Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will discuss with Ofcom potential steps to reduce the sexualisation of children in television (a) advertisements and (b) programmes.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code includes rules intended to protect the welfare and the dignity of people under eighteen who take part or are otherwise involved in programmes. Revisions to the Code are a matter for Ofcom as the independent regulator.

The Advertising Standards Authority co-regulates broadcast advertising under contract with Ofcom and its sister organisation, the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice, sets the advertising codes. The codes require that advertisements must not portray or represent children in a sexual way and care must be taken when scheduling advertisements in or around children's programmes or programmes likely to be seen by significant numbers of children.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will introduce age-related universal testing for prostate cancer.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended in the United Kingdom, due to the inaccuracy of the current best test, the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test.

A UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) review, looking at whether to offer screening for prostate cancer, is currently underway. This evidence review will cover the modelling of the clinical and cost effectiveness of several approaches to prostate cancer screening. This will include different potential ways of screening the whole population as well as targeted screening aimed at groups of people identified as being at higher-than-average risk, such as black men or men with a family history of cancer.

Once the modelling and evidence review are complete, it will be considered by the UK NSC. Provided that no further revisions are required, the UK NSC plans to look at the findings towards the end of 2025. Further details of the UK NSC’s evidence review process are available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-nsc-evidence-review-process/uk-nsc-evidence-review-process

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support research into (a) the treatment of and (b) a cure for motor neurone disease.

Answered by Andrew Gwynne

The Department delivers research into motor neurone disease (MND) via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR funds a range of research into MND, including investing £8 million into EXPERTS-ALS, which is an early phase clinical research trial for MND, screening for drugs that have the potential to be successful in clinical trials for people with MND.

The NIHR is also funding the Lighthouse II phase three clinical trial, testing the drug Triumeq in patients with MND.

The MND Translational Accelerator, supported by £6 million of Government funding, is connecting the UK Dementia Research Institute, the UK MND Research Institute, and the UK Dementias Platform to speed up the development of treatments for MND and frontotemporal dementia.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will reinstate the four percent funding floor for Core Spending Power growth for Shropshire.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The current fiscal environment means the government cannot continue the poor value for money 4% Funding Guarantee. The government assesses that it does not use every pound of taxpayers' money most efficiently and that is it targeted on a transparent basis.

However, we will guarantee that no local authority sees a reduction in their Core Spending Power in 2025-26, after taking into account the increase in council tax levels, by applying a funding floor.

This will provide the protections required for authorities to sustain their services between years, whilst recognising that we must begin the process of redirecting as much funding as possible towards the services and places that need it most.

The government is making good on the promise to reform the local government funding system, and is committed to introducing an improved and updated approach to funding local authorities from 2026-27. We are inviting views on our principles and objectives for funding reform through a consultation (18 December – 12 February).

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will reinstate the Rural Services Delivery Grant in the next local government financial settlement for Shropshire.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government is absolutely committed to tackling the issues that matter to rural communities. However, the Rural Services Delivery Grant did not properly account for need and a large number of predominantly rural councils receive nothing from it – that’s clearly not right and a sign we need to allocate funding more effectively.

The 25-26 Settlement will deliver on our commitment by ensuring that places with a significant rural population will on average receive around a 5% increase in their Core Spending Power next year, which is a real terms increase.

The government is keen to hear from councils about how best to consider the impact of rurality on the costs of service delivery, and demand, as part of our longer term consultations on local authority funding reform.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will discuss with the British Board of Film Classification the classification of (a) films and (b) video games; and if she will take steps to reduce the sexualisation of children through those media.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The classification system has addressed these issues under successive governments, but decisions regarding the classification of films are made by the BBFC and the Games Rating Authority, not the BBFC, is responsible for the classification of video games. The BBFC’s decisions are made independently of the government, which is important to ensure impartiality. The BBFC’s age ratings serve to protect the public and empower people to make informed viewing choices, whilst also recognising and respecting adult freedom of choice within the law.

The standards underpinning the BBFC’s ratings are set out in their published Classification Guidelines, and are based on consultations every 4-5 years with experts and thousands of members of the public.

If the BBFC finds that a film raises issues or concerns that cannot be addressed through their classification system, they may require compulsory cuts or other changes as a condition of classification.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when he expects the report of the Independent Pornography Review to be published.

Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Independent Pornography Review assesses the effectiveness of current pornography legislation, regulation, and enforcement. It is an important area of interest for this government. The Review has now just concluded. The government is assessing its findings and the final report will be published in due course.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy to ensure Inheritance Tax is not charged on death in service payments paid to relatives of armed forces personnel.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Members of the armed forces deserve our gratitude for their service and a pension that ensures dignity in retirement.

The Government will bring most unused pension funds and death benefits payable from a pension into a person’s estate for inheritance tax purposes from 6 April 2027. Inheritance tax is already applied to death in service benefits for some pension schemes.

