Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of autonomous robots on pavements on a) disabled people b) blind people c) those with a mobility aid d) those with a guide dog and e) wheelchair users.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Advances in technology have the potential to boost our economy and undertake dangerous jobs such as highways maintenance, but it is important the safety of pedestrians and vulnerable road users is put first.

We have announced that we intend to trial pavement robots using powers the Government is seeking through the Regulating for Growth Bill, but no permanent regulations will come into force without detailed public consultation.

A key part of the trial will be understanding the impact on pedestrians, particularly the most vulnerable groups.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will introduce regulations on autonomous robots on pavements.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government has announced that it will facilitate new trials of pavement delivery robots through powers in the Regulating for Growth Bill.

This will be done with a view to creating a clear, lawful route to market for pavement delivery robots that protects the safety of pedestrians and vulnerable road users.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans his Department has to support the expansion of cadet forces through (a) funding of infrastructure, (b) adult volunteer recruitment and retention, and (c) new cadet activities and qualifications.

Answered by Calvin Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans and People)

The Government fully recognises the significant benefits that participation in the Cadet Forces brings to young people, communities and wider society. The Strategic Defence Review recommended a 30% increase in cadet numbers and, following the publication of Defence Investment Plan, we are now working to deliver this growth by 2035.

Detailed work is underway to determine how this expansion will be delivered and to identify the key enablers required to support sustainable growth across the Cadet Forces. While it is currently too early to confirm future funding allocations, we remain committed to investing in the Cadet Forces and improving opportunities for young people throughout the UK.

As part of planning for expansion, we are assessing the suitability, capacity and resilience of the existing cadet estate and infrastructure. This work will inform future decisions on how best to ensure cadet units have access to safe, modern and appropriate facilities capable of supporting increased cadet numbers and programme delivery.

Adult Volunteers are fundamental to the success of the Cadet Forces. We are reviewing and refining the offer available to our volunteers to ensure it remains attractive and sustainable. This includes analysis of volunteer feedback gathered through a recent extensive survey, which will help shape measures to improve recruitment and retention, and the overall volunteer experience as future growth is delivered.

The Cadet experience continues to evolve to help young people develop key skills and attributes for the future. Cadets already participate in a broad range of activities, including leadership, adventurous training, community engagement and STEM-related opportunities. Further work is planned to define skills baselines and improve the consistency of accreditation, qualifications and recognition across the cadet community.

Further detail on the long-term vision for the Cadet Forces will be set out in a new Cadets Action Plan, due to be launched during the first National Cadets Week in October. The Action Plan will focus on modernising the cadet experience, supporting adult volunteers and ensuring cadets and volunteers have the resources required to support future expansion.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to increase grid capacity to enable a reduction in wind curtailment.

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

The current extent of grid constraints reflects years of underinvestment, with new network infrastructure development having lagged the expansion of new generation. That is why we are delivering the biggest upgrade to Great Britain’s electricity network in decades, helping bring forward capacity needed to reduce constraint costs. NESO analysis suggests that bringing forward three major transmission reinforcement projects by one year could reduce network constraint costs by around £4 billion in 2030.

Measures set out in the Reformed National Pricing Delivery Plan will further reduce constraint costs by up to £1 billion in 2030, helping lower household energy bills.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to written question 11338 on Folic Acid, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the policy on prostate cancer rates and fetal death rates.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson

Folic acid fortification was recommended by the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy (COMA) in 2000 and by its successor the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) in 2006, after an extensive review of the evidence on folate and health. The SACN has further considered the evidence in its 2009 report to the Chief Medical Officer on folic acid and colorectal cancer risk and its 2017 update on folic acid.

In SACN’s 2017 update on folic acid, the evidence on high folic acid intakes on cancer risk specifically in relation to prostate, breast, colorectal, and overall cancer risk was reviewed. The report concluded that the findings from the different types of studies were inconsistent but overall, the evidence was inconclusive in relation to prostate and colorectal cancer risk and did not suggest an adverse association with breast cancer or overall cancer risk.

The SACN’s risk assessments concluded that ‘conclusive evidence from randomised controlled trials (RCTs) has shown that folic acid supplementation during the early stages of pregnancy can reduce the risk of the fetus developing neural tube defects (NTDs)’.

Foetal death rates was not a health outcome specifically considered by the SACN.

The level of folic acid chosen for fortification was 250 micrograms per 100 grams flour, with a view to minimising the risk of the population exceeding the tolerable upper intake level, which was considered in the Governments impact assessment.

The Government is planning an evaluation on the impact of the policy.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the impact assessment for the statutory Private Parking Code of Practice will be completed; and what the maximum parking cap and debt recovery fee for motorists will be.

Answered by Nesil Caliskan

In accordance with the Better Regulation Framework the private parking Impact Assessment will undergo independent scrutiny by the Regulatory Policy Committee before the government takes its final decisions on the Code.

