Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, in light of the extreme hot weather this summer, whether her Department is planning to review the B101 regulations for school buildings.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department takes periods of hot weather and heatwaves seriously and has published a climate risk assessment on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/impact-of-uk-climate-change-risk-on-the-delivery-of-education/summary-of-findings-in-relation-to-3-climate-risks-overheating-flooding-and-water-scarcity.
The department publishes non-statutory guidance on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in schools in Building Bulletin 101, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-bulletin-101-ventilation-for-school-buildings. There are no plans to update this guidance.
The department has recently launched a new construction framework and updated design standards, setting out requirements for all new and refurbished school buildings delivered by the department in England, which are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/design-standards-employers-requirements. These standards are separate to Building Bulletin 101. They cover overheating risk assessments which account for rising temperatures associated with climate change, as well as external shading, cross ventilation and the use of cooling through ground source heat pumps.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Department expects reviews undertaken by Network Rail in support of continuing declarations of congested infrastructure to be published; and what the Departmentās policy is on public transparency in relation to this.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Network Rail will continue to abide by the requirements of The Railways (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2016 for as long as they are applicable. Any formal declaration of congestion is reviewed annually as a minimum with relevant high level updates being published on the Network Rail website via a Register of Congested Infrastructure and the Network Statement.
More information can be found on the Network Rail Website here; https://www.networkrail.co.uk/industry-and-commercial/information-for-operators/
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Early Indicators of Likely Congestion issued by Network Rail in relation to the Acton Lane, Washwood Heath and Crewe power supply areas constitute advisory Early Indicators of Likely Congestion or formal declarations of congested infrastructure under Regulation 26 of the Railways (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2016.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Acton Lane, Washwood Heath and Crewe are all subject to Early Indicators of Congested Infrastructure. At the time of writing this response, none of these three areas of the network have satisfied the test for congested infrastructure under The Railways (Access, Management and Licensing of Railway Undertakings) Regulations 2016 (The Regs).
Early Indicators of Likely Congestion are non-binding and advisory only with no legal or contractual status. As this notice is non-binding, it does not trigger the requirement for Network Rail to undertake either a Capacity Analysis, or a Capacity Enhancement Plan. Should the circumstances require a formal declaration of congested infrastructure then the relevant process will be followed in order to comply with the regulations.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Network Rail presentation āOperating Performance Model ā DFTO Updateā of June 2026, whether her Department uses the estimates that a 0.5 percentage-point improvement in T-3 punctuality would generate approximately Ā£60 million in additional revenue and a 0.5 percentage-point improvement in cancellations would generate approximately Ā£120 million in additional revenue; and whether these figures represent her Department's current assessment of the revenue impact of those improvements.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The estimates referenced in Network Railās June 2026 āOperating Performance Model ā DFTO Updateā presentation were produced as modelling assumptions to illustrate the potential relationship between operational performance improvements and revenue outcomes, and are not used by the Department as a current forecast of additional revenue.
Revenue impacts will vary depending on a range of factors, including passenger demand, wider economic conditions and the nature of the performance improvements delivered.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reviewing the financial limit for the disabled facilities grant.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
In England, we continue to fund the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) which is delivered by local authorities. This grant helps eligible older and disabled people on low incomes to adapt their homes to make them safe and suitable for their needs.
The upper limit for DFG awards is currently set at Ā£30,000, however, local authorities have a high degree of flexibility to fund adaptations above this amount where they judge it is appropriate. Following an internal review of the upper limit, we have been working closely with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local government to consider possible next steps.
We have confirmed Ā£723 million for the DFG in 2026/27. The DFG budget across 2025/26 and 2026/27 is Ā£150 million more than the total budget across the previous two years, 2023/24 and 2024/25. This represents an 11% increase that exceeds inflation.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to secure access to supplies of the rabies vaccination for those travelling to countries where rabies is present; and when he expects supplies of the rabies vaccination to become widely available to British people travelling to countries where rabies is present.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
Pre-exposure rabies vaccines for travellers are made available to the public through private travel health services, including general practices, pharmacies, and specialist travel clinics. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) does not centrally procure rabies vaccines for routine travel purposes.
However, UKHSA currently holds a contract awarded in January 2026, for the provision of rabies vaccine to support post-exposure and urgent treatment. This ensures that vaccines are available to protect individuals who may have been exposed to rabies, where timely access is critical. Details of the contract can be found via the notices at the following two links:
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085071-2025
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/004936-2026
There has been no availability issue raised by the UKHSA supplier of rabies vaccines.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
ā To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of broadband provision in historic town centres.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
We want everyone in the UK to have access to secure, resilient and high-quality digital infrastructure and are committed to 99% gigabit coverage by 2032.
88% of UK premises already have gigabit broadband access, improving to 92% in urban areas.
Rollout is led commercially, with Government funding through Project Gigabit focussed on areas where commercial deployment is unlikely. This includes urban areas and historic town centres if there are additional costs to delivery in these areas.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme's timeline is to contact people eligible for payments.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The delivery of compensation is a matter for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) The IBCA Framework Document, published in March 2025, sets out the timelines agreed between IBCA and Cabinet Office; namely for the bulk of infected people to be paid no later than the end of next year and the bulk of affected people to be paid no later than the end of 2029. Infected claims include the estates of infected people who have sadly passed away.
The Government has been clear these dates should not be viewed as targets for delivery, but rather ābackstopsā. These timescales have been agreed with IBCA, to ensure that the door is kept open for those who have not yet identified themselves as being infected or affected.
IBCA has now opened the service for the first claims from infected people who were never compensated, for deceased infected people, and for living affected people. As with the first cohort of people making a claim, IBCA must now build a service for each of these cohorts which allows them to confirm an infection before a claim begins, check the identity of each person claiming, and ensure all the necessary legal and financial support is in place for anyone who wishes to use it. This approach means that the numbers will initially be lower, but the Government expects that, as with the first group, those numbers will rise exponentially as progress is made.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there are plans to allow the electronic transfer of GP recordsĀ when people move from Wales to England.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
The Government's 10-Year Health Plan includes the objective of delivering a Single Patient Record. This will allow health and care providers, wherever they deliver care in England, to access the key information they need from an individualās medical records. Mandatory information standards, which all providers must follow, will ensure the interoperability of systems within the National Health Service.
We will consult with the devolved administrations and Crown Dependencies, on areas of mutual interest, such as the Single Patient Record, which can improve cross-border healthcare and the safe exchange of information where possible to improve healthcare, and minimise risk to patients.
Asked by: Julia Buckley (Labour - Shrewsbury)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking under GBR to increase cross border rail connections, such as the Wrexham-Shropshire-Midlands Railway.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation