Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what artificial intelligence services and tools are used by her Department; and whether her Department has a contract with providers for those services.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is committed to adopting artificial intelligence in a way that is transparent, responsible and accountable to the public.
Information about algorithmic and AI tools used by government departments to support decisions that affect members of the public, or that have a significant influence on a decision-making process with public effect, is published through the Algorithmic Transparency Recording Standard (ATRS). The ATRS has been mandatory for central government departments since 2024, and records are published on GOV.UK.
The Department for Transport uses a range of artificial intelligence tools and services to support its work. This includes Microsoft Copilot, which is made available to the wider workforce to support tasks such as drafting, summarisation and information retrieval.
The Department also undertakes more specialised use of artificial intelligence technologies through Google Cloud platforms using Google Gemini models and associated AI services. These capabilities may be used to support the development and testing of departmental tools and services for specific business purposes. Access to these capabilities is limited to trained individuals and specific projects, in line with departmental governance arrangements.
AI services and tools are accessed across government through a range of commercial routes. Departments may contract directly with AI providers, access AI products via intermediated routes such as reseller arrangements where the contractual relationship sits with a partner rather than the underlying provider or use AI capabilities delivered as features within existing enterprise software and platform contracts (for example productivity, HR or service management tools).
The Department is committed to ensuring that AI is used responsibly and proportionately, with appropriate governance, training and oversight in place to support efficiency, productivity and value for money.
In line with public procurement transparency requirements, contractual information for AI services and tools is published on Contracts Finder and, where above the relevant threshold, on https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will list all organisations that were consulted on the Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has engaged with a range of stakeholders in line with its published Statement of Approach throughout the Airports National Policy Statement review process. The draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement was published on 18 June for public consultation, providing an opportunity for organisations, communities and individuals to comment on the proposals. Responses to the consultation will be considered before any final designation decision is taken, alongside scrutiny by the nominated Parliamentary Select Committee.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the level of public funding needed to improve surface access to Heathrow Airport in the context of the proposed expansion.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has been clear that any expansion at Heathrow must be affordable, delivered in the best interests of passengers and privately financed, including the surface access improvements required.
The draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement, published last week, requires any promoter of expansion to meet the full cost of associated works to the strategic and local road network, and to develop a surface access strategy setting out how transport improvements, including any rail schemes needed to support the proposed mode share targets, will be funded.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of potential impact for his Department's policies of Kinship's policy paper entitled Designing a new right to paid leave for kinship carers.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
For both UIN 10721 and UIN 10720, I refer the Member to the answer I gave to UIN 9441 on 16 June 2026.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential economic impact of introducing paid leave for kinship carers.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
For both UIN 10721 and UIN 10720, I refer the Member to the answer I gave to UIN 9441 on 16 June 2026.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to correspondence from the Honourable Member for Twickenham referenced MW65580, sent on the 18th March 2026.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I can confirm that a response to the letter of 18 March 2026 from the hon. Member for Twickenham was sent on 18 June 2026.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will have discussions with NICE on developing a fast track approval process for covid-19 treatments for the immuno-compromised.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to ask the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to establish a fast-track approval process for COVID-19 treatments. NICE evaluates all new licensed medicines, including COVID-19 treatments, and aims wherever possible to issue guidance close to the time of licensing to ensure that National Health Service patients can benefit from rapid access to safe and effective medicines. The aligned pathway between NICE and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency launched on 1 April 2026 and allows decisions on licensing and value to be published in parallel, with the aim of bringing clinically and cost-effective new medicines to patients three to six months sooner.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has received formal advice from the Climate Change Committee relating to her letter sent on 25 November 2025.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is expecting to receive formal advice from the Climate Change Committee as part of the public consultation on a draft revised Airports National Policy Statement (ANPS), due to take place over the summer. This will ensure that the Committee’s views can be considered prior to a final revised ANPS being published later this year.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the Notice 'General Trade Licence for sanctioned processed oil products', published on 19 May 2026, whether his Department produced an impact assessment, volume estimate, and Russian tax-revenue estimate before the licence was signed.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK Government published an Impact Assessment alongside the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) Regulations 2026. This Impact Assessment is publicly available on legislation.gov.uk.
The General Licence for sanctioned processed oil products was published alongside the legislation. This licence is designed as a temporary measure to support flexibility in UK supply as the measure is phased in. The Government does not publish impact assessments specifically for General Licences.
Asked by: Munira Wilson (Liberal Democrat - Twickenham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many meetings (a) she and (b) the Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Decarbonisation held with representatives from (i) Heathrow Airport, (ii) the Arora group and (iii) Heathrow Reimagined in the period from February 18 2026 to end of May 2026.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department engages regularly with a broad range of stakeholders across the aviation sector, including Heathrow Airport Limited, the Arora Group and Heathrow Reimagined.
Details of ministerial meetings are published in accordance with the Government's transparency requirements. Transparency returns are published periodically, and the published record will be updated in line with the Department's normal publication timetable.