Clive Betts

As the UK enters the new golden age of nuclear, the government will accelerate the growth of a robust and secure sector, collaborating across the supply chain to mitigate barriers to entry, develop policies that maximise domestic opportunities, and support access to international markets to drive exports.

Following a robust, two-year procurement process, Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) has selected Rolls Royce SMR as its preferred bidder to partner with to build the UK’s first small modular reactors, subject to final government approvals and contract signature. It is expected that an SMR project could support up to 3,000 skilled jobs.

Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) has selected Rolls Royce SMR as its preferred bidder to partner with to deploy the UK's first SMRs, subject to final government approvals and contract signature.

Further details will follow in due course, but the government's long-term ambition is to bring forward one of Europe's first SMR fleets, with GBE-N's ambition being to deliver over 70% UK content across the fleet.

Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) has selected Rolls Royce SMR as its preferred bidder to partner with to deploy the UK's first SMRs, subject to final government approvals and contract signature.

Further details will follow in due course, but the government's long-term ambition is to bring forward one of Europe's first SMR fleets, with GBE-N's ambition being to deliver over 70% UK content across the fleet.

Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) has selected Rolls Royce SMR as its preferred bidder to partner with to deploy the UK's first SMRs, subject to final government approvals and contract signature.

Further details will follow in due course, but the government's long-term ambition is to bring forward one of Europe's first SMR fleets, with GBE-N's ambition being to deliver over 70% UK content across the fleet.

As the first step towards the Warm Homes Plan, the Government has committed an initial £3.4 billion over the next 3 years towards heat decarbonisation and household energy efficiency, with £1bn of this allocated to next year. Additional funding will be considered in Phase 2 of the Spending Review, as the Warm Homes Plan is further developed.

The £3.4 billion includes £1.8 billion to support fuel poverty schemes, helping over 225,000 households reduce their energy bills by over £200. In addition, the Government recently announced Wave 3 of the Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund in England, which will replace the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund to support social housing providers and tenants, with delivery expected in 2025. We have also announced a new Warm Homes: Local Grant to help low-income homeowners and private tenants in England with energy performance upgrades and cleaner heating.

The licensing of the operation of the professional basketball league is a matter for the British Basketball Federation (British Basketball), the National Governing Body responsible for basketball in Great Britain. The licensing of the operation of the professional basketball league is an ongoing commercial matter for the British Basketball Federation.

The revised Code for Sports Governance sets out the levels of transparency, diversity and inclusion, accountability and integrity that are required from sporting governing bodies, including the British Basketball Federation, in receipt of DCMS and National Lottery funding from UK Sport and/or Sport England (DCMS’ arm’s length bodies). Performance against those factors is kept under review.

UK Sport has invested £385 million of Exchequer and Lottery funding to support our Olympic and Paralympic athletes over the Paris cycle. More detail of awards is set out here www.uksport.gov.uk/our-work/investing-in-sport/current-funding-awards.

We are fully committed to multi-year funding for our elite sport system and enabling our athletes to excel on the world stage. This means supporting them financially to match and build on their success in Paris, helping them to deliver at LA 2028.

We will set out further details at the Spending Review.

All our schools are crucial partners in breaking down the barriers to opportunities for children and young people so they all receive a brilliant education which sets them up to achieve and thrive.

Academies are directly accountable to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education. In the event that academies and their trusts are not meeting the required standards, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has powers to intervene. In the event that a local authority or mayor has concerns about the performance of an academy or trust in their area they can raise these with the department.

Maintained schools are accountable to their local authority, which also has powers to intervene where schools are seriously underperforming.

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, introduced on 17 December 2024, contains proposals to extend certain powers of local authorities. They include powers relating to the admission of children to maintained schools and academies, to the range of bodies which can propose the opening of a new school and to the setting of a school’s published admission number.

The department believes that further education has a crucial part to play in ensuring we have the skills needed for sustainable economic growth. That is why the government will continue to build an education system that prepares our students for life, work, and the future. All young people should have access to high quality education and training that meets their needs and provides them with opportunities to thrive.