The maximum parking cap and debt recovery fee were subject to consultation in 2025 and the government response will be published in parallel to the new Code being laid in Parliament in autumn 2026.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment they have made of the potential impact of Natural England's proposals to include Dartmoor ponies in livestock counts on the future population and conservation of Dartmoor Ponies in the Newton Abbot constituency.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Government recognises the important role that Dartmoor ponies play in the landscape, biodiversity and cultural heritage of Dartmoor. There are no plans under this Government to reduce the number of Dartmoor ponies, and we are working closely with Natural England and other stakeholders to support a thriving pony population alongside the recovery of Dartmoor's protected habitats.

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 impact of time taken to publish a renewed Hydrogen Strategy on levels of investment in hydrogen.

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

We understand the importance of providing clarity to businesses across the hydrogen sector, including investors.

We plan to publish the Hydrogen Strategy, alongside a package of other policy documents, as soon as possible. This will set out Government’s vision and objectives for hydrogen, and how we intend to work with industry to continue to transform ambition into action.

In the meantime, we remain focused on delivery and are supporting projects currently in the pipeline. Successful HAR1 projects are moving to final investment decision, construction and operation phases, and a proposed funding package of £86.5m has been agreed to support ITM’s electrolyser manufacturing expansion in Sheffield.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral evidence to the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee on 3 June 2025, HC 523, whether the Department plans to publish a written update on progress with actions relating to a) Police Forces, b) mobile network operators and c) device manufacturers.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Government remains committed to tackling mobile phone theft and is working closely with police forces, mobile network operators and device manufacturers to reduce the value of stolen devices and prevent criminals from profiting from this crime.

We welcome the recent progress made through collaborative working, including improvements to theft protections and closer cooperation between law enforcement and industry partners. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology provided an update on this work during its appearance before the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee on 8 July 2026.

The Home Office will continue to work closely with relevant partners to drive further progress and keep the effectiveness of existing measures under review. There are currently no plans to publish a separate written update.

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 support businesses reliant on gas that are unable to transition to electric, to support them moving to hydrogen.

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

We recognise that hydrogen will play an important but focused role in decarbonising hard‑to‑electrify industrial sectors, particularly within industrial clusters where shared transport and storage infrastructure can be developed efficiently.

The Hydrogen Production Business Model incentivises investment in new low carbon hydrogen production and encourages users to switch to low carbon hydrogen by making it a price competitive decarbonisation option.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment has he made of the potential impact of the delay in publishing the UK hydrogen strategy on a) investment into the UK Hydrogen market and b) companies transitioning from gas to hydrogen.

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

We understand the importance of providing clarity to businesses across the hydrogen sector, including investors and companies that may transition to hydrogen.

We plan to publish the Hydrogen Strategy, alongside a package of other policy documents, as soon as possible. This will set out Government’s vision and objectives for hydrogen, and how we intend to work with industry to continue to transform ambition into action.

In the meantime, we remain focused on delivery and are supporting projects currently in the pipeline. Successful HAR1 projects are moving to final investment decision, construction and operation phases, and a proposed funding package of £86.5m has been agreed to support ITM’s electrolyser manufacturing expansion in Sheffield.

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 support the development of Hydrogen Storage.

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

Hydrogen has the potential to support decarbonisation and economic growth across the UK, including through low carbon dispatchable power and inter-seasonal energy storage, to help balance a renewables-based power system.

We are progressing the design of the hydrogen transport and storage business models and the first allocation round. Over the past few months, my department has held workshops for industry to present proposals for the business model design, and draft eligibility and assessment criteria for the competition.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to question 5167 on Patents: Disclosure of Information, what recent discussions the minister has had with major companies on the effectiveness of the IPO online search tool.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) regularly engages with key stakeholders and users to inform the development and improvement of its intellectual property search services. Feedback gathered through this engagement is considered and, where appropriate, incorporated into the ongoing development of the tools.

The IPO provides a range of online search services to help businesses and members of the public access information relating to UK intellectual property rights, including patents, trade marks and registered designs. The IPO is committed to ensuring these services remain accessible, effective and responsive to user needs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether additional recurrent funding will be provided alongside implementation of the proposed NHS dental contract reforms.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

We are committed to reforming the dental contract by the end of this Parliament, with a focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention, and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability.

The financial pressures and the cost of new commitments for the National Health Service are analysed as part of the Spending Review process. The 2025 Spending Review sets departmental budgets for day-to-day spending up to 2028/29 and for capital for five years to 2029/30. This level of funding growth is intended to support the NHS in delivering the Government’s priorities, including commitments set out in the Government’s Plan for Change. Further detail is provided at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-2025-document/spending-review-2025-html

The Government has committed to hold a Spending Review every two years. The process for the next Spending Review, due to be held in 2027, will be set in due course.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to FOI2025/18430 and Internal Review IR2026/03033, concerning background papers relating to the meeting on 28 August 2019 attended by Boris Johnson, Peter Thiel and Dominic Cummings, what specific prejudice to the effective conduct of public affairs was identified as arising from disclosure of those papers.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds

As set out in its response of 4 February 2026, the Cabinet Office recognises that there is a public interest in the transparency in how it makes decisions on responses to written parliamentary questions.

