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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of abolishing residential leaseholds.

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

I refer the Hon Member to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 21 November 2024 (HCWS244).

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of excluding violent offenders who have breached lifetime restraining orders while in custody from the early release scheme.

Answered by Nicholas Dakin - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury

Certain offences have been excluded from SDS40. This includes serious violent offences with a sentence of four years or more; specified offences linked to domestic abuse irrespective of sentence length (including stalking, coercive or controlling behaviour and non-fatal strangulation), and sex offences irrespective of sentence length.

To keep the public safe, we have kept the measures under review and acted immediately to address a small number of anomalies in the legislation. This means that anyone convicted of a breach of restraining order, breach of sexual harm prevention order, and breach of a stalking protection order would not be released early under SDS40.

Any increased risks shown by an offender’s custodial behaviour, such as behaviour that breaches a lifetime restraining order, will inform the licence conditions and risk management plans put in place by Probation practitioners for that offender’s release once they have served the custodial part of their sentence.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of charging foreign-registered vehicles to use UK roads.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Foreign-registered heavy goods vehicles (HGV) are already charged to use UK roads through the HGV Levy. This is in recognition of the fact that HGVs can cause greater damage to road surfaces than other vehicle types. There are no plans to implement a general road charge for foreign-registered cars, which make up only 0.14% of car traffic on British roads.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking in response to the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East.

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

The UK remains committed to alleviating humanitarian suffering in the Middle East. A resolution to the conflict in Gaza has been a priority since day one of this government, and we continue to push for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, protection of civilians, and a rapid increase of aid into Gaza. The UK has now announced £112 million for the Occupied Palestinian Territories this financial year, including £41 million for UNRWA, providing vital services to civilians in Gaza and the West Bank, and to Palestinians in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. £4.5 million of joint UK-Kuwait funding announced in September will help UNICEF deliver lifesaving aid to almost 2.5 million people in Gaza and Yemen. And following the unprecedented events in Syria, on 9 December the Prime Minister announced that the UK is providing an additional £11 million of humanitarian aid for the most vulnerable in the country.

Peace, democracy and accountability in Syria

Free-to-air television coverage of the Six Nations

Detainment of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya

Cervical Cancer Prevention Week 2025

Flood preparedness

Blue Monday

US trade and impact assessments

Protecting children from sexual abuse

Government response to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report on communication of changes to women’s State Pension age

Bowel Cancer UK report into NHS services

Review into breast cancer screening

Domestic Abuse Offences

Found: Billericay) Gurinder Singh Josan (Labour, Smethwick) Frank McNally (Labour, Coatbridge and Bellshill) Tom Morrison

Call lists, or speakers lists, exist in many legislatures around the world, and were employed in the House of Commons during the Covid-19 pandemic to regulate the flow of debates in virtual/hybrid proceedings. Call lists can be a helpful tool in giving Members an indication of when they will be called to speak in a debate, and thus to plan their days more effectively, and in enabling the chair of a debate to decide time limits. However, there are also concerns about their impact on the flow of the debate.

Reforms introduced following the publication of the 2009 Report of the Reform of the House of Commons Committee, Rebuilding the House (‘the Wright Report’, so named after the Chair of the Committee, Tony Wright MP) included the election by the whole House for positions such as some select committee chairs and the Deputy Speakers.