Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department will make an assessment of the potential impact of new immigration rules on people who arrived under the Syrian Vulnerable Person Resettlement Programme.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

In line with our Public Sector Equality Duty, Equality Impact Assessments are undertaken for new policies to ensure that there are no unintended or disproportionate impacts on people with protected characteristics. This includes consideration of nationalities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of home tuition fee eligibility rules on British citizens who relocated to EU member states while the UK was part of the European Union; and whether she plans to review these rules to account for decisions made whilst the UK was still a member of the EU.

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

UK nationals and their children living in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, who wish to study in the UK, will be eligible for automatic home fee status and student support for courses starting up to seven years from the end of the transition period.

The seven-year period ensures that eligible UK nationals and their children, whose normal place of residence is in the EEA or Switzerland but wish to undertake higher education in England, will still be able to access home fee status and student financial support immediately on their return to the UK during this time.

From 1 January 2028, UK nationals and their children must normally have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands (Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) for at least three years immediately before the start of their course to qualify for automatic home fee status and student support.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to address the difference in home fee status eligibility for siblings who are both British nationals where one child benefits from Withdrawal Agreement protections and another does not due to the timing of their university entry after 2028.

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

UK nationals and their children living in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland, who wish to study in the UK, will be eligible for automatic home fee status and student support for courses starting up to seven years from the end of the transition period.

The seven-year period ensures that eligible UK nationals and their children, whose normal place of residence is in the EEA or Switzerland but wish to undertake higher education in England, will still be able to access home fee status and student financial support immediately on their return to the UK during this time.

From 1 January 2028, UK nationals and their children must normally have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands (Channel Islands and the Isle of Man) for at least three years immediately before the start of their course to qualify for automatic home fee status and student support.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department will consider introducing discretionary provisions within home tuition fee eligibility criteria for British nationals living abroad who can demonstrate genuine and ongoing connections to the UK but were unable to relocate prior to their children commencing university.

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

To qualify for automatic home fee status and higher education student support, students must normally be settled in the UK and have been ordinarily resident in the UK and Islands for at least three years before their course begins. However, if a student has spent time overseas due to their own or a specified family member’s temporary employment abroad, this does not interrupt their ordinary residence in the UK, providing flexibility for those who have not made a long-term decision to live outside the UK. Decisions on whether a student meets the criteria for home fee status rest with higher education providers, which are independent and autonomous bodies. Student Finance England makes decisions about eligibility for student finance.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made an estimate of the cost savings from expanding DNA testing in criminal trials.

Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice does not collect or hold data which would link the use of DNA testing, or any other type of evidence produced by the prosecution, with the overall efficiency of criminal trials. Therefore, it is not possible to make an estimate of any cost savings.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her department has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the beginning of the statutory time period of 9.30am nationally during weekdays for concessionary bus pass holders.

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

The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age. The ENCTS costs around £795 million annually and any changes to the statutory obligations, such as extending the travel times, would need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability.

However, local authorities in England have the power to offer concessions in addition to their statutory obligations, including by extending travel times. These are additional local concessions provided and funded by local authorities from local resources.

The Government is investing in bus services long-term and has confirmed over £3 billion from 2026/27 to support local leaders and bus operators across the country to improve bus services over the remainder of the spending review period. This includes multi-year allocations for local authorities under the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) totalling nearly £700 million per year.

The East Midlands Combined Authority will be allocated £65.5 million under the LABG from 2026/27 to 2028/29, in addition to the £21.7 million they are already receiving this year. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services can be used in whichever way they wish to deliver better services for passengers, including funding discretionary concessions.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing in vicarious liability for landowners to reduce grouse shooting.

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

The introduction of new regulation, such as vicarious liability, requires evidence that it will be effective. Vicarious liability occurs where one person can be held liable for the actions of another person. With regards to grouse shooting, this could mean a manager or employer would be held criminally liable for an unlawful act perpetrated by a member of their staff, for example the unlawful killing of birds of prey. Vicarious liability for such acts has been introduced in Scotland but so far there is no compelling evidence to show that its introduction has had a significant deterrent effect on those who persecute wildlife.

We will continue to monitor the situation in Scotland to consider whether vicarious liability is a necessary and proportionate approach in tackling wildlife crime in England.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has considered reclassifying date rape drugs such as flunitrazepam and gamma-hydroxybutyrate as weapons.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Gamma-Hydroxybutyric Acid (GHB) and Flunitrazepam are controlled drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. GHB, and the related substances Gamma-Butyrolactone (GBL) and 1,4-Butanediol (1,4-BD), were reclassified from Class C to Class B in 2022, in line with advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (‘ACMD’). Flunitrazepam is controlled as a Class C drug in common with other benzodiazepines. Ministers are obliged to consider advice from the ACMD before making to changes to the classification of drugs. The Government has no current plans to reclassify these drugs.

Found: Aquarone: Regional transport inequality • Sadik Al-Hassan: Enabling Hydrogen Powered Aviation • James Naish

Found: Q29 James Naish: So it is effectively those three things.

Found: ; Melksham and Devizes) David Mundell (Conservative; Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale) James Naish