Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations expiring on 31 July 2026 on the ability of students aged 16 and over in rural areas to travel to their place of education or training in the 2026/27 academic year.

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

Following careful consideration, we have decided to offer further exemptions from the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations for home-to-school services until 2030. The coach sector has benefitted from exemptions since 2019 when providing home-to-school and rail replacement services. Improved accessibility on rail replacement services means exemptions are now only required for school transport.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will takes steps to introduce dedicated swimming pool funding for schools.

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

The government is committed to ensuring that no child leaves primary school without the capability and confidence to keep themselves safe in and around water.

Schools receive funding for curriculum provision, which includes swimming and water safety lessons. While there is no dedicated funding for swimming pools, the department provided £2.1 billion of capital funding for the 2025/26 financial year to improve the condition of the school estate, which includes sports facilities and school swimming pools, up from £1.8 billion committed for the 2024/25 financial year. This will rise in line with inflation to around £2.3 billion in 2029/30, over £400 million more than in 2024/25.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the answer of 6 July 2026 to Question 15097 on Badgers: Animal Welfare and Disease Control, if she will take steps to record official figures on the number of badger deaths resulting from baiting.

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

Wildlife crimes, including badger baiting, are not ‘notifiable’ crimes. This means police forces are not required to report figures on badger baiting to the Home Office and therefore there are no official statistics or identifiable trends relating to this crime. Any decision to make such offences notifiable sits with the Home Office rather than Defra. Regardless of notifiable status, badger persecution is a UK wildlife crime priority and Defra is providing £530,000 in this financial year for the National Wildlife Crime Unit which helps prevent and detect wildlife crimes such as the horrific act of badger baiting.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to roll out the Adult Skills Fund to areas not yet covered by this fund, including Dorset; and if she will outline a timetable for doing so.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Adult Skills Fund (ASF) supports adults to gain the skills they need to move into work, apprenticeships or further learning. Residents of Dorset are already able to access ASF-funded provision. In areas without a devolved strategic authority including Dorset, the Department for Work and Pensions funds ASF provision directly for eligible learners.

As of August 2026, around 76% of ASF funding is devolved to 20 Strategic Authorities, which are responsible for adult skills provision for their residents and for allocating funding to providers. In non-devolved areas, the Department continues to fund and manage ASF provision directly.

The Government's ambition is for every area of England to have, or be part of, a Strategic Authority by 2027, with full coverage in place by the end of 2028.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will take steps with the NHS to introduce pre-natal treatment for foetal Spinal Muscular Atrophy where a positive pre-natal test has been received.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No assessment has been made of pre-natal testing and treatment for spinal muscular atrophy. However, we refer the Hon Member to the announcement made on post-natal screening for spinal muscular atrophy by the Department on 16 July 2026, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/every-baby-in-england-to-get-life-saving-genetic-test-from-birth

The new born heel prick test is routinely carried out by health visitors or community midwives on day five after birth. No assessment has been made of the merits of carrying out the test at day one.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring heel prick tests to be carried out no later than the day of birth of a newborn.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No assessment has been made of pre-natal testing and treatment for spinal muscular atrophy. However, we refer the Hon Member to the announcement made on post-natal screening for spinal muscular atrophy by the Department on 16 July 2026, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/every-baby-in-england-to-get-life-saving-genetic-test-from-birth

The new born heel prick test is routinely carried out by health visitors or community midwives on day five after birth. No assessment has been made of the merits of carrying out the test at day one.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing routine pre-natal testing for Spinal Muscular Atrophy for all pregnancies.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

No assessment has been made of pre-natal testing and treatment for spinal muscular atrophy. However, we refer the Hon Member to the announcement made on post-natal screening for spinal muscular atrophy by the Department on 16 July 2026, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/every-baby-in-england-to-get-life-saving-genetic-test-from-birth

The new born heel prick test is routinely carried out by health visitors or community midwives on day five after birth. No assessment has been made of the merits of carrying out the test at day one.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing legislation to restrict the sale of e-scooters.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

The UK’s product safety regulations already restrict the supply of e-scooters by placing obligations on businesses to only make e-scooters available for sale if they are safe products. This includes providing consumers with all necessary information, instructions and warnings, where appropriate, to enable-scooters to be safely used during normal and foreseeable conditions of use. Regulators have powers to take products off the market where they do not comply.

