Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to WPQ 21856 answered on 8 September 2026 about Number 10 North Operating Costs, what were the outcomes of her last meeting with [a] Civil Service representatives and [b] Trade Union about the progress in moving the civil service workforce from London to Manchester and [ii] the related logistical costs of the move.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
Details of Ministers’ and certain Senior Officials' meetings with external organisations and individuals are published by departments quarterly in arrears on their departmental pages on GOV.UK. The most recent data - for the period January 2026 to March 2026 - was published on 25 June.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to WPQ 21856 answered on 8 September 2026 about Number 10 North Operating Costs, if she will publish the total refurbishment costs to date for the establishment of No 10 North at Heron House in Manchester.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
No refurbishment of Heron House was undertaken. The cost of establishing No10 North in Heron House is from the existing budget of the Cabinet Office. Associated costs will be accounted for in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2026 to Question 21856 on Number 10 North Operating Costs, which departmental budget has covered the costs of refurbishing Heron House in Manchester.
Answered by Mark Ferguson - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
No refurbishment of Heron House was undertaken. The cost of establishing No10 North in Heron House is from the existing budget of the Cabinet Office. Associated costs will be accounted for in the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions she has had with [i] emergency services and [ii] public bodies on the impact of the use of the emergency alerts system on Friday 14 August 2026 to highlight fire prevention and the risks of wildfires.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
Following every activation of the Emergency Alert system, the Cabinet Office carries out an internal evaluation with key stakeholders. After the 14th August, the Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council noted that the Emergency Alert heightened public awareness of the risks affecting firefighters. It was reported that there was a reduction in the number of wildfires in the 72 hours following the Emergency Alert.
The Cabinet Office is committed to continuously improving this valuable service to keep people safe. The government remains ready to deploy the capability at short-notice in response to risks that pose a danger to life, including but not limited to flooding, severe weather and wildfires.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent assessment she has made about the [i] relevance and [ii] effectiveness of the current level of threshold for the use of the national emergency alerts system.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)
All Emergency Alerts must meet an agreed set of criteria for use. Those criteria were met on the 14th August. On the day the Alert was issued, the National Fire Chiefs Council reported 43 active fires and 11 major incidents nationwide. Mutual aid was in play, with fire and rescue services across the country supporting each other. In south Wales, the military had been deployed to tackle major wildfires.
We took the decision working with fire and rescue services on the ground, in response to the latest understanding of the risk picture.
Encouragingly, in the 72 hours following the Emergency Alert, the Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council Phil Garrigan noted there was a reduction in the number of wildfires. The Alert was effective in heightening the public’s awareness of the risk affecting the country.
The government remains ready to deploy the capability at short-notice in response to risks that pose a danger to life, including but not limited to flooding, severe weather and wildfires.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to tackle the practices of illegal and unlicensed gambling operators to ensure that consumers are supported from gambling harm.
Answered by Vicky Foxcroft - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is acutely aware of the impact harmful gambling can have on individuals and their families, and is committed to strengthening protections for those at risk. We are also committed to working closely with the Gambling Commission to ensure that illegal gambling, in all its forms, is addressed.
As part of the 2025 Budget, the Treasury announced that the Gambling Commission will receive an additional ÂŁ26 million across three years to increase investment, resources and capacity to tackle the illegal market. In addition, the Crime and Policing Act, which received Royal Assent in April 2026, enables the Commission to apply for new powers to obtain orders to suspend internet protocol addresses and internet domain names linked to illegal gambling.
We launched the Illegal Gambling Taskforce at the beginning of this year which brings together a wide range of stakeholders to take action against the illegal market. We are also consulting on banning physical manifestations of unlicensed gambling sponsorships and advertising in Great Britain across all sectors, including sport.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of his Department supporting the national response to wildfires, and whether an assessment may be required to consider how bambi buckets could be used to quell the spread of future fires.
Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to question 24227 on the 8 September 2026.
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2026-08-28/24772
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to WPQ 13604 answered on 2 July 2026 on Fires, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of public communications during periods of high wildfire risk during the Summer 2026; and whether she plans to enhance the communications strategy for future Summer seasons.
Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Following the devastating wildfires this summer, the Prime Minister has committed to holding a Wildfire Summit later this year. The summit will bring together a range of partners to turn the lessons of the exceptional wildfire and extreme heat events of 2026 into practical action.
We recognise that clear public information helps stop wildfires starting and helps people protect themselves and their property. We are making wildfire advice more visible, including through social media during high-risk periods, the Cabinet Office Prepare website, the Fire Kills campaign and StayWise, the NFCC-led education platform. We will consider what more we can do as part of the wildfire summit.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with NHS leaders to [a] assess the progress being achieved with the aims of the 2026 extension of the Rare Disease Framework and [b] and determine the needs to improve outcomes for people with rare diseases and conditions over the longer term.
Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Ministers from all four nations have agreed to extend the UK Rare Diseases Framework by one year, recognising the continued relevance of its four priorities.
The framework is overseen through UK-wide governance arrangements, including the UK Rare Diseases Framework Board, co-chaired by the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer of the other devolved administrations on a rotational basis. The board last met on 20 February 2026 and provides high-level coordination of rare disease policy across the four nations.
Each United Kingdom nation also has its own delivery or implementation group to agree and monitor nation-specific action plans. We continue to engage with National Health Service leaders, delivery partners, devolved administrations, and the rare disease community, including through Genetic Alliance UK-led engagement, to inform future policy options and improve outcomes over the longer term.
Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what fiscal steps he is taking to close the labour productivity gap in the East Midlands.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
The Government's ambition is to support good growth across all parts of the United Kingdom. As set out in the Prime Minister's recent Machinery of Government Statement, No10 North will be responsible for driving good growth through devolution and working in close partnership with local leaders, businesses, and communities to strengthen place-based growth.
We are also committed to fundamentally rewiring the way our country works, transferring greater powers, funding and accountability to the local leaders who know what it takes to drive growth and productivity in their areas.
The government has invested £10m into Team Derby – a city wide partnership between business and regional government designed to turn major national investments into local jobs, skills and regeneration opportunities. The wider East Midlands is receiving £2bn via the Transport for City Regions fund which will enable design of a new mass transit system to connect Derby and Nottingham and drive growth and productivity by better integrating transport networks.
The Chancellor has announced that the Green Book discount rate will be reduced from 3.5% to 3.0%, in line with recommendations from independent academics. This will place greater value on the long-term benefits of investment and strengthen the case for transformational projects that drive growth – wherever they take place.
At Budget, the government will publish a fiscal devolution roadmap which will set out a path to replacing grants from central government with a share of local income tax for every mayor beginning in 2028, such that where a region grows its tax base, it benefits from the increased receipts. This will sit alongside greater retention of the revenue from business rates for local councils and strategic authorities. The long-term certainty of funding via taxation will provide more flexibility and enable greater investment to fund interventions that will deliver a return.