Question

To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many complaints have been received from hon. Members relating to (a) laptops, (b) other IT equipment supplied under the Hardware Refresh programme and (c) access to MemberHub since 1 January 2025.

Answered by Nick Smith

The Parliamentary Digital Service has a formal complaints process in place for Members to raise concerns about their services. This sits alongside our Member Services team, 24/7 support desk and other support channels, which are available to assist Members and their offices with any issues they may experience.

Since 1 January 2025 the Parliamentary Digital Service has received one complaint from a Member under the formal complaints process which related to all three categories of (a) laptops (b) other IT equipment supplied under the Hardware Refresh programme, and (c) access to MemberHub. No other formal complaints were received from any Members in any of these categories.

In addition, we hold data on the number of incidents Members have raised to the Digital Support Desk in relation to the three categories. These incidents cover technical faults as well as queries on functionality, process or the status of orders.

For each category the number of incidents reported by Members is provided below since 1 January 2025. The percentage in brackets shows the proportion this category represents of overall incidents reported by Members:

233 related to laptops (11%)
769 related to hardware more generally (38%)
16 related to MemberHub (<1%)

It is not possible to separate out issues raised by the hardware refresh programme in this data.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will hold discussions with the Director General of the BBC on allegations of mis-editing of President Trump by Panorama.

Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Senior officials in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport have received a copy of the dossier containing these allegations and have been assured by the BBC that they are examining the issues raised in the report. The Culture Secretary is being kept updated on these developments.

Because the BBC is independent of government, it is for the Corporation to respond to questions about their editorial decisions. It is crucial the BBC upholds the highest standards of reporting and impartiality, so they are trusted as the national broadcaster and the Government therefore expects the BBC to consider feedback they receive seriously and carefully.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if she will hold discussions with Innovate UK on holding Innovate Local events in the north west of Northern Ireland.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Innovate UK Local’s programme of events are designed to take a roadshow of funding opportunities into regions across the whole of the UK. Innovate UK is committed to engaging with innovative businesses in Northern Ireland and is consulting with Invest Northern Ireland on where to hold events over the next year. This will ensure there is strong local input on how best to serve Northern Irelands vibrant business communities.

Question

To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will review the selection process for Oral Questions to identify ways to minimise the grouping of identical Questions.

Answered by Nick Smith

It is for Members themselves to determine what Questions they submit for any given Oral Question time. The Table Office runs an electronic “shuffle” to randomly select the relevant number of Questions that are then listed on the Order Paper for the relevant Oral Question time. Requests from Ministers for the grouping of similar Questions, with the permission of the Speaker, enable a single response to be given on a substantive Question and related supplementary Questions to be taken all together.

The Table Office keeps under review its internal processes relating to Oral Questions and any procedural change would be a matter for the House. The Procedure Committee keeps Parliamentary Questions under review and representations could be made to them on any procedural proposals.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to improve its search procedures, in the context of the research and analysis entitled Security Investment Programme Evaluation, published by his Department on 5 September 2024.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

A full evaluation of the £100 Security Investment Programme, aimed to reduce crime in prison including reducing smuggling of drugs, was published on 5 September 2024 and can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/security-investment-programme-evaluation.

Airport-style enhanced gate security, comprising of metal detectors and X-ray baggage scanners, is used in 54 high-risk prison sites (both private and public sector), enabling routine searching of prison officers. In addition, local security strategies allow for routine and random rub-down searches of prison officers and other staff upon entry to, or within, prisons.

This year, we are investing over £40 million in physical security across 34 prisons to further prevent contraband entering prisons.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NHS England on the level of risk of vaping on (a) fertility and (b) pregnancy.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The current evidence is clear that vaping is safer than smoking, including the impact on fertility and pregnancy. Smoking affects the ability to conceive for both men and women, with all stages of reproductive function affected by tobacco toxicants. Pregnant women are especially advised to quit smoking, due to the two-fold increased risk of low birthweight, 27% increase in premature birth, 32% increase in miscarriage, and 47% increase in stillbirth.

Whilst research in this area is limited, a study funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research found that vaping can be a more effective cessation aid for pregnant women than traditional nicotine replacement therapies, with almost twice as many women in this study quitting smoking with vapes rather than with nicotine patches. Importantly, this study concluded that the safety of vapes for use during pregnancy was similar to that of nicotine patches.

However, the long-term harms of vaping are not fully known. Therefore, non-smokers should not vape.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what changes have been made in the past twelve months to the monitoring of animal health disease under the Animal Health and Welfare Framework.

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

The Animal and Plant Health Agency leads the Government’s monitoring of animal disease control and carries out routine surveillance of disease risks in the UK and globally, to help the Government anticipate future threats to animal health.

We remain vigilant to changes in risk and continue to use our established systems to monitor for new and emerging threats to our biosecurity through our Veterinary Risk Group and the Human and Animal Infections Risk Surveillance Group.

The Animal Health and Welfare Common Framework (Provisional Framework Outline Agreement and Concordat), published as a Command Paper in 2022, has been produced to explain how the UK Government and devolved Governments propose to work together in key areas of animal health and welfare law and policy. It explains how the principles of devolution continue to apply to animal health and welfare policy after the UK’s exit from the EU.

The separate Animal Health and Welfare Framework published in 2018 has been produced to help county councils, unitary authorities and metropolitan boroughs in England deliver their statutory duties in relation to the health and welfare of farmed animals.

Neither Framework in its own right establishes nor introduces any changes to the monitoring of animal health.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether all 48 F-35 aircraft ordered from Lockheed Martin under Tranche 1 been delivered.

Answered by Louise Sandher-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)

To date, 41 aircraft have been delivered.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of people aged 75 years and over have requested a bowel screening kit by phoning the free bowel cancer screening helpline in the last two years.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The National Health Service bowel cancer screening programme’s published data for 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2024 shows that 396,325 people self-referred or opted back into the programme within the year. This includes ‘over-age self-referrals’, those aged 75 years old and over who are not invited routinely, and also ‘late responder self-referrals’ who have not responded to the initial invitation but have later chosen to participate. This data cannot be disaggregated into each of the categories listed. This data is provided in the Bowel cancer screening standards data report 2022/23 and the Bowel cancer screening standards data report 2023/24, which are available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bowel-cancer-screening-annual-report-2022-to-2023/bowel-cancer-screening-standards-data-report-2022-23

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bowel-cancer-screening-annual-report-2023-to-2024/bowel-cancer-screening-standards-data-report-2023-24

Additional unpublished data available to the programme shows that for this time period, from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2024, 224,665 requests were made for self-referrals from individuals who are aged 75 years old and over. We are unable to identify if all of these requests were made via the bowel screening helpline. The total number of people aged 75 years old and over is 5,736,072, sourced from the Patients Registered at a GP Practice, October 2025 dataset, which is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/patients-registered-at-a-gp-practice/october-2025

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 November 2025 to Question 87001 on Female Genital Mutilation: Training, what categories of reasons were allocated to the people who registered but did not attempt the free e-learning training on female genital mutilation.

Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We have issued a range of materials to support professionals to help them understand Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), spot the signs, and support victims and survivors. This includes making available free e-learning for all frontline staff for example in healthcare, police, Border Force and children’s social care.

From 1 November 2023 to 31 October 2024, 121,773 people registered for the free e-learning module on FGM. Of that number, there were 17,999 ‘Not attempted’. As this is a free e-learning module and not mandatory, we do not hold information regarding reasons for not attempting or completing the module.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will hold discussions with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner on responding to an inquiry by the hon. Member for East Londonderry on a parade in Central London on 20 September 2025.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is committed to working with the Metropolitan Police to ensure that the right to protest, including in parades, is balanced with the protecting communities from serious disruption or harm.

Government ministers do not intervene in how the police applies laws relating to protest, which are matters reserved for operational forces.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to Question 85105, tabled on 27 October 2025.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 13 November 2025 to Question 85105.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when does he expect to receive the results of the Generation Study.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

The 10-Year Health Plan set out an ambition to “implement universal genomic testing” within the next decade. Delivering against this ambition will be subject to evidence gathered through the Generation Study. This research programme is evaluating the effectiveness of using whole genome sequencing to test 100,000 newborns for genetic mutations associated with more than 200 rare genetic conditions. The sequencing of 100,000 newborns through the study will be completed by summer 2027. The evaluation part of the study will then be completed and presented to the UK National Screening Committee who will make a recommendation to Government ministers on whether newborn genomic screening should be offered in the National Health Service or whether more research is required. Subject to this, and appropriate funding being available, genomic testing could be available for all newborns by 2035.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps is he taking to ensure that veterinary medicine supply via suitably qualified persons to Northern Ireland will continue on the same basis as now from 1 January 2026.

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

Suitably Qualified Persons (SQPs) are unique to the UK, and the Government is committed to supporting them and the vital role they play in supporting the UK’s farming and companion animal sectors.

Continued access to veterinary medicines for Northern Ireland at the end of the grace period is a Government priority. After extensive stakeholder engagement, our current estimate is that 10-15% of products are expected to be discontinued. Many of these authorisations are dormant or sold in very low volumes and we do not anticipate significant animal health or welfare issues as a result of these discontinuations.

Where there is, or likely to be, a significant animal health issue, and it is appropriate to do so, products under the Veterinary Medicines Health Situation Scheme could be made available for prescription and supply by SQPs who would be able to supply veterinary medicines as they do now.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will commission an independent assessment of the effectiveness of the (a) Veterinary Medicines Internal Market Scheme and (b) Veterinary Medicine Health Situation Scheme since those schemes were established.

