Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the impact of current fuel duty rates on the road freight and logistics sector; and whether her Department plans to bring forward measures to reduce transport costs.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
At Budget 2025, the Government announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut until the end of August 2026. Rates will then gradually return to previous levels. The planned increase in line with inflation for 2026-27 will not take place, with the government increasing fuel duty rates in line with RPI from April 2027. This will save the average van driver £100 next year compared to previous plans, and the average HGV driver more than £800.
The Government considers the impact of fuel duty on the economy, including households and businesses, with decisions on rates made at fiscal events.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the availability and effectiveness of rehabilitation support for individuals with a gambling addiction within the criminal justice system.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) co-commissioned an independent report to inform understanding of the prevalence of gambling harms among those in prison and on probation in the community: Report on Gambling Harms and the Criminal Justice System.
We are committed to rehabilitating those impacted by gambling and its harms, through a rehabilitative culture, positive relationships and pro-social staff. Together with this, HMPPS delivers a broad range of interventions to address individuals’ criminogenic risks and needs, including accredited offending behaviour programmes. In addition, the NHS provides support for individuals who are experiencing gambling addiction.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the prevalence of gambling-related harm among individuals within the criminal justice system; and what steps he is taking to improve screening and support for problem gambling in prisons and the probation services.
Answered by Jake Richards - Assistant Whip
His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) co-commissioned an independent report to inform understanding of the prevalence of gambling harms among those in prison and on probation in the community: Report on Gambling Harms and the Criminal Justice System.
We are committed to rehabilitating those impacted by gambling and its harms, through a rehabilitative culture, positive relationships and pro-social staff. Together with this, HMPPS delivers a broad range of interventions to address individuals’ criminogenic risks and needs, including accredited offending behaviour programmes. In addition, the NHS provides support for individuals who are experiencing gambling addiction.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate she has made of the contribution of fuel duty to inflation and the cost of living; and whether she will review current rates in the context of wider price pressures.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
Pump prices are at their lowest levels since 2021, before Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine led to soaring prices and the introduction of a temporary 5p cut in fuel duty. At Budget 2025, the Government therefore announced continued support for people and businesses by extending the temporary 5p fuel duty cut until the end of August 2026. Rates will then gradually return to early 2022 levels. The planned increase in line with inflation for 2026-27 will not take place, with the government uprating fuel duty rates by RPI from April 2027. This will save the average car driver £49 next year compared to previous plans.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) set out the impact of policy measures on inflation in its Autumn Budget 2025 forecast, including fuel duty policy. The OBR forecast the fuel duty freeze extension will reduce CPI inflation by 0.13 percentage points in 2026/27.
The Chancellor asked departments to prioritise reducing inflation when developing policies for the Budget, ensuring decisions support stability and long-term growth. Considering all policies, including the impact of the fuel duty decision, the OBR expect Budget measures to reduce CPI inflation by 0.4 percentage points in 2026/27.
The Government considers the impact of fuel duty on the economy, including households and businesses, with decisions on rates made at fiscal events.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with the Cameroon authorities concerning the recent kidnapping and detention of Christian clergy in the Northeast region.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK condemns the kidnappings of Catholic priests and others in the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon, including 6 priests who have now been released. The UK Government monitors the human rights situation in Cameroon closely and discusses the issues in the Anglophone regions with a range of interlocutors, including at the highest levels of the Cameroonian Government. We continue to call for inclusive dialogue which addresses the root causes of the crisis and urge all parties to pursue a peaceful resolution. We also advocate for the protections of all vulnerable communities through our position at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to provide certainty to industry in relation to the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to maritime.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In November, the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) Authority published the main Authority Response to the 2024 consultation detailing how the UK ETS will expand to the maritime sector. This main Authority Response included final policy details ahead of implementation next year. The Authority is directly engaging with the sector to ensure the details are understood, including by hosting a webinar which will be an opportunity for stakeholders to ask questions.
We are working closely with the sector as part of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) Authority to ensure that maritime operators will be sufficiently prepared to join UK ETS from July next year.
The Environment Agency, who will regulate the majority of operators, are running a voluntary onboarding period from next month which will help the sector engage with the ETS ahead of July and give operators extra time to get familiar with how it works.
Additionally, the Authority will allow for ‘double-surrender’ for maritime operators for the first two scheme years, giving maritime operators extra time and further opportunity to familiarise themselves with UK ETS and the digital systems.
Guidance will be provided to address sector-specific requirements and support participants to meet their UK ETS obligations.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions her Department has had with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on prioritising access to the national grid for port electrification to support ports who wish to offer onshore power supply connection to cruise line customers.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Reforming the connections process and investing in the grid is a key Government priority. This includes reforms that are expected to deprioritise over half of the existing queue based on readiness and strategic alignment with our strategy as set out in Clean Power 2030.
Department for Transport ministers and officials meet regularly with their counterparts in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. These include discussions on the significance of getting sufficient grid capacity to electrify ports, for cruise and ferries to use shore power and policy options to accelerate connection dates for strategic demand customers, such as critical port sites. This is informed by the Department for Transport call for evidence on Net Zero Ports, published in March 2025, which posed questions on managing future energy demand at ports.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of farmers and gamekeepers on fighting wildfires.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) are the lead Department for wildfire. I refer you to their response of 21 November 2025 to PQ UIN 90164.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to introduce monitoring and evaluation to determine the health and success of the UK hydrogen supply chain.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Developing domestic supply chains is a government priority, as demonstrated through our Industrial Strategy and comprehensive public financial institution offer which will provide direct support to UK hydrogen supply chains.
DESNZ collects supply chain data through the Hydrogen Allocation Rounds and welcomes the industry’s voluntary 50% local content ambition.
We are developing options to strengthen our approach to domestic supply chains in future allocation rounds and will be launching our HAR3 market engagement exercise setting out our proposals in due course.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps he is taking to increase the levels of UK content used in hydrogen production projects as part of the upcoming Hydrogen Allocation Round 3.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We welcome the industry-led voluntary ambition of 50% UK local content for hydrogen across the value chain from 2030. We will work with industry to introduce monitoring and evaluation to determine the health and success of the supply chain in relation to the existing industry voluntary content ambition, which could include exploring stronger incentives around reporting.
We plan to publish a market engagement exercise setting out our proposals for HAR3 in due course.