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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he has considered the potential merits of ensuring that Sport England maintains its role in the statutory planning consultee framework.

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

On 17 November 2025, my Department published a consultation on reforms to the statutory consultee system. That consultation closes on 13 January 2026 and can be found on gov.uk here.

No decision will be made on Sport England’s role until views on impacts of these consultation proposals are fully reviewed.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has considered the potential merits of providing free bus travel to over 60s across the whole of the UK.

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

The English National Concessionary Travel Scheme (ENCTS) provides free off-peak bus travel to those with eligible disabilities and those of state pension age. The ENCTS costs around £795 million annually in reimbursement costs to bus operators, and any changes to the statutory obligations would need to be carefully considered for its impact on the scheme’s financial sustainability.  The potential merits of extending free bus travel to over 60s across England were debated in parliament on Monday 5 January, following an e-petition on this topic.

Local authorities in England have the power to offer concessions in addition to their statutory obligations, including lowering the age of eligibility. These are additional local concessions provided and funded by local authorities from local resources.

The Government is investing in bus services long-term and has confirmed over £3 billion from 2026/27 to support local leaders and bus operators across the country to improve bus services over the remainder of the spending review period. This includes multi-year allocations for local authorities under the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) totalling nearly £700 million per year.

South Yorkshire Combined Authority has been allocated £52.4 million under the LABG from 2026/27 to 2028/29, in addition to the £17.8 million they are already receiving in 2025/26. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services can be used in whichever way they wish to deliver better services for passengers, including funding discretionary concessions.

Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she has considered the potential merits amending the Equality Act 2010 to explicitly forbid perceptive and motivated discrimination.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

Provisions under the Equality Act 2010 already account that discrimination may be perceptive and apply regardless of the motivation of the person who is discriminating.

The 2010 Act provides protection against discrimination, harassment, victimisation and unfair treatment because of any of the protected characteristics covered by the Act. It protects people from discrimination in the workplace, access to services and in wider society.

Direct discrimination is when a person is treated less favourably because of a protected characteristic. This includes treating a person less favourably because of a perceived protected characteristic, or because they are associated with someone who has a protected characteristic.

Indirect discrimination is where rules, policies or practices apply in the same way for everyone but put people who share a protected characteristic at a particular disadvantage, unless the person applying the rule, policy or practice can objectively justify it.

Harassment involves unwanted conduct that is related to a relevant characteristic and has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment for the complainant or of violating the complainant’s dignity.

Victimisation is where a person is treated unfairly, punished, threatened with punishment or subjected to a detriment because they make a complaint about discrimination, or give evidence when someone else makes a complaint (irrespective of whether the complaint is upheld).

These protections apply regardless of the motivation of the person discriminating.

With this in mind, the Government has no current plans to amend the 2010 Act.

Report on conditions and treatment at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre

US military attack on Venezuela

Buying community energy locally

Parliamentary screening of The Removed and historic forced adoptions

Cumulative disruption proposals and the right to protest

Right to trial by jury

Hunger strike by pro-Palestinian activists

Found: Current membership Mr Toby Perkins (Labour; Chesterfield) (Chair) Olivia Blake (Labour; Sheffield Hallam

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Mr Toby Perkins; Olivia Blake; Julia Buckley; Jonathan Davies; Carla

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Mr Toby Perkins; Olivia Blake; Julia Buckley; Jonathan Davies; Carla

Air pollution is a serious threat to both public health and the natural environment. It has been linked to heart disease, strokes, cancer, asthma and impacts on lung development in children. Tens of thousands of lives are being shortened in the UK by air pollution, according to the Chair of the Environment Agency.