Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK - Romford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve patient safeguarding procedures.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of Baroness Casey’s work on reform of the social care system, her commission has been considering the best way to provide safeguards against the abuse of vulnerable patients. In response to its initial recommendations in March, we have set up a new National Adult Safeguarding Board. The board will work to strengthen national accountability for safeguarding and will also look at how data can be used to inform action at a local and national level. Further information about the board’s work is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/national-adult-safeguarding-board
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households on Universal Credit were exempt from the benefit cap on the most recent date for which data is available, broken down by reason for exemption.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Alex Mayer (Labour - Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many Help to Save accounts are held by people resident in (a) Bedfordshire, (b) Milton Keynes.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
HMRC publishes Help to Save figures as part of their annual savings statistics publication, including a breakdown of Help to Save accounts by region. The latest figures are available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2026.
Bedfordshire is in the East of England region, where 58,150 Help to Save accounts had been opened as of April 2026.
Milton Keynes is in the South East of England region, where 79,500 Help to Save accounts had been opened as of April 2026.
Following a consultation on its published statistics, HMRC removed Help to Save tables for Parliamentary Constituencies and Local Authorities for the 2023 publication onwards. The final version of these tables with a lower level geographical breakdown can be found in the 2022 Annual Savings Statistics publication, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-savings-statistics-2022
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, pursuant to the answer of 1 June 2026 to WPQ 2683, how the Semiconductor Advisory Panel plans to speak to all geographies of the semiconductor community, especially in Northern Ireland.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Semiconductor Advisory Panel shapes our national approach on semiconductors by engaging with the full spectrum of the UK’s semiconductor industry, across the different strengths, priorities and issues across all parts of the UK, including Northern Ireland. This includes consideration of cross cutting issues like photonics and skills, both of which are important to Northern Ireland’s semiconductor cluster. Government-funded sector studies also support the Panel’s work, with the 2026 Semiconductor Sector Study providing an updated assessment of the size, composition and development of the sector across the UK, including its regional clusters and strengths. This study highlights Northern Ireland as an important UK semiconductor cluster with particular strengths in photonics and hardware security.
Asked by: Allison Gardner (Labour - Stoke-on-Trent South)
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 effectiveness of cross-government coordination on Artificial Intelligence assurance and governance.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
AI governance and assurance are central to the Government’s AI agenda, providing the principles and standards needed to ensure that AI development and deployment is safe and responsible, as well as the mechanisms for how this can be realised in practice.
That is why the Department for Business, Innovation, Science & Trade is coordinating across government on a series of targeted actions to strengthen the UK’s AI assurance sector.
This includes convening the AI Assurance Stakeholder Consortium, led by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, which brings together representatives from across the AI assurance ecosystem, including various government departments, to support the development of a recognised AI assurance profession.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of deploying UK armed forces as a peacekeeping force in Gaza and the West Bank.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK voted in favour of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803, which authorised the establishment of a temporary International Stabilisation Force in Gaza. We, alongside UK armed forces, worked closely with partners to support transitional security arrangements that can sustain the ceasefire, protect civilians and support long-term stability. Furthermore, the UK has also supported the development of Palestinian security capacity through the British Support Team in Ramallah.
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps he has taken to increase the private capital available for use by the Sovereign AI Fund.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Asked by: Ben Spencer (Conservative - Runnymede and Weybridge)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how many individual companies have received investment from the Sovereign AI Fund.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Asked by: Luke Akehurst (Labour - North Durham)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what offers his Department has received from renewable energy developers to fund or contribute towards upgrades to the Eskdalemuir Seismic Array.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
As far as I am aware, the only engagement the Ministry of Defence has had with a renewable energy developer concerning the management of wind turbine interference in the vicinity of the Eskdalemuir Seismic Array is regarding borehole sensor technology.
The Department has considered this proposal and has supported a technical investigation by experts from the Atomic Weapons Establishment to assess their feasibility. However, the MOD's safeguarding decisions are based on scientific evidence and operational requirements, and any proposed mitigation must be shown to be effective and reliable before it could be taken forward.
The MOD continues to work closely with DESNZ to safeguard the Eskdalemuir Seismic Array while supporting the Government's clean energy ambitions.
Asked by: Sarah Russell (Labour - Congleton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what national minimum standards or expectations will apply to the provision of women's health services through Women's Integrated Neighbourhood Services; and how the Department plans to help ensure consistency of provision across Integrated Care Boards.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.