Estates of service personnel will benefit from the normal nil-rate bands, reliefs, and exemptions available. For example, the nil-rate bands mean an estate can pass on up to £1 million with no inheritance tax liability and the general rules mean any transfers, including the payment of death benefits, to a spouse or civil partner are exempt fully from inheritance tax. There is also a full exemption from inheritance tax when a member of the armed forces dies from a wound inflicted, accident occurring, or disease contracted on active service.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will meet with the US Energy Secretary to discuss (a) importing US-produced (i) Liquefied Natural Gas and (ii) oil and (b) imports from volatile regions.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero looks forward to meeting the new US Energy Secretary to discuss our shared values and interests across a full range of energy issues.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will have discussions with his European Union counterpart on the potential merits of establishing a six months visa waiver scheme for citizens visiting EU Member States in the Schengen area to replace the 90 day rule.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds - Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office

Both the UK and the EU allow for visa-free short-term travel in line with their respective arrangements for third country nationals. The UK allows EU citizens short-term visa-free travel for up to six months. Meanwhile, the Schengen Borders Code allows for certain third country nationals to travel within the Schengen Area for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; this is standard for third countries travelling to the EU. The UK Government will continue to listen to and advocate for UK nationals.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with the (a) Home Office and (b) Football Association on the potential merits of introducing lifetime club bans for people convicted of threats of violence against (i) referees, (ii) players and (iii) family members of referees and players.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

Violence has no place in football. As private businesses, football clubs have a right to ban individual supporters from attending matches or accessing club facilities; a power rooted in their responsibility to ensure a safe and enjoyable environment for all fans. These bans are a decision to be taken at club-level.

Convictions may also result in football banning orders (FBOs) which are a court decision to prevent violence or disorder at, or in connection with, regulated football matches. An individual with a banning order is prevented from attending all regulated matches in the UK and can be required to surrender their passport to police before overseas matches and tournaments.

FBOs can be imposed following a conviction for a football-related offence as set out in Schedule 1 of the Football Spectators Act 1989 (which includes offences involving the use or threat of violence), or on application from the police or CPS.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with the Games Rating Authority on the classification of video games; and if she will take steps to reduce the sexualisation of children in video games.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The GRA’s decisions are made independently of the government, which is important to ensure impartiality. The GRA’s age ratings serve to protect the public and empower people to make informed gaming choices, whilst also recognising and respecting adult freedom of choice within the law. The GRA regularly conducts UK research on aspects of the international PEGI classification criteria for video games.

In most cases, the GRA is able to address issues of potential harm by awarding an appropriate age rating or suggesting changes to a developer’s content to make the game acceptable. However, where this is not possible, a classification may be refused.

Even if material is not in breach of a specific UK law, the GRA may also refuse to classify content,
on harm grounds, when content contains:
● Material that promotes criminal activity, including drugs;
● Material that is illegal or has been created by the commission of a criminal offence;
● Portrayals of children in a sexualised or abusive context;
● Material which makes rape, or other non-consensual sexually violent behaviour, or
sadistic violence look appealing.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to support (a) peace and (b) stability in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Answered by Anneliese Dodds - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK is committed to supporting peace and stability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The UK condemns M23 and Rwandan Defence Forces (RDF) advances in Eastern DRC as an unacceptable breach of DRC's sovereignty and calls for the immediate withdrawal of all RDF from Congolese territory.

The UK has provided £62 million in humanitarian assistance this financial year, delivering vital services such as clean water, malnutrition treatment, and support for survivors of sexual violence. We will continue to engage with regional leaders to support African-led peace efforts by urging all sides to engage in good faith in finding a political solution.

The Foreign Secretary has spoken to Rwandan President Kagame, South African Foreign Minister Lamola and DRC President Tshisekedi. Lord Collins has spoken to the Rwandan, DRC and Angolan Foreign Ministers.

The UK calls on all parties to immediately cease hostilities, facilitate humanitarian access, and return to inclusive diplomatic talks, particularly through the Luanda process. Engagement in good faith in African-led processes will be key. There can be no military solution. We are actively considering next steps, alongside international partners, including the possibility of a review of all UK support to Rwanda.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will increase the funding available to local authorities to provide living services for people with learning disabilities.

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

High quality, safe, and suitable homes can help people stay independent and healthy for longer and reduce the need to draw on health and social care provision.

We are giving disabled people, including those with learning disabilities, more independence in their own homes through an immediate in-year uplift to the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) of £86 million in 2024/25. This increase will provide approximately 7,800 additional home adaptations. This is on top of the £625 million paid to local authorities in May 2024. The Government also announced an £86 million additional investment in the DFG for the 2025/26 financial year at the Budget, bringing total funding for 2025/26 to £711 million.

We also incentivise the supply of supported housing for older people and adults with a physical or learning disability, autistic people, or adults with mental ill-health.

Found: My MP Mark Pritchard was approached to press for legislation to mandate all UK registered businesses

Found: schedule (Standing Order No. 68) Chairs: Sir Roger Gale Peter Dowd Sir Mark Hendrick Mark Pritchard

Found: of Didcot (CON) • Rt Hon the Baroness Neville-Jones (CON) • Chi Onwurah MP (LAB) • Rt Hon Mark Pritchard

Found: of Didcot (CON) • Rt Hon the Baroness Neville-Jones (CON) • Chi Onwurah MP (LAB) • Rt Hon Mark Pritchard