Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the decision not to uprate Local Housing Allowance on poverty (a) before and (b) after housing costs, particularly for households in Wales.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
DWP is committed to delivering for the people of Wales. It is important that the UK Government considers the specific impacts of policy changes in Wales, and the interaction with the devolved matter on housing. Officials continue to engage with counterparts in the Welsh Government, and with Welsh stakeholders, to understand these interactions.
As part of the decision not to increase LHA rates, a number of factors were considered, including rent levels in Wales, interactions with poverty and homelessness, overall housing support, and the wider fiscal context.
For those who need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities in Wales.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of trends in the levels of homelessness among Universal Credit claimants since Local Housing Allowance was last uprated.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
The causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and often complex and they interact dynamically DWP continues to work closely with MHCLG on interactions with homelessness.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions reviewed Local Housing Allowance (LHA) at the 2025 Autumn Budget and announced that rates would be maintained at their current levels for 2026/27. A range of factors, such as rent levels across the country, were considered against the fiscal context, including the level of housing support that Government provides overall.
Renters receiving housing support who face a shortfall in meeting their rent costs can apply for discretionary support from local authorities via the Crisis and Resilience Fund Housing Payments in England and Discretionary Housing Payments in Wales.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Future of Food Regulation programme on Wales.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson
The November 2025 Budget announcement included a request for the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to develop a consistent national approach to the regulation of large food businesses in England.
The FSA Board formally established the programme in March 2026 and agreed its vision of delivering an effective, resilient, and trusted regulatory system that is fit for the future.
The Future of Food Regulation Programme will develop proposals to strengthen the system that keeps our food safe, to ensure it keeps pace with new and emerging food businesses and reflects how people buy and consume food today. Developing a consistent, national approach to the regulation of large food businesses in England is one part of the programme, which will also be looking at how small and medium businesses are regulated, so that the whole system remains effective, resilient, trusted, and fit for the future.
While the funding and mandate for this work are focused on England, the proposals will be developed in collaboration with stakeholders across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. This includes taking account of the distinct legislative and regulatory frameworks that operate within each nation and understanding how proposed changes may interact with those different contexts.
The FSA is engaging with stakeholders in Wales, in line with the collaborative agreement between the FSA, local authorities in Wales, the Welsh Government, and the Welsh Local Government Association, with further information available at the following link:
https://www.gov.wales/written-statement-review-and-reform-food-business-regulation-wales
Proposals that relate to devolved matters will be recommended to the Welsh ministers, supported by the appropriate evidence, including assessments of impacts.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the answer of 23 June 2026 to question 11289, how many applications the National Wealth Fund has received from steel companies requesting investment from the Steel Fund (a) in total and (b) for steel sites in Wales; and much funding has been (i) requested and (ii) allocated.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government is providing up to £2.5 billion to support the UK steel industry, in addition to the £500 million grant to Tata Steel at Port Talbot. This is being delivered through a combination of direct support for steel companies and the National Wealth Fund (NWF), which aims to commit £5.8 billion to five priority sectors, including green steel. All funding is allocated on a case-by-case basis subject to scrutiny of individual propositions. Businesses seeking the NWF’s finance or support from should contact them directly via their website:
https://www.nationalwealthfund.org.uk/contact-us
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many applications his Department has received from the steel companies requesting investment from the Steel Fund for steel sites in Wales, and the total amount allocated.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is providing up to £2.5bn to support the UK steel industry, in addition to the £500m grant to Tata Steel in Port Talbot. This is being delivered through a combination of direct support for steel companies and the National Wealth Fund.
The Department for Business and Trade is not running a competitive steel fund and has not sought or received applications from steel companies of this nature. We continue to engage with Tata Steal on its Electric Arc Furnace project in Port Talbot, and companies in Wales seeking investment can contact the National Wealth Fund.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made on the consultation on banning the use of carbon dioxide gas stunning of pigs.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As set out in the animal welfare strategy, the Government will consult on banning carbon dioxide gas stunning of pigs and on possible timescales for phasing out this method. Further details will be set out later this year.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Wales Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what steps she is taking to support households with the cost of living in Wales.
Answered by Jo Stevens
Improving the cost of living is the UK Labour Government’s number one priority.
That is why we took £117 off people’s energy bills, expanded the Warm Home Discount, increased the minimum and living wage, universal credit and pensions, and we have frozen the tax paid at the petrol pump until the end of this year.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what are the funding sources for the UK Steel Fund and how will funding be divided across these sources.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is providing up to £2.5 billion to support the UK steel industry, in addition to the £500 million grant to Tata Steel at Port Talbot. This is being delivered through a combination of direct support for steel companies and the National Wealth Fund, which will aim to commit £5.8 billion to five priority sectors, including green steel. All funding is allocated on a case by case basis subject to scrutiny of individual propositions.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to her Department's joint press release entitled Prime Minister announces seven new stations and major rail funding commitment, published on 17 February 2026, and Transport for Wales' document entitled Today, Tomorrow, Together: A vision for rail across Wales and Borders, published on 18 February 2026, what projects are included in the £14 billion of funding.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In February, the Prime Minister endorsed Transport for Wales’s publication of the ‘Today, Tomorrow, Together’ vision for rail in Wales, agreeing that it should set the framework for a pipeline of projects and committing the UK Government to fund and deliver the projects described in the document as soon as possible. The pipeline is a generational transformational commitment, with exact additional UK Government funding allocations to be confirmed at future Spending Reviews.
Asked by: Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru - Caerfyrddin)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Transport for Wales' document entitled Today, Tomorrow, Together: A vision for rail across Wales and Borders, published on 18 February 2026, what proportion of the funding set out in that document for rail schemes has her Department guaranteed to date.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The UK Government’s 2025 Spending Review and Infrastructure Strategy recognised Wales’s long-term infrastructure needs, and committed at least £445 million of rail enhancements to realise them.
This is in addition to the £2.5 billion operations, maintenance, and renewal (OMR) investment in Wales over railway Control Period 7 (April 2024 - March 2029).
This investment will reconnect Wales’s industrial heartlands, improve commuter journeys, and drive economic growth in communities that have long suffered from poor transport links. It will provide for increased service levels on the Wrexham to Liverpool line, increased service frequencies in the Cardiff area, delivery of new stations and services in South Wales, and a major upgrade to Cardiff Central Station.