Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Plan 2 student loan borrowers there are resident in Stroud.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

As of 30 April 2025, there were approximately 19,000 (to the nearest 1000) Plan 2 student loan borrowers with a positive loan balance registered with the Student Loans Company (SLC) to postcodes which fall wholly or partly within the local authority area of Stroud District Local Authority.

This will include borrowers who were resident in Stroud, including at parental addresses, when they applied for the loan and have not informed the SLC of a subsequent change of address.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he plans to extend the Brownfield Land Release Fund.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The third round of the Brownfield Land Release Fund will launch this year. Design options are currently being explored by officials.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the potential impact of the December 2025 medicines agreement with the US on costs to the NHS in England.

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

Tens of thousands of National Health Service patients will benefit from this deal, which will secure and expand access to vital drugs, and safeguard our medicines supply chain.

Costs will start smaller but will increase over time as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) approves more life improving and lifesaving medicines. Total costs over the Spending Review period are expected to be approximately £1 billion. The final costs will depend on which medicines NICE recommends and the actual uptake of these.

This deal is a vital investment that builds on the strength of our NHS and world leading life sciences without taking essential funding from our frontline NHS services.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps she is taking to support young people with the cost of living.

Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

At the Autumn Budget in 2025, the government took action to bear down on prices and target everyday expenses, including taking an average of £150 off household energy bills from this April.

The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 will strengthen protections for private renters and help tenants challenge unreasonable rent increases.

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 improve Endometriosis care.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to improving the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing care for gynaecological conditions including endometriosis, and we are taking action to address this, including delivering 5.2 million extra appointments between July 2024 and June 2025 across all specialities including gynaecology.

In September 2025, we announced an “online hospital”, via NHS Online, which will give people the choice of getting the specialist care they need from their home. NHS Online will help to reduce patient waiting times, delivering the equivalent of up to 8.5 million appointments and assessments in its first three years, four times more than an average trust, while enhancing patient choice and control over their care. Menstrual problems which may be a sign of endometriosis will be among the first conditions available for referral to NHS Online from 2027.

In November 2024, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) updated its guideline on endometriosis. This makes firmer recommendations for healthcare professionals on referral and investigations for women with suspected diagnosis and will help the estimated one in 10 women with endometriosis receive a diagnosis faster.

Additionally, research has led to new treatments being made available, including the NICE approval of two pills to treat endometriosis this year, Relugolix and Linzagolix. Both are estimated to help approximately 1,000 women with severe endometriosis for whom other treatment options haven’t been effective. NICE is working with National Health Service systems to ensure adoption of this best practice of endometriosis care, including access to approved medicines.

NHS England is updating the service specification for severe endometriosis which will be published in due course. This will improve the standards of care for women with severe endometriosis by ensuring specialist services have access to the most up-to-date evidence and advice.

The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), has commissioned a number of studies focused on endometriosis diagnosis, treatment and patient experience. At present, the NIHR is funding seven active research awards totalling an investment of approximately £7.8 million. This includes a new £2.3 million award on the effectiveness of pain management for endometriosis starting in March 2026.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how he plans to (a) embed climate adaptation and (b) integrate steps to mitigate and adapt within the seventh carbon budget.

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

The Climate Change Act (2008) sets out how government must consider both adaptation and mitigation when designing the pathway to net zero by 2050, through Climate Change Risk Assessments, National Adaptation Programmes and when setting Carbon Budgets.

As set out in the Government's response to the CCC's 2025 adaptation response, where relevant the Government is ensuring climate adaptation and net zero are integrated into research and policy, ensuring we are cutting emissions while building climate resilience. This will include during the process of driving policy action to meet the seventh carbon budget.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help support climate adaptation by Government.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra is the lead department for domestic climate adaptation and works across Government, including with the Cabinet Office, in delivering this function. Defra is responsible for coordinating requirements set out in the UK Climate Change Act 2008. This includes preparing a UK Climate Change Risk Assessment every five years, followed by a National Adaptation Programme. While Defra coordinates this work, Government departments have responsibility for managing climate impacts to their policy areas.

Defra is also working with Government departments to develop stronger adaptation objectives and delivery plans for those ahead of the fourth National Adaptation Programme (NAP4) in 2028.

Future of Hamworthy Fire Station

Rare Disease Day and Achalasia

New US sanctions on Cuba

Rosebank oil field

British couple detained in Iran

Civil service pension scheme

Dolphin hunting in the Faroe Islands

Essentials Guarantee

Government response to Israel’s West Bank annexation plan