Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if the Health and Safety Executive will publish a regularly updated list of GB exports of highly hazardous substances listed in Annex II and III of GB PIC that are permitted using the waiver for explicit consent, including (a) the importing country, (b) the UK company, (c) the substance exported and tonnage band and (d) the reasons for which the export met the waiver conditions.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
There is no statutory requirement to publish information on waivers used under the Great Britain (GB) Prior Informed Consent (PIC) Regulations. However, each year, companies have to report the name of the chemical in the GB PIC list that they have exported or imported during the previous calendar year, the quantity of the chemical, and the name of the importing or exporting country. The Health and Safety Executive, as the Designated National Authority, publishes that information on its website: https://www.hse.gov.uk/pic/annual-reporting.htm.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help parents whose children cannot attend mainstream school where there are no local alternative providers.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
We want more children with special educational needs and disabilities to achieve and thrive in their local mainstream school which is why we are investing in making mainstream schools more accessible.
We also recognise the need for more specialist places which is why we’re supporting councils with £3.7 billion in high needs capital between 2025 and 2030. This will fund a transformative expansion of inclusion bases, accessibility adaptations, and special school places for those that need them.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales to combine their flood risk assessment maps.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Environment Agency’s (EA) flood mapping enables delivery of flood and coastal risk management (FCRM) in line with Government policy. EA flood risk is modelled differently from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) because it better supports how flood risk is managed locally and nationally. Border communities may benefit from reviewing flood risk across both nations, and customers can align both nations flood risk mapping should they choose. The EA and NRW do work closely on FCRM cross boundary planning matters.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 7 November 2025 to question 86273, which variables determine whether the automated system is able to identify two sets of monthly earnings in one Universal Credit assessment period.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In most cases, claimants who receive two sets of monthly earnings in one Universal Credit assessment period are identified automatically and their award is corrected.
This reflects established policy intent and is implemented through system coding based on data received from HM Revenue and Customs. However, a small number of cases are not picked up by the automated process because of the complexity of the claimant’s individual circumstances.
This usually arises in situations where earnings do not follow a consistent or standard pattern, making them harder for automated systems to assess accurately. This can include irregular pay patterns or variations in how employers report earnings through Real Time Information (RTI).
In these cases, earnings may not follow a standard pattern that the system can correct automatically, and manual intervention is required to ensure the claimant receives the correct Universal Credit entitlement.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether funding to tackle water pollution caused by highways will be included in the budget of Road Investment Strategy 3.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The third Road Investment Strategy (RIS3) includes funding to enable National Highway to continue delivering on its 2030 Water Quality Plan, and to mitigate pollution from a total of 190 – 250 drainage assets (outfalls and soakaways) that pose the greatest pollution risk.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a introducing an expedited process for frontline healthcare organisations requiring Certificates of Sponsorship to support visa renewals.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
Working alongside the DHSC-funded Regional Partnerships, UKVI have already established a process for expediting the processing of applications for the social care sector.
This supports visa renewals and those care workers who have been impacted by their employer's licence being revoked. This involves a letter of support from the relevant Director for Adult Social Services (DASS) being issued to a specific UKVI mailbox which receives preferential consideration over other priority services.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment has been made of whether UK-made components used in the Tomahawk missile systems may have been involved in the strike on the Shajareh Tayyerbeh girls’s school in Minab on 28 February 2026.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We are appalled by all reports of civilian deaths – in both Iran and the region. Innocent civilians should never be caught in the crossfire.
The UK works closely with the US on many defence priorities, and our supply chains are of course both complex and intertwined. As part of longstanding convention, we do not comment on military operational details.
The Business and Trade Secretary is responsible for licensing the export of military goods. In his decisions he draws on advice from the Foreign Secretary and the Defence Secretary. All licences are assessed in line with the robust Strategic Export Licensing Criteria and are kept under careful and continual review as standard.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment has been made of the risk of UK-made weapons components being used to inflict civilian casualties in Iran.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
We are appalled by all reports of civilian deaths – in both Iran and the region. Innocent civilians should never be caught in the crossfire.
The Business and Trade Secretary is responsible for licensing the export of military goods. In his decisions he draws on advice from the Foreign Secretary and the Defence Secretary. All licences are assessed in line with the robust Strategic Export Licensing Criteria and are kept under careful and continual review as standard.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any components manufactured in the UK have been supplied for use in the Tomahawk missiles used in US military operations against Iran since 28 February 2026.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The UK works closely with the US on many defence priorities, and our supply chains are of course both complex and intertwined. As part of longstanding convention, we do not comment on military operational details.
Asked by: Ellie Chowns (Green Party - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring think tanks that seek to influence public policy to disclose their sources of private funding.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Electoral law already requires transparency where think tanks make political donations, campaign during elections, or work with political parties on regulated activity, and there are further restrictions on think tanks which have charitable status.
The Government also takes seriously the risk of improper or foreign financial influence on UK democracy. Philip Rycroft’s independent review is examining the wider framework for countering these risks across the political system and will inform the Government’s next steps.