Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when will the Copthorne Hotel Gatwick Airport cease to provide asylum accommodation.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government inherited a broken asylum system, with tens of thousands stuck in a backlog and claims not being processed, wasting millions in taxpayer money. We will empty asylum hotels as soon as possible, and by the end of this Parliament. That is a complex process that must be delivered through a controlled, managed and orderly plan of work.

For the safety, security, and wellbeing of those we accommodate, we do not publicly comment on individual hotels which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office, nor do we provide details of those we accommodate at any site.

The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area. These statistics can be found at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers at the Copthorne Hotel London Gatwick are (a) single males and (b) family groups for which the latest data is available.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government inherited a broken asylum system, with tens of thousands stuck in a backlog and claims not being processed, wasting millions in taxpayer money. We will empty asylum hotels as soon as possible, and by the end of this Parliament. That is a complex process that must be delivered through a controlled, managed and orderly plan of work.

For the safety, security, and wellbeing of those we accommodate, we do not publicly comment on individual hotels which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office, nor do we provide details of those we accommodate at any site.

The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area. These statistics can be found at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have been (a) moved from the Copthorne Hotel since 22 January and (b) are still located at the site.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government inherited a broken asylum system, with tens of thousands stuck in a backlog and claims not being processed, wasting millions in taxpayer money. We will empty asylum hotels as soon as possible, and by the end of this Parliament. That is a complex process that must be delivered through a controlled, managed and orderly plan of work.

For the safety, security, and wellbeing of those we accommodate, we do not publicly comment on individual hotels which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office, nor do we provide details of those we accommodate at any site.

The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area. These statistics can be found at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers have absconded from the Copthorne Hotel Gatwick Airport to date.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government inherited a broken asylum system, with tens of thousands stuck in a backlog and claims not being processed, wasting millions in taxpayer money. We will empty asylum hotels as soon as possible, and by the end of this Parliament. That is a complex process that must be delivered through a controlled, managed and orderly plan of work.

For the safety, security, and wellbeing of those we accommodate, we do not publicly comment on individual hotels which may or may not be utilised by the Home Office, nor do we provide details of those we accommodate at any site.

The latest published Immigration Statistics detail the number of supported asylum seekers accommodated in each local authority area. These statistics can be found at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure businesses affected by the water outage receive suitable compensation in Sussex.

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

The Government recognises the disruption that consumers have suffered and takes the need for appropriate compensation to customers seriously. The Government is clear that it is the responsibility of the water company to provide compensation that is commensurate with the scale of the disruption.

The Guaranteed Standards Scheme (GSS) sets the minimum standards of service for all customers of water companies. Where a company fails to meet any of the standards, it is required to make a specified payment to the affected household or business customer. The Government announced a major update to the GSS as part of its initial package of water sector reforms in July 2025. The updates reformed the GSS, improving consumer protections by further protections for customers – increasing the payment values, to double or more, and by expanding the scope to include additional standards. South East Water must make mandatory payments to affected customers in line with the GSS following the water outages in East Grinstead and Uckfield.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that businesses affected by the water outage receive suitable compensation in East Grinstead and Uckfield constituency.

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

The Government recognises the disruption that consumers have suffered and takes the need for appropriate compensation to customers seriously. The Government is clear that it is the responsibility of the water company to provide compensation that is commensurate with the scale of the disruption.

The Guaranteed Standards Scheme (GSS) sets the minimum standards of service for all customers of water companies. Where a company fails to meet any of the standards, it is required to make a specified payment to the affected household or business customer. The Government announced a major update to the GSS as part of its initial package of water sector reforms in July 2025. The updates reformed the GSS, improving consumer protections by further protections for customers – increasing the payment values, to double or more, and by expanding the scope to include additional standards. South East Water must make mandatory payments to affected customers in line with the GSS following the water outages in East Grinstead and Uckfield.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in the Welsh Government on how much of the £445 million funding for Welsh railways will be spent on (a) electrification, (b) railway station development, (c) railway station development and track upgrade and (d) any other category of expenditure.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

I have regular discussions with Welsh Government Ministers on a range of issues, including this Government’s historic investment in Welsh rail.

The UK Government has announced at least £445 million for rail enhancements in Wales, to right years of underfunding by previous Conservative Governments and unleash Wales’ economic potential.

This will mean new stations, more and faster trains on the key lines across North and South Wales, connecting people with the new, well-paid jobs we are creating across Wales.

The UK Government will set out more detail on the pipeline of projects that we will deliver very shortly.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions she has had with her counterpart in the Welsh Government on how much and what proportion of the £450 million investment in Welsh railways will be spent in the current spending review period; and whether her Department has issued guidance to Network Rail on the expected delivery schedule for that funding.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

The UK Government has announced at least £445 million for rail enhancements in Wales, to right years of underfunding by previous Conservative Governments and unleash Wales’ economic potential.

The vast majority of this investment will be spent in this Spending Review period, with a small amount profiled beyond this Spending Review period to help the development of the next set of projects.

This will mean new stations, more and faster trains on the key lines across North and South Wales, connecting people with the new, well-paid jobs we are creating across Wales.

The UK Government will set out more detail on the pipeline of projects that we will deliver very shortly.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if she will provide a breakdown by operations, maintenance, renewals and enhancement of funding committed by the UK Government to Welsh railways between 2025–26 and 2028–29.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

Estimated Operations, Maintenance and Renewals (OMR) expenditure for Wales during Control Period (CP) 7 is broken down as follows:

2024-25 - £502 million

2025-26 - £447 million

2026-27 - £503 million

2027-28 - £499 million

2028-29 - £487 million

In addition to this, the UK Government has announced at least £445 million for rail enhancements in Wales, to right years of underfunding by previous Conservative Governments and unleash Wales’ economic potential.

This will mean new stations, more and faster trains on the key lines across North and South Wales, connecting people with the new, well-paid jobs we are creating across Wales.

The UK Government will set out more detail on the pipeline of projects that we will deliver very shortly.

Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether the investment announced for Welsh railways forms part of a multi-year funding settlement; and how much of the investment is guaranteed beyond 2025–26, including planned spend in 2026–27 and 2027–28.

Answered by Jo Stevens - Secretary of State for Wales

The UK Government has announced at least £445 million for rail enhancements in Wales, to right years of underfunding by previous Conservative Governments and unleash Wales’ economic potential. The vast majority of this investment will be spent in this Spending Review period.

This investment will mean new stations, more and faster trains on the key lines across North and South Wales, connecting people with the new, well-paid jobs we are creating across Wales.

The UK Government will set out more detail on the pipeline of projects that we will deliver very shortly.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of (a) onshore oil developments in the UK on areas of significant housing growth such as the Ardingly Reservoir catchment and (b) those developments on drinking water.

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

Local planning authorities and the Environment Agency are responsible for assessing the impact of onshore oil and gas developments on housing and drinking water respectively.

The North Sea Transition Authority regulates exploration and development licensing for England’s onshore oil and gas resources on behalf of the Secretary of State. Licence holders require further consents and permits before any operations take place.

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