theodi/ndl-core-corpus huggingface dataset:
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure the availability of high-quality childcare. \p Stephen Morgan: It is the department’s ambition that parents have access to high-quality, affordable and flexible early education and childcare.

Next year alone, we plan to provide over £8 billion for the early years entitlements, which is a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25, as we roll out the expansion of the entitlements, so eligible working parents of children aged from nine months can access 30 hours of funded childcare.

From the start of September 2024, eligible working parents have been entitled to 15 hours a week of early education and care from the term after their child turns nine months. So far, over 320,000 additional parents are now accessing a place. Going further, from September 2025, eligible working parents will be able to access 30 hours of early education and childcare a week, over 38 weeks of the year, from the term after their child turns nine months until they start school.

In September 2024, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced that state-funded primary phase schools could apply for up to £150,000 of £15 million capital funding to create or expand on-site nurseries. Schools could apply between 17 October and 19 December 2024 and will be notified of the outcome in this year. This new funding will complement ongoing work to expand provision across the country, including the £100 million capital funding allocated to local authorities in 2023/24 to increase capacity of early years and wraparound provision in local areas.

Parents may also be eligible for childcare support through Tax-Free Childcare or Universal Credit Childcare.

The department is determined to create change in the approach to early years, focusing on high-quality early education, celebrating and supporting early years careers, and embedding the sector into the wider education system. We are delivering programmes to support the sector to attract talented staff and childminders by creating conditions for improved recruitment, alongside programmes to better utilise the skills of the existing workforce.

The department also wants to ensure that parents are aware of and accessing all government-funded childcare support they are eligible for. We are raising awareness of the government-funded childcare support available via the Childcare Choices website to stimulate increased take-up by eligible families, because this could make a significant financial difference to families.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Charlotte Cane:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle persistent absence among young carers. \p Stephen Morgan: The department wants to ensure that young carers have the best life chances by supporting them in their education. We recognise that absence from school is almost always a symptom of wider needs and barriers that a family is facing. It is often the best early indication of need in a family that may not be in contact with other services.

The department’s expectations of local authorities and schools, as set out in the ‘Working together to improve school attendance’ guidance, were made statutory on 19 August 2024. The ‘support-first’ ethos of the attendance guidance is that pupils and families, including young carers, should receive holistic, whole-family support to help them overcome the barriers to attendance they are facing. This includes holding regular meetings with the families of pupils who the school, and/or local authority, consider to be vulnerable, to discuss attendance and engagement at school. Schools are expected to recognise that absence is a symptom and that improving pupil’s attendance is part of supporting the pupil’s overall welfare.

Young carers are also now part of the school census, which will improve their visibility in the school system and allow schools to better identify and support their young carers. This will provide an annual data collection to establish long term trends. Separately, the department also publishes daily attendance data on a fortnightly basis and will continue to monitor the quality of data on young carers that is collected via the school register for consideration to include in the daily data collection in the future.

Schools can also use pupil premium funding to support other pupils with identified needs, including young carers. Pupil premium funding has increased to over £2.9 billion for the 2024/25 financial year.
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Mr Andrew Snowden:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools left the breakfast club early adopters scheme due to funding constraints in Fylde constituency prior to 24 February 2025. \p Stephen Morgan: This government is clear on the impact that breakfast clubs can have to support children to arrive at school ready to learn. That is why we committed to introducing free breakfast clubs in every state-funded school with primary aged pupils.

The early adopter scheme has not yet started. We were delighted that over 3,000 schools applied to be early adopters. The list of the 750 schools selected was published on 24 February.

Early adopters will start delivering from the summer term, meaning we are bringing change now for pupils and parents in every corner of the country.
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Jim Shannon:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage employers to take advantage of the apprenticeship levy to use these funds to develop skills in young people. \p Janet Daby: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

The government is reforming the current levy-funded apprenticeships offer to deliver greater flexibility for employers. Apprenticeships will remain at the heart of the offer. To support more businesses to participate in apprenticeships, the department is introducing shorter duration apprenticeships and foundation apprenticeships in targeted sectors.

Foundation apprenticeships will be a new work-based training offer that give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives, whilst supporting the pipeline of new talent that employers will need to drive economic growth. The department is working closely with employers and providers to design foundation apprenticeships that offer young people a good route into good, skilled work and meet the needs of the industrial strategy.

To support smaller employers to access apprenticeships, the government pays the full training costs for young apprentices aged 16 to 21, and for apprentices aged 22 to 24 who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan or have been in local authority care.

Employers of all sizes can also benefit from £1000 payments when they take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, or apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an EHC plan or have been in local authority care. This is in recognition of the additional support that younger apprentices may require when entering employment. Employers can choose how they spend these payments. Employers also benefit from not being required to pay anything towards employees’ National Insurance for all apprentices aged up to age 25 where they earn less than £967 a week (£50,270 a year).
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Luke Murphy:To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many planned learning hours an average T-level student is expected to undertake in 2024-25. \p Janet Daby: T Levels range in size, with planned learning hours varying across pathways depending on the needs of individual sectors. Individual providers have freedom to plan their curriculum and structure their teaching hours based on local needs, and there are significant variations in delivery patterns. On average, a T Level has around 1,200 guided learning hours across the two-year programme, in addition to an industry placement of a minimum of 315 hours and employability, enrichment and pastoral activities.
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Kit Malthouse:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to allow projects that use ammonia cracking technology to be eligible in future Hydrogen Allocation Rounds. \p Sarah Jones: In line with our current priorities, the Hydrogen Production Business Model is intended to support primary methods of hydrogen production, such as electrolytic and CCUS-enabled production, in the UK. Ammonia cracking would not create any new hydrogen (given the ammonia itself is produced from hydrogen) and so we do not consider it to meet these criteria.

We are currently developing our approach to future Hydrogen Allocation Rounds (HARs), including the third Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR3), to ensure they deliver on the Government’s priorities. We will seek feedback on the proposed design and delivery of HAR3 through a market engagement exercise, similar to the approach taken for HAR2. Further details will be provided in due course.
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Kit Malthouse:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the size of the global green ammonia market; and what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of steps other nations are taking to support the development of green ammonia projects. \p Sarah Jones: The current green ammonia market is minimal, but it is expected to grow as electrolytic hydrogen production scales up. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimate that 92Mt of green ammonia (about 40% of total ammonia production) will be produced globally each year by 2050 in their Net Zero Scenario. Ammonia is also expected to play a role in hydrogen trade, with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimating that 690Mt/yr of ammonia could be utilised for transporting hydrogen in their 2050 Net Zero Scenario.

Officials are working closely with other departments, such as the Department for Transport, to understand potential demand for low carbon ammonia in the UK, where appropriate supply may come from, and whether any Government intervention may be required.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Andrew Rosindell:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to support homeowners that had lcynene spray foam insultation installed under the Green Homes Grant scheme. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: Any measures fitted under government schemes must be fitted to the highest standards with issues promptly and properly rectified. Installations of any insulation under current Government schemes must be installed in accordance with the PAS 2030 and PAS 2035 standards. In any instance where insulation is installed improperly under a government-backed scheme, consumers are entitled to remediation by their installer or, failing that, the insurance-backed guarantee.

If installed under a government scheme the TrustMark website contains further guidance on how consumers can complain if things go wrong and the dispute resolution process: https://www.trustmark.org.uk/homeowners/if-things-go-wrong.

Ministers will now press ahead with a sweeping overhaul of consumer protection through the Warm Homes Plan.
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Andrew Bowie:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the gap between market prices and average tariffs charged by electricity suppliers over the next five years. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: Under the default tariff cap, Ofgem has capped the profits of energy suppliers in the retail market to ensure excessive profits aren’t made. There are different costs included in the price cap and any changes to these costs affect how much the price cap will increase or decrease each time it is reviewed. For the period 1 April to 30 June 2025, the main cost increase is due to an increase in the wholesale price of energy that suppliers buy from global fossil fuel markets.

