Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if she will consider allowing Palestinian students starting studies at UK universities in 2025 to apply to bring dependent children to the UK.

Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

On 27 October, the Government updated our guidance on scholarships for students from Gaza to confirm that it was now also seeking to support the departure of the dependents of those students who are eligible under immigration rules. Full details can be found here (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/support-for-students-travelling-to-the-uk-from-gaza/scholarships-for-students-from-gaza).

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that companies implementing (a) age-verification and (b) safety requirements use (i) secure and (ii) adequately regulated third-party vendors for data processing.

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

The Online Safety Act requires providers to give particular regard to the protection of users’ privacy rights when complying with their new safety duties, including when using age assurance measures. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has a range of criminal and civil enforcement tools at its disposal, including prosecution and substantial monetary penalties for serious breaches of data protection legislation.

Third party vendors must have appropriate technical and security measures in place to protect personal data. Where Ofcom has concerns that providers have not complied with their obligations under data protection law, it may refer the matter to the ICO.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the policy paper entitled Licensing taskforce report and government response, published on 31 July 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the licensing taskforce recommendations on public health.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government is inviting views and evidence to inform the development of a modern, proportionate and enabling licensing system.

A Call for Evidence is currently open until 6 November in order to gather views and evidence to inform proposals for reforms to licensing. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/reforming-the-licensing-system.

No assessment has yet been made of the impact of any reforms on public health. Any legislative changes will be subject to an impact assessment, consultation and parliamentary scrutiny.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much funding his Department plans to provide to (a) transport and (b) storage companies to help support their carbon capture, usage and storage business models in the next 12 months.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

In the 2025 spending review, the Government allocated £9.4 billion over the Spending Review period.

The bulk of public funding for Track 1 is only provided once projects are operational. Transport & Storage Companies (T&SCos) operate a Regulated Asset Base model regulated by Ofgem. This allows them to recover costs during operation by charging connected capture projects - expected from 2028 onwards.

The government has announced its support for the Acorn and Viking clusters and is providing development funding to advance their delivery, including approximately £200m for Acorn. The exact amounts for each cluster and funding schedule will be subject to negotiations, value for money and deliverability assessments.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the policy paper entitled Licensing taskforce report and government response, published on 31 July 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the licensing taskforce recommendations on violence against women and girls.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government is inviting views and evidence to inform the development of a modern, proportionate and enabling licensing system.

A Call for Evidence is currently open until 6 November in order to gather views and evidence to inform proposals for reforms to licensing. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/reforming-the-licensing-system.

No assessment has yet been made of the impact of any reforms on violence against women and girls. Any legislative changes will be subject to an impact assessment, consultation and parliamentary scrutiny.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the policy paper entitled Licensing taskforce report and government response, published on 31 July 2025, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the licensing taskforce recommendations on anti-social behaviour.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government is inviting views and evidence to inform the development of a modern, proportionate and enabling licensing system.

A Call for Evidence is currently open until 6 November in order to gather views and evidence to inform proposals for reforms to licensing. This is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/reforming-the-licensing-system.

No assessment has yet been made of the impact of any reforms on anti-social behaviour. Any legislative changes will be subject to an impact assessment, consultation and parliamentary scrutiny.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on the establishment of Commercial Research Delivery Centres.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Significant progress has been made in establishing the United Kingdom-wide network of Commercial Research Delivery Centres (CRDCs). Since 1 April 2025, 21 CRDCs have been operating across all four nations of the UK, 15 in England, four in Scotland, and a one-nation approach in both Wales and Northern Ireland. These have been funded through the Voluntary Scheme for Branded Medicines Pricing, Access and Growth Clinical Trials Investment Programme, alongside National Institute for Health and Care Research funding in England.

A UK-wide CRDC Network was launched on 1 September 2025 to coordinate activity, provide strategic leadership, and support consistency across the centres. To expand commercial research into out-of-hospital settings, 14 Primary Care CRDCs will begin on 1 November 2025 in England. These will be hosted by general practice-led NHS primary care organisations and fully integrated into the CRDC Network. Together, these initiatives will enhance the speed, consistency, and inclusivity of commercial clinical research delivery, strengthening the UK’s position as a global life sciences leader.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support small and medium-sized (a) biotechnology and (b) pharmaceutical companies to conduct clinical trials in the UK.

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

The Department for Business and Trade is committed to making the UK an outstanding place for life sciences companies to start and scale. The Office for Life Sciences has a target to see more scale-up finance raised by life sciences businesses in the UK than anywhere else in Europe. A dedicated stream of work is being delivered to support small and medium-sized biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

The Department of Health and Social Care and Department of Science, Innovation and Technology are developing tailored approaches for SMEs in parallel, to ensure that they can access the UK’s research infrastructure effectively.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to encourage smaller snack sizes.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

There is no one specific government policy to encourage the availability of smaller snack sizes, but through the 10-Year Health Plan the government is taking a whole diet approach and focussing on the key drivers that encourage overconsumption of less healthy food and drink, as part of its mission to tackle obesity.

