Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains have been cancelled on the South Western Railway network since it was nationalised.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Information on train cancellations and punctuality is published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The relevant links are below.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has taken recent steps to review the level of consular support received abroad by British nationals with dual citizenship.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Information about the consular support available to British nationals overseas, and the criteria for such support, are set out on GOV.UK at the links below. This was last updated in August 2022 and there are no current plans to change it.
Consular assistance: how the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office provides support - GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/consular-assistance-how-the-foreign-commonwealth-development-office-provides-support)
Who the FCDO can support abroad - GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/who-the-fcdo-can-support-abroad)
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were (a) cancelled and (b) delayed on the South Western Railway network in August 2025.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Information on train cancellations and punctuality is published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The relevant links are below.
Asked by: Will Forster (Liberal Democrat - Woking)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains have been delayed on the South Western Railway network since nationalisation.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Information on train cancellations and punctuality is published by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The relevant links are below.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has met with representatives of the Civil Military Coordination Center in Israel.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Rt Hon Member to the answer I gave her on 6 January to Question 101358.
Asked by: Anneliese Midgley (Labour - Knowsley)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what proportion of research funding is allocated to epilepsy research; and if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of this proportion.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), has committed a total of over £25.5 million since 2018/19 on epilepsy research, including over £9.5 million in 2024/25. This research spans discovery science and fundamental understanding of the disease, through to new approaches for diagnosis and intervention. MRC also supports epilepsy research within its portfolio of larger investments. For example, this includes a new MRC Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) in Restorative Neural Dynamics which aims to develop brain stimulation devices to treat a range of conditions including childhood epilepsy, and the UK data platform for Traumatic Brain Injury research (TBI-REPORTER) which includes post-traumatic epilepsy as one of the areas of focus.
The Department of Health and Social Care also funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR has funded a range of ongoing epilepsy research and has awarded £12.8 million to studies in the last five financial years. The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including alternative treatments for epilepsy.
Asked by: Sarah Pochin (Reform UK - Runcorn and Helsby)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with local authorities regarding on the accumulation of Penalty Charge Notice related personal debts arising from the Mersey Gateway Bridge.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The operation of the Mersey Gateway crossings is the responsibility of Halton Borough Council. Over 97% of drivers using the two bridges pay the charge on time, and fewer than 0.5% neither pay on time nor the penalty charge within 42 days. It is a matter of fairness to the great majority of people who pay on time that the operator of the crossing seeks to collect the debt from those who do not do so. Anyone who receives a penalty charge should respond quickly, using the information on the notice.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of violence by Iran's security forces against pro-democracy protestors, and what action they are taking in response.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the statement made to the House on 7 January, which can be found at the following link: https://hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2026-01-07/debates/4F44EBDD-1568-41F7-AEEE-663F099BF92A/MiddleEastAndNorthAfrica.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to improve information sharing and communications with her Egyptian counterparts.
Answered by Hamish Falconer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK and Egyptian Governments communicate regularly on a range of shared priorities, including our efforts to secure peace and humanitarian relief in Gaza and Sudan.
Asked by: Lord Bates (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how much they contributed in humanitarian assistance to Sudan in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, and (3) 2025; and how much they plan to contribute to Sudan in 2026.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
Data on Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend for 2023 and 2024 is published in Statistics on International Development (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-international-development-final-uk-oda-spend-2024), including breakdowns by country, sector, and type of aid.
Table 1 below shows UK ODA funding provided to Sudan through bilateral humanitarian assistance in 2023 and 2024. Table 2 shows ODA spent in the UK in the same years. Figures for 2025 and 2026 will be published in the usual way in due course.
Table 1. Humanitarian ODA to Sudan, 2023 and 2024
2023 £ million | 2024 £ million | |
Humanitarian ODA to Sudan | 35.8 | 121.3 |
Source: Statistics on International Development: Final UK ODA spend 2024
Table 2. ODA Spent in the UK, 2023 and 2024
2023 % of total UK ODA | 2024 % of total UK ODA | |
In-donor Expenditure [Note 1] | 33.3% | 26.0% |
Note 1. In-donor expenditure includes an estimate of the ODA-eligible part of FCDO's and other departments' administration costs, refugees living in the UK spend, raising development awareness and costs of UK experts and UK scholarships.
Source: Statistics on International Development: Final UK ODA spend 2024.