Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what medical assessments conducted at the time of nuclear weapons tests were disclosed to nuclear test veterans.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for South Holland and The Deepings on Question 14583 on 26 November 2024.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what data his Department holds on the amount of energy transmitted by IFA2 since 1 September 2024.

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

The National Energy System Operator publishes data on interconnector flows on its Data Portal. Historical data is available as part of the Historical Demand Data series, while more timely data is available in the Daily Demand Update.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve treatment pathways for (a) PANS and (b) PANDAS patients.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department recognises the importance of raising awareness of rare diseases such as paediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome (PANS) and paediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) among healthcare professionals and improving the health and care system for people living with such conditions.

We are supportive of the progress made by PANS PANDAS UK and the PANS PANDAS Steering Group to undertake a national surveillance study, develop a clinical guideline and produce guidance for professionals, children, young people and families.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to provide long term support for (a) nightclubs and (b) other venues; and if she will prepare and publish a nightclub strategy which provides clarity of regulation for nightclubs.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is working closely with the live music industry to support an economically sustainable music sector.

The Government response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee's report on grassroots music venues, published 14 November, sets out our commitment to working with the sector to support the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. Cultural venues provide enjoyment to many thousands of people as the opportunity to hear live music up close is an essential part of our cultural life.

Following the Autumn Budget, we are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) successful Supporting Grassroots Music Fund which provides grants to grassroots music organisations - including those that host or promote electronic music – including venues, rehearsal and recording studios, promoters and festivals. ACE continues to engage with industry through targeted webinars and events to promote the Fund to the club sector and encourage applications.

This Government is focused on our five-point plan to breathe life back into Britain’s high streets, to ensure they are great places for businesses, and economic growth across the UK.

To deliver our manifesto pledge to protect the high street, from 2026-27, the government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RV) less than £500,000. To provide further support, the government has extended RHL relief at 40% for 2025-26.

We have no plans to develop a separate night clubs strategy, but would be interested in hearing from her Select Committee if it has suggestions in this area.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, If she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her policies of trends in the level of nightclub closures.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is working closely with the live music industry to support an economically sustainable music sector.

The Government response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee's report on grassroots music venues, published 14 November, sets out our commitment to working with the sector to support the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. Cultural venues provide enjoyment to many thousands of people as the opportunity to hear live music up close is an essential part of our cultural life.

Following the Autumn Budget, we are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) successful Supporting Grassroots Music Fund which provides grants to grassroots music organisations - including those that host or promote electronic music – including venues, rehearsal and recording studios, promoters and festivals. ACE continues to engage with industry through targeted webinars and events to promote the Fund to the club sector and encourage applications.

This Government is focused on our five-point plan to breathe life back into Britain’s high streets, to ensure they are great places for businesses, and economic growth across the UK.

To deliver our manifesto pledge to protect the high street, from 2026-27, the government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RV) less than £500,000. To provide further support, the government has extended RHL relief at 40% for 2025-26.

We have no plans to develop a separate night clubs strategy, but would be interested in hearing from her Select Committee if it has suggestions in this area.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will (a) recognise and (b) support (i) nightclubs and (ii) venues as cultural institutions.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government is working closely with the live music industry to support an economically sustainable music sector.

The Government response to the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee's report on grassroots music venues, published 14 November, sets out our commitment to working with the sector to support the sustainability of the entire music ecosystem. Cultural venues provide enjoyment to many thousands of people as the opportunity to hear live music up close is an essential part of our cultural life.

Following the Autumn Budget, we are continuing to support Arts Council England’s (ACE’s) successful Supporting Grassroots Music Fund which provides grants to grassroots music organisations - including those that host or promote electronic music – including venues, rehearsal and recording studios, promoters and festivals. ACE continues to engage with industry through targeted webinars and events to promote the Fund to the club sector and encourage applications.

This Government is focused on our five-point plan to breathe life back into Britain’s high streets, to ensure they are great places for businesses, and economic growth across the UK.

To deliver our manifesto pledge to protect the high street, from 2026-27, the government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RV) less than £500,000. To provide further support, the government has extended RHL relief at 40% for 2025-26.

