Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to remove the Television Licence exemption for people over 75 years old and in receipt of pension credit.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

To ensure the BBC is on a stable financial footing, the Government has committed to the current licence fee model for the remainder of the current Charter period. Currently, TV licence concessions are available to people who are registered blind or severely sight impaired, people over-75 and in receipt of pension credit, and people living in qualifying residential care who are disabled or over 60 years old. The BBC, rather than the Government, is responsible for the concession for over-75s in receipt of pension credit.

Looking further ahead, the Secretary of State has been clear that the BBC must be funded by a model that is sustainable and fair to all those that are paying it. The Government is keeping an open mind about the future of the licence fee, and the forthcoming Charter Review is a key opportunity to set the BBC up for success long into the future.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to review the effectiveness of the working relationship between Ofcom and Royal Mail.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Ministers and officials have regular discussions both with Royal Mail and with Ofcom, as the independent regulator for the postal sector.

The effectiveness of the working relationship between Ofcom and Royal Mail is fundamental to maintaining a sustainable and reliable universal postal service.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of re-instating the pause on the building of new waste incinerators.

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

Determining the need and location for waste management infrastructure is a matter for the relevant planning authority. To support decision making the Government has made it clear we only back new Energy from Waste projects if they meet strict local and environmental conditions. Projects are expected to demonstrate a clearly defined domestic residual waste treatment capacity need to facilitate the diversion of residual waste away from landfill, or enable the replacement of older, less-efficient facilities. Additionally, new facilities will have to maximise efficiency and support the delivery of economic growth, net zero and the move to a circular economy.

We are considering how best to reflect the approach in this statement in the new set of national policies for development management which we have committed to producing, and in updates to National Policy Statements.

The Government encourages those developing energy recovery facilities (at all stages in the process) to consider forecast changes to future capacity, demand, and the Government's circular economy opportunities.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the incinerator capacity for waste destined for landfill in Dorset.

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

The Government publishes annual statistics related to waste collected by local authorities: Local authority collected waste management - annual results - GOV.UK.

In 2023-24 Dorset Council reported sending 936 tonnes of collected waste to landfill and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council reported sending 18,724 tonnes of collected waste to landfill.

However, this does not include waste processed by private waste management companies.

Our Residual Waste Infrastructure Capacity Note shows that at the end of 2024, the Southwest of England had around 1.63 million tonnes of operational and under construction energy from waste capacity whilst total residual municipal waste arisings were reported as 2.27 million tonnes. Residual waste infrastructure capacity note - GOV.UK.

Winter NHS corridor care

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

Horton Cemetery

Chalk streams and salmon in Hampshire

Found: Vikki Slade: Good afternoon. I am Vikki Slade. I am the Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole.

Found: Vikki Slade: Good afternoon. I am Vikki Slade. I am the Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole.

Found: 110 The Liberal Democrats’ spokesperson, Vikki Slade, expressed similar concerns that the bill “centralises