Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many full-time equivalent roles are being recruited at Great British Energy.

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

Great British Energy (GBE) is currently developing its operating model and the capabilities it will need. Ultimately this will be a matter for GBE to determine, within their agreed budget.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the merits of including the time people already living in the UK have accrued on their route to settlement via the Indefinite Leave to Remain routes.

Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

We will be consulting on the earned settlement scheme later this year and further details on the proposed scheme will be provided at that time.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to help ensure that the Child Maintenance Service meets its two-year arrears recovery target in cases where a paying parent has a significantly increased income; and what safeguards are in place to help prevent changes in frequency of support payments to receiving parents without (a) notice or (b) mitigation.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Child Maintenance Service take proactive actions to influence Paying Parents who are not paying their child maintenance back into compliant behaviours as soon as a missed payment is identified. The service will initially negotiate repayment of arrears that is feasible for the parent to pay, taking into account the individual circumstances of each case.

The Debt Steer provides a policy-based framework for arrears negotiation. Its purpose is to ensure arrears are collected as promptly and reliably as possible, taking into account all relevant circumstances i.e. full arrears payment by one lump sum, partial lump sum payment and a schedule of on-going payments to recover any remaining arrears within a maximum of two years, and a schedule of on-going payments to recover the full arrears within two years.

Discretion can be applied to extend the timeframe of recovery. The Service first seeks to address the cause for non or partial payment and attempts to find a sustainable solution for the Paying payment which can then provide stability for a Receiving parent and enable the repayment of any arrears in the shortest possible period of time.

If this is unsuccessful the service will consider all available enforcement options including deduction from earnings orders or deductions direct from bank accounts.

If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures, including order for sale, where it can apply to the courts for the sale of the paying parent’s assets or property, removal of driving licences, disqualification of passports, and committal to prison.

Further we aim to provide fast, accurate and transparent assessments, based on the paying parent’s income, primarily their gross annual income provided by HM Revenue and Customs. If there are no significant changes in circumstances occurring, the maintenance calculation remains in place for a year at which point the Service calculates a new liability as part of the annual review service. However, the Service do continue to deal with unexpected events and major changes in year, in circumstances such as a move into or out of employment, or only where income changes by at least 25% from the latest annual income information provided by HM Revenue and Customs.

This helps to keep calculations up to date and reduces the need for changes in income to be reported during the year. Having a scheme with limited income changes during the year means more certainty for both parents. The paying parent knows for the year ahead how much they are expected to pay, and the receiving parent can budget with much more certainty.

The full information requested in relation to how many and what proportion of child maintenance cases meet two-year arrears recovery is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of child maintenance cases meet the two-year arrears recovery target.

Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Child Maintenance Service take proactive actions to influence Paying Parents who are not paying their child maintenance back into compliant behaviours as soon as a missed payment is identified. The service will initially negotiate repayment of arrears that is feasible for the parent to pay, taking into account the individual circumstances of each case.

The Debt Steer provides a policy-based framework for arrears negotiation. Its purpose is to ensure arrears are collected as promptly and reliably as possible, taking into account all relevant circumstances i.e. full arrears payment by one lump sum, partial lump sum payment and a schedule of on-going payments to recover any remaining arrears within a maximum of two years, and a schedule of on-going payments to recover the full arrears within two years.

Discretion can be applied to extend the timeframe of recovery. The Service first seeks to address the cause for non or partial payment and attempts to find a sustainable solution for the Paying payment which can then provide stability for a Receiving parent and enable the repayment of any arrears in the shortest possible period of time.

If this is unsuccessful the service will consider all available enforcement options including deduction from earnings orders or deductions direct from bank accounts.

If this is unsuccessful, the CMS will use further measures, including order for sale, where it can apply to the courts for the sale of the paying parent’s assets or property, removal of driving licences, disqualification of passports, and committal to prison.

