Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to ensure that accredited rail retailers offer standardised and automated Delay Repay compensation directly to passengers; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of doing so.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Passengers can currently claim delay repay by applying directly to the train operator they travelled with.

Through delivering Great British Railways (GBR), the Government is committed to improving the passenger experience. As set out in the recently introduced Railways Bill, GBR will retail both on line and in person once established, creating a more streamlined, unified offer for passengers by bringing together 14 existing train operator websites and apps. GBR will retail alongside independent retailers, in a fair and open market, and the Government recognises the important role they play in terms of innovating and driving up standards for passengers.

The Government will continue to keep Delay Repay policy under review, including in the context of the move to GBR.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for local pedestrian safety of encouraging local authorities to prioritise the creation and connectivity of active travel routes in ways that could affect their eligibility for Active Travel funding.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

Active Travel England (ATE) undertakes assurance of new or upgraded schemes in close collaboration with local authorities. Submitted scheme designs are put through a series of checks using the ATE scheme review tools, last published in February 2024.

These tools include an assessment of the critical safety issues for walking, wheeling and cycling to support local authorities over scheme quality. Additional guidance on how to work with the safety issues was published in November 2025.

Eleven of the sixteen critical safety issues relate to walking and cover examples such as conflict at junctions, trip hazards, the standard and positioning of crossings and the condition of the footway. Tool outputs for completed schemes are considered as part of authority active travel capability ratings, which in turn help to determine future funding impacts.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what targeted support his Department is providing people with asthma during the winter period.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England has provided £2.61 million of funding in 2025/26 to support people with respiratory conditions this winter, including improving access to diagnostic tests such as spirometry to support early and accurate diagnosis of asthma.

The funding builds on the work of NHS England to improve asthma outcomes, including the publication of commissioning standards for spirometry and the inclusion of Quality and Outcomes Framework indicators to support asthma diagnosis and management. These measures will support asthma patients to manage their condition throughout the year, including during the winter period.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he will take steps to ensure that individuals seeking a divorce are automatically eligible for legal aid in cases where evidence demonstrates that a child of the family has been subjected to abuse.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

This Government recognises that legal aid – a vital part of the justice system – supports the ability of individuals to access publicly funded legal assistance to uphold their legal rights.

Legal aid is available for private family proceedings, such as divorce and financial remedy proceedings, if an adult is a victim of domestic abuse or at risk of being abused. Funding is subject to providing the required evidence of domestic abuse and passing the means and merits tests. The Government recognises that abuse may include behaviour directed at a third party, for example the victim’s child, to influence the victim. In May 2025, we amended the legislation to explicitly reflect this definition of domestic abuse; it now reflects the definition of domestic abuse from the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, and it clarifies that behaviour, violence or abuse between individuals may consist of or include behaviour, violence or abuse directed at another individual.

Legal aid is available for individuals for some private family orders, such as child arrangement orders or prohibited steps orders, if the child who is the subject of the order is a victim of child abuse or at risk of abuse. This is subject to providing evidence of child abuse and passing the means and merits tests.

The Government monitors legal aid provision and is carefully considering the criteria that govern financial eligibility for legal aid.

Where an issue falls outside the scope of legal aid, eligible individuals may be able to obtain Exceptional Case Funding where they can show that, without the provision of legal aid, there is a risk that their human rights may be breached.

Found: Watch the meeting Business and Trade Committee members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia

Found: Watch the meeting Business and Trade Committee members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia

Found: Watch the meeting Business and Trade Committee members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia

Found: Watch the meeting Business and Trade Committee members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia

Found: Current membership Tonia Antoniazzi (Labour; Gower) (Chair) Dan Aldridge (Labour; Weston-super-Mare)

Found: Current membership Liam Byrne (Labour; Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North) (Chair) Dan Aldridge

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia Bance; John Cooper; Alison

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia Bance; John Cooper; Alison

Found: Current membership Liam Byrne (Labour; Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North) (Chair) Dan Aldridge

Found: Current membership Liam Byrne (Labour; Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North) (Chair) Dan Aldridge

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia Bance; Alison Griffiths

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia Bance; Alison Griffiths

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia Bance; Alison Griffiths

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Liam Byrne (Chair); Dan Aldridge; Antonia Bance; Alison Griffiths

The Business and Trade Committee is exploring issues impacting competition and market functioning within the UK’s live music industry, including the role of the CMA in regulation of the sector. This work is following on from oral evidence sessions held on 4 February and 24 June 2025. The Committee is seeking written submissions on the characteristics, features and trends within the UK live music industry that may adversely impact market competition or market functioning.