Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the strategic agreement with Westinghouse on the Nuclear Transport Solution (NTS), what assessment he has made of the potential effect of that agreement on the development of the Oldbury nuclear site.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government welcomes Nuclear Transport Solutions’ partnership with Westinghouse. Developing capability to make and transport advanced nuclear fuel is critical to shoring up the UK’s position as a nuclear world leader.
Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) owns the site at Oldbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire. As a site which has previously hosted a nuclear power station, it has great potential for new nuclear, including advanced technologies. GBE-N is continuing early work to evaluate the site, to ensure it is ready for future deployment. This includes the potential to support any privately-led projects that might be developed by the nuclear industry.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact on (a) local employment and (b) economic growth in the Thornbury and Yate constituency of deploying Small Modular Reactors at the Oldbury site, as part of the Government's plan to build a further 9 SMRs.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
GBE-N owns the site at Oldbury-on-Severn and as a site which has previously hosted a nuclear power station, it has great potential for new nuclear. GBE-N will continue early work to evaluate the site, to ensure it is ready for future deployment. .
The government wants to see thousands of jobs created across the UK nuclear sector and for UK supply chains to develop world-leading expertise across a range of civil nuclear activities to ensure competitiveness both domestically and internationally.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent comparative assessment he has made of the technical and strategic suitability of the Wylfa site for (a) a gigawatt-scale nuclear reactor and (b) Small Modular Reactors.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In November 2025, following careful deliberation, the Government announced that Wylfa will host Great British Energy-Nuclear (GBE-N) first Small Modular Reactor (SMR) project. Wylfa has the potential to accommodate more SMR units than other potential sites.
To pursue the option of further potential large-scale nuclear, the government has tasked GBE-N with identifying other suitable sites that could potentially host such a project. GBE-N will report back by Autumn 2026 on potential sites to inform future decisions in the next Spending Review and beyond.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will publish the (a) eligibility criteria for interest-free hardship loans and (b) process for applying for them for retired civil servants that are unable to access their civil service pension payments on time.
Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme to Capita in November 2023 under the previous government. The Civil Service Pension Scheme transferred to Capita on 1 December.
Transitional Help Loans are available to support those who may be facing hardship. These are interest free, will be provided by employers and available to those employees and to any partial retiree still in employment who retired from 1 January 2025 onwards. The pension member must be waiting for a delayed first pension payment. Loans of £5,000 will be made available and up to £10,000 in exceptional circumstances.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing compensation to patients treated with rectopexy mesh for rectal prolapse as part of its work on redress following the recommendations of the Hughes Report, published on 7 February 2024.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Hughes Report, the Government is carefully considering the Patient Safety Commissioner’s (PSC’s) recommendations, including the proposed approaches to redress for those harmed by pelvic mesh. The Hughes Report did not cover patients treated with rectopexy mesh for rectal prolapse. This is because rectal prolapse does not fall within the original definition of Pelvic Organ Prolapse that the PSC and the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review adopted, namely a pelvic organ bulging into the vagina.
However, that is not to dismiss the very real concerns of these patients. We are considering whether rectopexy mesh should be included in the scope of the work on redress, as for example, NHS England has carried out a market engagement event to understand which of its currently commissioned mesh centres would be willing to provide mesh removal surgery for colorectal patients. A decision around which centres will be designated will be made following findings from the audit of existing mesh centres.
This is a complex, cross-Government policy area involving multiple organisations. This work requires coordinated input from several departments, and we will provide a further update in due course. I met with the PSC in December 2025, to discuss progress following the Hughes Report. I have subsequently written to Dr Hughes about the actions we are undertaking to ensure service-level interventions are embedded in the National Health Service specific to making a real-life impact on those affected by pelvic mesh and valproate.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on representations made by the US Ambassador regarding the suitability of Wylfa for gigawatt-scale nuclear energy production.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The US is one of our most important and longstanding international partners on civil nuclear and we are regularly in contact on civil nuclear matters.
The government has selected Wylfa as the site to host Britain’s first Small Modular Reactors. Meanwhile, to pursue the option of further large-scale nuclear, we have tasked Great British Energy - Nuclear with identifying suitable sites that could host a potential large-scale project.
Asked by: Claire Young (Liberal Democrat - Thornbury and Yate)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of parents who have been prosecuted for their child's non-attendance at school have a child that has (a) Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and (b) special educational needs and does not have a EHCP in each quarter of the last five years.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Data for prosecution of offences in England, including offences for non-attendance, is collected by the Ministry of Justice. The Department for Education does not collect data on the protected characteristics of the children of individuals who have been prosecuted for an offence related to their child’s non-attendance at school.
Nevertheless, we recognise that pupils with special educational needs and disabilities may face more complex barriers to school attendance and guidance requires schools to take a ’support first’ approach to tackling non-attendance for these pupils.
Our guidance makes clear that legal intervention, including prosecution, should only be considered where support has been exhausted, not engaged with or, in the cases of term-time holidays, not appropriate. We expect schools to work with these children and their families to remove any barriers to attendance and building strong and trusting relationships.