Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many courts hear First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) appeals; and how many are fully funded to operate throughout the year.

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

The First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FtTIAC) has 83 tribunal hearing rooms across the United Kingdom and has access to shared court rooms in other jurisdictions. Utilisation of this space is dependent on a number of factors including the volume of ‘in person’ versus ‘remote’ hearings scheduled, budgetary allocations, the requirement for judges to sit at satellite venues and available staffing and judicial resource.

The FtTIAC is currently funded to sit to maximum levels based on available judicial capacity.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many beds at University Hospitals Dorset were occupied on (a) 1 April and (b) 1 October 2025 by patients with no criteria to reside.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the status is of the recruitment exercise which closed in November 2024 for Judges of the First-Tier Tribunal; how many applications were received; and how many appointments have been made (a) in total, (b) to the Social Entitlement Tribunal, (c) to the Health Education and Social Care Tribunal, (d) to the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal and (e) to the War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Tribunal.

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

The recruitment for salaried judges of the First-tier Tribunal (FtT) closed for applications in November 2024. The recruitment for fee-paid judges of the First-tier Tribunal closed for applications in June 2024. Both exercises included recruitment for judges to be assigned to the Immigration and Asylum Chamber (IAC), Social Entitlement Chamber (SEC), Health, Education and Social Care Chamber (HESC) and War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber (WPAFCC).

Following appointment, assignment to specific First-tier Tribunal Chambers is the responsibility of the Senior President of Tribunals. This process is still underway for both the salaried and fee-paid appointments and so we cannot confirm the final numbers. It is also not yet known how many judges will be assigned to the IAC from both the fee-paid and salaried exercises.

The independent Judicial Appointments Commission publishes updated data quarterly on applications and the number of selections made for appointment once recruitment is completed: Completed exercises 2022-2025 - Judicial Appointments Commission. Information on the number of judges in post, leavers, new appointments and promotions is published annually at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/judicial-diversity-statistics.

To increase IAC capacity, further specific recruitment for up to 70 IAC fee paid judges of the First-tier Tribunal recruitment is underway and recruitment for up to 30 IAC salaried judges of the First-tier Tribunal will commence shortly this calendar year.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 July 2025 to Question 68347 on Immigration: Appeals, when the recruitment exercise commenced in 2024 for the First Tier Tribunal will be completed; and how many vacant posts at the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal will (a) be filled and (b) remain unfilled.

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

The recruitment for salaried judges of the First-tier Tribunal (FtT) closed for applications in November 2024. The recruitment for fee-paid judges of the First-tier Tribunal closed for applications in June 2024. Both exercises included recruitment for judges to be assigned to the Immigration and Asylum Chamber (IAC), Social Entitlement Chamber (SEC), Health, Education and Social Care Chamber (HESC) and War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation Chamber (WPAFCC).

Following appointment, assignment to specific First-tier Tribunal Chambers is the responsibility of the Senior President of Tribunals. This process is still underway for both the salaried and fee-paid appointments and so we cannot confirm the final numbers. It is also not yet known how many judges will be assigned to the IAC from both the fee-paid and salaried exercises.

The independent Judicial Appointments Commission publishes updated data quarterly on applications and the number of selections made for appointment once recruitment is completed: Completed exercises 2022-2025 - Judicial Appointments Commission. Information on the number of judges in post, leavers, new appointments and promotions is published annually at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/judicial-diversity-statistics.

To increase IAC capacity, further specific recruitment for up to 70 IAC fee paid judges of the First-tier Tribunal recruitment is underway and recruitment for up to 30 IAC salaried judges of the First-tier Tribunal will commence shortly this calendar year.

Question

To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, for what reason the escalator from the House of Commons Members' car park does not cut off automatically when not in use.

Answered by Nick Smith

The escalator is fitted with controls that allow the speed to vary dependent on demand and, in periods of low demand, runs at a slow speed to be energy efficient.

The design of the escalator is such that it does not stop completely – this is a safety feature to ensure that anyone travelling on the escalator is not subjected to any sudden movements which could cause them to lose balance. This is usual in many high traffic areas in buildings of this type.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many recipients of Personal Independence Payment are aged (a) 16, (b) 17 and (c) 18; how many of those are in full time education; and how many of those are in each constituency in England.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The information requested on the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) recipients aged 16, 17 and 18 in full-time education is not held centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Information on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) recipients by age and parliamentary constituency in England is available via Stats-Xplore (https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml). Guidance on how to use PIP data on Stat-Xplore is also available here: Personal Independence Payment data on Stat-Xplore: user guide - GOV.UK. An account is not required to use Stat-Xplore, the ‘Guest Login’ feature gives instant access to the main functions.

