Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans she has to review NICE guidance on screening women with dense breasts.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided to the Hon Member for Southgate and Wood Green on 17 July 2026 to Question 18677.

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 smart meter rollout on higher usage customers, including retired and elderly consumers; and what steps his Department has taken to help support customers with higher domestic energy costs.

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

Smart meters automatically send accurate readings to energy suppliers, removing the need for consumers, including those with poor mobility or older consumers, to take manual readings and helping ensure bills are based on actual rather than estimated usage.

In-home displays also provide near-real-time information on energy use and costs, helping consumers understand how to use less energy and save on their bills.

As recently announced, VAT will be removed from domestic electricity bills from October 1^st, taking an expected £45 off October’s yearly Ofgem price cap and adding to the £150 removed from bills last Budget, now factored into bills.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an assessment of the extent to which energy providers are requiring smart meter customers to vary their usage patterns as a condition of accessing advertised tariff benefits; and what consumer protections are in place in those circumstances.

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

Smart meters unlock flexible time-of-use tariffs that incentivise consumers to shift consumption to off-peak periods when overall demand is low and can pay them to use energy when there is surplus on the grid, such as on sunny or windy days. Consumers with these tariffs are not required to use energy at set times.

Ofgem’s supply licence conditions require suppliers to make tariff and contract information available to customers before they enter contracts, and more broadly to treat domestic customers fairly, honestly and transparently.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the terms and conditions attached to smart meter tariff benefits, including off-peak and free supply offers, are communicated transparently to consumers at the point of sign-up.

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

Ofgem’s supply licence conditions require energy suppliers to take all reasonable steps to communicate the principal terms of an energy contract in plain and intelligible language.

Licence conditions also require suppliers to treat customers fairly, provide tariff information in a way that is complete, accurate and not misleading, and comply with rules on marketing, sales and contract information. Ofgem is responsible for monitoring and enforcing supplier compliance with these obligations.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with representatives of farming organisations on the potential impact of bringing Section 2 shotgun licensing more closely into line with Section 1 firearms licensing on rural communities.

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

The Government will undertake a consultation in due course on strengthening the controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms.

We will carefully consider the views put forward during the consultation before taking any decision on whether and what changes may be necessary in the interests of public safety. The Government will provide an assessment of the impact of any changes that we intend to bring forward, including on rural communities and businesses, at the relevant time.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the cumulative impact on women and girls in Afghanistan of the Taliban's recent legislative measures, including the January 2026 Criminal Procedure Regulation and Decree No. 18; and what steps the Government is taking to support international efforts to hold the Taliban accountable for what United Nations experts have described as an institutionalised system of gender discrimination amounting to crimes against humanity.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

This Government condemns the continuing restrictions imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan. The Taliban's new criminal procedure code, which legitimises domestic violence and targets women and minorities must be rescinded and the rights of all Afghans must be protected.

The UK continues to work closely with international partners to hold the Taliban to account, including through our chairmanship of the G7+ group of countries, and engagement through the United Nations and the Human Rights Council.

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential risk of the proposed under-16 social media ban increasing children's exposure to misogynist and extremist rhetoric through migration to unregulated online spaces; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the Government's violence against women and girls strategy accounts for the harms arising from those spaces.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

Tackling violence against women and girls remains a top priority for this government.

The banning of social media companies from offering their services to under-16s will help provide additional protections for children. Alongside this, the former Secretary of State wrote to the Ofcom Chair, asking them to make robust enforcement a priority, including working with government to implement all remaining duties from the Online Safety Act and moving to swift and rigorous enforcement where it is appropriate. Under the Act, services are required to prevent children in the UK from encountering harmful content including adjusting algorithms and provide age-appropriate experiences.

National strategy for fertility

National Emergency Briefing

Found: South East) Anna Dixon (Labour; Shipley) Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat; Tiverton and Minehead) Sarah Green

Found: South East) Anna Dixon (Labour; Shipley) Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat; Tiverton and Minehead) Sarah Green

Found: South East) Anna Dixon (Labour; Shipley) Rachel Gilmour (Liberal Democrat; Tiverton and Minehead) Sarah Green