Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she plans to review the suitability of Turkey as a recipient of foreign aid.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Decisions on allocations of Official Development Assistance for the next three years are currently under consideration, and will be announced in the usual way.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make it his policy to reopen local magistrate courts that have been closed to help clear the court case backlog.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
50% of magistrates’ courts were closed under previous Governments between 2010 and 2020.
Estate capacity is not a limiting factor to sitting the funded days in the magistrates courts. In other words, we are investing in more court staff, legal aid and judge time so that magistrates can hear more cases - up to £450 million in additional courts funding per year. There is therefore a difference between system capacity and physical capacity of courtrooms. Running courtrooms requires not just available courtrooms, but judicial time, and sufficient numbers of legal professionals.
We continue to keep the court estate under review to ensure it meets operational priorities. Projects to boost court capacity across the country include a new Magistrate’s Court in Blackpool and an additional 18 court rooms in the City of London.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of increasing water bills on households.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is important that customers get value for money from their water bills and that support is available for those who need it. I meet water companies frequently to discuss a range of issues, including customer bills.
As the independent economic regulator, it is Ofwat’s responsibility to scrutinise water company business plans and ensure the prices water companies charge their customers are fair and proportionate. It does this through its Price Review, every five years. Ofwat published the results of the 2024 Price Review in December 2024, this sets out company expenditure and customer bills for the next five years, up to 2030. These price controls came into effect on 01 April 2025.
Price Review 2024 will deliver substantial improvements for customers and the environment through a £104 billion upgrade for the water sector - the highest level of investment in the water sector since privatisation. The average annual bill rise over the next 5 years will be £31 (or 36%). This will vary across households depending on their circumstances. Information on bills for each water company is available on Ofwat’s website.
All water companies have measures in place for customers who struggle to pay for their water and wastewater services, such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support. Moreover, Government expects industry to keep the current support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers are supported.
The Government has committed to reforming the WaterSure support scheme which supports low-income households with high essential water use due to having a medical condition or three or more children living at home and has consulted on extending the list of qualifying benefits to include non-means tested disability benefits. This proposal is designed to provide better support for low-income households where a medical condition leads to high essential water use.
The proposed reforms would also increase support for existing households and update the regulations to reflect best practice adopted across the water sector. The department will publish the response to the consultation in the coming months.
Bill increases are necessary to make up for years of under-investment and make sure water companies can deliver a good service to customers and protect the environment.
The Government is also bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for billpayers and restore trust and accountability. This includes the creation of a powerful new consolidated regulator, which will work to ensure water company bills are fair and affordable for customers. These reforms are detailed in the Government’s Water White Paper.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Significant payments to companies, £25,000 and over, are published by month as part of the Department’s transparency data. This provides the most up to date data, including the companies used to deliver advertising and marketing. They are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/spending-over-25-000--2
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
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 support people with the cost of water bills.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is important that customers get value for money from their water bills and that support is available for those who need it. I meet water companies frequently to discuss a range of issues, including customer bills.
As the independent economic regulator, it is Ofwat’s responsibility to scrutinise water company business plans and ensure the prices water companies charge their customers are fair and proportionate. It does this through its Price Review, every five years. Ofwat published the results of the 2024 Price Review in December 2024, this sets out company expenditure and customer bills for the next five years, up to 2030. These price controls came into effect on 01 April 2025.
Price Review 2024 will deliver substantial improvements for customers and the environment through a £104 billion upgrade for the water sector - the highest level of investment in the water sector since privatisation. The average annual bill rise over the next 5 years will be £31 (or 36%). This will vary across households depending on their circumstances. Information on bills for each water company is available on Ofwat’s website.
All water companies have measures in place for customers who struggle to pay for their water and wastewater services, such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support. Moreover, Government expects industry to keep the current support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers are supported.
The Government has committed to reforming the WaterSure support scheme which supports low-income households with high essential water use due to having a medical condition or three or more children living at home and has consulted on extending the list of qualifying benefits to include non-means tested disability benefits. This proposal is designed to provide better support for low-income households where a medical condition leads to high essential water use.
The proposed reforms would also increase support for existing households and update the regulations to reflect best practice adopted across the water sector. The department will publish the response to the consultation in the coming months.
Bill increases are necessary to make up for years of under-investment and make sure water companies can deliver a good service to customers and protect the environment.
The Government is also bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for billpayers and restore trust and accountability. This includes the creation of a powerful new consolidated regulator, which will work to ensure water company bills are fair and affordable for customers. These reforms are detailed in the Government’s Water White Paper.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with water companies on the cost of water bills to customers.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
It is important that customers get value for money from their water bills and that support is available for those who need it. I meet water companies frequently to discuss a range of issues, including customer bills.
As the independent economic regulator, it is Ofwat’s responsibility to scrutinise water company business plans and ensure the prices water companies charge their customers are fair and proportionate. It does this through its Price Review, every five years. Ofwat published the results of the 2024 Price Review in December 2024, this sets out company expenditure and customer bills for the next five years, up to 2030. These price controls came into effect on 01 April 2025.
Price Review 2024 will deliver substantial improvements for customers and the environment through a £104 billion upgrade for the water sector - the highest level of investment in the water sector since privatisation. The average annual bill rise over the next 5 years will be £31 (or 36%). This will vary across households depending on their circumstances. Information on bills for each water company is available on Ofwat’s website.
All water companies have measures in place for customers who struggle to pay for their water and wastewater services, such as WaterSure, social tariffs, payment breaks and holidays, and debt management support. Moreover, Government expects industry to keep the current support schemes under review to ensure that vulnerable customers are supported.
The Government has committed to reforming the WaterSure support scheme which supports low-income households with high essential water use due to having a medical condition or three or more children living at home and has consulted on extending the list of qualifying benefits to include non-means tested disability benefits. This proposal is designed to provide better support for low-income households where a medical condition leads to high essential water use.
The proposed reforms would also increase support for existing households and update the regulations to reflect best practice adopted across the water sector. The department will publish the response to the consultation in the coming months.
Bill increases are necessary to make up for years of under-investment and make sure water companies can deliver a good service to customers and protect the environment.
The Government is also bringing forward root and branch reform to secure better outcomes for billpayers and restore trust and accountability. This includes the creation of a powerful new consolidated regulator, which will work to ensure water company bills are fair and affordable for customers. These reforms are detailed in the Government’s Water White Paper.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Government marketing supports the effective communication of operational and policy objectives by effectively understanding and meeting the needs of citizens and businesses, changing behaviours for personal, societal and economic benefit.
Total advertising and marketing spend with the Department for Business and Trade’s media buying agency for the last three financial years is as follows:
22/23 | 23/24 | 24/25 |
£13,124,598 | £13,375,087 | £12,486,569 |
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how much their Department has spent on (a) advertising and (b) marketing in each of the last three years.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Total spend with our media buying and planning agencies for the last three financial years is as follows:
Financial years under the previous government
22/23 | 23/24 |
£313,854 | £110,818 |
23red (creative agency, media planner); OmniGov (media buyers) | OmniGov (media planners and buyers) |
Financial years under the previous and current government
24/25 |
£59,433 |
OmniGov (media planners and buyers) |
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department is taking to improve research into (a) Ocular Melanoma and (b) other rare cancers.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department invests over £1.6 billion each year on research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and in 2024/25 spent £141.6 million on cancer research, signalling its high priority.
One example of a recent investment into rare cancers is the NIHR’s investment of £13.7 million in December 2025 to support ground-breaking research to develop novel brain tumour treatments in the United Kingdom, with significant further funding announcements expected shortly. Research specifically on Ocular Melanoma includes a study completed in 2022 to develop AI Techniques to Predict Eye Cancer Using Big Longitudinal Data. The NIHR is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with rare cancers, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials and innovative, lifesaving treatments, by working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of medicines and therapies of the future, including for rare cancers
The Government also supports the Rare Cancers Private Members Bill. The bill will make it easier for clinical trials on rare cancers to take place in England, by ensuring the patient population can be more easily contacted by researchers
The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into less common cancers, including ocular cancer. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money, and scientific quality.
Asked by: Lee Anderson (Reform UK - Ashfield)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the national safeguarding guidelines for (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Schools and colleges have a critical role to play in protecting children and keeping them safe. The department publishes statutory safeguarding guidance Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) which all schools and colleges must have regard to when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.
KCSIE is subject to regular review to ensure it is kept up to date and relevant. We are proposing to make changes to KCSIE 2026 and plan to launch a public consultation very soon.