The Government believes that our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is the best way to break our dependence on global fossil fuel markets and protect billpayers permanently. The creation of Great British Energy will help us to harness clean energy and have less reliance on volatile international energy markets and help in our commitment to make Britain a clean energy superpower by 2030.
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David Mundell:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of zonal energy pricing in Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency on household energy bills. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: Through the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA), the government is continuing to assess options for strengthening locational and operational signals in the electricity market. This includes measures which could be implemented under national pricing, as well as a zonal pricing option.

Zonal pricing has the potential to deliver large consumer benefits by creating a more efficient energy system. It would result in a smaller, more efficient power system reducing the need for new power stations and lower the amount of new network that needs to be built.

However, we recognise that implementing zonal could also create uncertainty for investors.  We are considering the balance between potential consumer and system benefits from enabling greater demand-side flexibility, potential distributional impacts, and the future trajectory of network charging which already introduces regional variations in consumer bills.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he is taking steps to help end regional differences in domestic energy bills. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: Standing charges are a commercial matter for suppliers, and are regulated by Ofgem, but we know that too much of the burden of the bill is placed on them. The Government has worked constructively with the regulator on the issue of standing charges, and we are committed to lowering the cost of them.

Ofgem’s recently published update on reform of standing charges outlines how it will look to make standing charges fairer for consumers. Ofgem has also committed to consider whether these regional differences should remain or whether there is a different option that would better protect consumers overall.
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Melanie Ward:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many people are eligible for the Warm Home Discount Scheme in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy constituency. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: The latest published Warm Home Discount statistics are for 2023/4 and use the constituency boundaries operating prior to the 2024 General Election. Most (84%) of the residential premises in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy constituency come from Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency under the previous boundaries, in which 1,666 households received the Warm Home Discount rebate in 2023-24. The statistics only cover receipt of the Warm Home Discount and not eligibility.
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Steff Aquarone:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the use of lower layer super output areas to define eligible postcodes for the Warm Homes Local Grant; and whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of that criteria in supporting households in poverty. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: Lower layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs) have been used to identify Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) Income Decile 1-2 eligible postcodes for the Warm Homes: Local Grant.

The IMD Income Deprivation domain measures the proportion of the population experiencing deprivation relating to low income. Income Decile 1 represents the most economically deprived areas of the country and 10 the least.

I am therefore confident that use of IMD Income Deciles 1-2 to establish income eligibility for Warm Homes: Local Grant maintains a focus on low-income households. It will also support area-based delivery by Local Authorities – who have welcomed this eligibility route.
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Anna Sabine:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to support homeowners to remove and replace faulty home insulation. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: Installations of any insulation under current Government schemes must comply with the PAS 2030 and PAS 2035 standards. In any instance where insulation is installed improperly under these schemes, consumers are entitled to remediation by their installer or, failing that, the guarantee provided.

The TrustMark website contains further guidance on how consumers can complain if things go wrong and the dispute resolution process: https://www.trustmark.org.uk/homeowners/if-things-go-wrong.

Through the Warm Homes Plan, the Government will further drive up the quality of installations and protect consumers.
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Anna Sabine:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to support homeowners who received a government grant to get foam roof insulation which has caused damp issues. \p Miatta Fahnbulleh: Any measures fitted under government schemes must be fitted to the highest standards with issues promptly and properly rectified. Installations of any insulation under current Government schemes must be installed in accordance with the PAS 2030 and PAS 2035 standards. In any instance where insulation is installed improperly under a government-backed scheme, consumers are entitled to remediation by their installer or, failing that, the insurance-backed guarantee.

If installed under a government scheme the TrustMark website contains further guidance on how consumers can complain if things go wrong and the dispute resolution process: https://www.trustmark.org.uk/homeowners/if-things-go-wrong.

