Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to monitor the level of administrative charges by Royal Mail applied to unstamped mail.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Royal Mail is an independent business. The government does not have a role in its operational decisions. The operation and administration of Royal Mail’s products and services, including stamps and associated surcharges, is a matter for the business. This includes the authority to apply administrative charges to unstamped mail.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure ICBs offer routine podiatry surgeries.

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

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their local populations, including podiatry and related surgical interventions where clinically appropriate. NHS England has issued guidance to ICBs to ensure equitable access to community and specialist services.

We recognise the importance of community health services (CHS) to the health and care system. The Medium-Term Planning Framework – delivering change together 2026/27 to 2028/29, published October 2025, sets clear targets for reducing waiting times for CHS.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to improve the clarity of guidance available to individuals applying for non-disclosure of address orders in insolvency cases.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Insolvency Service has published guidance on the government website www.gov.uk to explain how an individual can apply for a Person at Risk of Violence order (PARV order) to prevent their address being disclosed in insolvency cases. The guidance relates to bankruptcy applications. The only amendment currently being made to this guidance removes references to a fee being payable to the court when a PARV order application is made.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ascertain the position of Chartered Institute of Legal Executives practitioners who qualified through work-based routes, following the judgement in Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] EWHC 2341.

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

The Ministry of Justice recognises that the Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys [2025] EWHC 2341 judgement and its potential implications have created concern and uncertainty within parts of the legal profession, particularly among Chartered Institute of Legal Executive (CILEX) professionals.

Whilst the legal profession and its regulators operate independently of government, I have been proactively engaging with frontline regulators and representative bodies on the judgement’s implications and the action being taken in response. I convened a meeting with the Legal Services Board (LSB) and relevant frontline regulators to discuss the judgement, its implications, and the steps taken and underway. I have also met members of CILEX’s senior leadership team to discuss the judgement and attended the recent CILEX conference.

CILEx Regulation (CRL) has issued updated guidance, arranged webinars for practitioners, and secured approval from the LSB to allow standalone litigation practice rights. It has also been ensuring readiness for practice rights applications and working with partners to support practitioners. CILEX has been providing regular updates to its members on these actions, and the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Law Society have also published guidance to support professionals. The LSB is also reviewing how regulators ensured information and guidance provided to the profession on conducting litigation was accurate and reliable. It has published the scope and timings for this review on its website. Separately from these steps, CILEX has also been granted permission to appeal the judgment to the Court of Appeal.

While I am satisfied that appropriate practical steps are being taken to address the issues raised by the judgement and provide clarity and support for affected CILEX professionals, we will continue to work closely with the LSB, frontline regulators, and representative bodies to monitor whether further action is required.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to monitor the quality of paid services offering assistance with Attendance Allowance applications.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Free help, support and advice on claiming Attendance Allowance is widely available, including on GOV.UK, from DWP, and organisations such as Age UK. There is no need for claimants to pay for advice and support with benefit applications.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to improve (a) universal, (b) targeted and (c) specialist speech, language and communication support for children in schools.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

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. This includes extending the Early Language Support for Every Child programme, trialling new ways of working to better identify and support children with speech, language and communication needs in early years settings and primary schools.

We are also continuing to grow the pipeline. In addition to the undergraduate degree route, speech and language therapists can also train via a degree apprenticeship. This route is now in its fourth year of delivery and offers an alternative pathway to the traditional degree route into a successful career as a speech and language therapist.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her department has made of the potential impact of the removal of business rates relief and the business rates revaluation on high street businesses.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The amount of business rates paid on each property is based on the rateable value of the property, assessed by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA), and the multiplier values, which are set by the Government. Rateable values are re-assessed every three years. Revaluations ensure that the rateable values of properties (i.e. the tax base) remain in line with market changes, and that the tax rates adjust to reflect changes in the tax base.

At the Budget, the VOA announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since Covid, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties as they recover from the pandemic. To support with bill increases, at the Budget, the Government announced a support package worth £4.3 billion over the next three years, including protection for ratepayers seeing their bills increase because of the revaluation. As a result, over half of ratepayers will see no bill increases, including 23% seeing their bills go down. This means most properties seeing increases will see them capped at 15% or less next year, or £800 for the smallest.

More broadly, the Government is delivering a long overdue reform to rebalance the business rates system and support the high street, as promised in our manifesto.

The Government is doing this by introducing new permanently lower tax rates for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new tax rates are worth nearly £900 million per year, and will benefit over 750,000 properties, including pubs, hotels, restaurants, indoor leisure facilities, and nightclubs.

The new RHL tax rates replace the temporary RHL relief that has been winding down since Covid. Unlike RHL relief, the new rates are permanent, giving businesses certainty and stability, and there will be no cap, meaning all qualifying properties on high streets across England will benefit.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in addition to banning trophy hunting imports, what further plans she has to prevent British firms from selling hunting holidays.

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

The Government is committed to banning the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern, which is the most effective approach the Government can take on this matter. The department continues to engage with relevant stakeholders to ensure that we can implement a robust ban. Timeframes for introducing legislation will be provided once the Parliamentary timetable for future sessions is determined.

Postal workers and Royal Mail staff

Commemoration of Terry Yorath

Less Survivable Cancers Week

Use of UK bases by the United States and international law in relation to Greenland

Newborn bloodspot screening for spinal muscular atrophy

ADHD services

Dyslexia Awareness Week

Affordable rail travel for over-30s

UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons

Future of Cambridge Veterinary School

Tribute to Lance Corporal George Thomas Hooley

Nuclear Regulatory Review and habitats regulations

Sinking of SS Tilawa

UK arms export licensing and conflict in Sudan

Convention on Cluster Munitions and preventing UK involvement in their production

Schools Residential Outdoor Education (Scotland) Bill (No. 2)

Winter NHS corridor care

Changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief in the Autumn Budget 2025

Found: Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Mr Bayo Alaba; Vicky Foxcroft; Damian Hinds; Dr Rupa Huq; Natasha Irons; Liz Jarvis

Found: Caroline Dinenage (Chair); Mr Bayo Alaba; Vicky Foxcroft; Damian Hinds; Dr Rupa Huq; Natasha Irons; Liz Jarvis