Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, who will have lead responsibility in co ordination and organising the four Nation Steering Group in examining the role of the Multi Speciality Recruitment Assessment process.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans are there to ensure, under the ten-year zero emission bus order pipeline, that UK based manufacturers are best placed to produce the new vehicles.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government has supported the UK bus manufacturing industry through the UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel, which ran from March 2025 to March 2026.
Long-term funding for local transport authorities, including through the £15.6 billion Transport for City Regions funding, will enable LTAs to purchase zero emission buses (ZEBs) for their areas and support wider investment.
The zero emission bus order pipeline was published in March 2026 and provides greater planning certainty to the sector as they develop future decarbonisation strategies.
At the final meeting of the Expert Panel, Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs) agreed to a minimum 10% social value weighting in future bus procurements. This will help to enable UK-based manufacturers to plan and invest with confidence, taking full advantage of the opportunities ahead.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how best practice in the roll out of fracture liaison services in England is being shared with the devolved institutions.
Answered by Sharon Hodgson - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme, which includes a dedicated Fracture Liaison Service database, is a clinical audit of fracture prevention care, delivered by the Royal College of Physicians.
The Fracture Liaison Service database collects, measures, and reports on the care provided by Fracture Liaison Services in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It captures data that NHS datasets are not designed to record, providing key insight across these nations.
Fracture Liaison Services in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland report into the database. The Royal College of Physicians publishes an annual report on Fracture Liaison Services in England and Wales.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the circumstances whereby senior citizens receive the Winter Fuel Allowance then are ineligible for the payment due to their level of income.
Answered by Torsten Bell - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government announced in June 2025 that the Winter Fuel Payment eligibility will benefit a wider range of pensioners in England and Wales from winter 2025. Winter Fuel Payments are paid automatically to anyone who has not opted out of getting a payment, to ensure timely support for those who need it.
Individuals who are of State Pension age and have total income over £35,000 will have their Winter Fuel Payment recovered by HMRC through the tax system. Winter Fuel Payments are devolved in Scotland and Northern Ireland, however, the Scottish Government and Northern Ireland Executive have decided to mirror the recovery approach taken for England and Wales.
The winter payment is automatically recovered by HMRC through PAYE for the vast majority of cases, or through their Self-Assessment return for the minority that pay tax that way. The amount recovered is equal to the full value of their payment. This approach applies across the UK, including in Northern Ireland.
Anyone who expects their total income to exceed £35,000 can opt out of receiving future payments via GOV.UK, or through Social Security Scotland if they live in Scotland, and will not be subject to the charge. Opting out applies only to payments not yet made.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2026 to Question 126551, what steps she is taking to ensure that the merits of the HMRC approved software to the user are maintained for the remainder of this Parliament.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has ensured a wide range of MTD-compatible software is available to support businesses of all budgets and sizes, and will continue to work closely with the software industry to ensure that Making Tax Digital (MTD) software meets the needs of taxpayers.
Software providers must meet a clear set of criteria and Terms of Use for their products to be recognised as MTD-compatible. These include requirements on security, data protection and accessibility, as well as the ability to support core user journeys and portability of data.
A taxpayer is not locked into a single MTD-compatible software product and can change provider at any time. As their business needs evolve over time, taxpayers may find alternative software becomes the most appropriate option for their circumstances.
HMRC has published guidance to support taxpayers in finding the right software here:
www.gov.uk/guidance/find-software-that-works-with-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when she expects the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe to publish a timeline for measures to be implemented by car manufacturers to help reduce the occurrence of headlamp glare.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) glare prevention taskforce is currently drafting recommendations for submission to the international lighting expert group in October this year. Implementation, including associated timelines, will depend on progress made in future negotiations with the wide range of UNECE countries that have agreed to be bound by these vehicle construction regulations.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much expenditure has been incurred on the Ajax programme since the decision was taken to pause it in 2025.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
The Ministry of Defence has paid £46 million, in line with contractual obligations, for the Ajax programme between 23 November 2025 and 14 January 2026.
It is not possible to release a breakdown of these payments as this information is considered commercially sensitive.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to WPQ 109064 dated 2 February 2026, when does he expect to be able to reply.
Answered by Luke Pollard - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
I responded to the hon. Member on 20 April 2026.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many instances of breaches of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme have resulted in prosecutions.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The FIRS scheme went live on 01 July last year. We will be publishing an annual report setting out, among other things, the number of registrations, the number of information notices issued, the number of persons charged with an offence and the number of persons convicted of an offence. The first report will be published as soon as practicable after 30 June 2026.
Providing information outside of that publication schedule about any live cases or prosecutions risks revealing information not intended to be made public and undermining any enforcement action.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions have been held with the Government of the Irish Republic on what increases in co-operation are required to deal with the numbers of Russian shadow fleet vessels operating in British and Irish territorial waters.
Answered by Al Carns - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for Veterans)
Deterring and disrupting the Russian shadow fleet is a priority for the UK, and we are working closely with our allies and partners to do so.
Earlier this year the Secretary of State for Defence and the Irish Minister for Defence signed the refreshed UK-Ireland Memorandum of Understanding.
Under this Memorandum of Understanding, the UK Armed Forces and the Irish Defence Forces will strengthen their maritime security cooperation to develop improved response mechanisms to maritime security incidents in British and Irish territorial waters.