Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the government will set out a timeline for the introduction of the Clean Water Bill.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Clean Water Bill was announced as part of the second Parliamentary session in the King’s Speech on 13 May. The Bill will implement many of the reforms outlined in the Government’s ‘New Vision for Water’ White Paper, published on 20 January. The Bill will be introduced when parliamentary time allows.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the public expenditure required for supporting rail, road and other surface-access improvements connected with Heathrow expansion.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Any expansion at Heathrow Airport, would be privately financed, including any required surface access improvements. The draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement 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 required mode share targets, will be funded.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the cost of relocating or rebuilding the M25 and other affected roads as part of any Heathrow expansion project.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government has been clear that if Heathrow expansion proceeds it will be privately financed. Any works required to the strategic or local road networks, including the M25, would form part of the promoter’s cost estimates for its scheme. The costs of such works will depend on the final scheme design brought forward by the promoter and would be subject to scrutiny through the development consent process.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of Heathrow expansion on passenger charges, airline ticket prices and the competitiveness of regional airports.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government recognises the importance of keeping air travel affordable for passengers and airlines. Heathrow's airport charges are regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which has a statutory duty to further the interests of users of air transport services. In setting Heathrow's regulatory framework, the CAA considers the impact of airport charges on consumers and seeks to ensure that such charges are justified.

The Government also supports competition across the UK aviation sector, including at regional airports, and supports regional air connectivity through a range of measures, such as Public Service Obligations. The potential impacts of Heathrow expansion on passengers, airlines and connectivity are considered through the relevant regulatory and planning processes. Relevant analysis was published alongside the consultation on the draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement, including forecasts of passenger numbers and aircraft movements.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has independently verified Heathrow Airport Limited’s projected cost of expansion.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement (HENPS) makes clear that potential promoters should seek to minimise costs where possible. Given the long-term nature of the expansion programme and significant costs that will likely be involved, the Government will consider the affordability of any proposed expansion scheme as part of the Development Consent Order planning process.

Responsibility for scrutinising the efficiency of expansion costs, including those proposed by Heathrow Airport Limited, sits with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as the independent economic regulator. The Department continues to work closely with the CAA as it develops the regulatory framework for expansion and considers the appropriate arrangements for cost scrutiny and oversight.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer provided on 14th July 2026, to Question 16496, on Water Abstraction: (a) what determination she made of the flow rate, measured at the Kingston gauge, that would trigger operation of the Teddington Direct River Abstraction Scheme, and (b) given that trigger event and based on historical river flow data, what assessment has she made of the average incremental cost per megalitre over the lifetime of the scheme.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The proposed Teddington Direct River Abstraction is an intermittent drought resilience scheme triggered by river flow and reservoir storage conditions through the Lower Thames Control Diagram and does not have a single flow-rate trigger at the Kingston gauge.

Thames Water's Gate 3 submission indicates operation may be triggered when naturalised flow over Teddington Weir falls to around 3,000 Ml/d on average for 10 days during a qualifying drought event, alongside relevant reservoir storage thresholds.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to address the temporary accommodation subsidy gap.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)

This Government is focused on delivering long-term solutions to reduce homelessness and reliance on temporary accommodation, including increasing the supply of affordable and social housing. We are also working to ensure that temporary accommodation represents good value for money and is sustainable for local authorities as demand continues to rise. The Department is working closely with other Government departments, including MHCLG and HM Treasury, as part of wider cross-government work on homelessness, including considering how the system can sustainably fund good-quality temporary accommodation. The Department continues to keep Housing Benefit subsidy arrangements for temporary accommodation under review as part of this work.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment was made of the relative requirements of the Lee Valley reservoirs compared with the Northern Lower Thames reservoirs in times of drought in 2022.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

In 2022 the Environment Agency declared a drought in south east England. This resulted in lower than average flows in the River Thames, reducing the volumes that could be abstracted and stored in reservoirs in London, including the Queen Mary, Queen Mother and Wraysbury reservoirs.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of (a) the daily quantity of raw water that the Teddington Direct River Abstraction Scheme would supply to reservoirs for onward transport to water treatment works, and (b) what the percentage of the total daily raw water demand required by London’s water treatment plants would be supplied by the Teddington Direct River Abstraction Scheme.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The proposed Teddington Direct River Abstraction (TDRA) supplies 67Ml/d during droughts. London’s water use is just under 2000Ml/d. Therefore, TDRA contributes just over 3% of Thames Water’s total demand in London and is needed to provide drought resilience to supply.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what level of public subsidy she is willing to provide to support expansion at Heathrow.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Government has been clear that Heathrow expansion should be privately financed. It is for promoters of expansion to bring forward detailed proposals, including the costs and financing arrangements for their schemes. We will continue to assess issues of affordability and financeability as part of our wider consideration of any future proposals, while ensuring that taxpayers' interests are protected.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what are the average wait times for processing probates at the Probate Office each year since 2015.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on probate timeliness and open caseload in the quarterly Family Court Statistics bulletin, available at: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.

