Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the levels of funding and resources to ensure that complaints and compensation payments for people affected by Civil Service Pension Scheme processing delays are handled promptly.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Cabinet Office awarded Capita the contract to administer the Civil Service Pension Scheme in November 2023 under the previous government. The current delays facing scheme members are entirely unacceptable, and this Government has taken firm action to resolve them through a clear recovery plan with strict delivery milestones. We have deployed additional resources to expedite priority cases, ensuring that serving and former staff receive the high standard of service they deserve. Regular progress updates remain available to members via the pension portal and Gov.uk.
Capita is under a firm mandate to restore full service delivery to standard contractual levels by the end of June 2026. We are actively exploring the use of all available commercial and contractual levers and continue to withhold milestone payments for missed transition deliverables. All options remain on the table if they fail to meet the June deadline.
The Cabinet Office keeps the adequacy of funding and resourcing for the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme under continuous review, including the resources specific to handling complaints and compensation payments.
In respect of complaints and compensation payments, Capita has increased its workforce circa 140 staff and is now operating with 50% more resources than the previous administrator. Alongside this Capita has brought in additional support from third parties to assist in automation of calculations and additional functionality that is anticipated to increase the overall processing that will increase the output and clear any historical cases. Capita continues to deliver the monthly pension payments to over 730,000 members who have retired.
Senior leaders across Capita and the Cabinet Office are working closely to resolve current issues through provision of additional support from the Civil Service. The focus is on identifying the main causes of delays and moving pension administration to a stable position, which includes having adequate resources to effectively and promptly handle complaints and any compensation due.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department intends to put forward the draft new Surrogacy Bill as prepared by the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission when legislative time allows, and whether he has considered the potential risk of delaying discussions on the Law Commissions’ recommendations will have on encouraging more people to travel overseas for surrogacy.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government supports surrogacy as a part of assisted conception options and recognises the important part it can play in supporting people seeking to start a family.
We will respond to the Law Commission’s legislative proposals on surrogacy as time allows. At this time, there is currently no plan to introduce a new Surrogacy Bill.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office have published advice for those considering surrogacy overseas, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/surrogacy-overseas/surrogacy-overseas
This clearly sets out the possible risks and the processes for returning to the United Kingdom with a child born through an international surrogacy arrangement.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will confirm that his Department recognises surrogacy as a legitimate form of family creation; and whether his Department is committed to considering the recommendations of the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission in their March 2023 joint report, Building families through surrogacy: a new law.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government supports surrogacy as a part of assisted conception options and recognises the important part it can play in supporting people seeking to start a family.
We will respond to the Law Commission’s legislative proposals on surrogacy as time allows. At this time, there is currently no plan to introduce a new Surrogacy Bill.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office have published advice for those considering surrogacy overseas, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/surrogacy-overseas/surrogacy-overseas
This clearly sets out the possible risks and the processes for returning to the United Kingdom with a child born through an international surrogacy arrangement.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the December 2025 report on surrogacy from the SurrogacyUK Working Group on Legal Reform, whether his Department will confirm that surrogacy remains a supported form of family building.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government supports surrogacy as a part of assisted conception options and recognises the important part it can play in supporting people seeking to start a family.
We will respond to the Law Commission’s legislative proposals on surrogacy as time allows. At this time, there is currently no plan to introduce a new Surrogacy Bill.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office have published advice for those considering surrogacy overseas, which is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/surrogacy-overseas/surrogacy-overseas
This clearly sets out the possible risks and the processes for returning to the United Kingdom with a child born through an international surrogacy arrangement.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the The third cycling and walking investment strategy, published on 15 June 2026, if she will publish details of her discussions with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care prior to the publication of that strategy on the potential effectiveness of that funding.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Health outcomes are central to the third Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy (CWIS3), and the Department of Health and Social Care was fully engaged in the development of proposals.
As is standard for announcements of this type, CWIS3 was also agreed by relevant Secretaries of State via the write round process convened by the Cabinet Office.
The then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care approved the write round without amendment or conditions.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will publish the findings of the Aviation Noise Attitudes Survey attitudes to aircraft noise study by the Civil Aviation Authority, and the related study on aircraft noise at night, before the publication of the draft Airports National Policy Statement.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government published the Aviation Night Noise Effects (ANNE) report on 10th June 2026 on gov.uk. On the same day, the Civil Aviation Authority published the Aviation Noise Attitudes Study (ANAS) on its website. The report number is CAP3131.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure high professional standards in social work in the period in which Social Work England has paused its external sampling audit of continuing professional development records.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The independent regulator for the social work profession, Social Work England, sets the professional standards which all social workers must meet and includes requirements on maintaining continuing professional development (CPD).
As part of the registration and renewal process, social workers are required to record a minimum of two different pieces of CPD, of which one must include a peer reflection.
Social Work England has confirmed it will review up to 3% of CPD records for the 2025–26 registration year, after the renewal period ends on 30 November 2026. Social Work England will continue to consider its longer-term approach to reviewing CPD which will take into account the outcome of the Independent Review of Social Work Regulation which will be published in due course.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, to confirm whether any of his Department’s 14,000 planned new prison places aiming to be built by 2031 are due to hold women.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
The 14,000 additional prison places this Government aims to deliver by 2031 are being delivered across the Adult Male estate.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to question UIN 2525, answered in May 2026, on Active Travel: Local Government (a) when she plans for expanded National Travel Survey data, and any alternative active travel data sources under development, to become available, (b) what metrics those data sources will include, and (c) whether they will be used to inform future indicators of regular walking, wheeling and cycling in the Local Government Outcomes Framework.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The National Travel Survey produces a wide range of metrics relating to all methods of travel including active travel. The next release, provisionally scheduled for August 2026, will include data collected from more than 20,000 individuals in 2025, providing expanded statistics on the proportion of short stages that are walked or cycled in towns and cities in England in support of the vision outlined in the third cycling and walking strategy, and key statistics on travel by mode and purpose for Combined Authorities. The Department for Transport will continue to explore expanding active travel indicators within the Local Outcomes Framework in line with the availability of data and MHCLG’s timings for updates.
Asked by: Siân Berry (Green Party - Brighton Pavilion)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to question UIN 111080, answered in February 2026, if he will set out the issues identified by his Department’s continuous review of the Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
Most recently in relation to the administration of reciprocal enforcement of maintenance in England and Wales, the Ministry of Justice is considering improvements to both the general and the case-specific information available to applicants for reciprocal enforcement of maintenance orders and ways to facilitate the making of applications. Opportunities continue to be taken to raise bilateral issues with the authorities in other countries.