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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) reducing the remit of the Commissioners appointed to oversee Birmingham City Council and (b) recalling them with immediate effect.

Answered by Jim McMahon

Commissioners appointed to Birmingham City Council play a key role in supporting the Council’s recovery and ensuring it returns to a sustainable footing. They provide oversight, advice and challenge across the Council’s operations and exercise all functions associated with the Council’s governance and scrutiny of strategic decision making, and all functions relating to senior appointments. They have powers to make decisions directly should they deem that necessary.

There are currently no plans to make changes to the Commissioner team.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the Commissioners appointed to oversee Birmingham City Council in reaching a negotiated settlement of the Birmingham bin strikes.

Answered by Jim McMahon

Commissioners appointed to Birmingham City Council play a key role in supporting the Council’s recovery and ensuring it returns to a sustainable footing. They provide oversight, advice and challenge across the Council’s operations and exercise all functions associated with the Council’s governance and scrutiny of strategic decision making, and all functions relating to senior appointments. They have powers to make decisions directly should they deem that necessary.

There are currently no plans to make changes to the Commissioner team.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has set a deadline for introducing a comprehensive remuneration and conditions framework set for implementation from October 2026 for public service interpreters.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice has provided a comprehensive response to the Public Services Committee inquiry and report into interpreter and translation services in the courts, published in June 2025, which covers this topic.

The Ministry of Justice is procuring new interpreter contracts to commence in October 2026, which include improvements to the service, interpreter remuneration, and conditions.

The Department considered mandating payment rates for interpreters during market engagement but concluded that suppliers (as experts in the market) are best placed to set payment rates. The Ministry of Justice’s role, as the commissioning body, is to ensure that these rates are fair and deliver value for money to the taxpayer.

The Ministry of Justice has already taken steps to improve interpreter remuneration, such as increasing the minimum face to face booking duration to two hours in October 2024, which has led to improved contract fulfilment rates and a reduction in off contract requests.

From October 2026, the new contracts will introduce improvements to interpreter remuneration and conditions. This includes:

• Strengthening safeguarding provisions to support interpreter wellbeing

• Changing the cancellation cut-off time meaning more cancellations will fall into the ‘short notice’ category and attract a fee payable to interpreters

• Maintaining the two-hour minimum booking duration

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department has considered the potential merits of introducing an independent regulator to oversee the commercial agencies it appoints for the provision of interpreting and translation services.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice does not require the introduction of an independent regulator due to the existing, robust assurance procedures in place.

All interpreters under the Ministry of Justice contracts are subject to a quality assurance regime, which is independent of the suppliers that provide our interpreters. The Department has a dedicated Commercial and Contract Management team that oversees the quality assurance provider and the suppliers of interpreters. Their work includes conducting audits to ensure that data is reliable and reviewing quality and complaints data to ensure that the service is delivering for the taxpayer.

Performance data for the language interpreter and translation services is published on the GOV.UK website.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to ensure the recruitment and retention of sufficient numbers of interpreters with a Level 6 Diploma in Public Service Interpreting by October 2026.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice is committed to maintaining both the quality and capacity of the future supply chain of qualified court interpreters.

The Department and its suppliers regularly review fulfilment data to inform and adapt recruitment strategies, and our suppliers ensure that there are, and will be, sufficient interpreters with the required qualifications to meet our demand. The new contracts will improve this further by including steps to support interpreters in attaining Level 6 Diploma in Public Service Interpreting, through expanding the Trainee Scheme managed by the quality and assurance provider and providing more support for qualification costs.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2025 to Question 62414 on Funeral Payments, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) amending the family-related questions for the application process and (b) reviewing the eligibility criteria for the Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment, in the context of situations in which the next of kin has refused to pay for the funeral.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The long standing state position is that individuals should look to make financial provision for their own funeral, and that where this has not happened family or friends who can take part or all of the responsibility for the cost of funeral arrangements should do so.

