Written Statements

Thursday 12th November 2026 Written Statements

Thursday 12 November 2026

Space Activities in Orbit: Contingent Liability Arrangements

Thursday 12th November 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (Blair McDougall)]

My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (Baroness Lloyd of Effra CBE) has today made the following statement.

A departmental minute is being laid before Parliament today setting out updated contingent liability arrangements arising from new liability and insurance measures announced alongside the space strategy on 8 September.

The UK has a thriving space sector, which is increasingly providing critical services to support our daily lives and which underpins 18% of UK GDP.

Faced with great opportunities in the burgeoning space economy, the UK space strategy available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-space-strategy backed by a record £7.8 billion until 2030, brings the Government’s space investment and activity under one plan to drive growth, strengthen security and back the technologies that underpin modern life.

The strategy details how Government will go further and faster to develop capability and deliver outcomes in our four priority subsectors, including in-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing.

Alongside the strategy, the Government have announced reforms to space regulations to reduce costs, reward responsible operators and make it easier for UK firms to invest in cutting-edge missions from satellite servicing to lunar exploration by:

Adopting a world-first variable third-party liability limits approach for orbital operations to incentivise uptake of Government priorities of security and space sustainability, reduce cost burdens on UK companies and stimulate increased commercial investment in the UK’s space sector.

Waiving operator third-party liability for innovative and novel space missions launched before the end of 2030—in-orbit servicing, assembly and manufacturing, and lunar missions—to help support development of high-potential technologies.

Adoption of new world-first models for the provision of third-party liability insurance to support innovation in the City of London space insurance market.

Abolishing decommissioning funds for operators of constellations in favour of a more proportionate approach to monitoring operators’ financial health.

I have therefore today laid a departmental minute updating the previously notified contingent liability that arises from the changes announced on adopting variable liability limits for orbital operations, and waiving third-party liability and insurance requirements for innovative missions.

A potential contingent liability is created each time a space activity—not including launch activity under this notification, as this is covered by a separate notification—is conducted involving UK-licensed entities. The measures announced could create a maximum additional exposure of £50 million for any single claim compared with the current arrangements. In general, the risk of a claim rising is considered to be remote and, to date, no claim has been made for damage caused by a UK-licensed space object.

The Treasury has approved the proposal in principle. If, during the period of 14 parliamentary sitting days beginning on the date on which this minute was laid before Parliament, a Member signifies an objection by giving notice of a parliamentary question or by otherwise raising the matter in Parliament, final approval to proceed with incurring the liability will be withheld pending an examination.

[HCWS467]

Radio Selection Services: Designation

Thursday 12th November 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Online Safety (Ian Murray)]

Radio continues to be a strong and highly valued medium in the UK, with 87% of the population tuning in every week. However, the means by which listeners tune into radio has undergone a significant shift in recent years. In particular, there has been sustained growth in listeners’ use of voice-activated devices, such as smart speakers, to access online streams of live broadcast radio. The use of these kinds of devices by radio listeners has grown strongly: according to the most recent figures from RAJAR, 18% of total radio listening is now via a voice-assisted device.

In response to these changes, the Media Act 2024 amended the Communications Act 2003 to introduce new powers to protect the availability and carriage of online streams of UK broadcast radio on such voice-activated platforms, defined in legislation as radio selection services. These protections were put in place to ensure that listeners using services designated by the Secretary of State are able to continue to easily access live radio.

Before making any such designation, the Secretary of State is required to receive and consider a report from Ofcom, which was provided on 19 March 2026, and to consult with persons who appear to represent providers of radio selection services, providers of internet radio services, and other appropriate stakeholders.

The Secretary of State agreed with Ofcom’s conclusion that 700,000 UK users is the appropriate threshold for designation. Consequently, between 15 July and 9 September 2026, the Government consulted on a “minded to” decision that Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple’s Siri, along with AI-enabled versions of these services, should all be designated as RSS.

Today, we have published our response to this consultation. This confirms that Amazon’s Alexa (including Alexa+), Google Assistant (including Gemini), and Apple’s Siri are all designated as radio selection services. Regulations which give effect to these designations are being made today.

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Children not in School: Statutory Guidance

Thursday 12th November 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Paul Waugh)]

All children deserve to receive a suitable education that enables them to thrive and achieve, and the Government are committed to ensuring that no child misses out. The Government have today launched a consultation on “Children Not in School: Statutory Guidance and Secondary Legislation”. This consultation sets out our proposals to help ensure that every child not in school is receiving a safe and suitable education.

