Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether improvements in prison management arising from the Managing Women in Crisis Working Group have been shared with devolved justice departments in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip

Improvements in prison management arising from the Managing Women in Crisis Working Group have not yet been shared more widely, but H M Prison & Probation Service will shortly be publishing its 12-month progress report to H M Inspectorate of Prison’s thematic report ‘Time to Care: What helps women cope in prison’, setting out the measures it has put in place.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether he has had discussions with the Northern Ireland Justice Minister on possible changes to classifications and statutory sentencing in drugs misuse policy.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

I have not had any such discussions.

Drug classification and the supporting legal framework remains a reserved power, primarily managed through the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971. This is the responsibility of the Home Office.

Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment has been made of the potential impact of Palantir's involvement with surveillance on the protection of data of UK citizens.

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

Palantir has no role in the surveillance of United Kingdom (UK) citizens on behalf of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). All UK Defence data remains sovereign and under Ministry of Defence control.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment process on UK residents seeking GP employment compared to overseas applicants.

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

No specific assessment has been made. The UK National Recruitment Board, which oversees specialty training on behalf of the four United Kingdom health departments, has governance processes which determine whether the Multi-Specialty Recruitment Assessment is used by a specialty in their selection processes, and how.

NHS England will consider the future shape and delivery model for selection assessments beyond 2027.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his planned timetable is for amending the General Medical Council’s regulatory framework.

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

The Government is committed to modernising the regulatory frameworks for all healthcare professionals in the United Kingdom.

As a first step, we aim to consult on secondary legislation to modernise the General Medical Council’s regulatory framework shortly and to lay this legislation before Parliament this year.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many Young Futures Hubs will be fully functional by the end of 2026.

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

The first eight early adopter Young Futures Hubs are due to be fully operational before April 2026, and the Government aims for a total of 50 hubs to be operational by March 2029.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what has been the change in the number of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza cases between January 2021 and January 2026.

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

The number of confirmed Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) cases in Great Britain for each calendar year between January 2021 and January 2026 is shown in the following table.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, when he plans to respond to the written correspondence from the hon. Member for East Londonderry dated 6 February 2026 on a Music Export Growth Scheme Application.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department of Business and Trade aims to respond to correspondence in 15 working days, but in some instances it can take longer. The Department apologises for the delay and confirms that the response has now been issued.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2025 to Question 97500 on Citroën and DS Automobiles: Air Bags, how many of the estimated 26,000 outstanding vehicles have since been rectified.

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

Stellantis has advised, as of March 2026, that there are estimated to be 10,300 vehicles that may be in use on the road that have not been rectified - out of a total estimated at c148,000 in-scope vehicles.

Both Stellantis and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) continue to work to ensure that motorists who have not yet engaged with Stellantis are aware of the need to get their vehicles rectified.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what is the estimated total cost to the public purse of the Our Future Health research programme.

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

As announced in the Life Sciences Sector Plan, the government allocated £354m CDEL R&D Spending Review phase 2 funding from 2026/27 to 2029/30 to Our Future Health to become the largest longitudinal health research cohort and clinical trials resource in the world, with up to 5 million consented participants by 2030. This follows earlier investment of £58m CDEL R&D in 2026/27 from Spending Review phase 1, £79m CDEL R&D from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, which established the programme, and £81m CDEL R&D from repurposed underspend to fund additional objectives.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many homes have had insulation measures carried out under the ECO4 and GBIS schemes since 2022.

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

ECO4 started in April 2022. To the end of December 2025, 294,456 insulation measures were installed under ECO4 (including ECO3 Interim and Surplus Actions). This is published in Table 1.6 of Household Energy Efficiency Statistics, headline release: February 2026. This total includes some Surplus Action measures installed before 2022.

GBIS started in March 2023. To the end of December 2025, 94,847 insulation measures had been installed under GBIS. This is published in Table 3 of Great British Insulation Scheme release: February 2026,

Under these schemes, some properties may have had more than one type of insulation measure installed.

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 BBC on the potential merits of greater transparency in the regional breakdown of how licence fee monies are used in producing regional based programming.