The department recognises that mayors have a key role to play in ensuring that education and training pathways for young people provide clear routes into further education or employment. While the department remains committed to the principle of a national education system for those in compulsory education, including that every learner must have a wide range of choices in 16-19 study, the English Devolution White Paper, published on 16 December 2024, sets out areas for further devolution including on skills. Mayors will in future be jointly responsible for local skills improvement plans and have a key role developing the Youth Guarantee to ensure all young people under age 21 are earning or learning.

The department is working across government and in partnership with industry, including through the Construction Skills Delivery Group (CSDG), to ensure that our skills offer meets the needs of the sector.

This includes transforming the Apprenticeship Levy into a new Growth and Skills Levy. The new levy will build on the apprenticeships programme to create opportunities for learners of all ages, and give employers of different sizes greater flexibility to address critical skill shortages in their workforces and drive economic growth.

The department will set out more detail in due course, including further information on the role of Skills England in ensuring that levy-funded training delivers value for money and meets the needs of businesses.

As is the case with any new policy, we are collecting information and evidence about the implementation of mandatory biodiversity net gain, including for small sites. The Government is committed to working closely with the sector to make Biodiversity Net Gain work effectively and implement solutions to unlock new homes without weakening environmental protections.

As is the case with any new policy, we are collecting information and evidence about the implementation of mandatory biodiversity net gain, including for small sites. Government is committed to working closely with the sector to make Biodiversity Net Gain work effectively and implement solutions to unlock new homes without weakening environmental protections.

Annual figures for light rail and tram system kilometres are published on the Gov.uk website and can be found in table LRT0203 here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/light-rail-and-tram-statistics-lrt

This data shows the annual length of light rail, tram and underground system routes open for passenger traffic in Great Britain from 1996 onwards.

Improvements being considered are:

1. Subject to the industry approval process, in 2026, as part of the East Coast Mainline timetable, Northern will look to implement an hourly Leeds to Sheffield semi-fast service. Similarly, CrossCountry is working to add services on their Newcastle to Reading route in future timetables.

2. Responsibility for Sheffield Supertram sits with South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA). SYMCA were allocated £570 million from 2022/23 to 2026/27 of City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements funding for investment in local transport improvements. SYMCA have prioritised part of this funding towards Sheffield Supertram renewals.

The recent Spending Review confirmed a Transport for City Regions (TCR) settlement of £1.5 billion for South Yorkshire from 2027/28 to 2031/32. SYMCA have indicated that they would allocate a significant amount of this funding to continue renewals to the tram network, providing a fleet of new, replacement vehicles, modernising tram stops, and maintenance to improve reliability.

Decisions on how both CRSTS and TCR funding is spent are made locally, reflecting the principle that Mayors are best placed to understand the needs of their areas.

My officials will continue to support SYMCA on any plans that they bring forward, including those involving light rail.

The first lines selected were those routes that have high numbers of rail passengers and were commercially attractive for the concession partner. It is in the partner and Network Rail's interest for the concession to be cash generative as soon as possible given the agreed commercial structure where excess returns in the early years are recycled into investing in new routes. While Network Rail's partner identified the Midland Mainline to be of some commercial interest, it was not sufficiently attractive to be included in the first tranche of investment.

The new fibre is part of a wider asset renewal of existing NR telecoms infrastructure that is required for rail operational use, that will also support connectivity improvements.

Unfortunately, the information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost as the department does not hold this information.

For maintenance activities, National Highways operates long-term Maintenance & Response (M&R) contracts, typically spanning 8–15 years. These contracts handle tens of thousands of interventions across the Strategic Road Network annually. Currently, there are 10 M&R contracts, each covering approximately the same road network length as 10 years ago. However, on average, the contract durations have slightly increased compared to their previous iterations. To minimise the impact on customers, National Highways ensures that individual maintenance activities are carefully planned, with most works conducted overnight and designed to have minimal disruption.

Subject to Parliamentary approval, the proposed reforms will take effect only at the point of a claimant’s next scheduled award review after November 2026.

In parallel, we have launched a comprehensive review of the PIP assessment process, which I shall lead. The review aims to ensure the assessment remains fit for the future and continues to support those with the greatest needs. We are currently in the first phase of this work, engaging with disabled people, representative organisations, and other stakeholders to shape the scope, timings, and approach of the review. The Terms of Reference will be published once this initial engagement is complete.

We envisage the Review as the vehicle for any changes to be made to the assessment.

Through the review of the PIP assessment, we want to make sure that the PIP assessment is fit for the future. We have now begun the first phase of this review, during which I am speaking to stakeholders to gather views on how best to approach the review.

We will work closely with disabled people, the organisations that support them and other experts, to ensure that the voices of those who go through the PIP assessment and those with expertise in the system are embedded in the review.

We are committed to listening to and learning from people with a range of expertise and experience. As part of the review process, we will be engaging extensively with a variety of stakeholders to input and shape the direction of the review.

The Health Transformation Programme is transforming the entire Personal Independence Payment service, from finding out about benefits through to decisions, eligibility, and payments. It will modernise the service to improve efficiency and customer experience. This includes introducing new options to apply online, improving how we gather health information, and tailoring the process to the customer’s needs and circumstances.

We announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper that we will, in future, record assessments by default, unless the claimant asks that the assessment should not be recorded. This will give us the means to check what happened when an assessment is found later to have been incorrect, and, we expect, an effective lever for improvement

We have also launched a review of the PIP assessment, which I am leading. Through the review, we want to make sure the PIP assessment is fit for the future. We have now begun the first phase of this work which includes speaking to stakeholders to gather views on how best to approach the review.

As announced in the Get Britain Working White Paper, the Department for Work and Pensions will devolve funding for Connect to Work via grants to Strategic Authorities (including unitaries with a devolution agreement), and other agreed local authority clusters across the rest of England. This funding, in addition to the local Get Britain Working plans these areas will produce, will enable them to design and deliver an offer that is shaped around local priorities and provision. For Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities, Connect to Work funding forms part of their Integrated Settlement.

All Mayoral Strategic Authorities will have a role in co-designing any future non-Jobcentre Plus employment support. Their subsequent role in commissioning or delivery will be determined as part of agreeing the policy objectives, design and funding parameters of any future programme. Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities will play an integral role in the design and delivery of this support, subject to evaluation and readiness conditions being met, with a clear outcomes and accountability framework.

The Department for Education already devolves the Adult Skills Fund to all Strategic Authorities, including Mayoral ones.

Full details of the governments employment and skills devolution commitments are set out within the recently published English Devolution White Paper: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/english-devolution-white-paper-power-and-partnership-foundations-for-growth/english-devolution-white-paper

The Government has announced that the National Cancer Plan will be published later this year, following the recent publication of the 10-Year Health Plan. The National Cancer Plan will ensure that all cancer patients, including patients with blood cancer, will have access to the best cancer care and treatments. It will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care.

The Department is supporting the National Health Service to reduce the number of cancers diagnosed in emergency care settings, by improving waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment, starting by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week.

Alongside improving cancer waiting time performance, the NHS has implemented non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes blood cancer, which is one of the most common cancers diagnosed via these pathways.

Further actions on improving the survival of all cancers, including blood cancer, will be outlined in the forthcoming National Cancer Plan.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will be published later this year. It would not be right to pre-empt the details that will be in the plan. We will work with partners to make sure we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills.

The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is the largest funder of clinical academic training in the United Kingdom, delivering a comprehensive research career pathway for the full range of clinicians. The NIHR welcomes applications for training awards from the clinical and non-clinical academic workforce conducting research into any aspect of human health, including blood cancer. The NIHR continuously reviews the training offer to identify and address gaps across specialism, geography, and profession, in line with the Department’s priorities.

The 10 Year Workforce Plan will be published later this year. It would not be right to pre-empt the details that will be in the plan. We will work with partners to make sure we have the right people, in the right places, with the right skills.

The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is the largest funder of clinical academic training in the United Kingdom, delivering a comprehensive research career pathway for the full range of clinicians. The NIHR welcomes applications for training awards from the clinical and non-clinical academic workforce conducting research into any aspect of human health, including blood cancer. The NIHR continuously reviews the training offer to identify and address gaps across specialism, geography, and profession, in line with the Department’s priorities.

Reducing inequalities in cancer diagnosis, care, and outcomes is a key priority for the National Cancer Plan. The plan will look at the targeted improvements needed across different cancer types to reduce disparities in cancer survival, and will develop interventions to tackle these. This includes looking at protected characteristics, as well as inequalities related to socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and geographic location.

The Government is committed to improving access for everyone to treatment and care for all cancer types, including blood cancer. To help achieve this, the National Health Service in England has delivered an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week, to ensure early diagnosis and faster treatment.

The NHS England Cancer Programme also commissions clinical cancer audits, which provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, increase the consistency of access to treatments, and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients, including those with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which is a type of blood cancer.

The Government has announced that the National Cancer Plan will be published later this year, following the recent publication of the 10-Year Health Plan. The National Cancer Plan will ensure that all cancer patients, including patients with blood cancer, will have access to the best cancer care and treatments. It will have patients at its heart and will cover the entirety of the cancer pathway, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and ongoing care.

The Department is supporting the National Health Service to reduce the number of cancers diagnosed in emergency care settings, by improving waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment, starting by delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week.

Alongside improving cancer waiting time performance, the NHS has implemented non-specific symptom pathways for patients who present with vague and non-site-specific symptoms, which do not clearly align to a tumour type. This includes blood cancer, which is one of the most common cancers diagnosed via these pathways.

Further actions on improving the survival of all cancers, including blood cancer, will be outlined in the forthcoming National Cancer Plan.

The UK is concerned by the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) ongoing military operation in the occupied West Bank. We recognise Israel's need to defend itself against security threats, but we are very worried by the methods Israel has employed and by reports of civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure. We continue to call on Israeli authorities to exercise restraint, adhere to international law, and clamp down on the actions of those who seek to inflame tensions.

The data required to answer this question is not held centrally by HM Treasury, but some of the relevant data may be held by individual Public Service Pension Schemes (PSPSs). While the cessation of survivor pensions upon remarriage or cohabitation was a common feature across older legacy PSPSs, all active members of major PSPSs are now accruing pensions in reformed schemes that do not cease survivor pensions in the case of remarriage or cohabitation.

The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under review, including the role of the e-visa system in improving checks on when individuals leave the country.

Sports governing bodies approved by the Home Office are required to abide by the ‘Code of Practice for Sports Governing Bodies’ as part of their role under the International Sportsperson visa route.

The Home Office reserves the right to check the activities of an approved sports governing body’s role at any time, and issues regarding non-compliance will be addressed directly with the relevant body in the first instance. Where an approved body continues to fail to comply with its duties as set out in the ‘Code’, the Home Office will consider changing the approved governing body for that sport at its own discretion, in consultation with DCMS or the relevant home sports councils.

It would not be appropriate for the Home Office to comment upon specific reports submitted to the department regarding the role of sports governing bodies or provide any details of those reports.

Sports governing bodies approved by the Home Office are required to abide by the ‘Code of Practice for Sports Governing Bodies’ as part of their role under the International Sportsperson visa route.

The Home Office reserves the right to check the activities of an approved sports governing body’s role at any time, and issues regarding non-compliance will be addressed directly with the relevant body in the first instance. Where an approved body continues to fail to comply with its duties as set out in the ‘Code’, the Home Office will consider changing the approved governing body for that sport at its own discretion, in consultation with DCMS or the relevant home sports councils.

It would not be appropriate for the Home Office to comment upon specific reports submitted to the department regarding the role of sports governing bodies or provide any details of those reports.

The Home Office reintroduced exit checks in April 2015. Working with carriers, exit checks routinely provide us with vital information that confirm a person’s exit from the UK. Details are set out at this link: Exit checks fact sheet - GOV.UK.

We will certainly engage with knife manufacturers and distributors as part of these considerations.