Where responsibility for organising a funeral falls to those on qualifying benefits a Funeral Expenses Payment may be available, but eligibility criteria are designed to ensure the scheme is fair for taxpayers while supporting the most vulnerable with these costs.

We continue to keep the Funeral Expenses Payment scheme under review to ensure it remains effective and sustainable within current budgetary constraints. This includes the eligibility criteria, application process, customer experience and administrative costs.

We have not made a specific assessment of the impact of Funeral Expenses Payment eligibility criteria on the finances of local authorities.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 1 July 2025 to Question 62414 on Funeral Payments, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of assessing the (a) ability and (b) willingness of other family members to take responsibility for a funeral within the Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The long standing state position is that individuals should look to make financial provision for their own funeral, and that where this has not happened family or friends who can take part or all of the responsibility for the cost of funeral arrangements should do so.

Where responsibility for organising a funeral falls to those on qualifying benefits a Funeral Expenses Payment may be available, but eligibility criteria are designed to ensure the scheme is fair for taxpayers while supporting the most vulnerable with these costs.

We continue to keep the Funeral Expenses Payment scheme under review to ensure it remains effective and sustainable within current budgetary constraints. This includes the eligibility criteria, application process, customer experience and administrative costs.

We have not made a specific assessment of the impact of Funeral Expenses Payment eligibility criteria on the finances of local authorities.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the Funeral Expenses Payment's eligibility criteria on the finances of local authorities.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The long standing state position is that individuals should look to make financial provision for their own funeral, and that where this has not happened family or friends who can take part or all of the responsibility for the cost of funeral arrangements should do so.

Where responsibility for organising a funeral falls to those on qualifying benefits a Funeral Expenses Payment may be available, but eligibility criteria are designed to ensure the scheme is fair for taxpayers while supporting the most vulnerable with these costs.

We continue to keep the Funeral Expenses Payment scheme under review to ensure it remains effective and sustainable within current budgetary constraints. This includes the eligibility criteria, application process, customer experience and administrative costs.

We have not made a specific assessment of the impact of Funeral Expenses Payment eligibility criteria on the finances of local authorities.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of conducting a review of language professionals’ (a) minimum pay rates, (b) cancellation fees and (c) working conditions on the long-term (i) procurement and (ii) retention of public service interpreters.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice has undertaken a review of interpreter remuneration and conditions as part of the current procurement exercise for the interpreting service. This included a Delivery Model Assessment and extensive market engagement. The House of Lords Public Services Committee (PSC) also conducted an inquiry into the interpreting service in courts and published their subsequent report in March 2025.

The Ministry of Justice has drawn on the valuable learning and insights from these reviews which informed the Department’s response to the House of Lords PSC report. The response, which covers the topics raised in more detail, can be accessed via this link: committees.parliament.uk/publications/48172/documents/252233/default/.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many emergency inhalers with dosage counters were prescribed by the NHS in the latest period for which data is available; and what proportion of the total number of emergency inhalers prescribed by the NHS in this period had dosage counters.

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

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) produces official statistics on Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) which show the total volume and cost for drugs, dressings, appliances, and medical devices that have been dispensed in the community in England. These statistics cannot be specifically linked to the marketing authorisations, but they can be linked to pharmaceutical product suppliers using the NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices. Suppliers may be distributors, manufacturers, or wholesalers. The following table shows the quantity supplied for National Health Service prescriptions of dry powder inhalers of salbutamol and terbutaline by supplier, for April, May, and June 2025:

Source: NHS BSA Open Data Portal, PCA data, with further information available at the following link:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/.

In addition, the following table shows the quantity supplied for NHS prescriptions of pressurised metered dose inhalers of salbutamol by supplier for April to June 2025:

Source: NHS BSA Open Data Portal, PCA data, with further information available at the following link:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/

‘Salbutamol 100micrograms/dose inhaler CFC free’ is reimbursed generically according to the Drug Tariff Part VIIIA, so it is not necessary for pharmacy reimbursement claims to state the supplier. In cases where the NHS BSA has no supplier information, these items are classified as ‘Generic Supplier’.