Further we aim to provide fast, accurate and transparent assessments, based on the paying parent’s income, primarily their gross annual income provided by HM Revenue and Customs. If there are no significant changes in circumstances occurring, the maintenance calculation remains in place for a year at which point the Service calculates a new liability as part of the annual review service. However, the Service do continue to deal with unexpected events and major changes in year, in circumstances such as a move into or out of employment, or only where income changes by at least 25% from the latest annual income information provided by HM Revenue and Customs.

This helps to keep calculations up to date and reduces the need for changes in income to be reported during the year. Having a scheme with limited income changes during the year means more certainty for both parents. The paying parent knows for the year ahead how much they are expected to pay, and the receiving parent can budget with much more certainty.

The full information requested in relation to how many and what proportion of child maintenance cases meet two-year arrears recovery is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much of the (a) £7bn of funding for military accommodation and (b) the £1.5bn investment for rapid work on forces family housing will be spent in Scotland.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The Ministry of Defence is currently undertaking an extensive review of its entire military accommodation portfolio, including how the Department will make best use of the properties that have been reacquired from Annington, and which homes and locations can most benefit from investment.

The Defence Housing Strategy, to be published later this year, will set out wider plans to improve the standard of Service family homes. The sites that will be refurbished are being worked through carefully, with the ambition to fairly make improvements across the devolved nations within the UK. It is too early to say where funding will be spent.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which military accommodation sites are in most urgent need of repair.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The Ministry of Defence is currently undertaking an extensive review of its entire military accommodation portfolio, including how the Department will make best use of the properties that have been reacquired from Annington, and which homes and locations can most benefit from investment.

The Defence Housing Strategy, to be published later this year, will set out wider plans to improve the standard of Service family homes. The sites that will be refurbished are being worked through carefully, with the ambition to fairly make improvements across the devolved nations within the UK. It is too early to say where funding will be spent.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of releasing documents relating to the 1994 RAF Chinook crash on the Mull of Kintyre early.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

The early release of the closed records held at The National Archives would breach those individuals’ data protection rights as they contain personal information relating to third party individuals. However, as part of the Ministry of Defence’s business as usual activity to renew the Retention Instrument associated with these closed records, an assessment of the potential merit of removing the 100-year closure status is due to take place in 2029.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much of the UK Defence Innovation fund will be spent on Scottish based companies.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The exact amount of funding to be awarded to Scottish based companies by UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) cannot be determined as UKDI is yet to be launched. Historically, Scottish based companies have been significant contributors to defence innovation. We expect this trend to continue with the establishment of UKDI, which aims to foster economic growth throughout the UK as a core objective.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to inform Parliament of the outcome of the (a) Defence Industrial Strategy, (b) Defence Diplomacy Strategy, (c) Defence Housing Strategy, (d) Defence Estate Optimisation programme and (e) a dedicated Defence Strategy for the financial services sector.

Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

In line with usual protocols, Defence Ministers will inform, engage and communicate with Parliament the outcomes of all Defence Strategies and programmes once they have been internally agreed.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to increase defence spending to 3.5% of GDP.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

This will form part of discussions ahead of the NATO Summit at the end of June. As these proposals are subject to agreement of all NATO Allies, including the UK, it would not be appropriate to comment at this time.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many spouses of deceased armed forces personnel have been contacted for repayment after accidental overpayments of their spousal armed forces pension.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

In line with most pension schemes, it is often unavoidable that an overpayment may occur following the death of a pension recipient. This is due to the timing of the individual's passing and the understandable delay in the pension scheme authority receiving the notification of death. Such overpayments are common and are typically recovered either directly from the recipient's bank account or from the estate of the deceased.

Requests for repayment can be initiated by a family member, a friend of the deceased, the deceased's legal representative, or neighbour who has completed the Gov.uk 'Tell Us Once' online form.

In the last Financial Year (2024-25), 1,003 outstanding 'Late Notification of Death' cases were raised under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme. However, whether the beneficiary of an estate is a spouse or other recipient is not centrally recorded and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the deliverability of the X-Links project with Morocco.

