Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding has been allocated through the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the Medical Research Council for biomedical research into myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) in each of the last two years.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to funding high-quality research to understand the causes, consequences and treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and the Medical Research Council (MRC), part of UK Research and Innovation, are working together to address the actions for research outlined in ME/CFS: the final delivery plan.
Over the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years, NIHR allocated £2,435,063 of funding for ME/CFS research, which includes £1,389,206.23 for the HERITAGE study and £390,430 for DecodeME. The MRC allocated £5,644,380, which includes £897,283 for the PRIME study and £4,747,097 for SequenceME, funded through the Office for Life Sciences and administered by the MRC. NIHR and the MRC continue to welcome high-quality research applications in this area.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of changes in ownership of major coach operators for the continuity of scheduled long-distance coach services.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department monitors developments in the transport market, including significant changes in the ownership of operators, to ensure that it remains abreast of any emerging issues and their potential implications for service provision.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
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 ensure a regular supply of sardines in olive oil in UK supermarkets.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains. Supermarkets stock a range of tinned fish products, including UK caught and processed sardines.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment has been made of whether current advertising regulations adequately protect consumers from marketing of pet supplements that imply conventional complete pet foods are nutritionally deficient without providing robust scientific evidence for those claims.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is the independent regulator responsible for regulating advertising in the UK, through codes set by the Committees of Advertising Practice (CAP) and Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP). The government is not involved in these codes, nor in the investigations and enforcement delivered by the ASA.
The advertising codes contain robust rules regarding claims and comparisons within ads. Claims within ads which consumers are likely to regard as objective must be substantiated, or the ASA may consider these to be misleading and in breach of the codes. Marketers may make claims about the health benefits of their products provided that they hold robust clinical evidence to support them.
Where comparisons are made against identifiable competitors, ads must not mislead the consumer about the advertised or competing product, must objectively compare one or more material, relevant, verifiable and representative feature of those products, and must not discredit or denigrate another product.
In April this year the ASA released specific advice about advertising pet food, including on comparative claims and denigration, with references to recent rulings. That guidance is available at https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/animals-pet-food.html.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that online platforms effectively identify and remove misleading advertisements relating to pet health and nutrition products.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) prohibits unfair commercial practices, including misleading actions and omissions, that are likely to affect the average consumer's transactional decisions. This applies to advertisements for all products, including pet health and nutrition products. The DMCCA also clarifies that online platforms, when facilitating the supply or promotion of products to consumers, must exercise professional diligence in relation to consumer transactions promoted or made on their platforms. The legislation carries criminal penalties and is enforced by Trading Standards and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to enable households, community groups and local businesses in North East Somerset and Hanham to participate in and benefit from the Clean Energy Mission.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Through the Local Power Plan, the Government is delivering the biggest expansion of community energy in a generation. Great British Energy will provide up to £1 billion to support over 1,000 local and community energy projects by 2030. Its £30 million funding package will help community organisations and local authorities develop and deliver projects, including through partnerships.
The Government is also working with Ofgem and stakeholders to address barriers involving finance, capability, grid connections and market access. These measures will enable households, community groups and local businesses, including those in North East Somerset and Hanham, to benefit from clean energy.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment she has made of progress towards the Clean Energy Mission.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Over the course of 2025, almost two-thirds of Britain’s electricity generation came from clean power. We have seen over £110 billion in private investment announced into clean energy and consented enough clean energy to power over 20 million homes. In our last auction we secured new offshore wind at a price that is 40% cheaper than building and operating new gas, while unlocking £27 billion in private sector investment and supporting thousands of jobs across the country. By delivering more clean, homegrown power, the less time gas will set the price of electricity. We have already moved from gas setting the price of electricity around 90% of the time in the early 2020s, to around 60% today.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the roadmap setting out potential changes to the parental leave and pay system is expected in 2026.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The parental leave and pay review will conclude in early 2027 with a set of findings in which the Government will outline next steps for taking any potential reforms forward to implementation.
The timescales for the review are published at Government review of the parental leave and pay system terms of reference - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions were held with President Trump at the G7 Summit on support for Ukraine.
Answered by Uma Kumaran - Assistant Whip
Leaders discussed support for Ukraine during the G7 Summit in June. The US, alongside the UK and G7 partners, published a statement in support for Ukraine, where leaders agreed to increase the delivery of air defence capacities, additional systems and interceptors, and long-range capabilities. The full statement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/g7-leaders-statement-on-geopolitical-issues-17-june-2026.
Asked by: Dan Norris (Independent - North East Somerset and Hanham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria the Animals in Science Regulation Unit uses to determine that a non-animal method is not scientifically satisfactory before granting an animal project licence under ASPA 1986, particularly for acute toxicity endpoints where validated NAMs already exist; and whether those individual assessments can be made available to independent scientific scrutiny without violating Section 24.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government’s first responsibility is to protect public health. Animals continue to play an important role in research and safety testing where no scientifically satisfactory alternative exists, helping to ensure medicines and other products are safe. At the same time, the Government is determined to phase out the use of animals wherever scientifically possible.
Under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, a project licence cannot be granted where the scientific objective can be achieved using a scientifically satisfactory method or testing strategy that does not involve protected animals. This requirement supports both robust protection of human and animal health and the Government’s commitment to replace the use of animals wherever scientifically possible.
Applicants must demonstrate how they have considered replacement, reduction and refinement, including the non-animal methods and testing strategies available. The Animals in Science Regulation Unit (ASRU) assesses each application on its merits, considering whether an alternative is relevant to the substance, endpoint and route of exposure; falls within its validated applicability domain; is sufficiently reliable and reproducible; is accepted for the relevant scientific or regulatory purpose; and, alone or as part of an integrated testing strategy, can provide the evidence needed to achieve the project’s objective. The existence of a validated new approach methodology does not necessarily mean that it is suitable for every acute toxicity question. However, where a scientifically satisfactory non-animal method or testing strategy can achieve the proposed purpose, animal use cannot be authorised.
The Home Office is committed to transparency and publishes information about licensed activity, including non-technical summaries of project licences. Information in individual licence applications and regulatory assessments may include material protected by section 24 of ASPA, including confidential commercial, safety or security information, and cannot be disclosed unless there is a lawful basis to do so. This does not prevent ASRU from drawing on appropriate independent scientific expertise in carrying out its statutory functions. Any wider external disclosure of an individual assessment would need to be considered case by case within the statutory framework, including whether information could lawfully be provided in an anonymised, aggregated or redacted form.