Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help ensure that veterans have access to childcare options.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

It is the department’s ambition that all families, including those from Armed Forces and Veteran communities, have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and care, giving every child the best start in life and delivering on our Plan for Change.

In April 2026, over 200 new Best Start Family Hubs in areas not previously funded are now open to families, backed by over £900 million of investment. These hubs act as welcoming, one-stop shops rooted in local communities, supporting families from pregnancy through to early childhood with everything from infant feeding support and parenting advice to help with the cost of living and early identification of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Support will also extend beyond dedicated hubs into up to 2,000 community venues, known as Best Start Network Sites, by 2028, ensuring families can access help.

The department's guidance for Best Start Family Hubs sets out minimum expectations for supporting Armed Forces and Veteran families. Hub staff are expected to be aware of the unique challenges these families can face, including the cumulative impact of mobility, separation, deployment, life after service and bereavement, and to signpost families to relevant support services including the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) Education Advisory Team and the dedicated Armed Forces Families Federations.

Best Start Family Hub staff are also expected to be familiar with the joint non-statutory guidance 'Service Pupils in Schools' (April 2025) and the MOD Local Authority Partnership (MODLAP) principles for supporting Service children with SEND through school transitions. The guidance also encourages the establishment of a dedicated military champion in every hub, linked to existing Armed Forces Covenant commitments.

Veteran families who are based in England can apply for government funded childcare through the Childcare Service or through their local authorities. Families may also be eligible for support if they receive Universal Credit.

Current service families may be eligible for 30 hours (over 38 weeks of the year) funded childcare support, which is available to eligible working parents from the term after their child turns nine months old until they start school. Parents must earn at least the equivalent of 16 hours a week at the national minimum wage and under £100,000 adjusted net income per year to be eligible. In a two-parent household, both parents must meet the eligibility criteria.

All three- and four-year-olds are eligible for 15 hours free early education per week (over 38 weeks of the year), regardless of family circumstances. This is available the term after the child’s third birthday. Tax-Free Childcare and Universal Credit Childcare are also available to families to help with childcare costs.

The department wants to ensure that parents are aware of and are accessing all the government funded childcare support they are eligible for. The department is raising awareness of the government funded childcare support available via the Best Start in Life Parent Hub website to stimulate increased take up by eligible families, because we know this could make a significant financial difference to families. The website can be accessed here: https://www.beststartinlife.gov.uk/.

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 access to NHS dentistry in South Shropshire constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population. For the South Shropshire constituency, this is the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB.

The Government is committed to ensuring that people can access urgent dental care when they need it. Over the past year, ICBs have been commissioning additional urgent dental appointments and there is now an urgent care safety net available in all areas of the country. 1.8 million additional courses of National Health Service dental treatment have been delivered in the seven months between April to October 2025 compared to the corresponding months prior to the general election.

We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. From April 2026, we began introducing a package of reforms to address some of the pressing issues that dentists and dental teams have been experiencing.

These reforms will prioritise those with the greatest need, shifting care away from clinically unnecessary check-ups.

The Government wants to ensure that every penny we allocate for dentistry is spent on dentistry, and that the ringfenced dental budget is spent on the patients who need it most. We have reduced the NHS dentistry underspend from £392 million in 2023/24 to £36 million in 2024/25.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what percentage of consumable equipment in the defence supply chain is procured from China.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is always open to working with international companies, as long as our procurement guidelines are followed and our national security is kept safe.

Defence does use Chinese manufactured goods within its supply chain, though the percentage of consumable equipment is not centrally held. MOD Commercial Officers do, where necessary, work with their security advisers to conduct due diligence checks on suppliers of specific goods, particularly surveillance equipment, to ensure that they are not subject to Chinese National Intelligence Law.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the effect of the THINK campaign on the number of road deaths of young people aged 17 to 25.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

The primary audience for the THINK! campaign is young men aged 17-24, who are four times more likely to be killed or seriously injured on the road than drivers aged 25 and over. In recognition of this, THINK! works with a wide range of road safety behavioural experts and stakeholders to design and execute campaigns that have the best chance of changing attitudes and behaviours amongst this highly at risk group.

