Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the (a) Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 and (b) Articles (i) 42 and (ii) 43 of that Act on same-sex, non-married or civil partnered couples who both wish to included on their child’s birth certificate.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Section 42 and 43 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 provide a framework of protection from disputes over legal parenthood. These provisions allow female couples who are married or in a civil partnership, or who have undertaken treatment in a United Kingdom licenced clinic, to both register as parents. Fertility treatment in an UK licenced clinic also offers important health screening protections and access for donor-conceived children to information about their genetic origins through the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s register.

There are no current plans to review these provisions in the Act.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the 10 year plan for the NHS, what steps he plans to take to ensure that equality of access to the NHS is retained for all.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The 10-Year Health Plan, along with associated policies and initiatives, details several measures to ensure equality of access to the NHS is retained for all. This includes:

- Redirecting funds to deprived areas: Funding flows are being realigned towards areas with the highest health needs, targeting communities with disproportionate economic and health challenges.

- Building Neighbourhood Health Centres: New "one-stop shop" health centres will be established in every community, starting with areas that have the lowest healthy life expectancy. These centres will provide integrated, multi-professional care closer to people's homes and will often be open for extended hours to improve convenience.

- Addressing waiting list inequalities: The NHS now publishes waiting list data broken down by deprivation, ethnicity, age, and sex to identify and address unfair variations in waiting times.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the White Paper entitled Restoring Control over the Immigration System of 12 May 2025, what assessment she has made of (a) levels of current migrant staffing and (b) the potential merits of increasing necessary staff supply in the health and social care system in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office does not monitor the staffing levels of specific sectors; this should be directed to the Northern Ireland’s Department of Health.

It is open to the Health and Care sectors to use the options available to them; this includes international recruitment providing they meet the requirements of the relevant visa route, primarily the Health and Care visa. There are no limits on the number of staff that can be recruited under the Health and Care visa system providing the criteria are met. However, the Government is clear that the health and social care sector, alongside other sectors, needs to reduce its reliance on international recruitment and increase its staffing supply from the domestic workforce.

We will continue to work with Governments across all parts of the United Kingdom.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what progress he has made on the Local Growth Fund for Northern Ireland.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Since the announcement at Spending Review of a new Local Growth Fund for Northern Ireland, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has initiated work with the Northern Ireland Office to design a new fund that will drive growth in Northern Ireland’s unique economy and improve the lives of local people. I am clear that this new funding should have a bespoke design for Northern Ireland, working in partnership with the NI Executive.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of extending VAT energy-saving materials (ESM) relief to all domestic retrofit projects which include ESMs where other works are undertaken as part of the same project.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

This Government is committed to improving the quality and sustainability of our housing stock, through improvements such as low carbon heating, insulation, solar panels, and batteries. This will be vital to making the UK more energy resilient and meeting our 2050 Net Zero commitment.

Installations of qualifying energy-saving materials (ESMs) in residential accommodation and buildings used solely for a charitable purpose benefit from a temporary VAT zero rate until March 2027, after which they will revert to the reduced rate of VAT at five per cent.

VAT is a broad-based tax on consumption and the 20 per cent standard rate applies to most goods and services. This includes most construction works. Tax breaks reduce the revenue available for vital public services and must represent value for money for the taxpayer. Exceptions to the standard rate have always been limited and balanced against affordability considerations.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Labour Market Evidence Group plans to visit Northern Ireland to consult local businesses.

Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Labour Market Evidence Group (LMEG) is supporting the UK Government’s aim to rebalance UK labour market away from an over-reliance on international recruitment and towards domestic workers and ensuring that growth-driving sectors have access to the skilled workers they need now and into the future. LMEG has been established and is meeting regularly at working level with the first formal meeting of LMEG taking place on 29th July 2025. That meeting contained representatives from:

• the Industrial Strategy Advisory Council
• the Department for Work and Pensions
• Skills England and equivalent organisations in the Devolved Governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
• the Migration Advisory Committee

At the first meeting LMEG members agreed a workplan in collaboration with Devolved Governments including Northern Ireland Executive. This workplan will support LMEG’s ambition, as set out in the Immigration White Paper, of working together to gather and share evidence about the state of the workforce, training levels and participation in the domestic labour market, including at Devolved Government and regional levels.

Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much funding has been allocated to football clubs through the Grassroots Football Facilities Investment Fund in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Government has committed to invest £3 million in Northern Ireland through the Multi Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme in 2025/26 to build and upgrade pitches and facilities.

Between 2021/22 and 2024/25, a total of £6,592,966 was allocated to football clubs in Northern Ireland through the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme.

Successful applicants to the Multi-Sport Grassroots Facilities Programme are published on gov.uk and are regularly updated: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/multi-sport-grassroots-facilities-programme-projects-2021-to-2025. The most recent project list for Northern Ireland can be found here.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 22 September 2025 to Question 76346 on Local Growth Deals: Northern Ireland, whether his Department plans to hold discussions with the (a) voluntary and (b) community sector in Northern Ireland on the design of the local growth fund in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

As announced at the Spending Review, from 2026-27 the UK Government will provide targeted, long-term local growth funding to support growth across Northern Ireland, once the UK Shared Prosperity Fund ends in March 2026.

The Northern Ireland Office is working in close partnership with the Northern Ireland Executive and Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government to implement and develop the new Local Growth Fund. The Government is committed to engagement with key stakeholders in Northern Ireland to help implement a package of funding that meets local needs and delivers impact. More information on the development of the Local Growth Fund in Northern Ireland and engagement plans will be set out soon.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of VAT on the number of domestic retrofits undertaken annually.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

A 0% rate of VAT on the installation of heat pumps and biomass boilers in domestic properties is already in place. Additionally, installations of qualifying energy-saving materials (ESMs) can benefit from reduced VAT. VAT treatment is the responsibility of the Treasury, and they keep all taxes under review. The Treasury assesses ESMs based on energy efficiency, carbon emissions, cost-effectiveness and alignment with broader VAT principles.

There are also already a number of government schemes offering financial support to consumers looking to upgrade their homes. The Warm Homes Plan will be published shortly and will provide further information on the government’s approach to decarbonising our housing stock.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to support or incentivise the reuse of building materials reclaimed from previous construction within new build or retrofit projects.

Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The Government will soon publish a Circular Economy Strategy, which will include a Built Environment Roadmap setting out measures to promote reuse of building materials and reduce unnecessary demolition. This will support resource efficiency and help to reduce the overall carbon footprint of construction. In addition, the Warm Homes Plan will drive energy efficiency improvements through retrofit, helping to extend building lifespans and reducing waste. These initiatives will embed circular principles across the built environment and encourage recovery and reuse of materials from previous construction projects.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department allocated to football clubs through the levelling up funds in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Crusaders Football Club, in Belfast was awarded £2.2 million from the Levelling Up Fund for its Shore Road Skills Centre project.

This is the only direct allocation of Levelling Up Funds to a football club in Northern Ireland.

Other football clubs in Northern Ireland may have benefited from funding delivered and administered by local authorities.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to retain Digital Services Tax.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The Digital Services Tax is an interim solution to widely held concerns with the international corporate tax framework, and the UK remains committed to remove it once a global solution on the reallocation of taxing rights is in place.

As the Chancellor has previously said, we will continue to make sure that businesses pay their fair share of tax, including businesses in the digital sector.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to bring forward legislative proposals to mandate method-of-production welfare labelling for (a) pork, (b) chicken and (c) eggs.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for York Central, Rachael Maskell, on 8 October 2025, PQ UIN 76016.

Two-child limit

Strike action at the British Library

Conduct of Prince Andrew

Five-year indefinite leave to remain pathway for Skilled Worker visa holders

Sanctions on Israel and International Court of Justice findings

Naloxone

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Tonia Antoniazzi (Chair); Chris Bloore; Sorcha Eastwood; Claire Hanna

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Tonia Antoniazzi (Chair); Chris Bloore; Sorcha Eastwood; Claire Hanna

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Tonia Antoniazzi (Chair); Chris Bloore; Sorcha Eastwood; Claire Hanna

Found: Claire Hanna, Robin Swann, and Dr Ellie Chowns Oral Evidence

Found: Q17 Claire Hanna: Thank you very much to all of you.

Found: Q17 Claire Hanna: Thank you very much to all of you.

2026 marks 25 years since the establishment of the PSNI following the recommendations of the Patten review on policing. This inquiry will examine how far the objectives and aspirations of the Patten review have been realised, and explore the key challenges facing policing and security in Northern Ireland today—particularly in areas that remain under UK Government co-ordination and funding. Read our call for evidence [here] for more detail about the inquiry and how to contribute your views.