Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps are being taken to ensure that, following the changes to dual-nationality, processing times and document requirements for passport applications remain consistent.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

There have been no changes to the customer guidance for when to expect to receive a passport, or any additional evidence required in support of a passport application, following the enforcement of Electronic Travel Authorisation in February 2026.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what measures the Government is taking to oppose and denounce the use of the death penalty for child executions in other countries.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK continues to oppose the use of capital punishment in all circumstances, including in cases involving child executions, and we regularly make representations to other countries on this issue. We particularly deplore any failure to observe the relevant international standards, defined by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that local governments, including in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, have the resources available for road maintenance and improvements.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that local authorities have the resources needed to maintain and improve their road networks. The Government has therefore confirmed a record £7.3 billion investment into local highways maintenance over the next four years. By confirming funding allocations for the next four-year period, authorities have certainty to plan ahead and shift from short-term fixes to proactive, preventative maintenance.

South Gloucestershire and Bristol sit within the West of England Combined Authority. West of England Combined Authority receives baseline highways maintenance funding through its City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) which runs from 2022-27. In 2026/27, West of England CA will also receive £7.032 million in incentive funding. From 2027/28, all highways maintenance funding will be consolidated into Transport for City Regions (TCR) settlements, which will provide the bulk of future funding.

To further support local authorities and ensure best use of public funding, the Department published a new traffic light rating system for all local highway authorities in England on 11 January which rates authorities red, amber or green based on: the condition of their roads, how much they spend to maintain their roads and whether they do so using best practice. This system allows the Government to target support to places that need extra help and red-rated authorities have been offered dedicated support to bring them in line with best practice.

Bristol City Council received an overall amber rating, with individual scorecards showing amber for condition, green spend and amber for best practice. Additionally, South Gloucestershire received an overall amber rating, with individual scorecards showing amber for condition, green spend and amber for best practice.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his department has made an assessment of levels of prevalence of voting fraud in (a) postal voting, and (b) proxy voting.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Data on allegations and outcomes of electoral fraud is collected by police forces across the UK and provided to the Electoral Commission. The Electoral Commission publishes this information annually on its website. The Government continues to work closely with the Electoral Commission, the police and other partners to safeguard the integrity of elections and maintain public confidence in the democratic process.

Postal voting is now a major part of our elections, with over a quarter of votes at the 2024 General Election cast by post. As part of the Electoral Commission’s review of that election which can be found here, 89% of postal voters stated they were satisfied with the process of voting.

Proxy voting also remains an important element of our elections, particularly providing access for electors based overseas or in the military, and for disabled electors or those with medical issues. Appropriate safeguards such as identity checks remain in place for all absent voting applications.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what equality impact assessment she has undertaken regarding the effect of the increase in Normal Minimum Pension Age on women, particularly those with primary caring responsibilities.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The NMPA is the minimum age at which most pension savers can access their pensions without incurring an unauthorised payments tax charge. The increase in Normal Minimum Pension Age (NMPA) from 55 to 57 will take effect from 6 April 2028. It was announced in 2014 and legislated for in Finance Act 2022.

The legislation includes protections for members of registered pension schemes who have an unqualified right to access their pension benefits before age 57.

HMRC published details of the general equalities impacts of the increase to the NMPA in the Tax Information and Impact Note which accompanied the measure. Further information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/increasing-normal-minimum-pension-age/increasing-normal-minimum-pension-age

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her department has made of the differences in percentage pay increases between different public sector staff like prison staff, probation officers, nurses, doctors etc.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Government hugely values the vital contribution that over 6 million public sector workers make across the UK, delivering the essential public services we all rely on. Pay for most frontline workforces, including nurses, teachers, armed forces and police officers, is set by departments following recommendations from independent Pay Review Bodies.

Details of pay awards are published by the relevant departments on Gov.UK.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps are being taken to regulate cryptocurrency investment.

Answered by Rachel Blake - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government legislated in February of this year to establish a financial services regulatory regime for cryptoassets, requiring firms to be authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority for providing relevant cryptoasset services in or to the UK. This built on previous regulatory interventions on cryptoasset money laundering and financial promotions.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support victims of (a) fraud and (b) poor installations under the ECO4 scheme, particularly where relevant companies have gone into administration.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

ECO4 projects must comply with PAS2030 and PAS2035 standards and they are subject to an oversight system which includes energy suppliers, certification bodies, MCS, Trustmark and Ofgem. Certification bodies, MCS and TrustMark have audit and compliance regimes in place. Ofgem has dedicated counter-fraud and whistleblowing teams, working with authorities including Report Fraud and the Serious Fraud Office.

To protect against the scenario where an installer ceases to trade or in some cases fails to rectify issues, TrustMark requires a guarantee is issued, which for solid wall insulation will cover up to £20k.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to ensure banks carry out appropriate anti-fraud checks.

Answered by Rachel Blake - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this appalling crime.

Financial institutions are required by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to maintain robust systems and controls to detect and prevent financial crime under the Money Laundering Regulations. Banks must report certain suspicious activity, including fraud, to the National Crime Agency under the Proceeds of Crime Act, and banks may already freeze or block accounts where suspicious activity is detected.

