Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing the assets Tata Steel in Port Talbot into public ownership.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Tata Steel decided to close the blast furnaces at Port Talbot in January 2024, under the previous government.
However, we negotiated an improved deal with Tata regarding the transformation of Port Talbot after just 10 weeks in office, with better terms for workers, future investment opportunities for the area and the highest voluntary redundancy package Tata has ever offered for workers. Work is proceeding on the development of the Electric Arc Furnace which will enable steelmaking to continue at the site and form a key part of our future steel sector.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the closure of the blast furnaces at the Tata Steel site on the economy in Neath Port Talbot.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We are aware of the impact of this transition on the local economy and community, and we have taken steps to assist and support those affected. Under the leadership of the Secretary of State for Wales, the Port Talbot Tata Steel Transition Board moved from discussion to delivery from last July. Since then, more than £50 million has been announced to support steel communities, from the £80 million available from UK Government. The latest release of funding, to support mental health, was announced just last month.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the East West Rail will be designated as an England and Wales project.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
East West Rail is set to cover the route from Oxford to Cambridge and is therefore part of the RNEP portfolio which covers funding for projects in England and Wales. The RNEP portfolio can be distributed to any scheme across England and Wales.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she will consider proposals to support parents of chronically ill children from day 1 of that child's diagnosis.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Government understands the difficulties and distress that children with serious health conditions or critical illnesses face. Children and their families who are living with a medical condition will be facing a difficult time in their lives which is why the department provides a wide range of financial support for both individuals and their carers.
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is open to new claims for children aged under 16 if a child’s condition or illness is both of a long-term nature and gives rise to care or mobility needs.
The earliest that entitlement to DLA can start is when a three-month qualifying period condition has been met. This qualifying period helps establish that the disability and resulting care, supervision or mobility needs are of a long-standing nature and ensures that disability benefits are targeted to support those with long-term health conditions or disabilities. The qualifying period starts from the point that care, or mobility needs commence rather than the date the condition is diagnosed.
Children claiming DLA under the special rules for end of life do not have to satisfy the three-month qualifying period. In these cases, the claim is fast tracked, and the higher-rate care component is awarded from the date of claim.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to introduce a ban on personal meat imports, in the context of recent confirmed cases of Foot and Mouth in Europe.
Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 12 April 2025, the Government banned personal imports of meat and dairy products from foot and mouth disease (FMD) susceptible animals from the European single market area, to protect our farmers from FMD. The Government had already banned personal imports of these commodities from Germany, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria in response to confirmed outbreaks of FMD in those countries.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will reconsider the maximum cap on the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme which can be claimed by any one church in 2025-26.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Department has no plans to reconsider the £25,000 cap in 2025/26. Based on previous scheme data, we expect 94% of claims to be unaffected by the change.
Future Government spending is a matter for the 2026 Spending Review.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Secretary of State for Transport's Oral Statement of 24 March 2025 on Road Maintenance, whether she has made an estimate of the Barnett consequential funding for Wales of the additional £500 million highway maintenance funding.
Answered by Darren Jones - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
At Phase 1 of the 2025 Spending Review, an additional £500 million was allocated to the Department for Transport to fund local highways maintenance in 2025-26. The Barnett formula was applied in the usual way to changes in the Department for Transport’s Delegated Expenditure Limit (DEL) budget.
At Spending Reviews, the Barnett formula is applied to changes to each UK Government department’s overall DEL budget, rather than to individual programmes.
The Welsh Government’s Spending Review settlement for 2025-26 is the largest in real terms of any Welsh Government settlement since devolution. The Welsh Government is receiving at least 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in England. That translates into over £4 billion more in 2025-26 and includes £1.7 billion through the operation of the Barnett formula.
The Block Grant Transparency publication breaks down all changes in the devolved governments’ block grant funding from the 2015 Spending Review up to and including Main Estimates 2023-24. The most recent report was published in July 2023. An update to Block Grant Transparency to include Autumn Budget 2024 changes will be published in due course:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/block-grant-transparency-july-2023
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the roll-out of facial recognition surveillance in Cardiff on (a) residents and (b) visitors.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
All police forces must comply with legislation and published guidance when they use facial recognition technology. This includes carrying out their Public Sector Equality Duty. South Wales Police has published equality and data protection impact assessments on live facial recognition technology on their website.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has issued guidance to South Wales Police on the roll-out of facial recognition surveillance in a city-wide CCTV network.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)
All police forces are expected comply with existing legislation and published guidance when they use facial recognition technology. In particular, when forces use live facial recognition, they must comply with the College of Policing’s Authorised Professional Practice. Its use must always be justified and pass the tests of necessity, proportionality and use for a policing purpose.
Asked by: David Chadwick (Liberal Democrat - Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will bring forward proposals for a furlough scheme for parents of chronically ill children.
Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the important role parents and carers play in looking after disabled people and people with health conditions, including chronically ill children. Significant support is available to support disabled people and their families and carers, such as Disability Living Allowance for children worth up to £184.30 per week, and Carer’s Allowance worth up to £81.90 per week.
This Government is going further to give carers greater flexibility to work and increase their financial security by raising the Carer’s Allowance Weekly Earnings Limit to the equivalent of 16 hours at the National Living Wage from 6th April 2025. This will be the largest increase to the earnings limit since Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976.
We are also strengthening the right to request flexible working arrangements through the Employment Rights Bill, enabling parents and carers to better balance work around their caring commitments.