Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the Gambling Commission’s licensing checks in identifying whether gambling software providers supply unlicensed gambling websites.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Gambling Commission, as the independent regulator for gambling, has responsibility for making decisions around licensing.
As part of its regulatory approach, the Gambling Commission assesses applicants against the statutory licensing objectives and may take compliance and enforcement action where it identifies evidence of breaches of licence conditions or other regulatory requirements. This includes where operators or gambling software licensees are found to be supplying the illegal gambling market.
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, if he will work with the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that low-carbon and sustainable heating technologies other than heat pumps are included within the final capital support framework for the proposed Warm Homes Plan.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Department is committed to working collaboratively with the Northern Ireland Executive on the delivery of the Warm Homes Plan (WHP), recognising the distinct housing stock and energy needs across the UK. The WHP supports a range of low‑carbon heating solutions beyond hydronic heat pumps including heat networks, biomass boilers, air-to-air heat pumps, and heat batteries to ensure the upgrades are right for the context of the household. We will continue to keep under review the range of technologies that are supported by the WHP schemes.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Modern Service Framework for Palliative and End of Life Care will include condition specific measures to address the palliative and end of life care needs of people living with dementia.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
We are working closely with a range of stakeholders, including Dementia UK, on the development of the Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care. We recently published an interim update on the MSF, which is available at the following link:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-06-04/hcws88
The MSF will provide a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in patient and carer outcomes, including for those with dementia, by reducing both inequality and unwarranted variation.
We recognise that high-quality palliative care and end-of-life care should include the opportunity for individuals to discuss their wishes and preferences so that these can be taken fully into account in the provision of their future care, also known as advance care planning (ACP).
In order to facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP, NHS England has published Universal Principles for ACP, which are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/
Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance on dementia includes recommendations on ACP and involving people living with dementia in decisions about their care. The guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng97
Timely and equitable identification of palliative care and end-of-life care needs will be a key element of the MSF. NHS England and the Department are working closely with other teams who developing MSFs, including on Frailty and Dementia, alongside a wide range of stakeholders on the development of the MSF, looking at how we can enable more proactive assessment of palliative care need and subsequent access to services and personalised care and support, including ACP.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will commit to the Modern Service Framework for Palliative and End of Life Care including guidance on ensuring reviewed advance care planning for people living with dementia.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Secretary of State for Wales
We are working closely with a range of stakeholders, including Dementia UK, on the development of the Modern Service Framework (MSF) for Palliative Care and End-of-Life Care. We recently published an interim update on the MSF, which is available at the following link:
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-06-04/hcws88
The MSF will provide a clinically led, evidence-based framework to support sustained improvement in patient and carer outcomes, including for those with dementia, by reducing both inequality and unwarranted variation.
We recognise that high-quality palliative care and end-of-life care should include the opportunity for individuals to discuss their wishes and preferences so that these can be taken fully into account in the provision of their future care, also known as advance care planning (ACP).
In order to facilitate a consistent national approach to ACP, NHS England has published Universal Principles for ACP, which are available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/universal-principles-for-advance-care-planning/
Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guidance on dementia includes recommendations on ACP and involving people living with dementia in decisions about their care. The guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng97
Timely and equitable identification of palliative care and end-of-life care needs will be a key element of the MSF. NHS England and the Department are working closely with other teams who developing MSFs, including on Frailty and Dementia, alongside a wide range of stakeholders on the development of the MSF, looking at how we can enable more proactive assessment of palliative care need and subsequent access to services and personalised care and support, including ACP.
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 her Armenian counterpart on access to alternative civilian service for religious conscientious objectors.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Decisions about exemptions and other issues relating to military service in Armenia are the responsibility of the government of Armenia.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Will the Paymaster confirm how many chronic Hepatitis B and chronic Hepatitis C victims received their compensation and how many do the IBCA intend to review because of administrative mistakes on the redefinition of chronic Hepatitis B.
Answered by Nick Thomas-Symonds
The Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) continuously seeks to improve and add detail as it learns from real claims. On clinical matters, IBCA seeks regular advice from clinical advisers to ensure that their approach adequately reflects clinical understanding in line with the regulations.
Within the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme Regulations 2025, there is a provision that permits IBCA to reclaim amounts of money that are, following a review process, found to have been overpayments. This is an important protection, both against error and against fraudulent claims.
The Regulations give IBCA the discretion not to recover payments in certain circumstances, such as where the overpayment was IBCA’s fault, enabling decisions that are humane, fair and proportionate. When making a decision on whether to exercise this discretion, IBCA must have regard to wider public law principles and the requirements of managing public money. IBCA is not able to publish information on compensation claims that provides detail on applicants’ infections. This is to ensure the privacy of applicants is adequately protected.
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 Government of Kyrgyzstan on registration requirements affecting Council of Churches Baptist congregations and their ability to meet for worship.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK champions Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all, including in Kyrgyzstan. On 8 July, the UK's Special Envoy for Religious Freedom, David Smith MP, set out the Government's new strategy on FoRB, providing a framework for engagement with other countries, and describing the links between the protection of FoRB and other goals including the prevention of conflict. As part of this strategy, the UK continues to support FoRB on the international stage, through our position in the United Nations, G7 and Article 18 Alliance.
The UK raised concerns regarding several human rights issues, including freedom of expression in the 2025 UN universal periodic review into Kyrgyzstan, the most recent iteration.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the role of generative AI chatbots in facilitating access to unlicensed gambling operators.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
AI chatbots covered by the Online Safety Act must protect all users from illegal content. We work with a wide range of stakeholders including technology companies to ensure these rules keep pace with technology and will not hesitate to go further if there is evidence to do so.
More broadly, the Government is committed to tackling illegal gambling through the Illegal Gambling Taskforce. We will therefore consider examples of chatbots promoting illegal sites to children, in conjunction with other issues, when deciding on the best next steps to increase protections against illegal gambling.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with technology companies on tackling AI-generated guidance on circumventing gambling regulation.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
AI chatbots covered by the Online Safety Act must protect all users from illegal content. We work with a wide range of stakeholders including technology companies to ensure these rules keep pace with technology and will not hesitate to go further if there is evidence to do so.
More broadly, the Government is committed to tackling illegal gambling through the Illegal Gambling Taskforce. We will therefore consider examples of chatbots promoting illegal sites to children, in conjunction with other issues, when deciding on the best next steps to increase protections against illegal gambling.
Asked by: Sammy Wilson (Democratic Unionist Party - East Antrim)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps the Government is taking to prevent children from being targeted with online gambling advertisements during the FIFA World Cup 2026.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) advertising codes require all gambling operators to take all reasonable steps to ensure that children are not targeted by gambling advertisements. This includes a requirement for all operators to ensure that targeting is used responsibly, through utilising tools available on platforms to exclude under-18s from exposure wherever possible.
In 2025 the ASA strengthened its guidance to ensure that personalities or influencers with social media followings totalling at least 100,000 under-18s, across all platforms, are unable to advertise gambling.
The Government continues to work with a wide range of stakeholders to increase protections online. This includes ongoing work to tackle the illegal market.