Published data on probate timeliness by application type are available from Q3 2019 to Q1 2026. HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold equivalent data for the period from Q1 2015 to Q1 2019. While an overall timeliness figure is available for Q2 2019, data disaggregated by application type is not available. Consequently, a complete annual figure for 2019 cannot be provided.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what is the current average wait time for processing probates at the Probate Office.

Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Ministry of Justice publishes regular data on probate timeliness and open caseload in the quarterly Family Court Statistics bulletin, available at: Family Court Statistics Quarterly - GOV.UK.

Published data on probate timeliness by application type are available from Q3 2019 to Q1 2026. HM Courts & Tribunals Service does not hold equivalent data for the period from Q1 2015 to Q1 2019. While an overall timeliness figure is available for Q2 2019, data disaggregated by application type is not available. Consequently, a complete annual figure for 2019 cannot be provided.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the impact of the 2022 drought on the Queen Mary, Queen Mother and Wraysbury reservoirs.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

In 2022 the Environment Agency declared a drought in south east England. This resulted in lower than average flows in the River Thames, reducing the volumes that could be abstracted and stored in reservoirs in London, including the Queen Mary, Queen Mother and Wraysbury reservoirs.

Thames Water has said London’s total reservoir storage fell to around 58%, compared to a normal seasonal average of 75%, as a result of this reduced abstraction and higher than normal demand associated with the prolonged dry weather. The reservoirs were subsequently filled when the drought ended, recovering to normal levels over the autumn and winter period.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what are the average waiting time for processing public requests at the Valuation Office Agency each year since 2015.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

The current average wait time for the resolution of a Council Tax Formal band challenge is 2.7 months.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the current average wait time for processing public requests at the Valuation Office Agency.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

The current average wait time for the resolution of a Council Tax Formal band challenge is 2.7 months.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the overnight visitor levy be applied to homeless people living in hotels provided for temporary accommodation.

Answered by Jim McMahon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The visitor levy will apply to short-term, commercially let overnight accommodation. National exemptions will apply to non-commercial accommodation or land uses. This includes Gypsy, Roma and Traveller sites, temporary accommodation, and charitable accommodation for shelter or refuge.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the Government's policy is on expansion of a third runway at Heathrow Airport.

Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The consultation on the draft Heathrow Expansion National Policy Statement (HENPS) closed on 1 September 2026, and Parliamentary scrutiny by the Transport Select Committee is ongoing. The Government will carefully consider the views received through the consultation, alongside the Committee’s recommendations, before setting out its response and any next steps in relation to the HENPS.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department's policy is on the level of growth major infrastructure projects should deliver.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The government is committed to increasing the UK's long-term growth potential.

The 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy set out the government's long-term plan for economic, housing and social infrastructure to drive growth and boost living standards in every part of the UK. Backed by at least £725bn in public investment, the Strategy aims to restore confidence and drive economic growth by providing stability on funding, creating the right conditions for private sector investment and improving how infrastructure projects are planned and delivered.

The National Infrastructure & Service Transformation Authority (NISTA’s Infrastructure Pipeline (currently covering 700+ projects and around £718bn of public and private investment) provides a 10-year view of UK infrastructure investment, translating commitments into deliverable programmes and supporting planning for skills, capacity and private investment across the infrastructure system. planning for skills, capacity and private investment across the infrastructure system.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department's policy is on providing support for infrastructure projects that have a negative net present value in their appraisals.

Answered by Emma Reynolds - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

The Government published a new version of the Green Book in February. This ensures that government decisions are no longer based solely on single metrics, such as benefit-cost ratios or net present social values. They must instead take into account the full range of economic and social impacts that arise from the project.

The new Green Book makes clear that a proposal with a benefit-cost ratio of less than one (i.e. a negative net present social value) may still represent value for money. This may be the case, for instance, if the project has significant benefits that cannot be expressed in monetary terms and which therefore cannot be included in a benefit-cost ratio.

Salt of the Earth receives King's Award for Enterprise

Political donations and campaign finance regulation

Second Reading of the Mental Capacity (Duty to Assess) Bill

Royal National Lifeboat Institution (No. 2)

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