Under Department for Transport legislation, e-scooter use is prohibited on public roads, which is enforced by police, and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency also carry out market surveillance.

Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether his Department has assessed the potential merits of a Department for Hospitality.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

The Government recognises the important contribution that hospitality businesses make to jobs, growth and local communities across the UK. Hospitality's interests are represented at the heart of Government. I am the Minister for Hospitality, serving as the Minister for the Future of Work and I co-chair the Hospitality Sector Council. My department currently has no plans to establish a Department for Hospitality.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the School Holiday Voucher Scheme on levels of child poverty in England.

Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)

Under the previous Household Support Fund, some local authorities funded voucher schemes during the school holidays. The Crisis and Resilience Fund replaced the Household Support Fund in England from April 2026 and brings a greater focus on providing preventative support to people to improve their financial resilience and reduce repeat crises.

No assessment has been made of the impact of local authority holiday voucher schemes on levels of child poverty in England.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the proposed reduction in VAT for domestic electricity bills will apply to the park homes residents.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

To support households with the cost of living, the Government is removing VAT from electricity bills this winter. Around 29 million households across the UK are expected to benefit from this change.

The new zero VAT rate for domestic electricity will replace the existing reduced VAT rate (5%). Anyone currently benefiting from the reduced rate will benefit from the new zero rate.

Some park home residents purchase their electricity from the park home site owner rather than directly from a licensed energy supplier. Where electricity is not individually metered and charged based on actual consumption, the electricity supply may be treated as part of the pitch fee and can therefore be subject to the same VAT treatment as that charge.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will undertake a review of (a) the process by which fathers can gain parental responsibility at the birth of their child when they are unmarried and estranged from their child's mother and (b) the cost of doing so through the court system.

Answered by Jake Richards - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The Government has committed to undertake a review of the law around parental responsibility in its entirety. This review will provide an opportunity to consider how the law relating to parental responsibility operates in practice, including the circumstances in which parental responsibility is acquired, restricted or removed.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to introduce an official animal cruelty register.

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

This Government has no plans to introduce an official animal cruelty register as all prosecutions for offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 are stored on the Police National Computer. This information may be shared with appropriate organisations under common law.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the MHRA-NICE aligned pathway that came into force on 1 April 2026 on the pricing of self-funded treatment and medications.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Government has not made any assessment of the impact of the aligned pathway on the pricing of self-funded treatments and medicines. The pathway aims to speed up access for National Health Service patients to clinically and cost-effective medicines by three to six months by streamlining regulatory and appraisal processes.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential economic impacts of the reduction in the Cash ISA tax free limit to £12,000 for under 65s from April 2027; and what assessment he has made of the impact of this reduction as it relates to age demographics.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government announced at Budget 2025 that it is keeping the full £20,000 ISA allowance for investment, and setting the cash ISA limit at £12,000 from April 2027. This is part of our wider strategy aimed at supporting people to get into investing, including Targeted Support, which launched in April. We want to get more people investing so they can also benefit from the growth of the FTSE which has grown by 50% in the last 5 years.

A policy costings note was published at Budget, and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) also published the Economic and Fiscal Outlook (EFO), which sets out a detailed forecast of the economy and public finances.

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 maximise the use of available technologies used to establish the available capacity of NHS dental practices to improve access to NHS dentistry.

Answered by James Frith - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

We are committed to improving access to National Health Service dentistry and are making use of available digital tools to help patients identify where NHS dental care may be available. For example, the NHS website’s “Find a dentist” service remains a key route for patients to identify local NHS dental practices and whether they are accepting new patients. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-dentist

NHS dentists are required to update their NHS.UK website profiles, which include information on whether they are accepting new patients, at least every 90 days, to ensure patients have up-to-date information on where they can access care.

In the longer term, our 10-Year Health Plan sets out our vision for the future of the NHS, with a shift from analogue to digital, harnessing the power of modern technology to create the most digitally accessible health system in the world.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if she will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to ban the (a) importation and (b) sale of conversion kits for e-bikes that do not require the rider to pedal, including Sur-Ron e-bikes.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

This Government is providing new powers through the Product Regulation and Metrology Act 2025 to act against online marketplaces selling unsafe products, including e-bikes and e-bikes batteries.

The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) recently consulted on the introduction of detailed regulations under the powers in this Act, including a new product safety framework. The consultation closed on 23 June 2026 and BIST is reviewing the responses to it before deciding on further action.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps with Cabinet colleagues to invest in equipment to modify his Department's fleet of aircrafts and helicopters for the purposes of supporting civil contingency for wildfires.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)

Responsibility for responding to wildfires in the UK rests with the relevant civil authorities and emergency services, with military support potentially available where requested through established Military Aid to the Civil Authorities (MACA) arrangements on a case-by-case basis. This includes consideration of a clear need for military assistance, whether the requirement is beyond the capability or capacity of the civil authority, and whether support can be provided without unacceptably prejudicing Defence's primary tasks, operational commitments, and readiness.

The Ministry of Defence does not currently hold a requirement to provide a dedicated domestic aerial firefighting capability (including a fixed-wing aerial firefighting capability). However, Defence retains limited aerial firefighting capabilities to support standing tasks overseas. As part of this, Defence maintains a helicopter-based aerial firefighting capability in Cyprus for the specific purpose of meeting our obligations to the Sovereign Base Areas and wider communities during periods of heightened wildfire risk.

The Ministry of Defence has not conducted a specific impact assessment on the absence of a dedicated military aerial firefighting capability, nor a specific assessment of the economic impact arising from that absence.

The Department is aware of the Airbus A400M aerial firefighting system currently under development and testing by the manufacturer. Consequently, the Department has no plans to adapt the RAF A400M Atlas fleet for aerial firefighting purposes, or to procure dedicated water-bombing helicopters or water-bombing equipment for the military helicopter fleet.

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will set out the grants available to local authorities to support the funding of existing public and publicly accessible academy trust swimming pools.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

The ongoing responsibility for providing access to public leisure facilities lies at local authority level, with funding levels set as part of the Local Government Finance Settlement. We encourage local authorities to make investments which offer the right opportunities and facilities for the communities they serve.

We are absolutely committed to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to participate in sport and physical activity, including swimming, and recognise the crucial role school facilities play in delivering this.

As part of this Government's commitment to school sport, we have announced nearly £200 million to improve school sport and PE infrastructure. We are working with Sport England, our arm’s-length body for grassroots sport, to ensure the funding tackles inequalities in access to sport and physical activity.

In addition, the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network, announced in June 2025, will better connect schools with National Governing Bodies, local clubs and other providers. The model will support schools to make more effective and strategic use of their assets, including facilities.

150th anniversary of St John's Church, Wimborne

Second Reading of the Mental Capacity (Duty to Assess) Bill

25th anniversary of 9-11 attacks

Contribution of cinemas to local communities

60th anniversary of Tilgate Park

Devon maternity services

Publication of Legal Advice on Local Government Reorganisation

Cosmetic specifications for fresh produce and national food security

Defence Investment Plan

Right to independent advocacy for care home residents

Miscarriage care

National strategy for fertility

E1 settlement project and international law

Employer National Insurance contributions

Modern Service Framework for neurological conditions

Access to education for students with FND

Military housing

2026 Sustainable Farming Incentive

Fire ponds