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

Continued access to veterinary medicines in Northern Ireland at the end of the grace period is a government priority. We continue to engage extensively with stakeholders and have updated the guidance following their feedback, including on the two schemes. The two schemes will take effect from 1 January and we will monitor their effectiveness and consider further reviews, which could include an independent assessment by the Veterinary Products Committee, if needed. We remain confident that the schemes can address supply gaps if they emerge.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a (a) medal and (b) formal recognition of members of the emergency services who have sustained (i) severe and (ii) life-changing injuries in the line of duty.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)

Any official award is a gift from the Government, on behalf of His Majesty The King to recognise individuals within policing and emergency services personnel. The creation of a new award requires cross Government consensus and approval from the Committee on The Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals, before advice is put to HM The King to make his final decision.

The Home Office will continue to consider proposals for new awards for members of the emergency services. It is only right that we recognise the sacrifices made by the emergency services, and it is important to make sure this is considering fully and carefully to ensure any changes are proportionate and effective.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the EU on the movement of veterinary medicines between Great Britain and Northern Ireland after 1 January 2026; and when she plans to communicate relevant decisions to veterinary practices.

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

The Government continues to engage with the EU on a range of issues relating to the Windsor Framework, including veterinary medicines.

We continue to engage extensively with industry including veterinary bodies and other veterinary experts and will use this information to inform and calibrate the guidance and measures we are taking.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what progress has been made on identifying a location for a geological disposal facility for generational storage of nuclear waste.

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

A process is underway to identify a suitable site for a geological disposal facility (GDF) in England and Wales. Two areas are currently participating, both in West Cumberland, and site suitability investigations and community engagement activities are well underway in both of these areas. The siting process is consent-based, requiring both a willing host community and suitable geology.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is having discussions with counterparts in the devolved Administrations on the circular economy strategy.

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

Yes. This government is committed to transitioning towards a circular economy where resources are kept in use for longer and waste is designed out. This systemic change, with investment in green jobs and vital infrastructure, builds a path to economic growth, progress towards Net Zero, restoration of nature, and a more resilient economy.

The Government convened a Circular Economy Taskforce of experts to help map that transition; in the new year we will publish a Circular Economy Growth Plan that sets out how government will deliver a more circular and more prosperous economy.

The Government will maintain this collaborative approach as the Circular Economy Growth Plan is finalised, with further joint working and mutual learning scheduled to ensure coherence across the United Kingdom.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she expect to receive the Payments Forward Plan from the Payments Vision Delivery Committee before 18 December 2025.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)

I refer the Honourable Member to the answer given on 30 October 2025 to PQ UIN 85107.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking with his US counterpart to ensure that advanced F-35 fighter jet technology is not utilised by the Chinese Government.

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

The Ministry of Defence works closely with the F-35 Joint Program Office to protect sensitive defence technologies associated with the F-35 programme.

There are comprehensive security, counter-intelligence, and export-control arrangements in place to prevent any unauthorised access, transfer, or exploitation of advanced capabilities by third parties, including the Chinese Government.

We continue to engage regularly with our US counterparts to ensure these protections remain robust, up to date, and fully aligned with our shared national-security priorities.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 November 2025 to WPQ 88205, when the remaining 7 F-35 aircraft ordered from Lockheed Martin under Tranche 1 will be delivered.

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

The Department expects to have received all seven F-35B aircraft ordered in Production Lot 17 by the end of April 2026.

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 numbers of (a) grey squirrels and (b) red squirrels in England.

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

A 2018 report by the Mammal Society estimates there are 1.94million grey squirrels and 38,900 red squirrels in England.

Question

To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the House of Commons Commission, pursuant to the answer of 11 November 2025 to WPQ 87695, what plans the Commission has to improve the efficiency and workability of the IT system in the immediate future.

Answered by Nick Smith

The House administration recognises that having effective and reliable digital services is vital for Members. It is also vital that these services, and changes to them, are delivered in a way which reflects the many demands and pressures of a Member’s role. The services must meet the needs of Members, and their staff, and help them respond to the needs of their constituents.

In coming months, such work includes improving network connectivity and roaming over Wi-Fi to support the Parliamentary community to access online services on the go, improving search.parliament.uk, and improving how the public can find, sign, and create petitions on petitions.parliament.uk.

With every rollout of new technology there will be things that don’t go perfectly and from which we can learn. Feedback on our digital services, and how we introduce change, is sought from Members. We make sure that feedback is understood and applied to drive improvements every quarter. A new way of proactively understanding the needs of Members has been introduced by the Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS) to inform and shape changes to digital services. PDS has regular engagement with the Administration Committee to validate and prioritise the changes we are planning.

Based on Member feedback we are currently piloting a constituency telephony offering, eliminating location-based limitations so Members and their staff can make and receive calls seamlessly from a single system, regardless of where they work, and assessing alternative printing solutions for Westminster and constituency offices to identify options that deliver greater cost-effectiveness.

BBC and pro-trans ideologies

Asylum reform proposals

Access to banks

International Day of People with Disabilities

Phenylketonuria awareness and access to treatment

Sara Cox’s challenge for Children in Need

Irish Sea herring quotas

Houses of Parliament Shop deliveries to Northern Ireland

Movember

International Men’s Day and prostate cancer