Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what plans he has to support households in off‑gas‑grid homes where heat pumps are not a viable option; and whether he plans to introduce grant funding for alternative low‑carbon heating technologies, including electric boiler systems, to assist households seeking to transition away from oil heating.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

To provide additional support for off-gas-grid households the Boiler Upgrade Scheme will begin to provide grants of £9,000 for hydronic heat pumps replacing oil or LPG boilers in off-grid homes from 21 July, in addition to the £7,500 grants that are available for most homeowners.

The Government believes most off-grid homes are suitable to install hydronic heat pumps. To provide additional consumer choice the scheme also offers grants of £5,000 for biomass boilers in rural homes, and will begin to provide grants of £2,500 for air-to-air heat pumps and heat batteries once appropriate product and installation standards are in place.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate her Department has made of the total revenue raised through VAT on electricity used to charge electric vehicles, including (a) domestic charging at the reduced 5% VAT rate and (b) public charging at the standard 20% rate.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HM Revenue and Customs does not hold information on VAT revenue on electricity used to charge electric vehicles. This is because businesses are not required to provide figures at a product level within their VAT returns, as this would impose an excessive administrative burden.

Estimates of the Exchequer cost of the Reduced Rate of VAT for domestic fuel and power, which includes home charging of electric vehicles, can be found in the following publication:

Tax reliefs - GOV.UK, see item VAT – NS4 on Table 2.

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 adequacy of ICB-level oversight of neurology services.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their local population, including for patients with neurological conditions. NHS England continues to set national standards, service specifications, and clinical access policies, which ICBs are expected to apply. Additionally, ICBs are expected to take National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance into account when considering appropriate care, including for patients with neurological conditions.

NHS England’s Neurology Transformation Programme, which concluded in March 2026, was a multi-year, clinically led programme, which developed a new model of integrated care to support ICBs to deliver the right service, at the right time for all neurology patients. A toolkit was developed to support ICBs to understand and implement this new model, which includes components on delivering acute neurology services, improving health equity in neurology, and improving community neurology services.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to update the Crossbows Act 198, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislation; and what plans she has to regulate the sale of crossbows and related equipment, including broadhead bolts.

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

Measures being brought in through the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which amend the Crossbows Act 1987, introduce stricter age verification procedures around the online sale, delivery and hire of crossbows. These measures will ensure that a crossbow, or part of a crossbow, can only be purchased by someone who is aged 18 or over and will also prevent a crossbow, or part of a crossbow, from being delivered to a locker, left on a doorstep or delivered to a neighbour or another person in the household.

The Government response to the call for evidence on crossbow controls, conducted by the Home Office from 14 February to 9 April 2024, was published on 19 March this year. This set out the Government’s intention to introduce a new licensing scheme for existing crossbow owners and also a prohibition on sales of crossbows and broadhead arrows. We will be consulting in due course on the details of the licensing scheme and prohibition on sales.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to address gaps in broadband connectivity in rural areas where properties are beyond effective range of fibre-to-the-cabinet infrastructure and have no confirmed timeline for full fibre rollout.

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

As of the end of December 2025, over 1.3 million premises in hard-to-reach communities across the UK had been upgraded to gigabit-capable broadband through government-funded programmes.

A further 580,000 premises are currently included in Project Gigabit contracts for gigabit coverage in areas not covered by commercially funded plans.

Building Digital UK (BDUK) is currently refreshing its delivery plans for the remaining premises not included in Project Gigabit in support of the government’s objective of reaching at least 99% of UK premises by 2032.

Our expectation is that some remote premises will remain too expensive to build a gigabit fibre connection to. We are monitoring and supporting market development for alternative solutions, for example through fixed wireless access or satellite broadband connections, including by encouraging spectrum releases and ground station deployments. Many premises in rural areas are already adopting these services.

Minehead RNLI's 125th anniversary

A new growth and defence partnership with Europe

Armed Forces Week

Enhertu for metastatic breast cancer patients

Draft Code of Practice on Services, public functions and associations

Government response to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report on communication of changes to women’s state pension age

Devon Day 2026

Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Support for the Red Arrows

Found: Cotswolds) (Chair) Mr Clive Betts (Labour; Sheffield South East) Anna Dixon (Labour; Shipley) Rachel Gilmour

Found: Cotswolds) (Chair) Mr Clive Betts (Labour; Sheffield South East) Anna Dixon (Labour; Shipley) Rachel Gilmour

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Chair); Mr Clive Betts; Rachel Gilmour

Found: Cotswolds) (Chair) Mr Clive Betts (Labour; Sheffield South East) Anna Dixon (Labour; Shipley) Rachel Gilmour

Found: Cotswolds) (Chair) Mr Clive Betts (Labour; Sheffield South East) Anna Dixon (Labour; Shipley) Rachel Gilmour

Found: the meeting Members present: Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Chair); Mr Clive Betts; Anna Dixon; Rachel Gilmour

Found: Cotswolds) (Chair) Mr Clive Betts (Labour; Sheffield South East) Anna Dixon (Labour; Shipley) Rachel Gilmour