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 scheme to support police officers and emergency call handlers in obtaining (a) housing and (b) mental health support.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government greatly values the vital work of police officers and emergency call handlers in keeping the public safe.

The Home Office is committed to supporting the wellbeing of the police workforce. This includes providing ongoing funding to the National Police Wellbeing Service (NPWS), which provides evidence-based guidance, advice, tools and resources which can be accessed by forces. This helps Chief Constables in their duty to ensure the wellbeing of their workforce. In particular, the Service is helping forces to identify where there is most risk of impacts on mental health, and developing work around building resilience, as well as putting in place support for those who need it in response to traumatic events.

The Police Covenant has already helped deliver pre-deployment mental health training for new recruits and improved occupational health standards for officers in service.

Any scheme concerning access to housing for the police workforce or other key workers would be a matter for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support (a) blind and (b) partially sighted young people to access Further Education.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

​​Support for people with visual impairments in further education is guided by legal duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) code of practice, with tailored provisions depending on the needs of the individual.

All education and training providers, have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities, including those with visual impairments, so they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage compared to non-disabled students.

​Reasonable adjustments can include things such as adapting teaching methods (providing materials in accessible formats), using assistive technology (such as screen readers and magnifiers, speech synthesizers, accessible computers and tablets) modifying assessments (offering extra time or alternative formats), and offering personalised support services (including note-takers, interpreters, or mental health support).

​From year 9 it is mandatory for education, health and care plan reviews to support learners in preparing for the transitions to further education and/or employment.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to implement and administer the proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief under the inheritance tax regime; and whether this estimate will be published prior to the reforms taking effect in April 2026.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

I refer to the answer given on 5 September 2025 at UIN 70546 :

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-08-29/70546

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to support local authorities in the (a) recruitment and (b) training of school crossing patrols.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department for Transport supports Local Authorities through legislation, guidance, and best practice frameworks but it does not directly manage the recruitment or training of School Crossing Patrols because that is a non-statutory role delegated to Local Authorities.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been arrested for being a supporter of (a) the Maniacs Murder Cult, (b) Palestine Action and (c) the Russian Imperial Movement since the passing of the Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2025.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Government is absolutely clear that support for proscribed organisations is unacceptable. Anyone expressing support for a proscribed organisation should expect to be investigated by the police.

The Home Office releases statistics which cover arrests for terrorist-related activity on a quarterly basis. It would not be appropriate to provide a running commentary on arrests relating to proscribed organisations.

On Palestine Action specifically, the Metropolitan Police Service has also released statistics on the arrests made at the central London protests on 9 August 2025 and 6 September 2025 which can be found here: https://news.met.police.uk/news/update-532-arrested-during-protest-policing-operation-499897 and https://news.met.police.uk/pressreleases/update-on-demonstration-in-support-of-palestine-action-3403168

Operational decisions, including arrests, are a matter for the police, who are independent of Government.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support HM Prison and Probation Service.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice. It is responsible for carrying out sentences given by the courts, both in prisons and in the community. Its core objectives are to protect the public and rehabilitate people to reduce the risk of reoffending.

The Ministry of Justice and HMPPS work hand in glove to ensure that policy and operational delivery work together to deliver punishment that cuts crime, swifter justice for victims and ensure that the UK is a beacon for justice and the rule of law.

Policies and frameworks to achieve these outcomes are developed by Ministry of Justice policy and HMPPS operations in tandem. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and HMPPS are committed to this close working relationship. For example, the Joint Strategic Policy Unit is a mixed MoJ / HMPPS team which reports jointly to HMPPS senior officials, as well as MoJ policy directors and ministers. This ensures that HMPPS and the MoJ are entirely joined up in responding to challenges in the prisons and probation system, as well as on longer-term strategic planning.

The MoJ is also supporting HMPPS with increased investment in both prisons and probation. Probation funding will increase by up to £700 million by the final year of the spending review. That is a 45% increase in annual budgets, which will support additional recruitment and investment in services that rehabilitate offenders and cut crime. A further £4.7 billion prison building investment has been confirmed, backing the largest expansion since the Victorians.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of NHS surgery waiting time information published on the NHS My Care Portal in the context of reports that these timeframes differ from those provided by NHS hospital trusts.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Patients in England can choose the hospital for their first outpatient appointments via the NHS e-Referral Service and the NHS App, allowing them to view and choose from available appointments across different hospitals within the same region.

The National Health Service is a large, decentralized system, and individual NHS hospital trusts are responsible for managing their own patient portals, resulting in different systems and features. Each trust may set its own policies and internal delays before results are displayed in the portal, rather than linking them directly to the patient. A delay in displaying results is a common practice for sensitive test results linked to conditions such as cancer, to give doctors an opportunity to review them with the patient first.

The NHS ensures adequate data for My Planned Care by employing a multi-faceted approach, including centralised data collection and curation, implementing shared records for better data integration across systems, establishing robust data quality checks and reporting, adhering to strict information governance and security standards, and actively working to link diverse data sources. These processes support the provision of timely and accurate information on the My Planned Care website to help patients and healthcare professionals.

The NHS continues to invest heavily in the NHS App and in the past two years we have been implementing digital integration between acute hospitals and the NHS App, meaning that patients can now view their clinical pathway and appointments via the NHS App. We continue to work with hospital trusts to maximise the opportunities available to update patients via the NHS App, which is a key part of the 10-year plan to reform the NHS.

The NHS App has now been adopted by 88% of acute trusts, up nearly 20% since July 2024, which enables patients to view and manage their hospital appointments.

Analysis shows that hospitals that make the changes to plug their systems and processes into the NHS App key app features have improved elective care waiting times.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking alongside the Teachers' Pension Scheme to ensure retired teachers (a) receive their pensions in a timely manner and (b) are informed of the timeline for this.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

As part of the Transitional Protection (McCloud) remedy, affected members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) have the option to choose either final salary or career average benefits for the remedy period (April 2015 to March 2022). Members who had not taken TPS benefits before the remedy took effect on 1 October 2023 make that choice immediately before retirement. As calculations of the options are complex, TPS members are advised to apply six months before their intended retirement date to ensure there is sufficient time to receive and respond to their Remediable Service Statement which will set out that choice.

The need to apply six months in advance is clearly set out on the Teachers’ Pensions website and in related member guidance, which can be found here: www.teacherspensions.co.uk/members/planning-retirement/how-to-apply.aspx.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of removing Part 6 paragraph 6.2 of the Valuation Office Agency's Council Tax manual.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The VOA do not provide estimated Council Tax bands on request because it would need to undertake a full band assessment of a property to provide an accurate estimate, and because it does not have a statutory obligation to do so.

As its policy on providing estimated Council Tax bands has not changed, and is accurately reflected in the Council Tax manual, it is not considering removing Part 6, paragraph 6.2

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing an age restriction for riding an electric scooter.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Until changes are made, private e-scooters remain illegal to use on public roads, cycle lanes and pavements, irrespective of age.

Rental e-scooters can only be used as part of the Government’s rental e-scooter trials and users in the current trials are already required to have a provisional or full driving licence and therefore the minimum rider age is 16.

In the Government’s Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan, which is part of the Industrial Strategy, the Government has committed to pursuing legislative reform for micromobility vehicles, including e-scooters, when parliamentary time allows. Setting a minimum age will be considered, and consulted on, as part of any future regulations on e-scooters.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to ensure equitable access to fibre broadband in older houses in rural areas.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government is committed to ensuring at least 99% of premises receive gigabit broadband coverage by 2032.

To ensure equitable broadband access, through Project Gigabit we are delivering broadband to UK premises (typically via fibre connections) that are not included in suppliers' commercial plans. These premises predominantly fall in rural areas.

To inform Project Gigabit delivery, we collect and analyse supplier information on completed and planned build to identify premises in need of public subsidy. Eligibility is based on this information rather than the age of the premises.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department provides to police forces on the treatment of fuel theft incidents under the Theft Act 1978; and what steps she is taking to ensure that small independent retailers in the Lewes constituency receive appropriate police support in response to such offences.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is committed to tackling the theft of fuel from forecourts.

A new service has been developed by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) allowing fuel retailers and their agents to request information to allow civil recovery of costs when motorists drive away from fuel stations without paying for the fuel taken.

The service will allow the contact details of the registered keeper of the vehicle concerned to be provided via secure electronic links. This offers improvements over the existing manual service, providing a quicker and more efficient service to help recover costs. This change has been driven by the police-led National Business Crime Centre and Police Crime Prevention Initiatives (PCPI), working closely with the DVLA.

The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will ensure that every community in England and Wales will have named and contactable officers dealing with local issues, and that neighbourhood teams spend the majority of their time in their communities providing visible patrols and engaging with local communities and businesses. This will be supported by the delivery of up to an additional 3000 officers into neighbourhood teams by Spring next year, as part of our ambition to deliver 13,000 neighbourhood officers into police forces across England and Wales by the end of this parliament.

Chief Constables have operational independence to tackle the crimes that matter most to their communities.

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 take legislative steps to ensure that all small (a) businesses and (b) charities can have commercial waste collection under the new Simpler Recycling legislation, allowing for waste collection by domestic waste narrow access vehicles where necessary.

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

We can confirm that all small businesses and charities are in scope of Simpler Recycling. The Simpler Recycling legislation does not specify the type of vehicles that must be used for collection, provided they comply with existing standards on waste vehicles. Where commercial services are provided by local authorities, they can utilise waste vehicles that serve household collection routes.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help secure the safe return of Craig and Lindsay Foreman from Iran.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

We are deeply concerned by Craig and Lindsay's detention in Iran. We are providing them with consular assistance and remain in close contact with their family members. We continue to raise the case directly with the Iranian authorities.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he has taken to help secure the release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Government is committed to securing Mr El-Fattah's release so he can be reunited with his family. We continue to engage actively in pressing for his release at the highest levels of the Egyptian government. The Prime Minister raised the case with President Sisi on 26 June. The former Foreign Secretary has also raised the case regularly, most recently in a call with Foreign Minister Abdelatty on 31 August. I most recently raised Mr El-Fattah's case with Foreign Minister Abdelatty on 28 July and with the Egyptian Ambassador to the UK on multiple occasions.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department is taking to support Openreach to provide fibre to the premises connections in (a) Alfriston Road, Berwick and (b) other rural areas in Lewes constituency.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

This government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit coverage by 2032 and we have created a regulatory environment that incentivises private investment, including from Openreach, in areas where deployment is commercially viable.