The Government has also introduced new rules allowing banks to delay and investigate suspicious payments for up to 72 hours. This supports interception of suspicious payments — complementing existing account freezing powers — by giving firms more time to prevent funds reaching fraudsters when complex cases are identified.

As set out in the Fraud Strategy published on 9 March 2026, the Government is now taking decisive additional action to reinforce the system wide response. The new Online Crime Centre will bring together law enforcement, intelligence agencies and private sector partners, including the financial services industry, to improve real time data sharing and analysis, helping firms spot suspected scam accounts sooner and act more quickly to freeze or restrict them where appropriate. Alongside the Strategy, the Home Office launched a call for evidence on economic crime information sharing to remove barriers that currently prevent firms acting on intelligence earlier. The call for evidence closed on 18 May 2026.

The Strategy also tasks the FCA with developing best practice guidance on preventing Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud and money mule activity, supporting firms to identify, investigate and close suspicious accounts more effectively, and improving protections for customers at risk.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure investment in the national grid, including batteries and other upgrades to capacity.

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

Government is working with delivery partners to speed up delivery of network infrastructure and increase grid capacity through reforms to planning, support for communities and strategic network design.

Ofgem is responsible for incentivising investment in electricity networks to achieve government strategic priorities, whilst ensuring it delivers value to consumers. Ofgem anticipates £71bn of investment in GB's electricity transmission networks between 2026-2031 as part of their RIIO-ET3 price control.

Government has set out plans for deploying battery storage in the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan and Clean Flexibility Roadmap. As of May 2026, GB has 7.3GW of grid-scale batteries, with ambition for 23–27GW by 2030. A further 17GW has Capacity Market agreements, and around 57GW has planning permission.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to ensure access to a) physical currency, b) banking services and c) legal services in (i) the UK and (ii) Bristol North East constituency.

Answered by Rachel Blake - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government recognises that cash continues to be used by millions of people across the UK and in Bristol North East, including those who may be in vulnerable groups or face challenges using alternative payment methods. The Government is committed to maintaining the viability of cash as a payment method for those who choose to use it. 

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) assumed regulatory responsibility for access to cash in September 2024. Where a resident, community organisation or other interested party feels access to cash in their community is insufficient, they can submit a request for a cash access assessment. LINK, the independent industry coordinating body, will then assess a community’s access to cash needs, and will recommend appropriate solutions, including banking hubs, where it considers a community requires additional cash services. 
 
In addition to this, banking is changing, with many customers benefiting from the convenience and flexibility of managing their finances remotely. However, the Government understands the importance of banking services to communities and high streets, including in Bristol North East.

That is why the Government is commissioning an independent Review into Access to Banking Services, chaired by Richard Lloyd OBE. The Review will assess the impact of changes in the provision of in-person banking services across the United Kingdom. The evidence gathered by the Review will inform decisions on whether future action is needed.

The Government also remains committed to supporting the financial services industry’s roll-out of 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament. Over 275 hubs have been announced so far, and more than 235 are already open.

The Government also recognises the vital role the legal sector plays in supporting access to justice and sustaining local economies across the country. The legal profession in England and Wales and its regulators operates independently of Government. The Ministry of Justice works closely with representative and regulatory bodies, including the Law Society, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), and the Legal Services Board (LSB), to help ensure that the wider legal services market remains effective, competitive, and accessible to people across England and Wales.

Legal aid is a vital part of the justice system, and the Government is making significant investments across criminal and civil legal aid, including additional funding of up to £34m a year for criminal legal aid advocates, to support the sustainability of the sector. The Government has already implemented significant uplifts to criminal legal aid solicitor fees, which will be worth around an additional £116m per year once in steady state. We are also uplifting immigration and housing legal aid fees, with a significant investment of £20 million a year once fully implemented – the first major increase for civil legal aid since 1996

Beyond legal aid, the Ministry of Justice is funding the activities of charities to bolster the delivery of legal support services – both in person and online - for people experiencing social welfare problems. The Ministry of Justice is providing nearly £20 million of multi-year funding, extending the existing legal support grant funding for a range of services (including Bristol Law Centre and North Bristol Advice Centre) to September 2026, and providing a new grant from October 2026 to March 2029.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increasing the Normal Minimum Pension Age from 6 April 2028 on members of the Local Government Pension Scheme with fewer than 10 years until retirement.

Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

HMRC has published details of the general equalities impacts of the increase in Normal Minimum Pension Age. The Finance Act 2022 already includes protections for members of registered pension schemes who have an unqualified right to access their pension benefits before age 57.

Found: South) Mr Peter Bedford (Conservative; Mid Leicestershire) Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat; Torbay) Damien Egan

Found: South) Mr Peter Bedford (Conservative; Mid Leicestershire) Steve Darling (Liberal Democrat; Torbay) Damien Egan

Found: Abrahams (Chair); Rushanara Ali; Lee Barron; Johanna Baxter; Mr Peter Bedford; Steve Darling; Damien Egan