Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Motability customers with high essential mileage requirements are not disproportionately disadvantaged by additional mileage charges.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
Responsibility for the terms and administration of the Scheme sits with Motability Foundation and its Board of Governors. Department officials and Motability meet regularly to review the Scheme and how it operates to ensure it meets the needs of disabled people.
After careful consideration of customer's needs, Motability announced that from 1 July 2026, customers who need significantly more travel than the standard mileage allowance for essential healthcare, education or employment journeys may be eligible for additional mileage support. Customers must demonstrate they require more than 3,000 miles a year for these purposes, with support applied to approved miles above that threshold through reduced excess mileage charges, while leisure and holiday travel is excluded. Support can be requested when ordering a vehicle or during a lease, with eligibility assessed based on individual circumstances and supporting evidence.
Additionally, the Scheme recognises that living in the most rural areas often means having to travel further to access everyday services so will provide 3,000 additional miles per year on to leases for certain customers. Motability Operations has used data from national Governments to identify the areas with limited access to essential services. The data looks at the typical travel time to services that people regularly rely on, including grocery shopping, healthcare and education.
The Motability Scheme is operated independently of Government. Decisions about grants, eligibility, lease terms, mileage allowances and support arrangements are matters for Motability.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with Motability on the potential impact of reduced mileage allowances on disabled people living in rural areas.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
Responsibility for the terms and administration of the Scheme sits with Motability Foundation and its Board of Governors. Department officials and Motability meet regularly to review the Scheme and how it operates to ensure it meets the needs of disabled people.
After careful consideration of customer's needs, Motability announced that from 1 July 2026, customers who need significantly more travel than the standard mileage allowance for essential healthcare, education or employment journeys may be eligible for additional mileage support. Customers must demonstrate they require more than 3,000 miles a year for these purposes, with support applied to approved miles above that threshold through reduced excess mileage charges, while leisure and holiday travel is excluded. Support can be requested when ordering a vehicle or during a lease, with eligibility assessed based on individual circumstances and supporting evidence.
Additionally, the Scheme recognises that living in the most rural areas often means having to travel further to access everyday services so will provide 3,000 additional miles per year on to leases for certain customers. Motability Operations has used data from national Governments to identify the areas with limited access to essential services. The data looks at the typical travel time to services that people regularly rely on, including grocery shopping, healthcare and education.
The Motability Scheme is operated independently of Government. Decisions about grants, eligibility, lease terms, mileage allowances and support arrangements are matters for Motability.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of levels of Machine Game Duty on community bingo clubs.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events, and does not routinely comment on proposals.
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, pursuant to the answer received on 11 September 2026 to Question 26957, (a) what assessment has she made of the potential implications for her policies of death certification delays, and (b) what steps is she taking to help tackle delays.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Member to the answers provided on 8 July in response to Questions 15549, 15550, 15557, and 15558.
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 she has made of the affordability for low-income households of ongoing servicing costs associated with heating systems installed under the ECO4 scheme.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The published ECO4 Impact Assessment considered the costs and benefits of the scheme for participating households, including operational costs associated with servicing and maintaining installed measures. These costs were included in the assessment’s distributional analysis and weighted to reflect that ECO4 recipients are predominantly lower-income households.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations of the Law Commission’s report entitled Unfitness to Plead, published on 13 January 2016.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
The Government agrees that this area of the law needs to be updated. The Law Commission reviewed the law on unfitness to plead and the Government has accepted the majority of its recommendations including a modernised legal test, changes to the fact-finding process and wider disposals.
The Government is actively considering how best to take these forward, alongside the defence of insanity which is also being considered by the Law Commission. This is a complex area of law and it is important that any future reforms are considered carefully to ensure that the legislation is coherent, workable and provides protections for defendants, victims and the public.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people were released from prison in (a) England, and (b) Wales with no fixed address in 2025-26, by the releasing establishment.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
Through the National Plan to End Homelessness, the Government has given a commitment to halving the proportion of prison leavers released homeless and increasing the proportion living in settled accommodation at three months following release, by the end of this Parliament.
The Prime Minister’s national drive to end rough sleeping, which is backed by an additional £442 million, builds on the National Plan to End Homelessness, taking total homelessness and rough sleeping investment to over £4 billion across the next three years.
The table attached provides data on the number of offenders recorded as having no fixed abode at the point of release from custody, by establishment, during the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.
Asked by: Liz Saville Roberts (Plaid Cymru - Dwyfor Meirionnydd)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of removing VAT from the purchase of automated external defibrillators including the affordability and availability of such devices in rural communities across Wales and the UK.
Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General
The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events, and does not routinely comment on proposals
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 recent assessment has she made of the impact of standing charges in Wales on levels of poverty in Wales.
Answered by Polly Billington - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government knows that, for many consumers, too much of the burden of the bill is placed on standing charges. We are committed to lowering the cost of standing charges and have worked constructively with the regulator, Ofgem, on this issue. Ofgem is considering how costs could be recovered in fairer ways, while protecting vulnerable consumers with higher unavoidable energy use, this includes consideration of gas standing charges.
The Government has acted to reduce an increase in electricity standing charges from April 2026 by moving Warm Home Discount cost recovery from standing charges to unit rates. Around 6 million households in Great Britain will benefit from the expanded £150 Warm Home Discount, which will remain in place for the rest of the decade. As well as wider action to reduce bills, including removing VAT from domestic electricity bills from 1 October to 31 March and taking an average £150 of costs off bills, which applies across Great Britain, including Wales.
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 steps she is taking to ensure that projects based in Wales receive an adequate share of the Green Heat Network Fund.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Projects in Wales became eligible for funding applications to the Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF) from Round 12 which opened in June 2026. The GHNF is a demand-led, competitive scheme for which £195 million a year has been allocated up to 2029/30. Heat network developers in Wales have the opportunity to apply for funding from the scheme, and their applications will be subject to the same eligibility criteria, and assessed on the same terms, as their counterparts in England – this includes access to pre-application support from our GHNF Delivery Partner.