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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what actions he is taking to mitigate the potential impact of the built environment on bat populations.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

All bats, including their breeding sites and resting places, are protected under UK and international law.

This strict legal protection makes it an offence to deliberately capture, injure, or kill bats; to damage or destroy a breeding or resting place; or to obstruct access to a resting or sheltering place. Local Planning Authorities require a bat survey to be completed if a proposed development is likely to negatively affect bats or their habitats. Appropriate measures must be taken by developers to avoid, mitigate and, as a last resort, compensate for any negative effects on bats that could be caused by any proposed development. An example of a compensatory measure could be the erection of a bat box, whilst a mitigation measure could include carrying out works to a summer roost site in the winter when bats are not present.

The revised National Planning Policy Framework we published in December expects developments to minimise impacts on and provide net gains for biodiversity, including by establishing coherent ecological networks that are more resilient to current and future pressures and through incorporating features that support priority or threatened species such as bats.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the regulatory efficacy of the Financial Conduct Authority.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The government monitors the performance of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in a number of ways.

For example, the FCA is required to respond annually to the letter of recommendation sent by the Chancellor which sets out aspects of the government’s economic policy to which the FCA must have regard. The government scrutinizes this response, as well as other publications such as the FCA’s annual report.

The FCA publishes data against a range of metrics which support the government in monitoring its performance. The FCA is also developing new metrics to monitor its performance as part of its 2025-30 Strategy. This provides opportunities to assess how effectively the FCA is carrying out its role.

The Regulation Action Plan, published in March 2025, committed the government to holding regular performance reviews with relevant regulators. I have held the first meeting with the FCA, and the minutes of this meeting will be made publicly available. The government will use these meetings to build on its already extensive engagement with the FCA and other regulators, to hold them to account for their performance against their statutory duties, their work to reduce administrative costs, and alignment with government priorities.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to improve the availability of practical car driving tests in Monmouthshire.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

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

On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce driving test waiting times across the country.

Further information on these actions and progress on the DVSA’s plan, which was set out last year, can be found on GOV.UK.

DVSA continues to run recruitment campaigns for new driving examiners (DE) and is in the final processes of the most recent campaign.

From recent recruitment in Monmouthshire, DVSA has two new DEs starting in Llantrisant, who will start testing this week, and has another awaiting an upcoming training course. There are also two potential new DEs currently in training for Newport and Cardiff driving test centres.

DVSA’s next campaign, which will include driving test centres in the area, is due to launch shortly.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that low-income (a) victims of domestic abuse, (b) victims of sexual abuse by someone in the home and (c) immediate family members of victims of sexual abuse can access legal aid.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

This Government recognises that legal aid – a vital part of the justice system – supports the ability of individuals, who need it most, to have access to publicly funded legal assistance in order to uphold their legal rights.

Legal aid is available for private family matters such as child arrangements, financial remedy proceedings and divorce if an individual is a victim of domestic abuse or at risk of being abused. Funding is subject to providing the required evidence of domestic abuse and passing the means and merits tests.

Legal aid is also available for domestic abuse victims for certain urgent protection applications – for example, non-molestation orders and occupation orders. We understand how important it is that anyone who needs a protective order can access legal advice and representation quickly, whatever their means. An eligibility waiver is available for victims of domestic abuse applying for urgent protection, which means they can receive legal aid even if they would not otherwise pass the means test, though they may then have to pay a financial contribution towards their legal costs.

The Government recently made changes to legislation to support victims of domestic abuse and to ensure that legal aid continues to be available to them.

Firstly, as part of a tailored package of measures the Ministry of Justice implemented in November 2024, a civil legal aid equity disregard was implemented for victims of domestic abuse who have temporarily left their home. This means that £100,000 of the value of a domestic abuse victims’ home will not be considered within the legal aid means test. This change recognises that while victims may own property, they are unable to benefit from the home due to the presence of an abuser.

Secondly, in May this year, a Statutory Instrument came into force which made various changes, including to the scope of legal aid for Domestic Abuse Protection Orders and Domestic Abuse Protection Notices to ensure the fuller availability of legal aid for individuals in respect of these orders.

We are also currently conducting a review of domestic abuse evidence requirements - which need to be satisfied in order to access legal aid for private family matters – to ensure that the evidence requirements are not a barrier to access legal aid for victims of domestic abuse.

For cases which do not qualify for legal aid, there are a range of options available to support individuals through the legal process. For example, they are able to seek free, independent advice, from legal support and advice organsiations.

The Ministry of Justice is providing funding to support litigants in person, including domestic abuse victims and victims of sexual abuse, to help them navigate the civil justice system effectively, including preparation for court and support at court. In 2025/26, we are providing over £6 million of funding to 60 organisations to support the delivery of free legal support and information, both in-person and online. This includes some Citizens Advice and Law Centres, Rights of Women and AdviceNow, as well as a few organisations that specifically focus on supporting victims of domestic abuse.

The Department also funds a specialist service FLOWS (Finding Legal Options for Women Survivors), delivered by RCJ Advice, to support victims of domestic abuse to apply for protective orders in the family courts. The service can help all survivors, whether or not they are eligible for legal aid.

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 ensure the adequacy of the supply of GLP1 medication.

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

The Department of Health and Social Care has worked intensively with the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and others in the supply chain to largely resolve the supply issues with GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs). Currently, all GLP-1 RA medicines are available for NHS patients. We are aware of a short-term supply issue with one strength of Wegovy FlexTouch injection for private patients which is expected to resolve in mid-September 2025.

We continue to monitor the supply of GLP-1 RAs closely to ensure these medicines remain available. Any patient concerned about their condition, or access to these medications, should speak to their prescriber in the first instance.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle scams perpetrated (a) by telephone and (b) online.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

We are working extremely closely with all partners, including telecommunications networks and tech platforms, as well as regulators, law enforcement, and consumer groups to close the vulnerabilities that criminals exploit to commit fraud and to stop scams from reaching the public in the first place

The Government is currently working with telecommunications networks to develop a second Telecoms Charter, to build on the success of the first and go further in identifying, preventing and disrupting telecoms fraud. Under the first Telecommunications Charter, telecoms operators introduced firewalls that have stopped more than 1 billion scam text messages since January 2022. In a landmark, Europe-first move, we are also banning ‘SIM farms’, which are technical devices used to send out scam texts to thousands of people at once. The ban on ‘SIM farms’ is progressing through Parliament as part of the Crime & Policing Bill.

Regarding online fraud, the Online Safety Act’s illegal harm duties have been in force since March this year, of which fraud is included. The Act therefore requires all in-scope platforms to tackle fraud originating on their platforms, by taking proactive measures to stop fraudulent content appearing, and removing it quickly when they become aware of it. Ofcom, as the independent regulator, have the power to levy significant fines on companies who they deem as non-compliant.

Late this year, this Government will also be publishing an expanded fraud strategy, which will include further details of collaboration telecommunications networks and online platforms to tackle these pernicious crimes.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she plans to introduce legislation to implement the commitments outlined in the Government’s response to the consultation entitled Child Maintenance: Improving the Collection and Transfer of Payments, updated 23 June 2025.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Primary legislation is required to make the change to remove Direct Pay and reform the collection fee structure. Subject to Parliamentary time, we hope to implement the changes so they can take effect within the current Parliament.

Found: Independent; Canterbury) Kirith Entwistle (Labour; Bolton North East) Natalie Fleet (Labour; Bolsover) Catherine Fookes

Found: present: Sarah Owen (Chair); Alex Brewer; David Burton-Sampson; Kirith Entwistle; Natalie Fleet; Catherine Fookes