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

The Secretary of State meets regularly with the BBC to discuss a wide range of issues.

The Royal Charter places obligations on the BBC to observe high standards of openness and seek to maximise transparency and accountability. It also requires the BBC to report a range of information in its annual plan and its annual report and accounts, including how it ensures provision for the United Kingdom’s nations and regions.

The government launched the BBC Charter Review last year. The Green Paper set out our ambition for the BBC to tell a unifying national story that represents all communities across the UK, and to drive growth in the nations and regions. It also set out proposals for enhancing transparency in a way that supports wider public trust in the content and services the BBC delivers. We are looking at a range of options to deliver this, which include further obligations relating to programme making and spend outside of London.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the level of dependence of the hospitality industry on younger employees and those paid the National Living Wage.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Hospitality employs many young people - with ONS statistics reporting that around 42% of all hospitality workers are between the ages of 16-24 (2023). That is why, from April 2026, foundation apprenticeships will expand into hospitality, with up to £2,000 available for non‑levy‑paying SMEs hiring apprentices aged 16–24.

The Low Pay Commission reports that 24.6% of hospitality jobs in 2025 were paid at or close to the statutory minimum. This reflects combined statutory minimum‑wage exposure and does not provide NLW‑only estimates.

From 1 April 2026, the NLW will rise by 4.1% to £12.71 for eligible workers aged 21 and over.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will hold discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive on the potential impact of the (a) E‑DATA project in Londonderry and (b) Executive funding for the Magee campus on the Ulster University campus locations at (i) Coleraine and (ii) Belfast.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

The E-DATA project is the recipient of funding through the PEACEPLUS programme, into which the UK Government is investing £730 million. We will continue to work with the Northern Ireland Executive and other partners on the delivery and impact of the project as it progresses.

The UK Government is investing £105 million to the Derry/Londonderry and Strabane City Region City Deal, which includes funding for the School of Medicine at Ulster University’s Magee Campus. I will continue to work closely with the Northern Ireland Executive on the delivery of this project.

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 Charity Commission on the registered charitable status of groups that have demonstrated support for illegal activity, including those engaged in terrorism.

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

Ministers and officials regularly meet with the Charity Commission for England and Wales to discuss a range of issues relating to the regulation of charities.

The promotion of extremist views or terrorism in charities is unacceptable. The Charity Commission has been consistent and clear that it responds to such abuse robustly. This includes referring potential criminal offences to the police where relevant.

DCMS is planning to strengthen the Charity Commission’s powers to tackle extremist abuse of charities. This will include strengthening powers to close down charities that promote extremism, to protect the vast majority of the sector delivering positive work. We will also consult on measures to automatically ban individuals convicted of hate crimes from serving as charity trustees or senior managers, and make it easier for the Charity Commission to take action against people promoting violence or hatred.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what checks have been carried out in the last twelve months on student loans awarded to people enrolling at UK Universities whose country of origin was Romania.

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

Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.

To qualify for support, applicants must provide the Student Loans Company (SLC) with evidence of their eligibility. This includes evidence of their identity, immigration status and ordinary residence.

SLC have robust procedures in place to check student finance eligibility, including data-sharing with the Home Office and HM Passport Office. When required, the SLC will contact the Home Office to confirm an applicant’s immigration status and ordinary residence.

SLC makes payments of loans to students on courses at higher education providers (HEPs) and HEPs in England must be registered with the Office for Students (OfS) before students are eligible to access funding. SLC monitors applications for student finance and works with the department and the OfS to protect public money.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many children were born with rare diseases as identified by the National Congenital Anomaly and Rare Disease Registration Service in each of the last ten years.

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

The National Congenital Condition and Rare Disease Registration Service (NCARDRS), part of the National Disease Registration Service (NDRS), was established in 2015 and collects data on individuals with congenital and rare conditions in England. There are over 7,000 known rare diseases, many of which present after birth rather than at delivery, and for this reason the NDRS does not produce an annual count of ‘children born with rare diseases’.

