Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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.
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 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:
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:
Year | Number of live births with at least one congenital condition | Live birth prevalence of at least one congenital condition per 10,000 live births |
2022 | 10,856 | 188.1 [95% CI 184.6-191.7] |
2021 | 10,119 | 169.2 [95% CI 165.9-172.5] |
2020 | 9,763 | 166.3 [95% 163.0 -169.6] |
2019 | 9,770 | 159.5 [156.3-162.7] |
2018 | 9,836 | 157.2 [154.1-160.3] |
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
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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.
Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
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.