Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether telephone bookmakers will be subject to the increase to Remote Gaming Duty to 40% from 1 April 2026.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

Telephone bookmakers will be subject to the new General Betting Duty rate of 25% for remote bets from 1 April 2027. This rate will not include telephone bets placed on UK horseracing, pool bets or spread bets.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact on road safety in the UK of her Department’s policy allowing people who obtained their driving license abroad to drive in the UK for 12 months without obtaining a UK driving license from the DVLA.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

Foreign visitors to the UK are permitted to drive cars and motorcycles for up to 12 months without needing to exchange their licences or take a test. This system was established in 1909 and has remained in place under all recent governments, including the 2010-2015 coalition. After 12 months, people with licences from designated countries must exchange their licence for a UK equivalent whilst other licence holders must pass a UK test. Information about driving safely in the UK, notably driving on the left, is given to foreign drivers at ports.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what his planned timeline for progression is for areas of England not included in the devolution priority programme.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Decisions on future devolution areas beyond those in the Devolution Priority Programme have not yet been taken, but the Department will continue to engage with local authorities, including any new unitary authorities following local government reorganisation, about possible future devolution agreements.

We want to see devolution that is built on strong foundations, with strong unitary structures in place before areas access mayoral devolution. The Government recognises that Mayoral Strategic Authorities are most successful when they are built on a strong history of partnership and joint delivery. Moving forward, we will therefore seek to facilitate the establishment of Foundation Strategic Authorities in areas without a significant history of collaboration, to build local capacity ahead of areas accessing mayoral powers.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to ensure Mental Health Support Teams in schools are trained in Speech and Language therapy.

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

We currently have no plans to train the education mental health practitioners, who are the primary workforce of mental health support teams (MHSTs), in speech and language therapy.

We are expanding MHSTs in schools and colleges to reach full national coverage by 2029, and 900,000 more children and young people will have access to support from MHSTs in 2025/26.

The Department of Health and Social Care is working closely with the Department for Education and NHS England to improve access to community health services, including speech and language therapy, for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

In addition to the undergraduate degree route, speech and language therapists can now also train via a degree apprenticeship. This route is going into its fourth year of delivery and offers an alternative pathway to the traditional degree route into a successful career as a speech and language therapist.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has made an assessment of the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee’s recommendation in its Fifth Report of Session 2024–26, Tackling the energy cost crisis, published on 29 October, that Ofgem should introduce an Energy Debt Relief Scheme funded by windfall profits made by energy network companies.

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

The Government welcomes the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee’s report, following the committee’s inquiry into the cost of energy, and is grateful to the charities, think tanks, energy suppliers, members of the public, and all others who provided evidence to support it.

The Government is considering all recommendations set out in the report and will submit our response, which responds to each recommendation in turn, to the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee later this month.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the length of time spent in detention without trial by defendants charged under the Terrorism Act 2000 for (a) supporting or (b) being a member of Palestine Action.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

No-one is being detained under the Terrorism Act 2000 for supporting, or being a member of, Palestine Action.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to review the status of people held on remand in custody for more than six months to determine whether they should be considered for conditional release.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The decision to remand an individual in custody or to grant bail is solely a matter for the independent judiciary acting in accordance with the Bail Act 1976. With limited exceptions, the Bail Act creates a presumption in favour of bail for defendants involved in criminal proceedings. This recognises that a person should not be deprived of his/her liberty unless that is necessary for the protection of the public or the delivery of justice.

There is a well-established process that enables remanded prisoners to apply to the court for bail, and we have expanded the Bail Information Service over the last year to provide more support.

Missing Evri deliveries

Convention on Cluster Munitions and preventing UK involvement in their production

Sodium valproate and surgical mesh redress

Winter NHS corridor care

Changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief in the Autumn Budget 2025

Horton Cemetery

Found: Chair); Pam Cox; Sir Ashley Fox; Warinder Juss; Tessa Munt; Sarah Russell; Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst; Vikki Slade

Found: mandatory body armour for prison officers • Jim Shannon: Freedom of Religion or Belief in Sudan • Vikki Slade

Found: Vikki Slade: Hello. I am Vikki Slade, MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole.