Asked by: Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat - Mid Dorset and North Poole)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is taking steps to deliver the outstanding recommendations from Sir Stephen Bubb's report for the Public Accounts Select Committee, entitled Care services for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour, published On 23 March 2015.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Care services for people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour was published for the Public Accounts Select Committee in 2015, under a previous administration. The Government is committed to reducing the number of people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health inpatient settings and ensuring they receive the right support in the community which aligns with the recommendations set out in the report.
Our 10-Year Health Plan sets out to make three big shifts towards more preventative, digitally-enabled care, with more holistic, on-going support in the community to tackle health inequalities, including for disabled people. Our 2025 Mental Health Act will limit the scope to detain people with a learning disability and autistic people so that they can only be detained for treatment in a mental health hospital if they have a co-occurring mental disorder that requires hospital treatment. The act will also introduce measures to improve community support for people with a learning disability and autistic people by putting Care (Education) and Treatment Reviews and Dynamic Support Registers on a statutory footing and placing certain duties on integrated care boards and local authorities when exercising existing commissioning duties.
The NHS Medium Term Planning Framework 2026/27 to 2028/9 maintains a focus on improving mental health and learning disability care with an explicit objective to deliver a minimum 10% reduction in the use of mental health inpatient care for people with a learning disability and autistic people year-on-year.
Asked by: Helen Maguire (Liberal Democrat - Epsom and Ewell)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make it her policy to (a) publish and (b) notify the House of Commons when licences are issued for accessing frozen Libyan assets.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Specific licensing purposes are provided for under the Libya (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. Where these purposes apply and where the conditions in those grounds have been met, HM Treasury may authorise activity involving frozen assets.
OFSI releases the OFSI Annual Review each year which provides information about the number of licences issued under each regime. The figures are presented only in anonymised, aggregate form and do not provide information on individual accounts, entities or licences for confidentiality purposes.
OFSI does not publish information about individual licence applications or decisions. Details are kept confidential, save where disclosure is required by law or ordered by a court. This is to ensure and maintain confidentiality and to comply with UK data protection law. It would not be appropriate to publicise information about specific licences.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, pursuant to the press release of 26 December 2025 on defence exports, how many export licences for defence equipment were approved in 2025; and how many applications were (a) refused and (b) withdrawn.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
In 2025 Q1 (between 1 January and 31 March 2025), 2,732 Standard Individual Export Licences (SIELs) were issued, and 140 were refused. 260 were withdrawn. In 2025 Q2 (between 1 April and 30 June 2025), 2,612 SIELs were issued, and 104 were refused.
221 were withdrawn. These numbers reflect military and non-military licences, as both licences could include goods that may be considered defence equipment. Our quarterly licensing statistics provide descriptions of the goods covered for licences issued.
Information on export licensing decisions from 1 July 2025 onwards has not yet been published as official statistics. Information relating to export licensing decisions covering the period 1 July 2025 to 30 September 2025 (2025 Q3) is planned to be published on 29 January 2026: Strategic export controls: licensing statistics: 1 July to 30 September 2025 - Official statistics announcement - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Juliet Campbell (Labour - Broxtowe)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of mandating silent fireworks on (a) noise reduction, (b) animal welfare and (c) public health.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
There has been no assessment of the potential impacts of mandating silent fireworks in respect to noise reduction and the impacts on animal welfare and public health. Lower noise fireworks are commercially available to consumers to purchase if they wish to, potentially reducing distress to vulnerable groups and animals. This year's fireworks campaign also encourages the use of low noise fireworks.
To inform future decisions about the regulation of fireworks, I am engaging with businesses, consumer groups and charities to gather evidence on the issues with and impacts of fireworks.
Asked by: Blake Stephenson (Conservative - Mid Bedfordshire)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigrants found to have been working illegally since 2020 have been making National Insurance payments.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office does not hold the data you have requested.
The Home Office takes the issue of illegal working seriously and continues to take robust enforcement action against those who breach immigration laws.
Asked by: Freddie van Mierlo (Liberal Democrat - Henley and Thame)
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 support the development of gene therapy treatments for rare genetic diseases such as tyrosinemia and Gaucher disease.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving the lives of those living with rare diseases, such as tyrosinemia and Gaucher disease. Through the UK Rare Diseases Framework, the Government supports access to specialist care, treatment, and drugs as a priority. This has included NHS England developing a strategic approach to commissioning advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) to facilitate rapid access to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence approved therapies.
We recognise the transformative potential of gene therapies and other advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs) for rare diseases and have stood up an advanced therapies co-ordination group spanning public sector partners. This group aims to create a joined-up ecosystem that will support the development, regulation, and delivery of ATMPs in the United Kingdom. We continue to invest in ATMPs through initiatives such as the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult. With £17.9 million of new funding via the National Institute of Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Advanced Therapy Treatment Centres is driving forward work to enhance the UK’s environment for ATMP clinical trials and to progress research within the National Health Service to ensure patients can get safe access to these innovative therapies.
NIHR’s ‘Be Part of Research’ allows individuals to find and take part in current research. There are currently a number of studies on tyrosinemia and Gaucher disease where researchers are actively looking for participants. Further information on NIHR’s ‘Be Part of Research’ is avaiable at the following link:
https://bepartofresearch.nihr.ac.uk/
This includes a clinical trial assessing the safety of a gene therapy for those with peripheral manifestations of Gaucher disease, with further information avaiable at the following link:
https://bepartofresearch.nihr.ac.uk/trial-details/trial-detail?trialId=55560&location=&distance=
Asked by: Sam Carling (Labour - North West Cambridgeshire)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her department has made of the potential benefits of allowing direct gifting of pensions funds to charity during a pension holder’s lifetime, in the content of the recommendations in the Final report of the Social Impact Investment Advisory Group.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
This is a complex area of pensions tax policy, and any reform would require detailed assessment of its implications for the pension tax system, its administration, consumer protection, and long-term retirement outcomes. The Treasury regularly engages with departments, including HMRC, to ensure complete assessments are made.
While no decisions have been taken at this stage, we will continue to keep these recommendations under review. At present however, members can complete an "expression of wish" or nomination form to indicate their preferred beneficiaries for death benefits. While trustees typically follow these wishes, they are not legally bound to do so. This flexibility allows them to consider other evidence, such as family circumstances at the time of death or wishes expressed in a will.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reforming the Expensive Car Supplement component of Vehicle Excise Duty for used vehicles to reflect a) vehicle depreciation and b) purchase price at the point of resale.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Expensive Car Supplement (ECS) is a supplement to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) payable by vehicle keepers for five years, from years two to six following a car's first registration.
The ECS rate is currently £425 per year, increasing to £440 from 1 April 2026 in line with RPI. The ECS currently applies to new cars with a list price of £40,000 or more. As announced at Budget 2025, the threshold will increase to £50,000 for zero-emissions cars only from 1 April 2026, as such vehicles tend to be more expensive.
The ECS was introduced so that those who can afford to access the most expensive cars make a fair contribution. The Government has no plans to change the scope of the ECS.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent estimate she has made of the number of illegal migrants residing within the UK.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
By its very nature, it is not possible to know the exact size of the illegal population, or the number of people who arrive illegally, and so we do not seek to make any official or internal estimates of the illegal population. The latest position on this from the Home Office and ONS is outlined in this statement: Measuring illegal migration: our current view - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk).
Asked by: Chris Coghlan (Liberal Democrat - Dorking and Horley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department will set out the budget to local authorities so they can distribute funding for local Healthwatch services in the 2026/27 financial year.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As advised in the Local Government Bulletin of 7 January, funding for Local Healthwatch arrangements for financial year 2026/27 will be £14.15 million.
As in previous years, this will be paid via the Local Reform and Community Voices grant. The formal grant allocations letter will be issued in due course.