Ministers will now press ahead with a sweeping overhaul of consumer protection through the Warm Homes Plan.
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Harriet Cross:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his Department's timetable is for announcing the Track 2 Cluster sequencing for carbon capture, usage and storage funding. \p Sarah Jones: CCUS requires significant resources, and it is right that it is considered within the Spending Review. We continue to engage at both working and ministerial level with all future projects, including Track-2, and further decisions for future CCUS deployment will be taken in due course.
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Kit Malthouse:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of classifying ammonia as a fuel vector. \p Sarah Jones: Officials are working closely with other departments, such as the Department for Transport, to understand the potential role of ammonia in the UK’s future low carbon economy and how it should be considered within the UK’s policy frameworks.

Low carbon ammonia, as a derivative of low carbon hydrogen, could have the potential to play a role in reaching net zero where it could be used as a chemical feedstock or burned as a fuel in transport or power stations, and could also be stored in large quantities. The Department for Transport’s (DfT) 2019 Clean Maritime Plan sets out the significant role that low carbon ammonia and methanol may play in decarbonising the maritime sector.
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Kit Malthouse:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of ammonia as a hydrogen carrier to support industrial decarbonisation. \p Sarah Jones: The Government continues to review the range of potential hydrogen carriers and their role in supporting the long-distance transport and trade of hydrogen, including its contribution to industrial decarbonisation. These potential options include ammonia, methanol, liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHCs), and liquid hydrogen. Our ongoing assessment highlights the need for further research, demonstration and learning from deployment in order to optimise these carrier options, whilst ensuring environmental and safety concerns have been fully considered and mitigated.
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Kit Malthouse:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to develop a green ammonia market in the UK. \p Sarah Jones: Low carbon ammonia could play a role in reaching net zero as part of a diversified energy mix. Officials are working closely with other departments, such as the Department for Transport, to understand potential demand for low carbon ammonia, where appropriate supply may come from, and whether any Government intervention may be required.
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Andrew Bowie:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the (a) overall cost and (b) breakdown of expenditure was for the Climate and Environment Conference hosted by the Civil Service Climate + Environment Network. \p Kerry McCarthy: Information on departmental expenditure is made publicly available the usual way through the Department's annual report and accounts.
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Andrew Bowie:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much civil service time is spent on organising the Civil Service Climate + Environment Network each week. \p Kerry McCarthy: The Civil Service Climate + Environment Network is run by volunteers across government who typically dedicate around 5% of their time to network activities, often as part of their learning and development. The annual conference is delivered primarily through this voluntary commitment, with minimal impact on departmental resources.

This is the second such conference, with the inaugural event in 2023 attended by Ministers from the previous administration in which the HM was a Minister.
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Andrew Bowie:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether staff in his Department will be given paid time off to attend the Climate and Environment Conference hosted by the Civil Service Climate + Environment Network. \p Kerry McCarthy: Attendance at the Civil Service Climate + Environment Conference is treated like other professional development opportunities within the Civil Service. Staff may attend with their line manager's agreement as part of their learning and development, in line with standard departmental policies. This aligns with the Civil Service's commitment to continuous professional development and cross government collaboration.

This is the second such conference, with the inaugural event in 2023 attended by Ministers from the previous administration in which the Hon Member was a Minister
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Andrew Bowie:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether Ministers in his Department will attend the CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas, between 10 March 2025 and 14 March 2025. \p Michael Shanks: Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
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Andrew Bowie:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether any civil servants from his Department will attend the CERAWeek conference in Houston, Texas, between 10 March 2025 and 14 March 2025. \p Michael Shanks: Details of meetings held by officials are not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
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Andrew Bowie:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what the sources of funding were for the Climate and Environment Conference hosted by the Civil Service Climate + Environment Network. \p Kerry McCarthy: The 2025 conference was funded by learning and development budgets from across government.
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Andrew Bowie:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of monthly market price variability on plans to decarbonise the grid by 2030. \p Michael Shanks: Currently, the market price varies strongly based on fossil fuel prices, which we do not expect to impact the delivery of Clean Power 2030.

As the action plan makes clear, homegrown renewable energy is the key to energy independence. Clean Power 2030 will reduce our exposure to volatile international gas markets and the leverage of hostile petrostates like Russia.
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Andrew Bowie:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, which companies have received curtailment payments; and what those payments were in each year since 2015. \p Michael Shanks: The Department does not hold this information. The National Energy System Operator (NESO) is responsible for managing constraints and publishes yearly breakdowns by cost and volume, which can be found here: Constraint Breakdown Costs and Volume | National Energy System Operator. This is aggregate data and does not show which companies have received constraint payments.