Parents have a right to home educate, and we know many work hard to provide a suitable education for their children. Where parents choose to home educate, they must provide an efficient, full-time education suitable to the child’s age, ability, aptitude and any special educational needs. Where a child is not receiving a suitable education, it is important that local authorities are able to identify this and take prompt, appropriate action.

The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 establishes new children not in school measures which, once commenced, will introduce:

compulsory children not in school registers in each local authority area in England and Wales, and accompanying duties on relevant parents and out-of-school education providers to give information for these registers;

a duty on local authorities to provide support to the parents of children on their registers;

changes to the school attendance order process to make it more efficient;

a requirement for local authority consent to home educate where children are:

on child protection plans or were previously on child protection plans in the previous five years;

subject to section 47 child protection inquiries; or

on the roll of a special school by arrangement of the local authority;

a requirement for local authorities to consider the home and other learning environments at the point of children not in school registration and when considering whether children should be required to attend school; and

the piloting of mandatory meetings in selected local authorities, for parents wishing to withdraw their child from school for home education.

Together, these measures establish a new statutory framework intended to improve local authorities’ visibility of children not in school, including children who are home educated, and to support local authorities to ensure that all children in their areas are receiving a safe and suitable education. These measures will further help local authorities to fulfil their duty to identify children not in receipt of a suitable education, understand the barriers they face, and to support them back into education. These measures extend and apply to both England and Wales. However, the guidance and regulations that are the subject of this consultation relate to England only.

During the passage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026, the Government committed to publicly consult on the children not in school statutory guidance and regulations.

This consultation seeks input on the proposed content of the new children not in school statutory guidance. It brings together updated guidance on elective home education and the new children not in school measures into a single, comprehensive document. We are seeking views on the proposed content of the guidance, to ensure that it fosters positive relationships and collaboration between local authorities and parents, and facilitates the smooth integration of new duties into existing local authority functions when the measures come into force.

The consultation also seeks views on the policy content of statutory instruments which will be laid before Parliament following analysis of consultation responses. This includes on details such as the minimum threshold for the duty on parents and providers to share information, which previously garnered some debate during the passage of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026. Other policy details which we are seeking views on include how local authorities will determine whether education by regular attendance at school is in a child’s best interests for those in scope of the consent requirement and the operation of the mandatory meetings pilot.

The Department for Education is actively engaging with home educating families, groups, and relevant organisations. We have established stakeholder implementation forums to engage with a wide group of stakeholders, including currently home educating families. The new guidance and policy proposals contained in the consultation have been developed in collaboration with the implementation forums, which have provided valuable input and shared personal experiences to help inform decision making.

We will carefully consider the evidence and responses submitted through the consultation and use it to inform further development of the draft guidance, as well as the measures in the regulations. This consultation is an important opportunity to learn from those with relevant experience and ensure that the final guidance and regulations are clear and fit for purpose.

The consultation has been published on gov.uk and runs until 3 February 2027.

[HCWS465]

Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility

Thursday 12th November 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy)]

Today, I welcome the opportunity to update the House on the Government approach to supporting business—particularly glass manufacturing and hospitality—within the extended producer responsibility for packaging scheme.

This Government recognise the contribution that glass manufacturing and hospitality businesses makes to the British economy, and the Prime Minister’s ongoing commitment to champion UK industry. That support reflects the fact that these industries are a source of pride for many communities and continue to play an important role in supporting jobs, investment and local prosperity across the country.

The Government are already committed to reducing energy costs and creating a level playing field for British glass manufacturers. In April, my colleagues at the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade increased the discount from 60% to 90% under the network charging compensation scheme. This, alongside the British industry supercharger, has exempted eligible glass businesses from certain renewable levies and electricity network charges. The British industrial competitiveness scheme will also cut electricity bills by up to 25% for over 10,000 energy-intensive businesses from April 2027.

Separately, the independent Trade Remedies Authority is undertaking two investigations on imports of glass containers. This includes a dumping investigation on Chinese-origin imports and a subsidy investigation on Turkish-origin imports. Following a recommendation made by the TRA, a provisional anti-dumping measure on Chinese imports was imposed on 9 September. Both investigations remain ongoing.

This statement sets out a further package of measures designed by DEFRA to build on this Government’s commitment to the hospitality sector. This Government remain committed to the principle that producers should contribute towards the costs of managing packaging waste. At the same time, we must ensure that PEPR operates fairly and effectively in practice, and that we support businesses who are trying to do the right thing. We are therefore implementing the following measures:

Consultation on greater fee discounts within packaging extended producer responsibility for highly recyclable (“green”) packaging

Under this proposal, from March 2027, we propose to accelerate a discount for green packaging, benefiting over 90% of glass. Indicative estimates, based on current data and analysis, suggest that this change could reduce green-rated material fees by around 30% to 40% in 2027-28 and 2028-29 relative to the current approach. These are estimates and are highly dependent on the levels of packaging placed on the market in those years, and on the local authority costs which the scheme is designed to fund. This measure would help incentivise businesses to use highly recyclable packaging such as glass, and send a positive signal to business to help stabilise demand.

