Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress she has made on negotiations with the (a) British Council and (b) Treasury on the future of the British Council’s loan; and what steps she is taking to help protect the British Council.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

While the British Council's Board of Trustees is ultimately responsible for the British Council's financial sustainability, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and British Council's shared objective is for the British Council to be financially sustainable so it can continue delivering soft power in the long term.

The FCDO is working closely with the British Council to support implementation of a Turnaround Plan to achieve this objective, and continues to work with British Council and HM Treasury to explore viable options for the loan.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 21 February 2025 to Question 32775 on Swifts: Conservation, what recent progress has been made in those discussions; and what steps she is taking to help increase uptake.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra policy officials continue to work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government colleagues on swift brick policy, alongside wider nature and planning matters.

As part of our work to develop a set of national planning policies for decision making, the Government intends to consult on changes which require swift bricks to be incorporated into new buildings unless there are compelling reasons which preclude their use, or which would make them ineffective. This would strengthen significantly the planning policy expectations already in place, meaning – for example – that we would expect to see at least one swift brick in all new brick-built houses.

As an interim step ahead of the consultation, we have published updated Planning Practice Guidance setting out how swift bricks are expected to be used in new development, and signposting to further guidance including the British Industry Standard, Part 2 of the National Model Design Code, the Future Homes Hub Homes for Nature Guidance, and the RSPB’s Guide to Nestboxes.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 74995 on Covid: Vaccination, for what reason (a) spousal household contacts aged under 75 years of immunosuppressed individuals and (b) other household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals are not eligible for the NHS covid-19 autumn booster programme during the autumn and winter of 2025/26.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of severe illness, involving hospitalisation and/or death, arising from COVID-19.

The JCVI’s advice for autumn 2024 noted that in the era of high population immunity to COVID-19, and with all cases due to highly transmissible Omicron sub-variants, any protection offered by the vaccine against the transmission of infection from one person to another was expected to be extremely limited. On this basis, the JCVI did not advise offering vaccination to any household contacts. The Government accepted the JCVI’s advice for autumn 2024, with both the advice and the Government’s response available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-accepts-advice-on-2024-autumn-covid-vaccine-programme

Household contacts were therefore not offered vaccination in the autumn 2024 campaign. On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme covering vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026. In line with its advice for the autumn 2024 campaign, the JCVI did not advise COVID-19 vaccination for household contacts. This advice is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026-jcvi-advice/jcvi-statement-on-covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026#:~:text=the%20JCVI%20webpage.-,Advice%20on%20vaccination%20in%20spring%202025,care%20home%20for%20older%20adults(opens in a new tab)

The Government accepted the JCVI’s advice on eligibility for the spring and autumn 2025 COVID-19 vaccination programme. The Government is considering the advice for spring 2026 carefully, and will respond in due course.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure (a) farmers and (b) exporters are protected from unfair supermarket practices not covered by the (i) Groceries Code Adjudicator and (ii) Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator (ASCA) is responsible for enforcing regulations developed under the Agriculture Act 2020 'Fair Dealing' powers (section 29). Regulations introduced using these powers promote fair contractual dealing and contribute to a more equitable relationship between producers and purchasers. To date, the powers have been used to create the Fair Dealing Obligations (Milk) Regulations 2024 and the Fair Dealing Obligations (Pigs) Regulations 2025.

The ASCA can investigate relevant complaints around compliance with these regulations. This is distinct from the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA), which regulates the relationship between large retailers and their direct suppliers.

The Government is committed to an evidence-based approach to regulating the supply chain and providing opportunities to assess the effectiveness of the approach.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to improve (a) oversight and (b) enforcement of performance standards in the Civil Service Pension Scheme administration.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)

The government has taken significant steps to improve both the oversight and enforcement of performance standards in the Civil Service Pension Scheme administration, primarily through the new contract with Capita and enhanced internal controls. Capita has been contracted to assume full administrative responsibilities from 1 December 2025.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when the pension remediation work under the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022 will be completed.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The McCloud remedy under the Public Service Pensions and Judicial Offices Act 2022 took effect from October 2023 and will deliver a full remedy to all affected public service pension scheme members. As part of this, all affected members are receiving a remediable service statement setting out the details of their pension entitlements. Pensioner members can make their remedy choice on receipt of this statement, while active and deferred members will make their choice at the point at which they retire. Schemes are currently working hard to ensure the remedy is delivered to all affected members as quickly as possible.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the forthcoming Schools White Paper will include specific measures to improve access to speech and language support in schools in line with the Government’s commitment to early language interventions.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The forthcoming Schools White Paper will set out an ambitious vision for improving outcomes for all pupils. The department is working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

As the department sets out in ‘Giving every child the best start in life’, we will continue to ensure every reception class in state-funded schools benefits from fully funded access to proven programmes such as the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI). In July 2025, the department announced that funded support for the 11,000 schools registered for the NELI programme would continue for a further four academic years until the end of the 2028/29 academic year. Reception staff will also be able to access specialist early language leads.

In addition, the department has extended the Early Language and Support for Every Child (ELSEC) programme, in partnership with NHS England, to trial new ways of working to better identify and support children with speech, language and communication needs in early years settings and primary schools.