Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential for existing fibre infrastructure installed by third-party operators to be utilised by other broadband providers during fibre rollout programmes; and what steps her Department is taking to prevent unnecessary repeat roadworks where suitable fibre infrastructure is already in place.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises the potential for existing infrastructure to support fibre roll out and reduce unnecessary works. The existing legislative framework encourages the sharing of infrastructure where possible to reduce unnecessary works and infrastructure. This includes requiring operators to facilitate access to their networks on a regulated basis by Ofcom.
The Government is committed to minimising unnecessary repeat roadworks by encouraging a “Dig Once” approach through the Street Works Toolkit and supporting greater sharing and reuse of existing infrastructure. The Communications (Access to Infrastructure) Regulations 2016 enables operators to request access to other operators’ existing physical infrastructure across utilities. Under the Physical Infrastructure Access product, Ofcom mandates Openreach to provide access to its ducts and poles to other operators.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of farmers who were unable to secure a Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 Window 2 agreement before the available funding was fully allocated.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Of the 15,063 applications created for SFI26 Window 2, 12,204 were submitted before the window closed on 22 September. At the point of closure there were 2,859 applications that had been started not submitted.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to provide support for farmers who were unable to secure a Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 Window 2 agreement; and when she plans to announce details of future funding opportunities.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI26) budget has been fully allocated, and the offer is now closed. Farmers who did not secure a Window 2 agreement may have opportunities to apply for future SFI offers, and we plan to make an SFI27 offer available. We are working with farming representative organisations and the wider sector to consider how we refine the scheme for SFI27 and will share further details as early as possible. Other funding opportunities remain available, including Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier, woodland improvement and agroforestry agreements through the new Expression of Interest process, as well as Environmental Land Management Capital Grants and other farming grants.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, if he will consider introducing (a) guidance, (b) consumer protection measures, and (c) legislative proposals to ensure that charges applied by (i) holiday resorts, (ii) hotels and (iii) other hospitality businesses to 16 and 17-year-olds who are unable to access adult-only products and services are proportionate to the services 16 and 17-year-olds are legally permitted to receive.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
This department engages regularly with consumer organisations, regulators and industry representatives on a wide range of consumer issues and will continue to keep the effectiveness of the consumer protection framework under review.
We have not undertaken a specific review of charges applied by holiday resorts, hotels or other hospitality businesses to 16 and 17-year-olds. These are generally commercial decisions for the business to make. However, businesses must comply with consumer protection law, including requirements that information provided to consumers is clear and not misleading.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve referral pathways to early pregnancy services for women with pre-existing medical conditions associated with increased pregnancy risks, including hypothyroidism.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Miscarriage can have a devastating impact on women and their families, and we are determined that they receive the support they need.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is chairing the Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce to develop a national action plan that will reform maternity and neonatal services to deliver lasting change for women, families, and their babies.
The taskforce will consider all aspects of those current services, including miscarriage care. Within this, we will carefully assess the findings from the Tommy’s Graded Model of Miscarriage Care pilot study as committed to in the Renewed Women’s Health Strategy.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has had recent discussions with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on updating guidance relating to miscarriage diagnosis and management to ensure that patients' mental wellbeing is appropriately considered during clinical decision-making.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Miscarriage can have a devastating impact on women and their families, and we are determined that they receive the support they need.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is chairing the Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce to develop a national action plan that will reform maternity and neonatal services to deliver lasting change for women, families, and their babies.
The taskforce will consider all aspects of those current services, including miscarriage care. Within this, we will carefully assess the findings from the Tommy’s Graded Model of Miscarriage Care pilot study as committed to in the Renewed Women’s Health Strategy.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has considered establishing an accreditation framework for private pregnancy scanning clinics to enable diagnostic information from approved providers to be more readily recognised within NHS early pregnancy assessment pathways.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Miscarriage can have a devastating impact on women and their families, and we are determined that they receive the support they need.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is chairing the Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce to develop a national action plan that will reform maternity and neonatal services to deliver lasting change for women, families, and their babies.
The taskforce will consider all aspects of those current services, including miscarriage care. Within this, we will carefully assess the findings from the Tommy’s Graded Model of Miscarriage Care pilot study as committed to in the Renewed Women’s Health Strategy.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the psychological impact on women of prolonged diagnostic waiting periods before a miscarriage can be formally confirmed and treatment options offered.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Miscarriage can have a devastating impact on women and their families, and we are determined that they receive the support they need.
My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is chairing the Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce to develop a national action plan that will reform maternity and neonatal services to deliver lasting change for women, families, and their babies.
The taskforce will consider all aspects of those current services, including miscarriage care. Within this, we will carefully assess the findings from the Tommy’s Graded Model of Miscarriage Care pilot study as committed to in the Renewed Women’s Health Strategy.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) pension freedoms and (b) the treatment of funds held in defined contribution drawdown arrangements on eligibility for means-tested benefits; and whether he has made an assessment of the appropriateness of the the current system appropriately for incentivising retirement saving.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
For question UIN 24752 I refer the hon. member to the answers I gave on 1 September 2026 to questions 19244 and 19245.
Asked by: Connor Naismith (Labour - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department has had with police forces, motorcycle manufacturers and insurers on tackling motorcycle theft; and what steps the Government is taking to improve theft prevention, vehicle recovery rates and the disruption of organised motorcycle theft gangs.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office engages regularly with policing partners, industry and other stakeholders on vehicle crime, including through the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership and the National Vehicle Crime Working Group. These groups bring together police, government, vehicle manufacturers, insurers and representative groups, including those representing the motorcycle sector, to share intelligence, identify emerging threats and support theft prevention activity.
The Government is strengthening the police response to vehicle theft through the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee and new powers in the Crime and Policing Act, including powers to enter and search premises where GPS-tracked stolen property is believed to be located. We have also provided almost £1 million since 2024 to support enforcement activity against organised vehicle theft and export through the National Vehicle Crime Reduction Partnership, with a further £300,000 being invested this year to disrupt organised criminal groups and improve vehicle recovery.
In the year to March 2026, the police in England and Wales recorded 115,448 incidents of theft of a motor vehicle, including motorcycles. This is a decrease of 5% compared with the previous year.