As set out in the answer I gave on 23 July 2025 to Question 68960, we do not hold prescribing data that specifically differentiates inhalers based on whether they have dosage counters. We note, however, that most dry powder inhalers have dosage counters, whilst most pressurised inhalers do not. In June 2025 the proportion of salbutamol and terbutaline sulphate inhalers that were dry powder inhalers was 9.3%.

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 17 July to Question 68960 on Asthma: Medical Equipment, how many NHS-prescribed (a) dry powder inhalers and (b) pressurised metered dose inhalers were purchased from each of the relevant Market Authorisation Holders in the latest three periods for which data is available.

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

The NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA) produces official statistics on Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) which show the total volume and cost for drugs, dressings, appliances, and medical devices that have been dispensed in the community in England. These statistics cannot be specifically linked to the marketing authorisations, but they can be linked to pharmaceutical product suppliers using the NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices. Suppliers may be distributors, manufacturers, or wholesalers. The following table shows the quantity supplied for National Health Service prescriptions of dry powder inhalers of salbutamol and terbutaline by supplier, for April, May, and June 2025:

Source: NHS BSA Open Data Portal, PCA data, with further information available at the following link:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/.

In addition, the following table shows the quantity supplied for NHS prescriptions of pressurised metered dose inhalers of salbutamol by supplier for April to June 2025:

Source: NHS BSA Open Data Portal, PCA data, with further information available at the following link:
https://opendata.nhsbsa.net/

‘Salbutamol 100micrograms/dose inhaler CFC free’ is reimbursed generically according to the Drug Tariff Part VIIIA, so it is not necessary for pharmacy reimbursement claims to state the supplier. In cases where the NHS BSA has no supplier information, these items are classified as ‘Generic Supplier’.

As set out in the answer I gave on 23 July 2025 to Question 68960, we do not hold prescribing data that specifically differentiates inhalers based on whether they have dosage counters. We note, however, that most dry powder inhalers have dosage counters, whilst most pressurised inhalers do not. In June 2025 the proportion of salbutamol and terbutaline sulphate inhalers that were dry powder inhalers was 9.3%.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential cumulative impact of (a) proposed changes to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy thresholds, (b) the extended producer responsibility scheme and (c) the Deposit Return Scheme on the financial sustainability of the soft drink industry.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Implementing the Collection and Packaging Reforms is a critical step in the transition to a circular economy that delivers sustainable growth and produces less waste, rubbish and litter.

The Government believes it is right that the costs of dealing with household packaging waste are moved away from taxpayers and onto the businesses that place packaging on the market.

The extended producer responsibility (pEPR) scheme is designed to incentivise businesses to redesign and use more sustainable packaging materials, resulting in lower pEPR fees.

An assessment of impacts – including economic impacts for businesses – has been conducted in relation to (i) the proposed changes to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy, (ii) the extended producer responsibility scheme and (iii) the Deposit Return Scheme. These impact assessments are available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/strengthening-the-soft-drinks-industry-levy

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2024/1332/impacts

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukia/2024/167/pdfs/ukia_20240167_en.pdf

If the Government decides to make changes to the Soft Drinks Industry levy, it will also publish a tax information and impact note (TIIN) to give account of the confirmed policy’s impacts.

Following the 'Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy' consultation, the government expects to confirm the final policy at Autumn Budget 2025'.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his oral statement of 21 July 2025 on Middle East, Official Report, column 595, whether UK made arms components were used in the incident at the Project HOPE health clinic in Deir al Balah.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

As the Foreign Secretary has said, we utterly condemn the killing of civilians seeking to meet their basic needs. Our assessment of this strike, drawing on the available evidence, including eyewitness reports in the media, is that it was a drone strike. The Government suspended all export licences for IDF drones on 2 September 2024, and we categorically do not export any bombs or ammunition for use in military operations in Gaza.

Obligations under the Genocide Convention towards British dual nationals

Sanctions on Israel and International Court of Justice findings

Statement on Palestine by children's authors, illustrators and educators