The Department is taking several actions to improve diets and reduce the consumption of calories and other ingredients of concern, such as saturated fat, salt and sugar. This includes the introduction of mandatory healthy sales reporting for large food businesses by the end of this Parliament; and the setting of new targets to increase the healthiness of sales for the largest food businesses. This will set full transparency and accountability around the food and drink that businesses are selling and should encourage an increase in sales of healthier products. Businesses will have the freedom to decide how they achieve the target, with reformulation of existing products and the introduction of new healthy products forming options for businesses to make healthier options accessible for all.

In addition, the Volume Price Promotions regulations came into force on 1 October 2025, restricting volume promotions such as “buy one get one free” and “3 for £10” on less healthy food and drink. Mandatory restrictions on the advertising of less healthy food and drink on TV and online are due to come into force on 5 January 2026. However, since 1 October 2025, advertisers and broadcasters have been voluntarily complying with the restrictions ahead of them taking legal effect next year. We are already seeing a change in the type of adverts shown on TV and online. These policies are in addition to the locations promotions legislation which came into effect in 2022 and prevent less healthy products being placed in certain locations in supermarkets that lead to uplifts in purchasing.

All these policies are designed to encourage the food industry to make the products they sell healthier. Information is also available to help people make better choices. Better Health Families uses personalised email programmes, digital and social media to help families with primary school aged children to eat healthier snacks including suggestions on fruit, vegetable and homemade snacks and choosing healthier snacks while shopping.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September to Question 75570 on Alcoholic Drinks: Labelling, when he plans to consult with stakeholders on the best ways to communicate the necessary information on the health risks to consumers through alcohol labels.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In the 10-Year Health Plan, the Government committed to strengthen and expand on existing voluntary guidelines for alcohol labelling by introducing a mandatory requirement for alcoholic drinks to display consistent nutritional information and health warning messages. The Plan is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/10-year-health-plan-for-england-fit-for-the-future

Departmental officials are currently formulating plans for stakeholder engagement and a formal consultation. The timeline will be confirmed in due course. Stakeholder insights will help shape the policy to ensure the labelling requirements are most effective.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has considered introducing national guidance on the potential physical health risks of excessive screen time for children and young people.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In 2019, the UK Chief Medical Officers published a commentary on the findings of a systematic review on screen-based activities and children’s mental health. This commentary included advice for parents and carers on agreeing boundaries with children and young people on time spent using screens outside of school and educational use. The commentary is available at the following link:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5c5b1510e5274a316cee5be8/UK_CMO_commentary_on_screentime_and_social_media_map_of_reviews.pdf

Further research examining the causal relationship between screentime and children’s physical and mental health and how it might be mediated is welcomed. The Department has no plans to publish additional guidance on screentime and children’s health at this time, but departmental policies will remain agile to emerging and future research.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that neighbourhood cancer care models in the National Cancer Plan contribute to reducing health inequalities.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, is for our health system to fit around people’s lives. The Neighbourhood Health Service will mean that millions of patients are treated and cared for closer to their home by new teams of professionals, and neighbourhood health centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of healthcare services on people’s doorsteps.

It will involve care closer to the community, including a focus on prevention, as well as the redesign of outpatient and diagnostic services, and the re-design of urgent and emergency care.

In the forthcoming National Cancer Plan, we will look at how to incorporate this neighbourhood approach into cancer care. The National Cancer Plan will also set out how we will work with organisations representing communities that experience health inequalities, to help us meet the needs of all cancer patients across England.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to publish a framework for neighbourhood cancer care as part of the National Cancer Plan.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Our vision for a Neighbourhood Health Service, as set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, is for our health system to fit around people’s lives. The Neighbourhood Health Service will mean that millions of patients are treated and cared for closer to their home by new teams of professionals, and neighbourhood health centres will provide easier, more convenient access to a full range of healthcare services on people’s doorsteps.

It will involve care closer to the community, including a focus on prevention, as well as the redesign of outpatient and diagnostic services, and the re-design of urgent and emergency care.

In the forthcoming National Cancer Plan, we will look at how to incorporate this neighbourhood approach into cancer care. The National Cancer Plan will also set out how we will work with organisations representing communities that experience health inequalities, to help us meet the needs of all cancer patients across England.

Legacy of Professor Roland Paxton MBE, FICE, FRSE

Finlay Menzies award of a bronze medal at the 2025 World Para Athletics Championships

60th anniversary of Glasgow Council on Alcohol

RAF Photographic Reconnaissance Units

Future of the BBC

Found: (Labour; Brentford and Isleworth) (Chair) Steff Aquarone (Liberal Democrat; North Norfolk) Dr Scott Arthur

Submit Evidence (by 26 Nov 2025)

The Government has introduced the Railways Bill to Parliament to legislate for its commitment to unify network operations with infrastructure management under a single organisation – Great British Railways.

Found: This position has already been explained in our letter to Councillor Scott Arthur dated 13 May 2024.

Found: This position has already been explained in our letter to Councillor Scott Arthur dated 13 May 2024.