Additionally, CityFibre is delivering a Project Gigabit contract across East and West Sussex. This contract currently includes approximately 7,800 premises in the Lewes constituency, the vast majority of which are in rural areas. Premises on Alfriston Road, Berwick, are currently included within the scope of this contract.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure adequate funding for children and families.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The Spending Review, announced by my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 11 June 2025, ensures this government can drive forward progress on its mission to break the link between background and success.

Children’s early years are crucial to their development, health and life chances. Through the government’s Plan for Change, we will ensure every child gets the best start in life, investing in the strongest evidence-based interventions to ensure a record proportion of five year-olds have a good level of development by 2028 and transforming outcomes for children and young people.

The Spending Review includes an additional £1.6 billion a year by 2028/29 for childcare entitlements for working parents, giving children the best start in life and supporting more parents to balance family life and work. It also includes funding to expand a network of family hubs to support families when they need it and get a record proportion of children ready for school.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of classifying stage 4 breast cancer as very severe in relation to access to life-saving drugs.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department understands the impact that cancer has on those living with it and their families, and the urgent need for new treatment options.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for developing the methods and processes it uses to evaluate whether new medicines should be recommended for routine National Health Service funding.

Whilst no such assessment has been made, in developing recommendations on whether medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources, NICE is able to apply a weighting that recognises the additional value that society places on treatments for severe conditions. The weighting that is applied is calculated for each appraisal based on information on the expected shortfall in life expectancy and quality of life of people with the condition, considering existing treatment options. NICE has concluded for several appraisals of medicines for late-stage breast cancer that a weighting should be applied based on the severity of the condition and has recommended all but one of the new medicines for the treatment of breast cancer, including advanced breast cancer, that it has evaluated since 2018. These treatments are now available for the treatment of NHS patients.

NICE’s methods that are used for determining whether an appraisal qualifies for a weighting under the severity modifier have been developed through extensive engagement with stakeholders and through public consultation.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of data collected on road safety.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The Department’s road casualty statistics are based on data reported to the Department by police forces via the STATS19 system. Information on the strengths and weaknesses of this data are available in the background quality information which accompanies the published statistics on the gov.uk website.

While STATS19 is considered to be a valuable dataset in developing and monitoring road safety, with a wide range of users and uses, the Department is exploring a range of additional datasets to address some of its known limitations. A summary of recent and planned development work, published on 25 September 2025, is also available on gov.uk:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/road-accident-and-safety-statistics-guidance#planned-developments.

Government proposals for mandatory digital ID

Improving equestrian road safety awareness

Conduct of the hon. Member for Runcorn and Helsby

National inquiry into child sexual exploitation

South Downs National Park

Elon Musk at the Unite the Kingdom rally

Political donations

Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme

Global Lobular Breast Cancer Awareness Day 2025

UK-US Trade Deal and animal welfare and farming

Import of goods from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Citizenship for refugees

Royal Mail's universal service obligation

US trade and impact assessments

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Found: : Steve Barclay (in the Chair) Luke Akehurst Irene Campbell Paul Davies Nusrat Ghani James MacCleary

Found: present: Steve Barclay (in the Chair) Luke Akehurst Paul Davies Nusrat Ghani Clive Jones James MacCleary

Found: : Steve Barclay (in the Chair) Luke Akehurst Irene Campbell Paul Davies Nusrat Ghani James MacCleary

Found: Barclay (in the Chair) Luke Akehurst Irene Campbell Nusrat Ghani Clive Jones Lillian Jones James MacCleary

Found: Jones Kate Osborne Andrew Murrison Sean Woodcock Apologies: Matt Bishop, Lillian Jones, James MacCleary

Found: Barclay (in the Chair) Matt Bishop Irene Campbell Nusrat Ghani Clive Jones Lillian Jones James MacCleary

Found: Chair) Matt Bishop Phil Brickell Irene Campbell Nusrat Ghani Clive Jones Lillian Jones James MacCleary

Found: Darling Sarah Champion Jack Rankin Dr Roz SavageStuart Andrew James McMurdockDr Danny Chambers James MacCleary

Found: Paul Kohler Jack RankinDr Danny ChambersSteve Darling James McMurdockLewis CockingStuart Andrew James MacCleary

Found: Darling Sarah Champion Jack Rankin Dr Roz SavageStuart Andrew James McMurdockDr Danny Chambers James MacCleary

Found: Paul Kohler Jack RankinDr Danny ChambersSteve Darling James McMurdockLewis CockingStuart Andrew James MacCleary

Found: Darling Sarah Champion Jack Rankin Dr Roz SavageStuart Andrew James McMurdockDr Danny Chambers James MacCleary

Found: Paul Kohler Jack RankinDr Danny ChambersSteve Darling James McMurdockLewis CockingStuart Andrew James MacCleary

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