The NDRS does publish official statistics on the birth prevalence of congenital conditions for England, the vast majority of which are rare diseases, with further information available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/ncardrs-congenital-anomaly-statistics-annual-data/ncardrs-congenital-condition-statistics-report-2022

The following table shows NDRS reported national data for England on the number of children born with rare diseases as identified by the NCARDRS for the past five years, covering births between 2018 to 2022:

Although the reported live birth prevalence of congenital conditions appears to increase over time, this pattern is most likely due to continued improvements in national dataflows, case ascertainment, and completeness as the NCARDRS matures, rather than a genuine rise in the underlying prevalence of these conditions.

The NDRS also publishes prevalence estimates for certain rare conditions where data completeness permits, with further information available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-outputs/rare-condition-registration-statistics

We are continuing to expand and standardise national rare disease registration in England through the introduction of the national Rare Disease Data Set, which is available at the following link:

https://digital.nhs.uk/ndrs/data/data-sets/rdds

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the creation of fake operatives posing as remote workers by North Korea.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Secretary of State has not had any discussions with the Home Secretary on this issue.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps are being taken to help increase gas storage capacity.

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

The UK benefits from diverse gas supply sources, including North Sea production, pipeline imports from Europe, three LNG terminals, and eight storage facilities. This limits our reliance on any one type of infrastructure - in winter 24/25, gas storage was used to provide ~8% of the total gas used by GB. We are confident this diverse portfolio will continue to meet the country’s energy needs.

However, the Government does recognise that the energy transition may change future infrastructure requirements. We recently consulted on options to safeguard gas security of supply, including measures to encourage investment in additional storage capacity if needed. A response will follow in due course.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will consider the potential merits of excluding hybrids cars from the Vehicle Excise Duty Expensive Car Supplement (a) after three years from the date of first registration and (b) when their resale value falls below £28,000.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The ECS applies to new petrol/diesel and hybrid cars with a list price of £40,000 or more, while as announced at Budget 2025, from 1 April 2026 the ECS will apply to new zero-emission cars with a list price of £50,000 or more which are first registered on or after 1 April 2025. The additional charge was introduced so that those who can afford to access the most expensive cars make a fair contribution.

The Government continues to view the Expensive Car Supplement (ECS) as a suitable way of distinguishing the more luxury end of the new car market. Although average list prices of cars have increased since the ECS was introduced, nearly two-thirds of petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles still fall below the £40,000 threshold.

The Government annually reviews the rates and thresholds of taxes and reliefs, including Vehicle Excise Duty and the ECS, to ensure that they are appropriate and reflect the current state of the economy.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what estimate he has made of the percentages of homes in each Northern Ireland constituency that rely on oil central heating.

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

The 2021 Census in Northern Ireland carried out by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) provides estimates of the number of homes in each Northern Ireland parliamentary constituency that use oil central heating.

Question to the Northern Ireland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2026 to Question 120605 on Northern Ireland Executive, if he will hold discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive about funding of Ulster University campus locations at (i) Coleraine and (ii) Belfast following the E-DATA project announcement.

Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland

While the funding and strategic oversight of the higher education sector are devolved matters for the Northern Ireland Executive, the UK Government remains committed to the delivery of the Derry/Londonderry and Strabane City Region City Deal.

Through this City Deal, the UK Government is investing £105 million to support regional growth, which includes funding for the School of Medicine at Ulster University’s Magee Campus. We will continue to work with the Northern Ireland Executive and other partners on the progression of this City Deal and the PEACEPLUS programme to ensure these investments benefit the wider region.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he expects to answer written correspondence from the Hon. Member for East Londonderry dated 23rd January 2026 regarding Expanded Trainee and Apprenticeship Opportunities Linked to Future Towns Funding.

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

As part of the Pride in Place Programme, the Derry-Londonderry board and Coleraine Future Town board are receiving dedicated support from the Communities Delivery Unit within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. My officials are in regular contact with both boards and would be happy to answer any queries. The hon. Member can expect to receive a response to his correspondence very shortly

Museum online sales to Northern Ireland

Airbag safety in vehicles

75th anniversary of Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster

Oil prices and the cost of living