Increasing the capacity of Great Britain’s electricity network is essential for reducing curtailment and constraint payments. This is why the Government is working to accelerate the build of new network infrastructure, so more cheap, homegrown energy can power up our homes and businesses.
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Andrew Bowie:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of (a) copper, (b) aluminium, (c) steel, (d) concrete and (e) other metals required to upgrade the electricity (i) transmission and (ii) distribution grids over the next five years. \p Michael Shanks: Grid expansion will be dependent on equipment manufacturers securing the materials required to produce grid components to meet global demand. The UK Critical Mineral Intelligence Centre (CMIC) recently published a study into requirements of our national grid infrastructure to reach net zero. The cumulative material demand between 2023-2050 for upgrades is expected to be between 1.1m-1.6m tonnes of copper and 200,000-300,000 tonnes of aluminium.

As part of the Government’s upcoming Plan for Steel, we are working to better understand domestic demand and explore what can be done to ensure our steel sector is best positioned to capitalise on it.
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Pippa Heylings:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he plans to take steps to decouple electricity prices from the wholesale gas price. \p Michael Shanks: The electricity market in GB operates on the principle of marginal pricing, whereby the price of electricity is set by the last technology needed to meet overall demand. In the current market, gas prices often set the wholesale electricity price because it is typically the last source of supply to meet demand.

Decarbonising the power system will increase energy security by reducing dependence on imported oil and gas, which will in turn reduce the exposure of consumer bills to volatile international prices. The ever-increasing participation of renewables in the wholesale market means that over time, cheaper electricity produced by renewable technologies will determine the price more often and gas will play a much more limited role in setting the wholesale market price.

Increasing the number of renewables on Contracts for Difference (CfDs) has already made a tangible difference. When wholesale electricity prices spiked in the winter of 2022/23, the CfD delivered the equivalent of an £18 saving on a typical annual household bill.

Expanding the CfD scheme to enable more renewables in the wholesale market will help to rapidly decouple electricity from gas prices without the need for more complex arrangements.

The Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) programme is considering what further steps can be taken to shield consumers from the impacts of potential price spikes.

The second REMA consultation sought views on some specific proposals, including retaining marginal pricing across the wholesale market alongside futureproofing the CfD scheme as the best tool to decouple gas and electricity prices.
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Seamus Logan:To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when he will reply to correspondence from the Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East on climate change emissions of (a) 11 October 2024, (b) 25 November 2024 and (c) 14 January 2025. \p Kerry McCarthy: I wrote to the Hon. Member on 21 February, in response to the Hon. Member’s correspondence about how the Government plans to deliver emission cuts, generate jobs, lower energy bills and restore nature. In that response I apologised for the delay in replying. As the hon. Member is aware this correspondence was passed to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential implication for his policies of the decision by the US to pause intelligence sharing with Ukraine. \p Luke Pollard: There is a long-standing position of successive Governments not to comment on specific intelligence capabilities or detail concerning intelligence operations.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decision by the US to pause intelligence sharing with Ukraine on the use of Storm Shadow missiles supplied by Britain. \p Luke Pollard: There is a long-standing position of successive Governments not to comment on specific intelligence capabilities or detail concerning intelligence operations.
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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decision by the US to pause intelligence sharing with Ukraine on the use of UK RC-135W Rivet Joint to support intelligence gathering for Ukraine. \p Luke Pollard: There is a long-standing position of successive Governments not to comment on specific intelligence capabilities or detail concerning intelligence operations.
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Katie White:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to recruit more neurodiverse graduates into the armed forces. \p Luke Pollard: In a competitive age, our advantage derives from the talent and skills of our people. Attracting, recruiting, and retaining the best people drawn from the broadest diversity of thought, skills and background is mission critical to our operational effectiveness. It ensures we continue to meet the threats we face and safeguard the security, stability and prosperity of our nation. Diversity drives performance, innovation, increases creative thinking and reduces the risks of group think and lack of challenge, as highlighted in the Chilcot Review.

