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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Creative Industries Sector Plan in helping creative businesses in Northern Ireland.

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

The Creative Industries Sector Plan was announced in June and contains ambitious proposals to bolster growth in the creative industries across the UK. The Sector Plan highlights Belfast & Derry/Londonderry as a high potential cluster for creative industries growth and recognises their unique investment offer.

UK wide activity outlined in the Sector Plan includes increased funding to the UKRI Creative Industries Clusters Programme, increased access to support from the British Business Bank and increased exporting support from UK Export Finance. DCMS is committed to working with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure creative businesses benefit from this activity.

Northern Ireland has a thriving screen sector. DCMS will continue to work with the Northern Ireland Executive to support this sector, including continued annual funding from the UK Government, through the British Film Institute, to Northern Ireland Screen to support the Irish Language and Ulster-Scots Broadcast Funds.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2025 to Question 74957 on Citroën: Air Bags, whether her Department has received a response to its letter to Stellantis on the recall of Citroën cars.

Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

I can confirm that Stellantis replied to the letter from the Secretary of State on 12 August.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency officials continue to have regular engagement meetings with representatives from Stellantis about the Citroën/DS recall and continue to support Stellantis, prioritising safety while minimising economic and social impact.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of women who did not have a postnatal check-up with their general practitioner after six to eight weeks in each of the last three years.

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

The Department does not hold this information. NHS England has published guidance written in collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners on the six-to-eight week postnatal check-up for all women who have given birth. This provides an important opportunity for general practitioners to listen to women in a discreet, supportive environment to provide personalised postnatal care for their physical and mental health and support them with family planning.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, for what reason the Natural History Museum informs potential customers in Northern Ireland that it is unable to ship to EU countries.

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

This is a matter for the Natural History Museum which is operationally independent of the Government. I understand that the Natural History Museum is aiming to resume e-commerce sales to Northern Ireland in the near future.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 7 July 2025 to Question 63282 on Business: Cybercrime, what steps the National Cyber Security Centre is taking to tackle those incidents of cyber crime.

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

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) works closely with Law Enforcement partners to respond to cyber crime. The NCSC also provides a range of services and guidance to help organisations defend against cyber incidents. These include the Early Warning service that shares threat intelligence of precursor indicators of ransomware.

Additionally, the NCSC regularly publishes advice and guidance on the mitigations that organisations can implement to help prevent them becoming a victim of cyber crime (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/top-tips-for-staying-secure-online/). For example, the Cyber Essentials scheme is recommended as the minimum standard of cyber security for all organisations (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberessentials/overview). Organisations are 92 per cent less likely to make a claim on their cyber insurance if they have implemented the five controls outlined in Cyber Essentials.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2025 to Question 59984 on Fire Prevention, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the response to wildfires during summer 2025.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Each fire and rescue authority is required to plan for the foreseeable risks in its local area (including wildfire), through the Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) - having regard to the views of other key local responders.

As the lead government department for wildfire, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) maintains regular engagement with other government departments including the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and Cabinet Office on this national risk. This is alongside the department’s work with national bodies including the National Fire Chiefs Council and England and Wales Wildfire Forum to monitor and review sector led improvements and mitigations.

Since 2024 the Government has funded a National Resilience Wildfire Advisor to assess what additional wildfire national capabilities might be needed to increase resilience to the wildfire risk and to ensure coordination of approaches across the sector.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help increase participation among the 18 – 25 age group in forthcoming elections.

Answered by Samantha Dixon - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

The government is committed to encouraging participation in our democracy, as set out in our manifesto. We recognise the importance of engaging young people in the democratic process and are taking active steps to address this.

We are actively developing proposals to deliver this manifesto commitment, and are collaborating closely with the Electoral Commission, local authorities, think tanks, academics, and civil society organisations. Our work is focused on identifying the attitudinal barriers that prevent young people from participating in elections, and exploring effective interventions to overcome these challenges.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will have discussions with the Director General of the BBC on increasing locally (a) produced and (b) sourced (i) radio and (ii) television output.

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

Under its current Charter, the BBC has an obligation to ‘reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions’. Ofcom sets specific obligations for the BBC on programme making in the nations and regions including requiring that at least 50% of network TV programme hours and production spend must be made outside the M25, and 30% of relevant radio spend outside the M25. The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of the Government in determining how it meets its obligations, and it is subsequently for the independent regulator Ofcom to hold the BBC to account in meeting those obligations. BBC reporting shows it is consistently meeting or exceeding these quotas.

The Secretary of State does not have specific plans to discuss this issue with the Director General. However, as part of the next Charter Review, the Government will engage with the BBC and others to consider how to ensure the BBC truly represents and delivers for every person in this country including to be more ambitious in growing our world-leading TV sector outside of London and the South East, and to commission content in every part of the country.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate his Department has made of the number of jobs that have been created in the small business sector in Northern Ireland in the period since the inception of the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The £70million Investment Fund for Northern Ireland has been open for applications since November 2023. From inception to May 2025, a total of £18million has been lent or invested in 35 businesses in Northern Ireland; this investment has also led to the crowding in of an additional £12million in private sector funding.

It is not possible at this early stage to estimate the number of jobs that have been created as a result. The benefits generated by the fund for the Northern Ireland economy, including additional Gross Value Added and jobs created, will be assessed by independent evaluations of the fund, likely to take place in 2026 at the earliest.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, over what period of time Operation Gull has been functioning in Northern Ireland.

Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)

Immigration officers in Northern Ireland took responsibility for Operation Gull in the financial year 2010-11.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the change in obesity rates has been among young adults in the last 10 years.

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

NHS England publishes data from the Health Survey for England (HSE) which collects data annually on measured height and weight of adults in England which is used to calculate the prevalence of obesity in the population.

The following table shows the prevalence of obesity among young adults aged between 16 and 24 years old from 2012 to 2022, the latest period for which data is available:

Source: HSE

Notes:

1. There is no HSE data for 2020. Pandemic-related restrictions meant that fieldwork for HSE 2020 could not be carried out during most of the year.
2. The data for 2021 is produced using adjusted self-reported height and weight, as pandemic-related restrictions meant the survey was not conducted as a face to face interview. The self-report data was adjusted to better align with measured height and weight, but the estimates are not directly comparable with other years of HSE data that uses measured height and weight.

Obesity prevalence among young adults has remained stable in the last 10 years, with some variation in the estimates which may be due to the small sample size of the HSE when split by age. It is expected that data from the 2024 survey will be published in early 2026.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has for the future use of properties utilised as Northern Ireland Points of Entry.

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

The Northern Ireland Points of Entry are critical for food security and biosecurity. These facilities will continue to be used to fulfil this critical function. The future use of these facilities once the UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Agreement is in place will depend on the final shape of that agreement, however the Government is clear that its priority is to reduce barriers to trade and red tape.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to ensure the Army's future participation in jobs fairs in Northern Ireland, in the context of the Army's withdrawal from a jobs fair in Londonderry in September 2025.

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

Improving recruitment is one of the Army’s top priorities, supported by defence. We will continue to welcome any opportunity to attend jobs fairs in Northern Ireland, and across the United Kingdom, to share the careers available to all potential recruits.

Whilst we are disappointed not to have been able to attend the jobs fair event hosted on 9 September, the Department accepts the council’s decision in this matter.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May to Question 52582 on Defence Gardens Scheme, what recent progress he has made in simplifying access to Government support for Armed Forces charities.

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

I would like to recognise the work of Armed Forces charities across the country. They play an invaluable role, offering support to the Armed Forces community - helping Serving military personnel, veterans and their families when they face difficulties and challenges; together with helping communities across the country.

This Government works closely with many Armed Forces charities. The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust also administered £10 million in HMG grants this financial year to support the Armed Forces community. Our new £50 million VALOUR initiative will help to bring together statutory services and the charity sector as a core objective. This will include development funding to support local delivery, and ensuring that services are available when, and where, they are needed.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to meet with her Irish counterpart to discuss the increase in the amount of illegal drugs being smuggled into that country.

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

The National Crime Agency’s latest National Strategic Assessment notes the Common Travel Area, and particularly the routes between Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain, continue to be exploited by criminals for the purposes of serious and organised crime including the smuggling of illicit commodities.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland have a strong operational relationship which includes continual engagement and practical joint operations to present a combined deterrent to organised criminals targeting both the UK and Ireland.

This is supported by senior twice-yearly dialogues, which Home Office officials feed into. At these we discuss key issues that are shared between Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what will be the next steps following the launch of the Development Phase of the Global Combat Air Programme.

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

As set out in the joint statement following the Secretary of State for Defences’ meeting with H.E. Mr Nakatani Gen, Minister of Defense of Japan on 28 August 2025 “Recognising the significance of the GCAP”, the Ministers reaffirmed their personal commitment to it and to accelerating work to conclude the first international contract between the GCAP International Government Organisation (GIGO) and industry joint venture, Edgewing, by the end of 2025.

Question

To ask the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, representing the Members Estimate Committee, how much Representative Money has been made available to elected Members who have not taken the Oath in each year between 2006 and 2025.

Answered by Nick Smith

This information is available from the Library. Appendix 3 of the House of Commons Library briefing on Short Money provides data from 2005/06 onwards.

This table is reproduced below.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to hold discussions with the hospitality sector on the promotion non-sugar sweeteners.

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

Most people are regularly consuming double the recommended amount of free sugars. Diets high in sugar increase the risk of tooth decay and weight gain. Being overweight or living with obesity is associated with a range of negative health impacts such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and some kinds of cancers.

On 2 April 2025, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) published its position statement on the World Health Organisation guideline on non-sugar sweeteners. SACN concluded that the evidence of risk to health, including type 2 diabetes, from consuming non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) is inconsistent. SACN also made a precautionary recommendation that intakes of NSS should be minimised. As there is greater certainty of the negative impact of sugars on health, including type 2 diabetes, SACN recommended that “swapping sugars for NSS may help reduce sugar intake from foods and drinks (and so reduce energy intake), at least in the short term. The long-term goal is to limit both sugar and NSS intake”.

It is up to businesses to decide whether they choose to use NSS when reformulating products to reduce sugar levels. While some businesses have used them, others have chosen not to which may be due to legislative restrictions on their use in some products or in recognition of consumer preferences. It is recognised, though, that there are benefits in businesses not using NSS as this maintains a highly sweet taste in a food or drink and does not allow people’s palates to adapt to a less sugary taste. This applies to businesses in all sectors.

The Soft Drinks Industry Levy has led to reductions of 47% in sugar levels in drinks in scope. Much of this reduction has been delivered by using NSS. Many reformulated drinks are available in the out of home sector as well as supermarkets.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the number of employees who having received the National Living Wage increase in April 2025 have now begun to pay income tax.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The information is not available. HMRC does not hold information on hourly pay rates of Pay As You Earn taxpayers and therefore cannot identify which employees are in receipt of the National Living Wage (NLW).

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 20 June 2025 to Question 60425 on Sustainable Farming Incentive, what his planned timetable is for announcing further details of the reformed Sustainable Farming Incentive.

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

Defra is working closely with farmers and industry stakeholders to design a future Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer that will better target SFI in an orderly way towards our priorities for food, farming and nature. Further information about the reformed SFI will be provided shortly.

Belfast City Council's Irish language policy

International Credit Union Day

Assasination of Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk

Ricky Hatton MBE

Role of the Irish Government during the Troubles and legacy accountability

Fourth anniversary of the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan