Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure schools reach Sustainable Development Goal 4.7.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The work of the department contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 4.
Citizenship education provides a framework to prepare pupils to be active, informed and responsible citizens. The national curriculum for citizenship is mandatory at key stages 3 and 4, where pupils learn about democracy, politics, parliament and voting, as well as human rights, justice, media literacy, the law, and the need for mutual respect. Primary schools can choose to teach citizenship following the non-statutory framework.
Climate change and the environment are included within the current national curriculum in geography and science, with an environmental science A level available. The department is also developing a new GCSE in natural history, which will equip young people to understand the protection and conservation of the environment and respect the natural world.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the potential savings from the introduction of the £25,000 annual cap on grants under the Listed Places of Worship Scheme.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In January this government announced that we would extend the Listed Places of Worship Scheme for one year with an overall budget of £23 million, coming into effect from April 2025. Previous to that the budget for the scheme was up to £42 million, with an average spend of £29 million per year between 2017 and 2024. However, to ensure the £23 million budget remains affordable, claims are now capped at £25,000 per place of worship.
This means there is a saving of approximately £6m per year.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with the Church Commissioners on extending the spending cap on the Listed Places of Worship scheme after 2026.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The future of the grant scheme funding after March 2026 will be considered as we work through the results of the Spending Review and Departmental business planning process.
The Department has had various meetings with representatives of the Church and other stakeholders on the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme. In June 2025, the Heritage Minister met church leaders including Marsha de Cordova MP, who is the Second Church Estates Commissioner.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the introduction of an annual cap on grants to individual places of worship under the Listed Places of Worship Scheme on those places of worship.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
DCMS Ministers received advice on changes to the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme, including consideration of the potential impact on introducing an annual cap of £25,000 per place of worship for the 2025/26 financial year.
The changes to the scheme were necessary given the level of fiscal challenges we inherited and the pressures on other parts of the heritage and cultural sectors. Based on the Department’s analysis of previous data, 94% of applications will be unaffected by the change, as most claims are under £5,000.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to support the increased use of (a) car-pooling and (b) lift sharing.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
I am carefully considering how we can support and promote car club and car-sharing schemes. The Government already supports car clubs with bonus credits in the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate and guidance for local authorities on charging for car clubs. As I set out in response to a topical question from the Member for Brentford and Isleworth on 11 September, I will hold a roundtable with industry stakeholders in the near future to inform these considerations.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure UK companies are not involved in the E1 Settlement Plan for the Occupied West Bank.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the honourable Member to the answer provided on 3 September to Question 71442.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to further restrict the (a) sale or (b) use of (i)perfluorooctanoic acid and (ii) products which contain it.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts, and related compounds are already banned in the UK under the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Regulation 2019/1021, as amended. That legislation prohibits the manufacturing, placing on the market and use of POPs, including PFOA.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children injured in Gaza as a result of the conflict have been brought to the UK for medical treatment; and what steps he is taking to support other Palestinian children who may benefit from receiving treatment in the UK.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Hon. Members to My Rt Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s Written Statement to the House on 1 September 2025, available at the following link:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2025-09-01/hcws899
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport of 3 September 2025, Official Report, column 166WH, what the (a) cost, (b) terms of reference, (c) delivery schedule and (d) contractor was for the research she has commissioned on pavement parking.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
My officials are in discussion with suppliers to determine the terms of reference for the current work in accordance with Government procurement requirements. They expect to issue the formal specification shortly. Given there are no existing measures of pavement parking, I anticipate this will include preparatory work to create the data-collection methods to be used, followed by a second phase which will be the data-collection fieldwork itself. Costs, and timelines will be finalised during the procurement process. Findings will be published as early as possible and no later than 12 weeks after the final outputs from the data collection stage are agreed in accordance with the Government Social Research Publication Protocol.
This research seeks to measure the extent of pavement parking and its impacts and provide a baseline so that whichever policy we implement can be evaluated. It will not delay any policy announcement nor the publication of my Department’s formal response to the previous Government’s 2020 consultation.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to expand the provision of high occupancy vehicle lanes in England.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Decisions on the use of high occupancy vehicle lanes in England are a matter for individual local highway authorities, and the Government currently has no plans to expand or encourage their use.