Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust in addressing the long waits for ambulances and emergency care at the acute hospital in Cornwall.

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

We are committed to improving urgent and emergency care and returning to the waiting time standards set out in the National Health Service constitution through actions set out in Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26 and the Medium Term Planning Framework for 2026/27 to 2028/29.

On the 6 June 2025, we published our Urgent and Emergency Care Plan for 2025/26, backed by a total of nearly £450 million of funding. The plan focuses on improvements that will see the biggest impact on urgent and emergency care performance next winter and on making urgent and emergency care better every day, including reducing ambulance handovers to a maximum of 45 minutes and actions to support at least 78% of patients in accident and emergency being seen within four hours.

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has been focusing on its ‘clinical vision of flow’, alongside whole system work which is delivering improvement in urgent and emergency care performance.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase the number of children that are able to swim 25 metres confidently.

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

Swimming and water safety is a vital life skill, which is why it is a mandatory part of the primary PE National Curriculum.

All schools must provide swimming instruction in either key stage 1 or 2. In particular, pupils should be taught to: swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres; use a range of strokes effectively; and perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations.

Primary schools can use their PE and sport Premium funding to provide top-up swimming and water safety lessons for those pupils that do not meet national curriculum requirements after they have completed core swimming and water safety lessons.

The Department for Education is also funding the ‘Inclusion 2028’ grant at up to £300,000 per year to improve opportunities for young people with special educational needs and disabilities to participate in school sport, including swimming and water safety.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what her planned timeline is for the allocation of £400 million into new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities.

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

The Government is committed to ensuring that communities across the UK benefit from high-quality sport facilities to help enable people to get active and build pride in place in local communities. At least £400 million is to be invested in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities over the next four years. This investment will fund projects that promote health, wellbeing and community cohesion, while removing the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups, such as women and girls, people with disabilities, and ethnic minority communities.

The Government has allocated £5 million of this funding towards basketball and basketball-led multi-sport facilities in England in 2026/27. This dedicated funding for basketball will be matched by the NBA, who will invest £5 million through to 2028.

Funding is subject to departmental business planning processes which are ongoing. We are working with the sports sector and local leaders to develop plans for delivering this funding, prioritising the areas which need it most across the UK and ensuring that investment best serves the needs of these communities. Further details will be announced in due course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Affordable housing set to benefit from £100 million following CMA probe, published on 9 July 2025, whether he has considered the potential merits of allocating the English portion of the £100 million to community-led housing.

Answered by Matthew Pennycook - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

As the Competition and Markets Authority set out in its final decision letter published on 30 October 2025 (which can be found on gov.uk here), the government will disburse England’s proportion of the payment to the affordable homes programmes delivered by Homes England and the Greater London Authority.

On 7 November 2025, my Department published a policy statement on the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) which can be found on gov.uk here. This was accompanied by detailed guidance for prospective bidders published by Homes England and the Greater London Authority.

While maximising supply is at the forefront of the SAHP, the programme is also designed to support greater diversity and supply of the different types of homes that can be delivered, as well as greater diversity in who delivers these homes.

We recognise that some types of social and affordable homes that are much needed can often cost more to deliver – such as some homes built by local councils, supported housing, community-led and rural homes. The new programme is designed to be flexible to support the greater diversity of supply needed, and we are asking providers to come forward with ambitious bids that reflect this diversity.

The flexibility in grant rates provided for under the new programme will help community-led schemes achieve viability and help the sector grow towards its full potential.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential merits in recognising the role of renewable liquid fuels in decarbonising off-gas-grid households.

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

As sustainable biomass is a limited resource, the government expects it to be prioritised where there are limited alternatives for decarbonisation. Renewable liquid heating fuels (RLHFs) are also more expensive to use than other heating solutions.

However, the government recognises that RLHFs could play a limited role in decarbonising off-gas grid homes. Before taking decisions on whether to support the use of RLHFs, the government would require stronger evidence on their affordability for consumers, and the availability of sustainable feedstock.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department has taken to assess the (a) adequacy of levels of swimming pool provision and (b) long-term factors that might impact future levels of swimming pool provision.

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

The Government is committed to ensuring that communities across the UK benefit from high-quality sport facilities to help enable people to get active and build pride in place in local communities. We are aware that factors including pressures around energy costs and ageing facilities may impact the future provision of sports facilities, including swimming pools. That is why at least £400 million is to be invested in new and upgraded grassroots sport facilities across the UK over the next four years. This investment will fund projects that promote health, wellbeing and community cohesion, while removing the barriers to physical activity for under-represented groups, such as women and girls, people with disabilities, and ethnic minority communities.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of school supply spending that is retained by private agencies rather than paid to teachers; and what assessment she has made of the impact on school budgets.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department does not hold data on the proportion of supply spending retained by agencies.

According to school financial returns, in the 2023/24 financial year, local authority maintained schools spent approximately £522 million on agency supply teaching staff whilst, in the 2023/24 academic year, academies spent approximately £898 million. The total school budget was £58 billion for the 2023/24 financial year.

The department’s 2024 ‘Use of supply teachers in schools’ research found that on average a secondary supply agency teacher cost a school £291 per day, whilst the daily take-home pay for a secondary supply teacher was £150. This suggests that agencies retain around 48% of the spend for secondary supply on average, which covers profit, on-costs and operational costs.

We continue to explore ways to support schools to obtain value for money when hiring supply staff.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his ambitions for tidal stream are in the upcoming renewable auction.

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

Tidal stream continues to be eligible for our main support mechanism for low-carbon electricity, the Contracts for Difference scheme, through which over 120 MW of capacity has already been secured.

The parameters for Allocation Round 7 were published in July, and the budget for technologies including tidal stream will be confirmed later this year.

Found: Cornwall Attendees • M r Alistair Carmichael MP (Chair) • Sarah Bool MP • Charlie Dewhirst MP • Jayne Kirkham

Found: Attendees • Mr Alistair Carmichael MP (Chair) • Sarah Bool MP • Charlie Dewhirst MP • Sarah Dyke MP • Jayne Kirkham

Found: Belgium Attendees • Mr Al istair Carmichael MP (Chair) • Sarah Bool MP • Charlie Dewhirst MP • Jayne Kirkham

Found: Devon Attendees • Mr Alistair Carmichael MP (Chair) • Sarah Bool MP • Charlie Dewhirst MP • Jayne Kirkham

Found: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat; Glastonbury and Somerton) Terry Jermy (Labour; South West Norfolk) Jayne Kirkham

Found: present: Mr Alistair Carmichael (Chair); Charlie Dewhirst; Sarah Dyke; Barry Gardiner; Terry Jermy; Jayne Kirkham

Found: present: Mr Alistair Carmichael (Chair); Charlie Dewhirst; Sarah Dyke; Barry Gardiner; Terry Jermy; Jayne Kirkham

Found: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat; Glastonbury and Somerton) Terry Jermy (Labour; South West Norfolk) Jayne Kirkham

Found: Q402 Jayne Kirkham: I have a coastal seat as well.

Found: cross-subsidising between administering authorities would be caused by any changes made by the bill.18 Jayne Kirkham