This Government has already begun to modernise and refine our policies and processes to attract, and then retain the best possible talent in our Armed Forces. Defence is committed to a diverse workforce, including in neurodiversity. The Defence Secretary has undertaken to review the current recruitment policies and has already announced several changes to prior outdated approaches, including medical entry standards relating to neurodiverse conditions. For example, candidates with Autism Spectrum Disorder can now join the Armed Forces, providing their symptoms have no significant impact and do not require ongoing specialist support.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many manufacturing jobs have been created to support the Next Generation Munitions Solution agreement (a) between 11 July 2023 and 4 July 2024 and (b) since 5 July 2024 in (i) Washington in Tyne & Wear and (ii) Glascoed, Wales. \p Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not currently hold the number of manufacturing jobs created to support the Next Generation Munitions Solution agreement in the specified time period.

The Department has requested BAE Systems, (who deliver the Next Generation Munitions Solution for the MOD) to provide updated figures, and once they are received I will write to the hon. Member and will place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what aspects of Trident are reliant upon US support. \p Maria Eagle: The UK has a longstanding, close relationship with the US on all defence nuclear issues, which has endured through many changes of Government in our two nations. One result of our close relationship is that the UK is able to procure certain non-nuclear components from the US, most notably the Trident II D5 missile, significantly reducing the cost of our nuclear deterrent capability.

Our extant long-term arrangements under the 1958 Mutual Defense Agreement and the 1963 Polaris Sales Agreement (as amended in 1982 for Trident) provide for co-operation and collaboration which has been, and continues to be, of considerable mutual benefit to both nations.

Further details can be found in Command Paper 1058: Delivering the UK’s Nuclear Deterrent as a National Endeavour at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-nuclear-enterprise-command-paper]
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the comments by the Prime Minister published in the Telegraph on 16 February 2025, whether he plans to proceed with the decommissioning of the Puma helicopter fleet . \p Maria Eagle: The phased retirement of the 14 oldest Chinook helicopters over the next four years, synchronised with the delivery of replacement state-of-the-art Chinook H-47 (Extended Range) from 2027 onwards, represents the optimal transition that delivers the new aircraft and trained aircrew.

Likewise, it remains the Department's position to retire Puma on 31 Mar 25 while the new Airbus H145 HC2 Jupiter helicopter will enter service from 2026 in both Brunei and Cyprus. In the interim, the Department continues to assess any capability gaps and will deploy Chinook to Cyprus in support of the wildfire season.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) SUSAT, (b) ACOG L85 and (c) Specter OS4X (LDS) sights his Department holds. \p Maria Eagle: The number of weapons sights held by the Department changes frequently and the figures provided have been collated using single Service data. As at 5 March 2025, there were 107,671 Sight Unit Small Arms, Trilux (SUSAT) sights and 34,258 Elcan Specter OS4X Lightweight Day Sights (LDS) held across the Ministry of Defence. The L85 Advanced Combat Optical Gunsights (ACOG) were removed from combat service in 2015, 18 are currently held in stock.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2025 to Question 35428 on Boxer Vehicles: Procurement, what the delivery schedule is for Mechanised Infantry Vehicles (BOXER) during the period 2025 to 2027 by (a) month and (b) brigade. \p Maria Eagle: Whilst the Army’s modernisation will continue over the next decade with a programme of investment worth billions of pounds, future capability development priorities will be guided by the Strategic Defence Review (SDR).

There have been some ongoing delays to the contract delivery of BOXER vehicles due to global supply chain issues, following the war in Ukraine.

However, production vehicles are now arriving, and Defence expects industry to deliver up to 100 vehicles per year.

It would be inappropriate to comment on specific fielding plans and future force development until the SDR completes.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Ben Obese-Jecty:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on Peltor ComTac XP/XPI ear defence since the Tactical Hearing Protection System was introduced in 2015. \p Maria Eagle: I am unable to provide the details requested, as releasing this information could prejudice commercial interests.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Alex Burghart:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what weightings were applied to (a) technical capability, (b) cost, (c) delivery timelines and (d) risk assessment in the award of the contract to Thales Northern Ireland for lightweight-multirole missiles. \p Maria Eagle: This procurement was not subject to competition, in accordance with applicable procurement legislation, and therefore tender assessment weightings were not applicable.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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James Cartlidge:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his target in service date is for CETUS. \p Maria Eagle: CETUS is undergoing Integrated Test, Evaluation and Acceptance trials which are expected to complete in the summer, before handover to the Royal Navy. This is six months later than planned because of an amendment to the original design of the vessel. CETUS will continue progressive experimentation and capability demonstration activities until late 2027.

CETUS is a capability demonstrator, so will enable greater understanding of how this type of vehicle can be operated, maintained and commanded - it is not intended to enter operational service and therefore does not have a target in-service date.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Luke Akehurst:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of direct action taken by Palestine Action on the (a) defence sector and (b) adequacy of the supply of assets to the Armed Forces. \p Maria Eagle: The Ministry of Defence regularly monitors risks and issues facing the defence sector as part of our supply chain resilience work.

A number of UK Defence companies have reported that they have incurred costs through installing additional security measures in responding to the threat of actions from groups such as Palestine Action. It is also recognised that there are a small number of defence companies, and associated supporting businesses, who have been targeted by Palestine Action with criminal damage and intimidation of their staff. At an individual level these businesses have incurred costs and disruption through the damage caused and we are working with the Police to deal with such offences and mitigate potential future such action.

However, the overall impact to Defence has been limited and there have been no significant reported impacts to the Defence supply chain.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Steve Barclay:To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many full-time equivalent roles there are in his Department relating to equality, diversity and inclusion; and how many of those roles are unfilled but budgeted for. \p Al Carns: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 September 2024 to Question 5190 to the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Rupert Lowe).

https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-09-10/5190
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Seamus Logan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of a free trade agreement with the US on the NHS. \p Ashley Dalton: The Department is considering the impact of a potential trade deal between the United Kingdom and the United States. As my Rt. Hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, said last week, “we’re clear the NHS is not on the table. It’s not up for sale. But when it comes to life sciences and medical technology… we’ve got a lot to offer the United States, and we’ve got a lot to get from the United States in return”.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Seamus Logan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has a policy on the inclusion of provisions on the supply of services to the NHS within the proposed free trade agreement with the US. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government’s policy position is to protect the National Health Service and the services it provides in trade agreements.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Julia Lopez:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the findings by the National Prostate Cancer Audit in their publication entitled the State of the Nation Report published in January 2025, what steps he plans to take to tackle age-related disparities in (a) prostate cancer diagnosis and (b) care for older populations in Havering. \p Ashley Dalton: The NHS England Cancer Programme has commissioned clinical cancer audits, including for prostate cancer, which provide timely evidence for cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary. These audits will help NHS England understand where to increase the consistency of access to treatments and help stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. The audits are ongoing and will act on their findings in due course.

The National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients, including for those living with prostate cancer. The plan will highlight how we aim to improve diagnosis rates for people across England, including in Havering.

The NHS Long Term Plan states that, where appropriate, every person diagnosed with cancer will have access to personalised care, including needs assessment, a care plan, and health and wellbeing information and support. This includes provision of information, empowering people to manage their care and the impact of their cancer. We are committed to ensuring that all cancer patients get access to these interventions, ensuring care is focused on what matters most to each person, including for older people in Havering.
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Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-03-12)

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Seamus Logan:To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will hold discussions with the Secretary of State for Business and Trade on the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to amend the Trade Act 2021 to prevent future international trade agreements from including provisions relating to the operation of the NHS. \p Ashley Dalton: The Government’s policy position is to protect the National Health Service and the services it provides in trade agreements. The Department of Health and Social Care will continue to work closely with the Department for Business and Trade to defend this position in all trade policy and trade agreement considerations.