However, effective responses to written parliamentary questions rely on a safe space within which issues can be discussed openly and frankly.

The disclosure of the requested information would have a prejudicial effect on these relationships, which would not be in the public interest.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of NHS dental funding levels on the recruitment and retention of dentists providing NHS care.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

Since July 2024, the Government has been rebuilding a broken National Health Service dentistry system. We have delivered 1.8 million more dental treatments and reduced the underspend from £392 million in 2023/24 to just £36 million in 2024/25, maximising the treatments provided for taxpayers’ money.

We have brought into force a package of reforms this year to address some of the most pressing issues that dentists and dental teams have been experiencing, including rewarding them more fairly for treating patients with urgent and complex needs.

Strengthening the workforce is key to our ambitions to rebuild NHS dentistry. We are increasing the supply of dentists through a sustained expansion of 50 new dental school places and an increase in exams to allow 2,000 more internationally qualified dentists to practise in the United Kingdom.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who has custody over the encryption keys used to protect data held within the NHS Federated Data Platform and the Privacy Enhancing Technologies.

Answered by Preet Kaur Gill

NHS England owns the keys. The Privacy Enhancing Technology (PET) software generates, controls, and stores the key values securely, so they are not accessible to human users.

The use of encryption keys is strictly controlled by NHS England for the NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP) tenant and by the data owners of local tenants.

Both the NHS FDP and PET contracts are based on Government Legal Department terms and conditions, aligning to best practice in respect of cyber security and security management, which is reflected in the redacted versions of the agreements available on Contracts Finder.

The contract terms reflect and support the management of encryption keys as set out above, where specific requirements relate to encryption keys this would be included in the specifications of the contracts. Both agreements have terms which ensure enforcement of United Kingdom legislation and regulatory requirements in relation to data processing. For reference, the NHS FDP contract can be found at the following link:

https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0f8a65b5-23a2-4294-abb1-a7fd8efb3ad0

In addition, the NHS England PET contract can be found at the following:

https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/2fa49293-bc01-4e0f-a017-f01cb0195212

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2026 to Question 117973, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the (a) scale, (b) scope and (c) criticality of the services provided by Palantir with the services provided by companies classified as cross‑Government Strategic Suppliers; and what his Department's process is for classifying a supplier as a cross‑Government Strategic Supplier.

Answered by Chris Ward

Suppliers are chosen as cross Government Strategic Suppliers following a supplier segmentation exercise based on the scale, scope and criticality of the services they provide. Those that are viewed as having the highest levels against these three criteria are chosen.

Palantir has not been designated as a cross-government Strategic Supplier.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will consider the implementation of enabling powers within the European Partnership Bill to support a future UK-EU youth mobility scheme for young professionals.

Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds

The European Partnership Bill will provide a framework of powers to ensure agreements with the European Union can be implemented now and in the future.

Any youth experience scheme with the EU would provide a dedicated immigration pathway for young people from the EU, and young British citizens, to study, work, travel, and switch between these activities. We anticipate that such a scheme would be implemented through changes to the Immigration Rules, rather than via enabling powers within the European Partnership Bill.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have a) contracted and b) died as a result of sepsis caused by dental issues in each of the last 10 years in England.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales

Data on sepsis contracted as a result of dental issues is not held centrally, as data on sepsis is not broken down by underlying cause.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the response to proposed planning reforms relating to permitted development rights and the National Planning Policy Framework for telecommunications infrastructure.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Questions UIN 124803 on 20 April 2026.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to accelerate proposed planning reforms relating to permitted development rights and the National Planning Policy Framework for telecommunications infrastructure.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Questions UIN 124803 on 20 April 2026.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many meetings he has had with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology to discuss planning reforms relating to permitted development rights and the National Planning Policy Framework for telecommunications infrastructure.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government has not had any meetings with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology to discuss planning reforms relating to permitted development rights and the National Planning Policy Framework for telecommunications infrastructure.

Local Housing Allowance rates

Merchant Navy Day

Royal Mail delivery standards

Walford Mill Crafts’ 40th anniversary

Russian sanctions

International Court of Justice's July 2024 Advisory Opinion on the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Richard Pengelly

Found: Gardner Tom Gordon Kit Malthouse Steve Race Josh Simons Dr Lauren Sullivan Adam Thompson Martin Wrigley

Found: Onwurah (Chair); Tom Collins; Emily Darlington; George Freeman; Dr Allison Gardner; Kit Malthouse; Martin Wrigley

Found: Onwurah (Chair); Tom Collins; Emily Darlington; George Freeman; Dr Allison Gardner; Kit Malthouse; Martin Wrigley