Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of issuing guidance to Independent Care Boards on the commissioning of providers for audiology care as an alternative to hospital services.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In line with the direction of travel set by 10-Year Health Plan, we expect integrated care boards (ICBs) to commission services to meet the reasonable needs of their populations rather than being prescriptive and adopting a one size fit all model for England. This is intended to allow services to be tailored in accordance with the local area needs. This means that National Health Service audiology services are locally commissioned.

We have also published for the first time an overview of the core community health services, Standardising Community Health Services, which includes audiology, that ICBs should consider when planning for their local populations to support improved commissioning and delivery of community health services.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent diplomatic steps she has taken to help return Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

I refer the Hon Member to the answer provided on 20 October 2025 in response to Question 80930, and I would add that - on 3 December - the UK co-sponsored a UN General Assembly resolution for the 'Return of Ukrainian Children'.

I also refer the Hon Member to the answers provided by the Foreign Secretary during departmental questions on 2 December.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she had with her French counterpart on nuclear support to NATO.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The Foreign Secretary regularly speaks to her French counterpart, including on matters relating to NATO defence. The NATO Strategic Concept states that the independent strategic nuclear forces of the United Kingdom and France have a deterrent role of their own and contribute significantly to the overall security of the Alliance. The UK and French separate centres of decision-making contribute to deterrence by complicating the calculations of potential adversaries.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps she has taken to seize frozen Russian assets and use them to resource Ukraine.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Government remains determined to ensure Russia is held accountable for the damage it has caused, and continues to cause, in Ukraine.

We will continue work and coordinate with G7 and EU partners to ensure that Ukraine gets the funding it needs, ensuring any options developed by the Government are in line with international law.

We continue to pledge that Russia's sovereign assets will remain immobilised until they cease the war and pay compensation to Ukraine.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what consideration her Department has given to using SEND resources to fund increased staffing and provision at mainstream schools; and if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of doing so on the number of children who would remain in mainstream education.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department is committed to improving inclusivity and expertise in mainstream schools, ensuring teachers have the tools to better identify and support children before unmet needs escalate, as well as ensuring specialist special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision schools cater to those with the most complex needs.

On 12 December, the government announced a £3 billion investment to deliver around 50,000 specialist places for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. The funding will be distributed to local authorities for them to spend on new places in mainstream settings (including SEN units), on adaptations to mainstream settings to make them more inclusive, or on special schools where required.

We will bring forward a full Schools White Paper in the new year, underpinned by our belief that high standards and inclusion are two sides of the same coin.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the number of students with SEND being excluded from school on the economy in the long-term.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department regularly monitors trends in suspension and permanent exclusion rates for various pupil groups and undertakes regular reviews of the evidence concerning the long-term outcomes of pupils who have experienced a suspension or permanent exclusion. We are aware that there is an association with adverse life outcomes for pupils who have been excluded.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment she has made of the compatibility of the US National Security Strategy with the UK's Strategic Defence Review.

Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)

It is for the US to answer questions about the specifics of their own National Security Strategy. The UK shares the US’s objectives of bringing the war in Ukraine to an end, strengthening Euro-Atlantic security, burden sharing through NATO and increased defence spending, which are all set out in our Strategic Defence Review. The Defence Secretary discussed this when he met with US Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, in December. Our commitment to NATO and to European security is ironclad.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the viability of the purchase of F-35As as an expansion of the UK nuclear deterrent in the context of the US National Security Strategy.

Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The United Kingdom is purchasing at least 12 F-35A aircraft. The aircraft will allow the UK to participate in NATO's Dual Capable Aircraft (DCA) nuclear mission. The nuclear weapons allocated to the NATO DCA nuclear mission are United States (US) nuclear weapons and the US retains control and custody over them.

NATO’s 2022 Strategic Concept states that the strategic nuclear forces of the Alliance, particularly those of the US, are the supreme guarantee of the security of the Alliance.

The Government has no plans to expand the UK nuclear deterrent beyond our existing submarine-based system but continues to keep its nuclear posture under constant review in light of the international security environment and the actions of potential adversaries.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of community energy networking.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government is ambitious about the role of local and community energy in delivering our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. We will publish our Local Power Plan soon which will set out how we will work with communities to deliver significant growth in community energy.

Ministers and officials in the department, have visited community energy projects and attended events held by community energy affiliated organisations throughout this year, such as Community Energy England's Annual conference on 1^st July 2025.

In March 2025, the department also hosted the DESNZ ‘Community Energy Day’, bringing together over 100 representatives from community energy groups and around 40 civil servants from across Government departments. The event provided a platform to showcase innovative projects, foster collaboration, and was widely regarded as a highly successful and energising day, with both ministerial and official attendance.

We also fund the Net Zero Hubs. The Net Zero Hubs also organise events, conferences and webinars across England to increase collaboration between local authorities and community groups, showcase funding opportunities, and increase the pipeline of community energy projects, like Northumberland Community Energy’s planned further rollout of rooftop solar panels.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 is enforced proportionally across venues of varying capacity.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)

The Government is committed to ensuring the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 is implemented in a proportionate and practicable way.

An implementation period of at least 24 months is now underway, giving those responsible for premises and events sufficient time and support to meet their new obligations. It will also allow time for the Security Industry Authority (SIA) to establish its new regulatory function.

The public deserve to feel safe when visiting premises and attending events and it is right that people responsible for certain premises and events should take appropriate, reasonably practicable steps to protect the public and those working at the venues from the harmful impacts and effects of terrorism.

The Act establishes a tiered approach, with those responsible for premises and events in scope required to fulfil different requirements according to the number of individuals it is reasonable to expect may be present.

Whether the Act applies to a particular premises or events will depend on several factors. Premises may be in scope if they consist of at least one building, are wholly or mainly used for one or more of the uses specified in Schedule 1, and 200 or more people can reasonably be expected to be present at the premises at the same time.

Where it can be reasonably expected that between 200 and 799 people will be present at the premises at the same time, it will be a ‘standard tier’ premises. Should the premises reasonably expect 800 or more people to be present at the premises at the same time, it will be an ‘enhanced tier’ premises.

Events may be in scope, and will be in the ‘enhanced tier’, if they take place in a building or on land, 800 or more people are reasonably expected to be present at the same time, and it is accessible to members of the public who have paid, have a ticket or pass, or are members or guests of a club, association or similar body.

The requirements of each tier vary accordingly, acknowledging that larger premises and events may be impacted to a greater extent by an attack and should be expected to do more.

For the standard tier, requirements are centred around simple, low-cost activities surrounding procedures, with costs relating primarily to time spent. There is no requirement to put in place physical measures in the standard tier.

Furthermore, the reasonably practicable standard of requirements allows procedures and measures to be tailored to the specific circumstances of a premises or event and the person responsible for them.

The Security Industry Authority (SIA) will act as the regulator. Whilst the SIA will have enforcement powers under the Act, the Government’s clear direction is for the regulator to provide support, advice and guidance in the first instance.

The SIA will only use formal enforcement tools where necessary to drive compliance. Such enforcement measures are an important component of compliance, as they give the SIA the necessary powers to deal with persistent or serious non-compliance.

Any subsequent sanctions will be determined based on whether the non-compliance is at a location in scope of the standard tier or the enhanced tier and will be proportionate to the individual circumstances of the premises or event.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of isolating the cost of electricity from natural gas.

Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24^th October to my hon Friend the Member for Slough (TanmanJeet Singh Dhesi) to question UIN [14374].

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department made of the potential impact of deer populations on rural environments.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra supports survey programmes that assess the ecological condition of woodlands in England. This includes the National Forest Inventory woodland ecological condition assessment, which indicated in 2020 that 40% of woodland habitat in unfavourable condition due to herbivore damage, including from deer. A further large-scale woodland survey, known as the Bunce survey, reported in 2024 that 33% of English woodlands are impacted by deer.

Defra funded an assessment of the cost of invasive non-native species to Great Britain in 2023 as part of the GB Invasive Non-native Species Strategy. This included invasive non-native species of deer and indicated that their impacts result in costs to society of around £47.7 million annually.

Defra provides a range of support to help manage deer impacts on woodlands. This includes grants for deer management, projects and capital items such as fencing, and funding a dedicated team of Deer Officers within the Forestry Commission to provide advice.

UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons

Gambling harms

Halie Selassie and Bath

Commemorating National Care Leaver’s Month November 2025

Public health campaign on tackling stigma towards suicide

Dolly Parton's birthday

Nuclear Regulatory Review and habitats regulations

Iran protests

Peter Hill, visiting every pub in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2020

Use of UK bases by the United States and international law in relation to Greenland

Less Survivable Cancers Week

Naloxone