (Chair); Pam Cox; Linsey Farnsworth; Sir Ashley Fox