Against a backdrop of consistent long-term funding for THINK! campaigns, the number of killed or seriously injured casualties involving a young car driver has fallen 61% in the last 20 years, from 12,190 in 2004 to 4,740 in 2024.

Whilst it is not possible to directly attribute changes in road deaths to any single factor, research shows high levels of self-reported action amongst young people as a result of seeing a THINK! campaign with 9 in 10 reporting frequently taking an action, including changing their own driving behaviour.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the Member for South Shropshire might expect to receive a reply to Written Question 107746 tabled on 22 January 2026.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

I responded to the hon. Member on 24 April 2026.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many people in South Shropshire constituency use Radio Teleswitch Service meters.

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

It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she plans to respond to Question 87070 from the hon. Member for South Shropshire.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The response to Written Parliamentary Question 87070 was published on 22 April 2026.

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 healthy hydration messaging in Government and NHS guidance is impactful and effective.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Government hydration recommendations are depicted in the United Kingdom national food model, the Eatwell Guide, which is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-eatwell-guide

The Eatwell Guide recommends that people should aim to drink six to eight cups or glasses of fluid a day, and promotes water, lower fat milks, and sugar-free drinks as healthier drink choices.

The Eatwell Guide principles are communicated through the NHS.UK website and the Government’s social marketing campaigns, Better Health, including Healthier Families and Start for Life. These principles are also included in the national curriculum through a number of subjects including Design and Technology, Science, and Relationships, Sex and Health Education. The Eatwell Guide also underpins catering guidance and standards including for School Food and prisons as well as the Government’s Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the impact of the 2ppt increase to the rate of property income tax on residential landlords in South Shropshire.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

At Budget 2025, the government increased the rate of tax on property income and published a summary of the impacts, which is available at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/income-tax-changes-to-tax-rates-for-property-savings-and-dividend-income/income-tax-changes-to-tax-rates-for-property-savings-and-dividend-income#summary-of-impacts

The government does not produce constituency level regional breakdowns of property income tax changes.

The Office for Budget Responsibility also published supplementary information at: https://obr.uk/supplementary-forecast-information-on-costings-relating-to-the-november-2025-economic-and-fiscal-outlook/

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many people in South Shropshire constituency use Radio Teleswitch Service meters.

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

The Department does not hold constituency level data on remaining RTS meters. This data is held by Ofgem. The Department is working closely with energy suppliers, Ofgem and the industry body Energy UK to drive continued progress on RTS meter replacements in the final phase of the switch off.

The RTS phase out is industry led, and energy suppliers have contacted their remaining customers recorded as having RTS meters to offer appointments to replace those meters as appropriate. Ofgem is also encouraging customers with RTS meters to book or accept an appointment promptly.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how long on average it takes for applications to be completed for a) the War Pension Scheme and b) the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes annual statistics for the War Pension Scheme (WPS) and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) on the GOV.UK website.

The following tables show the average and median clearance times for applications/appeals to be completed under the WPS and AFCS for financial year 2024-25. Clearance times refer to the number of working days between when the MOD received a claim and when the claim was finalised and the decision notified.

WPS Accredited Official Statistic for the 2024-25 financial year:

Data for 2025/26 will be published in the WPS Accredited Official Statistic on 2 July 2026 at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/war-pension-recipients-index

AFCS Accredited Official Statistic for the 2024-25 financial year:

Data for 2025-26 is currently scheduled for publication in the AFCS Accredited Official Statistic in Autumn 2026 and will be available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/armed-forces-compensation-scheme-statistics-financial-year-202425

Energy Conservation

Social Security

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Found: Manager(s): DAVID WILLIAMS 9 OC2089160 SN AMEY RAIL SERVICES LIMITED Director(s): Peter Stuart Anderson

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Found: vehicle(s) Transport Manager(s): Paul Cawley OB2090777 R UNITED DRILLING LIMITED Director(s): Stuart Anderson

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Found: licence authorisation will be 20 vehicle(s) OB2072937 SN AMEY OW LIMITED Director(s): PETER STUART ANDERSON