New legislation addressing cases where hospitality businesses pay twice for recycling for the same packaging

The UK Government and the devolved Governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have listened carefully to concerns raised by industry regarding the treatment of dual-use packaging under the extended producer responsibility for packaging regulations. We recognise the need to address the issue of PEPR fees applied to packaging that is ultimately disposed of through commercial waste streams. This has been raised by stakeholders across several sectors and across the four nations, and we are committed to ensuring that the regulations operate fairly, proportionately and in line with their intended purpose.

While work continues on a comprehensive solution to this challenge, we are taking a targeted and pragmatic step to introduce an interim measure for dual-use packaging in the hospitality sector.

From April 2027, this will mean that the majority of glass drinks containers supplied directly to licensed hospitality venues will no longer be classified as household packaging, and therefore not subject to PEPR disposal cost fees. This measure demonstrates our commitment to amending and improving PEPR where evidence supports change, while maintaining the wider objectives of the scheme. Analysis indicates that this could result in savings of around 5p per beer bottle and up to 10p per wine bottle, based on the current glass fee. For a pub selling 10,000 beer bottles and 3,700 wine bottles, this could save them up to £870 a year.

Publishing calls for evidence on reusable packaging and the future of modulated PEPR fee structure

The Government will publish a call for evidence on reusable packaging, which will improve our understanding of the opportunities and barriers associated with greater reuse. Glass is one of a number of packaging materials that could benefit from any future measures designed to incentivise reusable packaging systems. Glass manufacturers have indicated they would welcome a move towards reuse and would be ready to step up to meet demand for reusable products.

In early 2027, PackUK will also publish a call for evidence on the future of fee modulation. Modulation provides the financial incentive for producers to move to more environmentally sustainable packaging formats by discounting fees for green packaging. This is currently based on packaging recyclability. The call for evidence will give industry the opportunity to shape the future of modulation to deliver even more ambitious environmental outcomes and inform future policy on how PEPR can support UK industry. It will help build the evidence base for PEPR’s future modulation approach, including exploring how factors such as recycled content, excessive packaging, and domestic recycling infrastructure could inform PEPR fees in future years.

Updating the PEPR cost model

Using the latest available evidence and data PackUK have updated the PEPR cost model for 2027-28, which includes revised evidence on the resale value of glass. This is expected to result in lower estimated fees for glass from March 2027 and will help ensure that fee calculations continue to reflect the most up-to-date information available.

We believe this package of measures demonstrates the Government’s commitment to support UK business and growth, while reducing waste, supporting recycling and protecting our environment.

[HCWS466]

Leasehold Regulation

Thursday 12th November 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Housing and Planning (Matthew Pennycook)]

This Government made a clear and unambiguous commitment in our manifesto to act where previous Governments had failed and finally bring the feudal leasehold system to an end. To prevent the renewal of that system, we will legislate through our forthcoming Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill to make commonhold the default tenure.

In the commonhold future that is on the horizon, existing leaseholders will not be left behind. We will legislate to ensure that more of them are able to take control of their buildings, and more easily convert to commonhold as and when they judge the time is right for them. We will also continue to strengthen protections for existing leaseholders in the here and now.

Our forthcoming Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill will contain a number of measures that provide existing leaseholders with greater rights, powers and protections over their homes, including capping ground rents at £250 a year, and the abolition of leasehold forfeiture and its replacement with a modern, proportionate lease enforcement system that addresses breaches fairly, with appropriate safeguards and judicial oversight.

However, providing relief to existing leaseholders struggling with the cost of living requires us to switch on a number of remaining measures from the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

Leaseholders across the country are subject to a range of unfair and unreasonable practices but chief among their complaints are rapidly escalating and frequently opaque service charges that are placing huge financial strain on millions of hard-pressed leasehold homeowners.

Today, the Government are acting to protect them by introducing regulations that will improve the fairness and transparency of service charges and help transform the experience of home ownership for millions of leaseholders across the country.

We have laid a group of five complementary statutory instruments, three of which are subject to the affirmative procedure and will require parliamentary approval before they can come into force, that will work in tandem to help leaseholders better understand what they are paying for and empower them to challenge charges where they believe them to be unreasonable. Taken together, these SIs provide for the following:

Clearer, standardised information about charges, fees and buildings insurance

From 1 April 2027, leaseholders will gain stronger rights to request information about their service charges, building insurance, and the management, maintenance and repair of their buildings.

