Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) legislation and (b) policy relating to technology is informed by experts with technical knowledge.

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

The internal policies associated with technology (such as the AI Playbook) used within government, are directly informed by industry leading technical experts, which include digital and data civil servants, specialist third parties and expert non-exec board level advisors with extensive experience.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his (a) Pakistani and (b) Bangladeshi counterpart on (i) the provision of support following recent floods and (ii) strengthening resilience to future climate-related flooding.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK was among the first to respond to the floods in Pakistan, approving £2.13 million in emergency funding across seven most affected districts reaching nearly 223,000 people with search and rescue, emergency medical care, food, water, hygiene, and household items. His Majesty the King, the Prime Minister, the former Foreign Secretary and I have shared messages of condolence and support with the Pakistani government.

In Bangladesh, we have supported over 150,000 climate-vulnerable people since 2023. We provided £1.6 million for cyclone and flood response and recovery between May 2024 and March 2025. We are working with the Government of Bangladesh to strengthen flood forecasting and early warning systems in partnership with the UK Met Office. In March 2025, the Bangladesh Adviser for Environment, Forests and Climate Change discussed disaster preparedness with the UK Special Representative for Climate.

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 fragmented care pathways on (a) patient outcomes and (b) NHS resource use; and what steps he is taking to improve care coordination for patients with long-term conditions.

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

The Neighbourhood Health Service will embody our new preventative principle that care should happen as locally as it can: digitally by default, in a patient’s home, if possible, in a neighbourhood health centre when needed, and only in a hospital if necessary. Through this model, we will rebalance our health and care system so that it fits around people’s lives, not the other way round. This approach will mean patients are not sent from pillar to post, improving outcomes and making better use of resources.

In the meantime, we have launched the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme (NNHIP) to support systems across the country by driving innovation and integration at a local level, to accelerate improvements in patient outcomes and patient satisfaction and ensure that care is more joined-up, accessible, and responsive to community needs. The initial focus for all the first places in the NNHIP will be adults with multiple long-term conditions and rising risk, before progressing to other places and populations. There will be a rigorous monitoring of outcomes and metrics for the NNHIP.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she will undertake a review of the timeline to bring the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 into force to allow an earlier rollout of proven supervised systems (a) to support older drivers seeking safe mobility and (b) in general.

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

The Automated Vehicles (AV) Act 2024 implementation timeline is designed to prioritise the development and implementation of a regulatory framework that maximises innovation, public safety, and public confidence by the second half of 2027. By incorporating opportunity for extensive consultation, the timeline will help facilitate the realisation of AV benefits to specific demographics and more broadly.

In June 2025, the Government announced an acceleration of the Automated Passenger Services (APS) permitting scheme to spring 2026, subject to consultation. In deciding whether to grant a permit, the Secretary of State must have regard to whether, and to what extent, the granting of the permit is likely to lead to an improvement in the understanding of how automated passenger services should best be designed for, and provided to, older or disabled passengers. A consultation on the scheme is open until 28th September.

Alongside developing our domestic regulations, we are playing a leading role in work to harmonise international rules on self-driving; this work is anticipated to complete in early 2027.

Sanctions on Israel and International Court of Justice findings