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

The Government is considering – without commitment – the viability and merits of the Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project, a private sector-led proposal for a large-scale renewable energy project between the UK and Morocco.

As part of this consideration, we are actively assessing a range of issues including the project’s deliverability and technical viability, value for money, legal issues and the project’s alignment to wider government policy. This work continues at pace, and we will provide an update on our considerations in due course.

Scottish bathing water quality

Import of goods from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

One hundredth anniversary of the Royal Research Ship Discovery

Hospitalfield Arts garden award at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show

150th Anniversary of the Founding of Bracoden School, Banffshire

Aberdeen’s Sustainable Food Places gold award

UK Government recognition of the state of Palestine

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Patricia Ferguson (Chair); Maureen Burke; Dave Doogan; Lillian Jones

Found: those discussions”.12 Following the signing of the joint communiqué on 1 June, when asked by Dave Doogan

Found: ” _2 Graham Leadbitter Kirsty Blackman Stephen Flynn Dave Doogan Stephen Gethins Chris Law Pete

Found: ” _2 Graham Leadbitter Kirsty Blackman Stephen Flynn Dave Doogan Stephen Gethins Chris Law Pete

Found: ” _2 Graham Leadbitter Kirsty Blackman Stephen Flynn Dave Doogan Stephen Gethins Chris Law Pete

Found: ” _2 Graham Leadbitter Kirsty Blackman Stephen Flynn Dave Doogan Stephen Gethins Chris Law Pete

Found: ” _2 Graham Leadbitter Kirsty Blackman Stephen Flynn Dave Doogan Stephen Gethins Chris Law Pete

Found: ” 85 REPORT STAGE Wednesday 11 June 2025 _2 Graham Leadbitter Kirsty Blackman Stephen Flynn Dave Doogan

Found: _2 Graham Leadbitter Kirsty Blackman Stephen Flynn Dave Doogan Stephen Gethins Chris Law Pete

Found: _2 Graham Leadbitter Kirsty Blackman Stephen Flynn Dave Doogan Stephen Gethins Chris Law Pete

Found: networks. 33 REPORT STAGE Friday 6 June 2025 _2 Graham Leadbitter Kirsty Blackman Stephen Flynn Dave Doogan

Found: networks. 33 REPORT STAGE Thursday 5 June 2025 _2 Graham Leadbitter Kirsty Blackman Stephen Flynn Dave Doogan

Found: _2 Graham Leadbitter Kirsty Blackman Stephen Flynn Dave Doogan Stephen Gethins Chris Law Pete

Found: _2 Graham Leadbitter Kirsty Blackman Stephen Flynn Dave Doogan Stephen Gethins Chris Law Pete

Republic of Korea APPG
Tuesday 10th June 2025

Found: Runnymede & Weybridge Paul Kohler MP - VC Lib Dems Wimbledon Lord Alton of Liverpool N/A N/A Dave Doogan

Republic of Korea APPG
Tuesday 10th June 2025

Found: MP Labour Mid Derbyshire Ben Spencer MP Conservative Runnymede & Weybridge Lord Alton N/A N/A Dave Doogan

Ireland and the Irish in Britain APPG
Tuesday 10th June 2025

Found: Berger ; Grahame Morris MP; Baroness Ludford; Katrina Murray MP; Baroness O’Grady; Baroness Gray; Dave Doogan

Engineering APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Dave Doogan (MP for Angus and Perthshire Glens) Question: I have two questions.

Engineering APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: MP (February 2023, November 2023) • Chi Onwurrah MP (February 2023, May 2023, November 2023) • Dave Doogan

Engineering APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Q15 – Dave Doogan MP Question: I am an aircraft engineer.

Engineering APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Apologies Viscount Hanworth, Chi Onwurah MP, Lord Ravensdale and Dave Doogan MP Election of Officers

Motor Neurone Disease APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: Cameron MP Dan Carden MP David Davis MP (researcher) Caroline Dinenage MP (researcher) Dave Doogan