Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when newborn screening for Spinal Muscular Atrophy will be available to families in Oxfordshire.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Hon. Member to the announcement made on the evaluation of newborn screening for spinal muscular atrophy by the Department on 16 July, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/every-baby-in-england-to-get-life-saving-genetic-test-from-birth

In addition, the newborn heel prick test is routinely carried out by health visitors or community midwives on day five after birth.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the potential contribution Sustainable Drainage Systems towards drought resilience and levels of demand on public water supplies over the next 25 years.

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

The Government recognises the importance of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) in improving drought resilience and reducing demand on water supply. The National Planning Policy Framework requires SuDS in all new development, designed and maintained to the National Standards.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to amend (a) environmental permitting and (b) waste licensing requirements to facilitate the reuse of treated wastewater for non-potable industrial uses.

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

Defra is exploring opportunities for businesses to use treated wastewater instead of drinking water or water taken from the environment. The Environment Agency supports innovation and wastewater treatment approaches where there is sufficient evidence, regulatory assurance, and protection of people and the environment.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what principles will guide decisions on water allocation where the water requirements of major infrastructure projects may potentially conflict with environmental flow requirements for protected habitats and chalk streams.

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

The National Planning Policy Framework is clear that planning policies and decisions should protect and enhance valued landscapes and sites of biodiversity, which includes Chalk Streams. We have also set out more clearly expectations for development proposals to assess and mitigate adverse impacts to water quality on these sensitive waterbodies.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a policy requiring drivers to report collisions with cats.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

I recognise how distressing it must be for pet owners to lose cats in road collisions, especially when they are unable to find out what has happened.

Although there is no obligation to report all animal deaths on roads, drivers should, if possible, make enquiries to ascertain the owner of domestic animals, such as cats, and advise them of the situation.

However, there are no plans to introduce a legal duty for drivers to report collisions with cats.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will direct NHS England and the UK Foundation Programme Office (UKFPO) to permit NHS Trusts to appoint provisionally registered doctors who are currently without an NHS Foundation Year doctor post to any such posts that become available after the closure of the allocation process by UKFPO.

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

The information requested for Question 29058 is not held centrally in the format requested.

Recruitment to the 2026 UK Foundation Programme has now concluded. Total numbers of Foundation Programme places in the United Kingdom are agreed through a four-nation workforce planning process and take into account the fact that a proportion of applicants withdraw from the Foundation Programme each year. The Government therefore has no plans to backfill any vacant posts that may arise for 2026.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many foundation year doctor posts were unavailable to newly appointed foundation doctors this year because they were occupied by doctors granted extensions to complete training competencies; and how many such posts are scheduled to become vacant from 1 December 2026.

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

The information requested for Question 29058 is not held centrally in the format requested.

Recruitment to the 2026 UK Foundation Programme has now concluded. Total numbers of Foundation Programme places in the United Kingdom are agreed through a four-nation workforce planning process and take into account the fact that a proportion of applicants withdraw from the Foundation Programme each year. The Government therefore has no plans to backfill any vacant posts that may arise for 2026.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in what ways citizen science water quality monitoring groups will be involved in the development of regional water resources plans where they are not represented on Regional Water Planning Steering Groups.

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

We are investing in citizen science to improve environmental understanding and generate high-quality evidence to solve water system problems. Government has doubled support to catchment partnerships and funded Water Environment Improvement Fund projects which support development of citizen science. Catchment Partnerships will ensure regional plans are grounded in local knowledge.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she expects to launch the consultation on reservoir safety reform.

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

The Government is reviewing the public consultation on reservoir safety reform. Many of the recommendations from the Independent Reservoir Safety Report have already been implemented – detail can be found at Reservoir Safety Reforms | Reservoir Safety Reform Programme | Engage Environment Agency.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she expects to conclude the review of the Deer Act 1991 and other legislation underpinning the protection and management of deer; and when she expects to publish the review's findings.

Answered by Jenny Riddell-Carpenter - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra is in the process of reviewing the Deer Act 1991 and other legislation which underpins the protection and management of deer. Any proposed changes in the law will be subject to Parliamentary time and suitable opportunities for making legislative changes being available.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what evidence underpins the assumption in the Pension Schemes Act 2026 impact assessment that members will receive a broadly equal share of benefits arising from surplus extraction; and what mechanisms exist to ensure members receive such benefits where scheme rules do not provide for pre-1997 pension increases.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Discretionary indexation is over and above the statutory requirements. This discretion is usually exercised by the trustees with the agreement of the sponsoring employer. Some schemes have previously paid discretionary increases on a regular basis.

The Pension Schemes Act 2026 has made changes so that more trustees of well-funded schemes have the flexibility to share their scheme surplus with employers, subject to strict funding safeguards for members.

Scheme trustees will be responsible for decisions on surplus release, working with sponsoring employers. Trustees must act in the interests of scheme beneficiaries and are best placed to determine the appropriate use of any surplus for their individual scheme. They will agree how members can benefit, which could include discretionary benefit increases.

The Pensions Regulator already expects that trustees be aware of members who would benefit from any decision to award a discretionary increase and whether the scheme has a history of making such awards. They will issue guidance, developed in consultation with industry, which will outline matters trustees should consider when releasing surplus.

For the purpose of the Impact Assessment for the Pension Schemes Act, it was stylistically assumed that surplus would be equally split between sponsoring employers and members, reflecting the reality that any split is for trustees not government.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what mechanisms exist to ensure that the interests of members with pre-1997 pension accruals are represented in decisions on surplus extraction.

Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

Discretionary indexation is over and above the statutory requirements. This discretion is usually exercised by the trustees with the agreement of the sponsoring employer. Some schemes have previously paid discretionary increases on a regular basis.

The Pension Schemes Act 2026 has made changes so that more trustees of well-funded schemes have the flexibility to share their scheme surplus with employers, subject to strict funding safeguards for members.

Scheme trustees will be responsible for decisions on surplus release, working with sponsoring employers. Trustees must act in the interests of scheme beneficiaries and are best placed to determine the appropriate use of any surplus for their individual scheme. They will agree how members can benefit, which could include discretionary benefit increases.

The Pensions Regulator already expects that trustees be aware of members who would benefit from any decision to award a discretionary increase and whether the scheme has a history of making such awards. They will issue guidance, developed in consultation with industry, which will outline matters trustees should consider when releasing surplus.

For the purpose of the Impact Assessment for the Pension Schemes Act, it was stylistically assumed that surplus would be equally split between sponsoring employers and members, reflecting the reality that any split is for trustees not government.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans are there to evaluate the success of the homelessness strategy.

Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Monitoring delivery of the strategy is important in ensuring the strategy has its intended impact. That is why we set national targets to track progress against this parliament. More details can be found in this published action plan: Cross-Government Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy: Action Plan.

Ministers are updated regularly on data and are working across government through inter-departmental governance to assure collaborative delivery of the strategy. We will also publish reports at least every two years that monitor progress on the implementation of measures set out in this strategy.

In addition, we intend to evaluate the implementation of the strategy at a local level, building on current work being undertaken this year as part of the systems-wide evaluation being delivered by the Centre for Homelessness Impact.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of HMRC Valuation Office's performance in conducting timely revaluations of domestic properties where improvements have been made in England; and what assessment he has made with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government of the potential impact of this performance on local authority finances.

Answered by James Murray - Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Paymaster General

The Valuation Office is working towards its target of clearing 90% of Council Tax Maintenance cases within 90 working days by March 2027.

A new case management system has been implemented to help improve the timelines of domestic property cases.

Found: Malthouse (Conservative; North West Hampshire) Samantha Niblett (Labour; South Derbyshire) Freddie van Mierlo