Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of the amount and proportion of imported steel from (a) China and (b) other countries that will be used in the Net Zero Teesside Power (NZT Power) project; whether he has had recent discussions with NZT Power on steel procurement; and what steps he is taking to maximise UK steel content in major infrastructure projects.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government knows how important the use of UK made steel is to communities across the country. We are ambitious about increasing the use of UK made steel in UK energy and infrastructure projects where possible. We will publish a steel strategy this year which will set out our vision for a bright and sustainable future for steel in the UK.
UK company William Hare, alongside Chinese company Modern Heavy Industries, was awarded the contract for fabricated steel structures following a competitive procurement process by NZT Power’s Tier 1 contractor.
The procurement is not public procurement. Specific contract information is a commercially sensitive matter for NZT Power and their Tier 1 contractor.
I have met with the project developer to understand more about the use of UK made and non-UK made steel, as well as the wider use of UK local content, in the NZT project. They confirmed their voluntary commitment to achieve more than 50% UK content across the value chain, with around £1billion UK-based sub-contracts already awarded.
My officials and I will continue to actively engage and work collaboratively with the CCUS industry to promote an industry-led voluntary ambition of 50% UK local content. We are also actively looking at ways to drive further investments into UK CCUS supply chains.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to review the sugar content of powdered milk based drinks and include those products within the scope of the soft drinks industry levy.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Autumn Budget 2024, the Chancellor announced her intention to review the Soft Drinks Industry levy (SDIL) to drive further product reformulation, whilst maintaining the fundamental design of the levy as a tax on pre-packaged soft drinks with added sugar.
Following this review, between April and July 2025 the government consulted on proposed reforms to the SDIL. The outcomes of this consultation were confirmed at Budget 2025.
As part of the consultation, the government considered responses on dissolvable powders. It also considered the significant redesign of the levy necessary to include them as beyond the remit of the SDIL review, as set out by the Chancellor at Autumn Budget 2024.
More information on the outcome of the Strengthening the Soft Drinks Industry Levy consultation can be found here:
The government will not make any further changes to the design of the SDIL.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring Disclosure and Barring Service checks for tattoo artists as part of the local authority licensing process.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made by the Department of the potential merits of requiring Disclosure and Barring Service checks for tattoo artists as part of existing local authority registration and licensing processes. On 7 August we announced our plans to introduce a licensing scheme for non-surgical cosmetic procedures in England. There are no current plans to include tattooing as part of this scheme, as registration and licensing schemes already exist for tattooing under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of recognising Deaflympic athletes as elite athletes eligible for (a) UK Sport and (b) National Lottery funding.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone, including deaf people.
Through our arm's length body, Sport England, we have provided £1.2 million to support the work of UK Deaf Sport.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department has issued to (a) schools and (b) local authorities on food (i) procurement and (ii) supply chain transparency.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Schools are responsible for providing meals and meeting the School Food Standards. They may enter individual contracts with suppliers and caterers to meet this duty. Our guidance on the School Food Standards, available on GOV.UK, includes practical advice to support schools in areas such as menu planning and procurement.
The department has published guidance for schools participating in the Early Adopter Breakfast Clubs Programme, which sets out what support is available in relation to food procurement, including the ‘buying for schools service’.
The department’s ‘Get help buying for schools’ has a range of approved frameworks that can help schools to buy food with peace of mind that they are getting good value, in terms of cost, quality and time. These resources are accessible at: https://get-help-buying-for-schools.education.gov.uk/categories/catering.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 73868 on Boilers and Heat Pumps: Sales, whether he has made an assessment of the potential commercial sensitivities associated with the publication of sales figures collected for the purposes of the administration of the Clean Heat Market Mechanism.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department will receive independently verified sales data after the conclusion of the first scheme year, in summer 2026, and data on the full compliance cycle for that scheme year in late 2026.
The government is continuing to assess the options for publishing certain Clean Heat Market Mechanism scheme data, for instance aggregate verified annual data, taking into account the commercial sensitivities of different approaches.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring Disclosure and Barring Service checks for tattoo artists as part of the licensing process.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is not responsible for the licensing of tattoo artists so has not made an assessment of the potential merits of requiring Disclosure and Barring Service checks as part of the licensing process.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to review (a) the age-65 write-off rule and (b) other terms of pre-2006 Plan 1 student loans to create consistency with later cohorts of borrowers whose loans are written off after 25 years.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Where a new plan type is introduced, the terms, including the length of the loan, are considered as a whole. The new terms are not applied retrospectively to borrowers who have signed up to previous plans in existence at the time of their study. They are then set in legislation to apply to that specific loan type.
Although both pre-2006 and post-2006 Plan 1 loans retained the Plan 1 title, these are different plan types.
Plan 1 post-2006 included a shorter loan term of 25 years, however, tuition fee increases resulted in higher loan balances on course completion than for pre-2006 borrowers. Pre-2006 borrowers, whose loan term ends aged 65, benefitted from lower tuition fee loans and a lower loan balance on completion of their course.
There are no plans to review pre-2006 Plan 1 terms and conditions, including the age 65 write-off term.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question
To ask the hon. Member for Battersea, representing the Church Commissioners, what recent steps the Church of England has taken to implement safeguarding policies.
Answered by Marsha De Cordova
Significant progress has been made since I last answered a question on this subject. All major Safeguarding Policies have been completely revised, or are being revised, as Statutory Codes of Practice. These Codes are co-produced with victims, survivor groups and safeguarding professionals. The next step is to create an easily accessible resource for parishes and create guides to support the work of our safeguarding officers and volunteers, who are doing excellent work across the country at parish and diocesan levels.
Asked by: Luke Myer (Labour - Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessments her Department has made of the potential contribution of AI Growth Zones to economic growth in Teesside.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
As my Honourable Friend will know, AI Growth Zones a priority for this government and central to our plan for growth.
The application process for AI Growth Zones opened in February. We received over 200 expressions of interest from across the country. And following the launch of formal applications in April, we have received 56 proposals to date.
I understand the Honourable member is as ambitious and impatient to hear what this means for his constituency as I would be for mine.
We’re going through the bids thoroughly now – and that process is not just locked up in Whitehall; we're talking to local authorities and potential investors, right across the country. So we’ll be able to say more soon.
These zones will be the key to making sure that tech and AI are not just for a few people at the top – but for every person. For people who most need jobs, and most need growth.