We have no plans to develop a separate night clubs strategy, but would be interested in hearing from her Select Committee if it has suggestions in this area.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the level of business rates relief for hospitality, leisure and entertainment businesses on such businesses.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Without any government intervention, Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief would have ended entirely in April 2025, creating a cliff-edge for businesses. Instead, the Government has decided to offer a 40 per cent discount to RHL properties up to a cash cap of £110,0000 per business in 2025-26 and frozen the small business multiplier.

By tapering RHL relief to 40%, rather than letting it end, the government has saved the average pub, with a rateable value (RV) of £16,800, over £3,300 in 2025.

At Budget, the Government also announced that from 2026-27, it intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for high street RHL properties. This permanent tax cut will ensure that they benefit from much-needed certainty and support. The Government intends to fund this by introducing a higher multiplier on the most valuable properties, which includes the majority of large distribution warehouses, including warehouses used by online giants.

The rates for any new business rate multipliers will be set at Budget 2025 so that the Government can take into account the upcoming revaluation outcomes as well as the economic and fiscal context.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what oversight her Department has over (a) the CPS and (b) the speed of prosecutions.

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

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is responsible for making charging decisions and is independent of both the police and the government. Therefore, the Ministry of Justice does not have oversight over the CPS.

However, whilst the listing of cases is a matter for the independent judiciary, the Ministry of Justice and HMCTS have a degree of oversight of how quickly cases move through the criminal courts once received. The Crown Court has shown improvements in timeliness more recently. The latest public data shows that the number of days from a case arriving at the Crown Court to completion reduced by 25% throughout 2023, from 167 days in Q1 to 125 in Q4.

Across all jurisdictions, we are working closely with partners across the justice system to improve readiness of cases for hearing at court. We have introduced Case Coordinators into ten Crown Courts to improve adherence to the principles of Better Case Management. These principles link key initiatives to improve the way cases are processed through the system, covering areas such as robust case management, reduced but more effective hearings, and compliance with the rules and directions of the criminal court. The proof-of-concept is currently scheduled to conclude in August 2025, and the full evaluation at that point will test the business case for any further rollout.

The Criminal Courts Improvement Group (CCIG), chaired by the Senior Presiding Judge, works to improve adherence to Better Case Management Principles. CCIG focuses on improving efficiency across the system and aims to improve case management principles.

The Ministry of Justice publishes the CJS Delivery Data Dashboard, which includes timeliness metrics for the criminal justice system, including the average time from the police referring a case to the CPS to the CPS authorising a charge and the average time that a case takes to complete at court.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what plans his Department has to help reduce the rate of nightclub closures.

Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

We recognise the important role night-time economy business plays in supporting local economies and communities. Healthy night-time economy businesses not only support our creative industries, including musicians, DJs and performance artists, but also support tourism and bolster day economy businesses.

This Government is focused on its five-point plan to breathe life back into Britain’s high streets. This work will ensure that our high streets are great places for our businesses, supporting economic growth across the UK.

To deliver the manifesto pledge to protect the high street, from 2026-27, the government intends to introduce permanently lower tax rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure (RHL) properties with rateable values (RV) less than £500,000.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to increase the availability of practical driving tests in Gosport constituency.

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

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA’s) main priority is to reduce car practical driving test waiting times, whilst upholding road safety standards.

Measures in place to reduce waiting times for customers at all driving test centres (DTC), include the recruitment of new driving examiners (DE), conducting tests outside regular hours, including at weekends and on public holidays, and buying back annual leave from DEs. DVSA also continues to deploy DEs from areas with lower waiting times into those where waiting times are longer.

As part of recent recruitment at DTCs that serve the Gosport constituency, DVSA has had two new examiners successfully complete training, with another potential new examiner currently in training. A further seven potential applicants are in the application process and if successful, will be offered training courses in the new year.

Submit Evidence (by 12 Jan 2025)

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee is to examine the health of sport in local communities and schools and whether more can be done to sustain and grow sporting opportunities for all.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee is to examine the importance of built heritage in the UK and the barriers to its preservation.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee wants to give everyone across the world of culture, media and sport the chance to suggest themes or sectors that we should look into for a series of one-off sessions each year.