The relevant information can be found in the ‘PIP Cases with Entitlement from 2019’ dataset.

To filter for parliamentary constituencies in England, under the ‘Westminster Parliamentary Constituency 2024’ category, select ‘DWP policy ownership’. Click on the arrow beside ‘England’ and select ‘Westminster Parliamentary Constituency 2024’ to include all English constituencies.

Next, to filter by specific ages, under ‘Age (bands and single year)’, expand the ‘16-19’ category and select the ages 16, 17 and 18 as required.

Question

To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, for how many days lift number 77 in the Palace of Westminster has been out of order this year; for what reason it remains out of order; and when it is expected to be operating again.

Answered by Nick Smith

Lift number 77 (HOP77) has been out of order for a total of 51 days in 2025 over four occasions, the most recent of which was 47 days.

HOP 77 was returned to service on 7 November 2025 following the replacement of a printed circuit board which controlled the door opening mechanism.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November to Question 86604, how many full time equivalent staff are employed in his office to (a) answer invitations and (b) answer Parliamentary Questions.

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

The answering of Ministerial invitations and Parliamentary Questions is shared across Private Offices and the Parliamentary Unit. Full time equivalency on these work streams fluctuates with business needs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what has been the cost to the public purse of the indemnity to pharmaceutical companies in the context of Covid-19 vaccines.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government cannot comment on the terms on which COVID-19 vaccinations were procured, which are confidential.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to dispose of the redundant site of the former Parkfield School at Hurn; and what estimate she has made of the (a) security and (b) opportunity costs of the premises remaining unused.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The school building was officially handed back to the department on 29 August 2025. Since that time LocatED have been managing the site on behalf of the department.

The department has sought expressions of interest from academy trusts to use the site for alternative educational uses. It has also been working closely with Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council over a possible reuse of the property for special educational needs provision.

Whilst discussions as to an alternative educational use are ongoing, the department is finalising arrangements for an interim use of the site by neighbouring Bournemouth airport, which will create an income for the department and avoid ongoing site management costs. This should be in place by the end of the year.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November to Question 86603, whether the £500 facilitation payment given to Hadush Kebatu was paid under the (a) Voluntary Returns Service or (b) Facilitated Return Scheme; and what was the qualifying criterion which was applied.

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

Mr Kebatu was issued a £500 discretionary payment to avoid the potential disruption of this return. Cancelling the return at the last stage would have triggered substantial costs. If the operation had been halted before departure, the minimum unavoidable escort and ticketing costs would have exceeded several thousands of pounds.

The Home Office applies small discretionary payments, where appropriate, to prevent the failure of returns. These payments facilitate returns by making them quicker and cheaper, helping to avoid delays and additional costs. Decisions on their use are operational in nature.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many data subject access requests were received by the NHS in England in the last year for which figures are available; and how many of those requests were responded to with the requested data within (a) one and (b) three months.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Information on the number of data subject access requests received by National Health Service organisations, and the time taken to respond, is not collected centrally.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Bambos Charalambous (Chair); James Asser; Sir Christopher Chope;

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Cat Smith (Chair); James Asser; Bambos Charalambous; Sir Christopher Chope

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Cat Smith (Chair); James Asser; Bambos Charalambous; Sir Christopher Chope

Submit Evidence (by 7 Jan 2026)

Ahead of COP 30, where host country Brazil’s Presidency has set a strategic goal to transition from “negotiation to implementation”, the Committee is launching a call for evidence in a major new inquiry on UK climate policy and finance.  

The UK is embarking on an ambitious programme of investment in nuclear energy, seeking to reverse decades of declining capacity. The Government is counting on new nuclear to help deliver energy security and decarbonise electricity generation. Announcing funding for the Sizewell C nuclear power plant in June, the Energy Secretary said “we need new nuclear to deliver a golden age of clean energy abundance.”

Written Parliamentary Questions (WPQs) are an important tool for Members of Parliament to obtain detailed and targeted information to aid in the scrutiny of Government policy and operations. The long-established purpose of WPQs is to uphold transparency and accountability by ensuring that the Government provides clear and timely information to Parliament, and to the public via their publication.