Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that education, health and care plan assessments are (a) progressed and (b) issued promptly.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

I refer the hon. Member for Newbury to the answer of 26 November to Question 14834.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to secure a Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement with the EU to facilitate the movement of thoroughbred horses across borders.

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

The Prime Minister and President of the European Commission met on 7 November at the European Political Community in Budapest, where they discussed the strength of the UK-EU partnership and the need to work together to tackle the challenges facing Europe. The Government will now work with the EU to identify areas where we can strengthen cooperation for mutual benefit.

The Government will seek to negotiate a veterinary/Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement to help boost trade and deliver benefits to businesses and consumers in the UK and the EU. The Government is ambitious and wants to move forward at pace, but delivering new agreements will take time. It is too early to provide an update on specific elements of any agreement at this point.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to allow social landlords to access the (a) Building Safety Fund and (b) Cladding Safety Scheme.

Answered by Alex Norris - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Social landlords can already apply to the Cladding Safety Scheme and the Building Safety Fund (BSF) where the cost of remediating a building would threaten the financial viability of the landlord or to cover costs which - without the protections of the Building Safety Act - could have been passed on to leaseholders and shared owners.

Under the BSF, the Government has committed £239 million to date to support social landlords to remove and replace unsafe cladding on buildings over 18 metres.

The Cladding Safety Scheme for buildings between 11 and 18 metres is open to providers of social housing on the same basis as the BSF.

The budget on 30 October 2024 committed to new investment to begin to speed up remediation of social housing. We will shortly publish a strategy to accelerate remediation in all buildings, including social housing.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has had discussions with energy suppliers on continuing the Voluntary Debt Commitment after winter 2023-24.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have had regular discussions with suppliers on a range of issues, including the Voluntary Debt Commitment. Following these discussions, the Government and industry have worked together to deliver a £500m Winter Support Commitment for customers, and we applaud suppliers stepping up on this matter.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2024 to Question 11698 on Sports: Children, what steps she is taking to help ensure the adequacy of access to grassroots sports facilities for children under 12.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Our mission-led Government puts children and young people at the heart of our priorities. This includes breaking down barriers to opportunity for every child to access high-quality sport and physical activity, especially those who are less likely to be active. The Government’s clear ambition is for all children and young people to have the opportunity to get active in a way that suits them.

This Government recognises that grassroots sports facilities are central to communities up and down the country and is acting to support more children to get active wherever they live through the delivery of the £123 million Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2024/25.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase the cleanliness of rivers.

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

For too long, sewage and pollution have contributed to the uncleanliness of our rivers, lakes, and seas.

The Water (Special Measures) Bill will deliver on the Government’s commitment to put water companies under special measures. It will drive meaningful improvements in the performance and culture of the water industry as a first important step in enabling wider, transformative change across the water sector.

The Secretary of State has also commissioned a full, independent review of the water sector to shape further legislation that will transform how our water system works and clean up rivers, lakes and seas for good.

Defra and its Arm’s-Length Bodies continue to work with farmers to tackle agricultural pollution through a suite of regulations, advice and incentives; this includes the rollout of Environmental Land Management schemes.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to provide additional support to local authorities to prepare for flooding in winter 2024-25.

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

We set up the first ever Floods Resilience Taskforce on 12 September. The Taskforce sets out a new approach to preparing for flooding, and working cohesively between national, regional and local government, including the devolved administrations and flood risk partners. This Taskforce will ensure that the UK’s preparedness for, and resilience to, flooding is reviewed regularly and robustly. It will ensure we continuously improve to ensure optimum protection to people, homes and businesses.

The Environment Agency has also completed briefing sessions with the Local Resilience Forum chairs group, providing an overview of winter preparedness activity and the likely scenarios for this winter.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is taking steps to introduce digital equine identification.

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

This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.

The Government recognises the importance of the equine sector to the UK economy and of improving equine identification and traceability. Digital enhancements are unlikely in the near future, though Defra is considering other improvements in the meantime.

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 make an assessment of the potential merits of designating thoroughbred horses as high health animals.

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

On 25 November 2024 we announced that physical checks at Border Control Posts for live animals imported from the European Union, including horses and other equines, and goods and live animals arriving at west coast ports from Ireland, will not begin in 2024, and we committed to a further update on timelines for these controls in summer 2025. During this period, we will work closely with stakeholders across all sectors on the planned implementation of further border controls, including the most appropriate way to assure the health of imported equines.

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 support the Pharmacy First campaign.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is a targeted public communications campaign with associated media materials, running from 11 November 2024 until mid-December 2024 as well as coordinated communications across the healthcare system and sharing best practices where the service is already working well.

Action is also being taken to drive further engagement and referrals from general practice, with targeted engagement through regional and integrated care board (ICB) channels and regular data to support managing performance. In addition to this, funding has been provided to ICBs to recruit primary care network engagement leads who will be well placed to support practice teams to refer into the service.

Additionally, NHS England is improving digital systems to make the referral process better integrated, including further development of electronic referral systems. Most pharmacies can now also receive Pharmacy First referrals from general practitioners straight into their NHS England assured pharmacy IT systems.

Domestic Abuse Offences

Bowel Cancer UK report into NHS services

Bath Young Carers

Equal pay and prize money in women’s football

Assistance and access for disabled people at railway stations

Potential closure of post offices

Fuel Poverty Awareness Day

Variety Disability Sports Awards

National Insurance contributions rise exemption for childcare providers

Carers Rights Day 2024

Carers Rights Day

Bus fare cap hike

Bus fare cap

Emergency care

Puppy smuggling bill

UN Special Rapporteur's report on atrocity crimes in Iran

Found: Members present: Cat Smith (Chair); James Asser; Bambos Charalambous; Sir Christopher Chope; Mr Lee Dillon

Found: Helsby) Lewis Cocking (Conservative; Broxbourne) Chris Curtis (Labour; Milton Keynes North) Mr Lee Dillon

Found: Slade, James MacCleary, Max Wilkinson, Susan Murray, Lisa Smart, Mr Paul Kohler, Liz Jarvis, Mr Lee Dillon

Found: MacCleary , Max Wilkinson , Susan Murray , Lisa Smart , Mr Paul Kohler , Liz Jarvis , Mr Lee Dillon

In the July 2024 General Election, a record six independent candidates were elected to the House of Commons. In September 2024, five of those MPs informed the Speaker that they were forming an independent grouping in Parliament as a ‘technical group’, rather than a political party.  This letter has given rise to questions about the status of parliamentary groupings under House of Commons procedures, and the status of independent MPs as a whole.

Reforms introduced following the publication of the 2009 Report of the Reform of the House of Commons Committee, Rebuilding the House (‘the Wright Report’, so named after the Chair of the Committee, Tony Wright MP) included the election by the whole House for positions such as some select committee chairs and the Deputy Speakers.

Call lists, or speakers lists, exist in many legislatures around the world, and were employed in the House of Commons during the Covid-19 pandemic to regulate the flow of debates in virtual/hybrid proceedings. Call lists can be a helpful tool in giving Members an indication of when they will be called to speak in a debate, and thus to plan their days more effectively, and in enabling the chair of a debate to decide time limits. However, there are also concerns about their impact on the flow of the debate.