Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
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 help reduce water bills in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This month, the Government announced the biggest reform of WaterSure in nearly 30 years, reducing bills for around 300,000 low‑income households. Eligibility will expand to those on disability benefits, with fairer bill caps and simpler applications. Most existing users will save more, with extra support for single‑person households.
We will continue to take action to ensure the most vulnerable are protected from rising bills, and are working with water companies to ensure social tariffs are more consistent and taken up by those most in need.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve the provision of NHS audiology services in Bexleyheath and Crayford constituency.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England is supporting provider organisations and integrated care boards, who are the commissioners of audiology services, to improve performance and reduce waiting lists for appointments and assessments for hearing services. This includes capital investment to upgrade audiology facilities in National Health Service trusts, expanding audiology testing capacity via community diagnostic centres, and direct support through a national audiology improvement collaborative.
Data is also published on community health services waiting lists, which includes waiting times for community audiology services. This is published at the following link:
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps she is taking to help ensure adequate levels of aid are reaching Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Despite some progress on humanitarian supplies entering Gaza since the ceasefire, aid flows remain insufficient and the majority of the population - including tens of thousands of children - are still experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, with severe implications for their vulnerability and long-term health.
The temporary closure of all crossings into Gaza following the start of hostilities in the wider region has exacerbated these concerns. We welcome the reopening of the Kerem Shalom crossing, but we continue to urge the Israeli authorities to lift all restrictions on humanitarian relief agencies, and enable the resumption of aid at scale and through all crossings, so that supplies of aid can reach all those who desperately need them.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of aid reaching Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Despite some progress on humanitarian supplies entering Gaza since the ceasefire, aid flows remain insufficient and the majority of the population - including tens of thousands of children - are still experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity, with severe implications for their vulnerability and long-term health.
The temporary closure of all crossings into Gaza following the start of hostilities in the wider region has exacerbated these concerns. We welcome the reopening of the Kerem Shalom crossing, but we continue to urge the Israeli authorities to lift all restrictions on humanitarian relief agencies, and enable the resumption of aid at scale and through all crossings, so that supplies of aid can reach all those who desperately need them.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on the number of wheelchair accessible vehicles that are purchased through the Motability Scheme are produced in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Secretary of State regularly meets with colleagues across government to discuss a range of issues.
Motability Operations, an independent commercial company which delivers the Motability Scheme, will continue to prioritise customer needs, ensuring vehicles remain affordable and that support for wheelchair accessible vehicles and specialist adaptations remain at the heart of the Scheme.
Motability Operations has announced plans to support the government’s Modern Industrial Strategy. The number of British-made vehicles purchased by the Scheme will reach 25% by 2030, with an ambition of 50% of vehicles registered on the Scheme being made in the UK by 2035.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to help ensure that wheelchair accessible vehicles are produced in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government supports the wheelchair accessible vehicles sector in the UK through investment in innovation, research & development and skills. Our flagship DRIVE35 (Driving Research and Investment in Vehicle Electrification) initiative will support the latest R&D in strategic vehicle technologies, accelerate commercial scale-up, and unlock investment. As part of this ambitious programme, we are committing £4 billion of automotive capital and R&D funding to 2035.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the London Borough of Bexley's news story entitled Bexley's Roads 7th best in England, published on 12 January 2026, if her Department will publish the data cited in that story.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department published a new traffic light rating system on 11 January. Under this system, all local highway authorities in England received a red, amber or green rating based on the condition of their roads, how much they spend to maintain their roads, and whether they do so using best practice. The ratings can be found online, at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-road-maintenance-ratings/local-road-maintenance-ratings-2025-to-2026.
The full methodology and data sources used to produce the ratings has also been published online. This includes a table setting out methodological detail on the individual metrics and scores used to calculate local authorities' ratings. Further detail can be found online at:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/methodology-used-to-calculate-ratings-for-local-road-maintenance.
Bexley received an overall amber rating, with individual scorecards showing green for condition, green for spend and amber for wider best practice.
Bexley received a green rating for their road condition. This rating was worked out based on the road condition statistics for the financial year ending 2024. Detail about these statistics can be found online, at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/road-network-size-and-condition. Rankings are not published as part of these road condition statistics.
The ratings are not designed to provide a ranked list of local highway authorities, but instead assign authorities a rating within the broader categories of red, amber, or green.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what support is available to help UK-based organisations become a UKRI approved research organisation to allow them to apply for research grants.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
To apply to become an eligible organisation, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) provides:
UKRI encourages organisations to engage with the relevant UKRI Research Council and further information can be found at: https://www.ukri.org/apply-for-funding/before-you-apply/apply-to-be-an-eligible-organisation/.
To become a UKRI-eligible RO, the entity must demonstrate independent capability to lead, manage, and report on research, with a strategy aligned to UKRI priorities. The entity must also be legally constituted, have a track record of research investment, and provide evidence of their ability to manage public funding, such as having a physical UK research base.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children attending residential special schools have received an eyesight, hearing and dental check since April 2025.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Between 1 April 2025 and 23 January 2026, 11,485 sight tests have been conducted within a special educational setting. Data for the number of hearing and dental checks conducted is not held centrally.
Asked by: Daniel Francis (Labour - Bexleyheath and Crayford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department publishes a table ranking each local authority in England regarding the maintenance conditions of their roads.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department announced a new traffic light rating system on 11 January. Under this system, all local highway authorities in England received a red, amber or green rating based on the condition of their roads, how much they spend to maintain their roads, and whether they do so using best practice. The ratings can be found online, at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-road-maintenance-ratings/local-road-maintenance-ratings-2025-to-2026.
The ratings are not designed to provide a ranked list of local authorities, but assign authorities a rating within the broader categories of red, amber, or green. The full methodology used to calculate the ratings is also set out online. This includes a table setting out methodological detail on the individual metrics and scores used to calculate local authorities' ratings. Further detail on this can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/methodology-used-to-calculate-ratings-for-local-road-maintenance.
The rating system enables drivers and residents to have a clear picture of how their local highway authority is looking for after local roads for the first time. It increases transparency, incentivises the adoption of best practice, and enables the Department to identify where local highway authorities need to improve and to support them to ensure road conditions improve nationwide.