From 1 November 2027, landlords will be required to provide leaseholders with a standardised building insurance disclosure document, giving them clear information about their insurance cover and costs, how it was arranged and any financial incentives, relationships or potential conflicts of interest between the parties involved.

From 1 November 2027, all landlords other than social landlords must proactively give leaseholders clearer information through standardised service charge demands, annual reports and accounts. In addition, all landlords will have to provide up-front clarity about the administration fees that leaseholders are asked to pay in a clear, standardised administration charge schedule. Where these costs cannot be established in advance, the schedule must be clear on how these fees will be calculated.

From 1 November 2028, the requirement to provide leaseholders with clearer information through standardised service charge demands, annual reports and accounts will extend to social landlords. We have staggered the implementation of these measures to give affected parties sufficient time to prepare, while ensuring that leaseholders benefit from the reforms as soon as practicable.

Reform of the litigation costs regime

From 1 April 2027, the litigation costs regime will be reformed to address the current imbalance between leaseholders and landlords, thereby removing a significant barrier to challenging poor practice.

Landlords will in most cases need to seek court or tribunal approval before they can recover their litigation costs through a service or administration charge. Leaseholders will also have a new right to recover their own litigation costs from their landlord, with court or tribunal approval.

The measures include a targeted, proportionate exemption for litigation costs recovered via administration charge, which will allow lower value litigation costs incurred by landlords to be recovered without court or tribunal approval.

A further SI concerning litigation costs will be laid later this year and will come into force at the same time as the relevant litigation costs SI laid today.

Fairer and more transparent building insurance payments

From 1 November 2027, commission sharing with landlords and managing agents will be banned and replaced with transparent permitted insurance payments. This will ensure that leaseholders are only charged for specific insurance-related services provided to them by their landlord or managing agent, thereby preventing the cost of excessive commissions being passed on.

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Reforming Childhood Criminal Records Disclosure

Thursday 12th November 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jake Richards)]

I am today launching the Government’s consultation “Reforming childhood criminal records disclosure”. This consultation takes forward an important element of the once-in-a-generation reforms set out in the May 2026 White Paper “Cutting youth crime, changing young lives”. It seeks views on targeted and proportionate reforms to the criminal records disclosure regime for childhood offending. The proposed reforms seek to update the regime so that it strikes a better balance between rehabilitation and public protection—between enabling ex-offenders to move on with their lives, while safeguarding the public.

For some individuals, a childhood conviction can continue to have consequences long after the behaviour that led to it has ceased, affecting opportunities well into adulthood. Those who have put their offending behind them should be given the chance to take up suitable employment, secure stable housing, improve their life chances and contribute to society. Many people who offended as children go on to live law-abiding and productive lives.

But we know that holding a criminal record can significantly impede opportunities for future employment. And research consistently shows that creating barriers to opportunity is counterproductive, given that education and employment is associated with lower rates of reconviction. As the rt hon. Alan Milburn highlighted in his “Young people and work: interim report”, too many young people are being held back from building productive, fulfilling lives. For those with childhood criminal records, these barriers can be particularly difficult to overcome, even many years after they have completed their sentence.

Therefore, this consultation proposes targeted reforms that maintain robust public protection while ensuring that people are not unnecessarily held back by mistakes made as children. By helping more people to fulfil their potential, secure opportunities and contribute positively to their communities, we can support both rehabilitation and wider social and economic outcomes.

Proposals we are seeking views on include removing the requirement to disclose for life certain offences such as robbery, which when committed during childhood can reflect adolescent impulsivity rather than an ongoing risk of criminal behaviour and shorter custodial sentences for standard and enhanced disclosure checks. Instead, we propose that these should be disclosed for a specified period.

Disclosure and information sharing are essential to public protection and safeguarding. This consultation does not represent a shift away from that. Rather, it seeks views on specific areas of disclosure relating to childhood offending that can create unnecessary and potentially counterproductive barriers to employment, education and other opportunities. The proposals set out in this consultation are intended to preserve the strong protections afforded by the current regime while supporting rehabilitated individuals to access opportunities and move forward with their lives.

If taken forward, these proposals would help to ensure that individuals who have demonstrated rehabilitation are not prevented from accessing education, training and employment opportunities. For many, this could represent the difference between remaining excluded from opportunity and being able to realise their potential, contribute to their communities and build stable futures. As children from ethnic minority backgrounds—particularly black children—and those with neurodivergence or additional needs are over-represented in the youth justice system, these groups in particular stand to benefit from the proposed changes.

The consultation is being laid before Parliament today.

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