Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if he will make it his policy to support paid leave for fertility appointments.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Government is committed to supporting working people to balance work with their personal lives, including those navigating fertility treatment. Whilst the government has no plans to introduce a paid leave entitlement for fertility appointments, employers should treat staff fairly and accommodate reasonable requests.

Through the Employment Rights Bill, we are making flexible working available to more people, more easily, which may help employees and employers agree arrangements that support medical appointments, including fertility appointments. Many employers already offer compassionate or flexible working arrangements voluntarily, and we encourage businesses to take supportive action.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent progress her Department has made on the national statutory inquiry into grooming gangs.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

On 9 December 2025 the Home Secretary announced to Parliament the appointment of Baroness Anne Longfield CBE as Chair of the new Independent Inquiry into Grooming Gangs, and Zoë Billingham CBE and Eleanor Kelly CBE as Panel.

The Chair will consult on the draft Terms of Reference published alongside this announcement with a view to making recommendations to the Home Secretary who will agree the final Terms of Reference in March 2026.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help rescue Melanie Watters and Janine Reid in Sri Lanka following Cyclone Ditwah.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

My officials were in direct contact with Ms Watters and Ms Reid and worked with the local authorities in Sri Lanka who evacuated them from the affected area they were staying. They have now departed from Sri Lanka. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office works tirelessly to support British nationals in distress overseas. We prioritise the safety and wellbeing of our citizens, and our consular teams are available 24/7 to provide advice and assistance.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Croydon Magistrates' Court's 8 December sentencing of a resident of the Four Points Hotel in Horley, what steps she is taking to end the use of the Four Points Hotel to house asylum seekers.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

Hotel closure will be prioritised based on a wide range of criteria. The hotel exit plan will continue to be carefully managed to ensure that all supported asylum seekers are accommodated in suitable alternative accommodation, including large sites, elsewhere in the estate.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many a) neurologists, b) geriatricians and c) nurses in the NHS have specialist training in Parkinson's.

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

While the Department does not hold data specifically on the number of Parkinson’s specialist staff in England, we do hold data on the number of doctors working in the wider specialities of neurology and geriatric medicine. As of August 2025, there were 2,010 full time equivalent (FTE) doctors working in the specialty of neurology and 6,284 in geriatric medicine in National Health Service trusts and other organisations in England. This includes 1,025 FTE consultant neurologists and 1,687 FTE consultant geriatricians.

These figures are based on NHS Digital’s workforce data and reflect staff employed by NHS trusts and other core NHS organisations in England. They do not include doctors working in private practice or outside NHS organisations.

The Department does not hold specific data on the number of specialist Parkinson’s nurses currently working in the NHS in England. These roles are commissioned and managed locally by NHS trusts and integrated care boards as part of neurology and movement disorder services.

NHS England has published a service specification for specialised adult neurology services, which includes Parkinson’s disease as part of its scope. This specification sets out requirements for multidisciplinary care, including access to Parkinson’s disease nurse specialists, consultant neurologists, and allied health professionals.

NHS England is also implementing initiatives such as the Neurology Transformation Programme and the Getting It Right First Time Programme for Neurology, which aim to improve access to specialist care, reduce variation, and develop integrated models of service delivery for conditions including Parkinson’s disease. These programmes align with the National Institute for Care Excellence guidance on Parkinson’s disease, reference code NG71, which recommends that people with Parkinson’s have regular access to specialist staff with expertise in the condition.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what’s steps her Department is taking to support Palestinian human rights organisations.

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

I refer the Hon Member to the answer given on 18 December 2024 to Question 17000.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the lower age limit for adult peak-time rail fares on the families of students who turn 18 during the academic year while remaining in full-time education until the end of that year; and whether her Department plans to review age-based rail fare eligibility to ensure consistency for students who are required to travel to school or college during peak hours.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Adult fares are payable for passengers from the age of 16. The 16-17 Saver can be purchased to extend the discount on child fares to 16- and 17-year-olds.

The Government has no current plans to amend existing concessionary discounts. As set out in the Railways Bill, in future Great British Railways will have the flexibility to update and expand concessionary offers, following engagement with other operators, as passenger needs change.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for the 10-year health plan of the findings of the report by NHS Providers entitled Investing in the NHS: empowering the sector to drive productivity, renewal and growth, published on 15 October 2025 on local authority funding for NHS infrastructure.

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

The Department of Health and Social Care continues to work proactively with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and local authorities to reform National Health Service infrastructure in England. The 2025 Autumn Budget confirmed that the Department of Health and Social Care’s capital budgets will rise to £15.2 billion by the end of the Spending Review period of 2029/30, delivering the largest ever health capital budget, as well as medium-term certainty to the sector to enable multi-year planning.

This settlement commits to a major transformation of care delivery, moving from analogue to digital systems, hospital to community-based care, and from treatment to prevention, and also confirmed £300 million additional capital investment in NHS technology which will support NHS productivity improvements. Additionally, this includes the establishment of 250 neighbourhood health centres across England, of which 120 will be operational by 2030. These will be delivered through upgrading and repurposing existing buildings, and building new facilities through a combination of public sector investment and a new model of public-private partnerships. This is being developed by the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, supported by the Department of Health and Social Care, and will build on lessons learnt from past and current models and harness private sector expertise to deliver the new neighbourhood health centres.

Additionally, in November 2025, NHS England published the Capital guidance 2026/27 to 2029/30, which introduced several national reforms to the capital regime which addresses several of the recommendations in the report. These include: multi-year operational capital envelopes allocated directly to providers for the first time, providing firm funding until 2029/30 and indicative assumptions for a further five years; a new balance between national control and regional autonomy, giving regions a lead role in strategic estates planning and delivery oversight; expanded capital freedoms and flexibilities, including greater delegated authority and the ability for high-performing providers and newly authorised foundation trusts to reinvest surpluses; streamlined approvals and higher delegated limits, enabling faster delivery of capital schemes; and integration with the 10-Year Health Plan shifts, namely hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention, ensuring that capital investment underpins the long-term transformation of NHS services.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he expects the Model Neighbourhood Framework to be published.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are developing a Neighbourhood Health Partnership Framework and Model Neighbourhood Guidance to provide greater clarity and consistency for systems in developing and scaling neighbourhood health. We expect this guidance to be available in the new year.

175th anniversary of the founding of Surrey Police

Less Survivable Cancers Week

Palestine Action hunger strike

Postal workers and Royal Mail staff

Horton Cemetery

Armed Forces Training Contract and Elbit Systems

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Chris Coghlan; Bobby

Found: Q315 Chris Coghlan: I would like to follow up on Yuan Yang’s point.

Found: Q315 Chris Coghlan: I would like to follow up on Yuan Yang’s point.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Chris Coghlan; Bobby

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Chris Coghlan; Bobby

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Chris Coghlan; Bobby