Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what weapon systems the L123A2 underslung grenade launcher is compatible with, other than the L85A2/3.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I can confirm that the L123A2 Underslung Grenade Launcher (UGL) is no longer in service within the British Army and was replaced by the L123A3 UGL. The L123A3 UGL is only compatible with the British Army’s L85 rifle family and is due to go out of service in 2030.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the planned out-of-service date is for the L123A2 underslung grenade launcher.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I can confirm that the L123A2 Underslung Grenade Launcher (UGL) is no longer in service within the British Army and was replaced by the L123A3 UGL. The L123A3 UGL is only compatible with the British Army’s L85 rifle family and is due to go out of service in 2030.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
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 restricting access to overseas recruitment on levels of recruitment from the in-country redeployment pool.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The care worker route has seen unacceptable levels of abuse and exploitation; between July 2022 and December 2024, the Home Office revoked over 470 sponsor licences, impacting approximately 40,000 workers in the care sector.
Although overseas recruitment in adult social care will end, in-country switching for those already in the country with working rights will be permitted for a transition period until 2028. This will be kept under review. These arrangements include those who need to switch employers following a sponsor licence revocation and the Department of Health and Social Care is providing up to £12.5 million to regional partnerships in 2025/26 to support these international recruits to find alternative employment.
No specific assessment has been made of the impact of restricting overseas recruitment on the levels of recruitment from the in-country redeployment pool. However, in the technical annex published alongside the Immigration White Paper on 12 May 2025, the Home Office has estimated an annual reduction of approximately 7,000 main visa applicants because of ending overseas recruitment for care workers and senior care workers. This is based on its internal management information for entry visas granted covering the period March 2024 to February 2025. This estimate reflects that there was a drop in visa grants of more than 90% compared with the 12 months ending March 2024. This analysis will be refined and included within the relevant Impact Assessments accompanying the rule changes, as appropriate.
The technical annex is available at the following link:
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 June 2025 to Question 57461 on Nuclear Power: Security, where the additional 18,000 jobs in the defence nuclear workforce will be located.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The National Nuclear Strategic Plan for Skills will be reviewed and refreshed later this year.
The additional 18,000 jobs in the defence nuclear workforce will be located predominately in the Defence Nuclear Enterprise locations specified on page 11 of Command Paper 1058: Delivering the UK’s Nuclear Deterrent as a National Endeavour, available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-nuclear-enterprise-command-paper.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his planned timetable is for reviewing the National Nuclear Strategic Plan for Skills.
Answered by Maria Eagle - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The National Nuclear Strategic Plan for Skills will be reviewed and refreshed later this year.
The additional 18,000 jobs in the defence nuclear workforce will be located predominately in the Defence Nuclear Enterprise locations specified on page 11 of Command Paper 1058: Delivering the UK’s Nuclear Deterrent as a National Endeavour, available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/defence-nuclear-enterprise-command-paper.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress she has made in updating all relevant National Policy Statements by this summer.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
Consultation on proposed amendments to the Energy National Policy Statements (NPSs) 1, 3 and 5 closed on 29 May, with the relevant period for parliamentary scrutiny of these NPSs closing on 22 July 2025.
Consultation on a draft revised Ports NPS began on 4 June and will close on 29 July. The relevant period for parliamentary scrutiny of this NPS will close on 14 November 2025.
Completion of the updates to these NPSs is subject to the outcome and timings of these consultation and parliamentary scrutiny processes.
The NPS for Water Resources Infrastructure was designated in September 2023. The Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs are considering whether the NPS needs to be reviewed at this time.
Consultation on the draft new nuclear NPS EN-7, which will be applicable to nuclear power stations expected to deploy beyond 2025, closed on 3 April. Parliamentary scrutiny of the draft NPS is expected to be completed by 23 June. Depending on the completion and outcome of these processes, the government aims to designate this new NPS before the end of the year.
We are introducing legislation through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to require National Policy Statements to be updated every five years. This will include a transitional period, which will require any NPS that is more than 5 years old at the time of Royal Assent to be updated within 2 years of the Bill being enacted.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress he has made toward meeting the NHS standard that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to start consultant-led treatment of non-urgent health conditions.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As of March 2025, performance against the 18-week standard was at 59.8%, a 2.6 percentage point improvement on March 2024 when it stood at 57.2%. The national referral to treatment waiting list is published monthly, and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/
As set out in the Plan for Change, we have committed to returning to the 18-week constitutional standard by the end of March 2029. Planning Guidance for 2025/26 set a target that 65% of patients wait for 18 weeks or less by March 2026, with every trust expected to deliver a minimum five percentage point improvement on current performance over that period.
As an important first step to delivering on this commitment, we have now exceeded our pledge to deliver an additional 2 million appointments, tests and operations, having delivered 3.6 million more since July. We have reduced the waiting list by more than 200,000, so that patients get the care they need as soon as possible.
Our Elective Reform Plan sets out the productivity and reform efforts needed to return to this standard and includes measures such as widening the opening hours of Community Diagnostic Centres and launching and expanding 17 new surgical hubs so that patients are diagnosed and treated more quickly.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing Cadet Forces into secondary schools within the state sector.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Cadets can be an excellent opportunity for enrichment and welcomes the Ministry of Defence (MoD)-commissioned University of Northampton report which explores the benefits of a cadet unit in schools, which is available here: https://www.northampton.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/institute-for-social-innovation-and-impact-cadets-report-2025.pdf. Cadet Forces offer challenging and enjoyable activities for young people, preparing them to play an active part in the community while developing valuable life skills.
The department works jointly with MoD on the Cadet Expansion Programme, which was launched to establish new cadet units in English state secondary schools. We will continue to work with MoD as they implement the Strategic Defence Review’s recommendation to expand in-school and community-based Cadet Forces.
We will also work with MoD on the Strategic Defence Review’s recommendation to increase understanding of the Armed Forces in schools in a way that creates opportunities.
MoD will review existing support with us over the coming months and in consultation with teachers. Schools themselves are best placed to determine how to use this available support.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she plans to take to develop understanding of the armed forces among young people in schools.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Cadets can be an excellent opportunity for enrichment and welcomes the Ministry of Defence (MoD)-commissioned University of Northampton report which explores the benefits of a cadet unit in schools, which is available here: https://www.northampton.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/institute-for-social-innovation-and-impact-cadets-report-2025.pdf. Cadet Forces offer challenging and enjoyable activities for young people, preparing them to play an active part in the community while developing valuable life skills.
The department works jointly with MoD on the Cadet Expansion Programme, which was launched to establish new cadet units in English state secondary schools. We will continue to work with MoD as they implement the Strategic Defence Review’s recommendation to expand in-school and community-based Cadet Forces.
We will also work with MoD on the Strategic Defence Review’s recommendation to increase understanding of the Armed Forces in schools in a way that creates opportunities.
MoD will review existing support with us over the coming months and in consultation with teachers. Schools themselves are best placed to determine how to use this available support.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much the Government has spent on contracts with temporary teaching agencies for staff at schools in Huntingdon constituency since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)
Supply teachers make an important contribution to the smooth running of schools across the country by filling posts on a temporary basis and covering teacher absences.
Schools and local authorities are responsible for the recruitment of their supply teachers and there are currently various approaches to providing supply teachers, including using agencies. Therefore, the department does not hold contracts with temporary agencies for staff at schools and does not hold the data requested.
The department collects financial data from schools across England through the Consistent Financial Reporting framework for local authority maintained schools, and through the Academy Accounts Return for academies and multi-academy trusts. The Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool reports on school and academy spend on supply teaching, including expenditure on agency supply teaching staff. This includes “costs paid to an agency for teaching staff that have been brought in to cover teacher absence”. The Tool can be accessed here: https://financial-benchmarking-and-insights-tool.education.gov.uk/data-sources.