Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much of the £250 million for the Defence Growth Deals will be allocated to Wales.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
A funding pot of £250 million has been allocated for the five Defence Growth Deals. The Ministry of Defence will work with the Welsh Government, local authorities, industry, academia and other key local stakeholders to assess Wales’s defence sector requirements and develop initiatives for the Wales Defence Growth Deal that addresses those. Funding will be allocated to the Wales Defence Growth Deal that ensures the right financial support is provided and the impact for Wales is maximised.
The allocation for each Defence Growth Deal is being informed by engagements with Devolved Administrations, Councils and Defence.
My priority is getting the right support, in the right locations to unlock growth potential.
We hope to be able to announce further details of the Defence Growth Deals implementation in due course.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of devolving powers to license electricity suppliers operating in Wales.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government has made no such specific assessment.
A universal service obligation (USO) ensures that every household and small business is supplied, regardless of their location. This prevents suppliers segmenting customers by their profitability. As well as the USO, it should be noted that electricity distribution networks are not constructed along national boundaries - the same networks serve customers either side of the Wales/England border, making it very difficult or impossible to split customers by their location such that different licensing regimes can be introduced.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
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 his Welsh counterpart on the compliance of electricity suppliers operating in Wales with (a) the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 (b) the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular meetings with Welsh Government ministers on a range of issues.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of retrospectively removing deductions of saved living costs from miscarriage of justice compensation awards made before August 2023.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
Individuals who have had their convictions quashed following an out of time appeal are eligible to apply for compensation through the statutory Miscarriages of Justice Application Service. Compensation payments made after 6 August 2023 no longer have saved living expenses deducted. The Government considered the importance of certainty and ensuring the finality of concluded settlements and, in July 2024, decided not to depart from the established principles of public policy under which policy changes apply prospectively only.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many additional driving tests have been created in (a) Pwllheli and (b) Y Bala in each month since 23 April 2025.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Pwllheli test centre is an outstation with driving examiners (DE) deployed from Bangor/Rhyl driving test centres (DTC), where possible. Y Bala is also an outstation with DEs deployed from Wrexham DTC, where possible.
The table below shows how many driving tests have been conducted in Pwllheli and Y Bala in each month since 23 April 2025.
Pwllheli | Y Bala | |
May | 61 | 53 |
June | 59 | 80 |
July | 73 | 45 |
Total | 193 | 178 |
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made with Cabinet colleagues of how many (a) prison service, (b) DWP and (c) general civil service staff members with Skilled Worker visas will lose their visa eligibility due to changes to immigration rules from 22 July 2025.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Under the current transitional arrangements, existing Skilled Worker visa holders are exempt from the changes to the skills threshold introduced on 22 July and can continue to extend in their current occupations.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, which Minister is responsible for non-power generating nuclear facilities used for (a) research and (b) the production of healthcare-related materials.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As interim Minister for nuclear, I am responsible for the regulation of non-power generating nuclear facilities for civil nuclear fission research and development within DESNZ. Other Departments may hold responsibility for non-power generating nuclear facilities depending on the use case. The responsibility for the production of healthcare-related materials sits with the Department of Health and Social Care.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues about the development of a nuclear facility to produce radionuclides for use in healthcare.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State meets regularly with Cabinet colleagues to discuss a range of issues.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions her Department has had with a) the Welsh Government and b) Cyngor Gwynedd on the regeneration of the former Trawsfynydd nuclear site.
Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales
The UK Government has regular discussions with the Welsh Government on a range of issues including our joint ambition for Wales to be at the forefront of the clean energy transition.
The UK Government is committed to delivering a secure, reliable, and low-carbon energy future for the UK and we have committed almost £17bn across the Spending Review period to the most ambitious nuclear new build programme for a generation.
This includes making available over £2.5bn across the Spending Review period to enable one of Europe’s first Small Modular Reactor (SMR) programmes. Great British Energy – Nuclear has selected Rolls-Royce SMR as its preferred bidder to partner with to build the UK’s first small modular reactors, subject to government approvals and contract signature.
The government values the work undertaken by Cwmni Egino to develop socio-economic growth opportunities from new nuclear development in North Wales. Trawsfynydd could be a candidate for new nuclear in future and is one of a number of potential sites that could host new civil nuclear projects, subject to national planning policy, regulatory approvals and technical assessments.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what contingency plans the NHS has put in place to manage a potential shortage in the supply of medical radionuclides to prevent delays to (a) cancer, (b) cardiac and (c) other procedures.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made a specific assessment. The Department regularly engages with suppliers, specialist clinicians, the British Nuclear Medicine Society, and the UK Radiopharmacy Group to support the continued supply of medical radioisotopes for National Health Services. There are six trusted research reactors which play a critical role in global radiopharmaceutical production, none of which are in the United Kingdom. The Department continues to work with the NHS and other parts of the Government, and the devolved administrations, to better understand future needs for medical radioisotopes.
From an NHS perspective, as part of making available new treatments and interventions, consideration is given to a range of factors, including demand and supply. The NHS has got processes in place to escalate and manage business continuity, including medicines supply.