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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to meet with the new Director General of the BBC.

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

The Secretary of State had an introductory meeting with Matt Brittin on 15th April 2026. The BBC is a vital national institution, and as such, Ministers and Senior Officials regularly meet with BBC leadership to discuss a range of issues.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, approximately how many non - direct altruistic organ donations have there been in each of the last ten years.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed

Non‑direct altruistic organ donation is managed by NHS Blood and Transplant, which is responsible for organ donation services. Non‑direct altruistic donation involves people donating an organ, such as a kidney or a lobe of liver, as a living donor without knowing the recipient or expecting anything in return. The following table shows the number of non-direct altruistic donations across the United Kingdom, split by organ, namely kidney or liver:

Source: NHS Blood and Transplant, using data from the UK Transplant Registry.

For every financial year since 2016/17, there has been five or less non-direct altruistic liver lobe donations. There has been a total of 14 non-direct altruistic liver lobe donations in the past ten years.

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 be able to reply to WPQ 115339 tabled on 24th February 2026.

Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 22 April 2026 to Question 115339.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to WPQ 128052, whether she will maintain the free to use MTD software for taxpayers for the lifetime of this Parliament.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

I refer the honourable member to the answer provided in the response to UIN 126551.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions she has had with the banking sector on the rollout of banking hubs beyond the lifetime of this Parliament.

Answered by Lucy Rigby - Chief Secretary to the Treasury

Treasury Ministers regularly engage with the banking sector on access to banking services, including the rollout of banking hubs.

The Government understands the importance of access to in-person banking services for communities and high streets and is committed to supporting the financial services industry’s roll-out of 350 banking hubs by the end of this Parliament. Importantly, this number is a floor, not a ceiling, and Cash Access UK will deliver a banking hub wherever LINK has recommended one.

The Government keeps the effectiveness of current arrangements under review through regular engagement with industry and other stakeholders to ensure they meet the needs of people and communities.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when does he expect treatment of myopia in children aged between three and 14 years through low-dose atropine eye drops to begin.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes recommendations for the National Health Service in England on whether new medicines should be routinely funded based on an assessment of their costs and benefits. NICE is currently evaluating low-dose atropine eye drops for treating myopia in people aged three to 14 years old and currently expects to publish final guidance in September 2026. If recommended in final NICE guidance, the NHS would be required to fund treatment within three months of publication.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much her Department will contribute to the International Development Association of the World Bank in the remainder of this Parliament.

Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

The UK works closely with the World Bank Group's International Development Association (IDA) to support the world's lowest‑income countries. It delivers excellent value for the taxpayer and has continually been shown to be one of the most impactful organisations in tackling poverty.

The UK has pledged £1.98 billion to the 21st replenishment of IDA (IDA21), which covers a three-year cycle from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2028.

The remainder of this Parliament also spans the next replenishment cycle, IDA22. Decisions about future replenishments will be subject to future Spending Reviews.

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he plans to respond to the Ipsos MORI research project on the retributive benefit of prison before summer recess 2026.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

The Department is working to start an academic Peer Review of the Ipsos Mori Retribution survey ahead of publication to ensure it is analytically robust and the results are interpreted correctly. The process will begin in Summer this year.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help reduce waiting times for UK citizens travelling through airports in Schengen area countries in summer 2026.

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

The Government is working with the European Commission and Schengen countries to understand the new border process changes and to promote flexible, pragmatic solutions for UK travellers.

Waiting times in Schengen area countries remain a matter for the European Union and individual member states.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the predominance of the grey squirrel population during this Parliament.

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

The Grey Squirrel Policy Statement was published in January 2026. This policy statement sets out the actions we will take over the next five years to manage the impact of grey squirrels.

Actions include encouraging landowners to take greater action through financial incentives and advice through Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier. The Government is paying £60 per hectare to manage and reduce the impact of grey squirrels. We are backing our nation’s conservation volunteers and landowners, by leading communication on the impacts of grey squirrels and providing support for training in grey squirrel management. We are also working with UK Squirrel Accord to support research into immunocontraception.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many organ donations under deemed consent legislation have there been from deceased donors between 1st January (a) 2022, and (b) 2026.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed

NHS Blood and Transplant is responsible for organ donation in the United Kingdom and manages the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR).

Deemed consent donors are people who became deceased donors, donating one or more organs, where no decision to donate had been recorded on the NHS ODR, and consent was therefore deemed under the relevant deemed consent legislation, with organ donation proceeding only where the donor’s family were available for consultation. The following table shows the number of deemed consent donors and the number of organs donated by deemed consent donors, both United Kingdom wide, from 2022 to 2025:

Source: NHS Blood and Transplant, using data from the UK Transplant Registry.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, on how many occasions in the past six months have discussions taken place with the EU Commission on increasing the number of plant species that can be traded between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

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

There have been three exchanges of emails with European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in the last six months, regarding UK submissions of additional information for three prohibited high-risk plants: Castanea sativa, Hamamelis mollis and Robinia pseudoacacia. This allowed EFSA to publish scientific opinions for these species on 22 December 2025, 6 January 2026 and 22 April 2026 respectively.

There is usually a delay of a few weeks/months whilst the EU Commission drafts new legislation based on published EFSA opinions, but progress continues at pace. In the last six months the EU has lifted prohibitions, subject to conditions, on a further five species of Prunus (3 October 2025)

Only seven of the 45 High Risk Plant species that the UK has requested market access for, remain prohibited for export to the EU/Northern Ireland.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help reduce levels of student debt.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is capping the maximum interest rates on Plan 2 and 3 student loans at 6%, rather than RPI+3%, from 1 September, for the 2026/27 academic year, delivering stability and protection for graduates from escalating student loan interest.

This short-term measure removes the risk of a temporary increase in inflation due to the situation in the Middle East causing loan balances to compound at an unsustainable rate and is in line with actions taken in the past to secure stability in the student finance system.

Secondly, the government is reintroducing targeted, means-tested maintenance grants from academic year 2028/29, which will provide disadvantaged students with up to £1,000 extra support per year, without increasing their debt.

Student finance and higher education funding is a complex, interconnected, system. We are considering a range of options to make the system fairer, but to be fiscally responsible we must consider how any change would be funded.

Eakin Healthcare's commitment to environment and high quality medical devices.

Campbell College’s rugby and football double