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 help low income households access renewable energy solutions.

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

We are decarbonising the energy system with utility-scale solar, rooftop solar, and offshore wind allowing households to benefit from reduced electricity bills and cleaner energy.

For homes, we have kickstarted delivery of the Government’s ambitious Warm Homes Plan, which will transform homes across the country by making them cleaner and cheaper to run. This includes grant support through the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), and targeted support for low income and fuel poor households, namely GBIS, ECO. The Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund, and Warm Homes: Local Grant will also begin delivery this year.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to stop the overprescription of antidepressants.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Antidepressants can be an effective treatment option for depression when prescribed safely and in alignment with patient preferences. They are also used in anxiety and chronic pain.

It is for the responsible clinician to work with their patient to decide on the best course of treatment, with the provision of the most clinically appropriate care for the patient always being the primary consideration. It is important for patients to be able to make informed choices about whether to take antidepressants, and NHS England has recently published a Patient Decision Aid on this topic, produced by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

It is also important for clinicians to recognise that, while antidepressants may be helpful for some patients, non-drug options are likely to be a better option for most people who present with less severe mental health conditions. These include NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression, and social prescribing.

To ensure antidepressant drugs are made available to patients only where the benefits outweigh the potential harms, NHS England is encouraging the integrated care boards to address inappropriate antidepressant prescribing and to consider commissioning services for patients wishing to reduce or stop using antidepressants.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to help encourage (a) large companies and (b) investment funds to adopt sustainable net zero practices.

Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Under current rules, certain large companies and investment funds are required to disclose information about the ways they are responding to the risks posed by climate change and seizing the economic opportunities that it presents.

Going forward, the Government is considering whether to require companies to report comparable information in line with international corporate sustainability reporting standards. In addition, the Government's manifesto committed to mandate listed companies and financial institutions to develop and implement credible transition plans that align with the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement. The Government will consult on how to take this forward later this year.

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 decarbonise the power system.

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

The Government published the Clean Power 2030 Action Plan ‘a new era of clean electricity’ on 13 December 2024 detailing our plan to achieve deliver clean power by 2030.

More recently, we have introduced the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, reinforcing our commitment to ensuring that billpayers and communities hosting energy infrastructure see meaningful benefits through lower energy bills and local project investment.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing (a) tax incentives to help reduce packaging waste.

Answered by James Murray - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

There are a several tax incentives already in place to reduce plastic waste. These include the Plastic Packaging Tax, which encourages use of more recycled plastic in packaging and Landfill Tax, which encourages waste to be diverted from landfill to more sustainable options, such as recycling.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Public Order Act 2023 on the right to peaceful protest and assembly.

Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Home Office)

The right to peacefully protest is a fundamental part of our democratic society.

We have committed to carry out post-legislative scrutiny of the Public Order Act 2023 beginning in May 2025. This process will review how the legislation has operated since it came into force.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Office for Budget Responsibility has made of the potential impact of proposed changes to the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity group on the finances of disabled people unable to work.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department published “Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms - Equality Analysis” and “Spring Statement 2025 health and disability benefit reforms – Impacts” alongside the Spring Statement.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that teacher pension payments are not suspended as a result of (a) administrative issues and (b) delays related to proof of life documentation.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

The department has kept the Disclosure of Death Registration Information (DDRI) check under review with the scheme administrator to ensure that it continues to meet the objectives of both protecting members and the scheme.

The DDRI check was introduced as a proportionate means to ensure that recipients of pension payments from the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme continue to be eligible.

The process allows 28 days for a pensioner member to respond to an enquiry to certify their ongoing entitlement. Where a pension has been paused because confirmation has not been received within that timescale, it is normally reinstated within 10 working days with payment of any arrears. The scheme administrator is currently working on further enhancements, such as issuing additional notifications by alternative communication methods, including by email.

This approach avoids the need to require all recipients to confirm eligibility on an annual basis, and protects them, and taxpayers, from the consequences of any overpayments.

Ultimately, the Teachers’ Pension Scheme Pension Board provides oversight of the effectiveness of all elements of the administration of the scheme.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support women wanting to become professional musicians.

Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

This government is committed to providing the essential foundations and support for everyone, including women, to pursue successful careers in music. We are developing a 10 Point Plan to drive growth, foster innovation, and create a thriving environment for those who work in the sector.

The ongoing, independent Curriculum and Assessment review seeks to deliver a broader curriculum so children and young people do not miss out on subjects such as music, the arts and drama. The Government is collaborating with Young Sounds UK on a music opportunity pilot to support music progression, including through opportunities to learn an instrument. The Department for Education (DfE) is also developing a National Centre for Arts and Music Education to promote opportunities for all children and young people to pursue artistic and creative interests - including through Music Hubs.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's Green Paper entitled Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working, published on 18 March 2025, how many people in Stroud will no longer be eligible for Personal Independence Payment.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

No estimate has yet been made.

Information on the impacts of the Pathways to Work Green Paper will be published in due course, and some information was published alongside the Spring Statement. These publications can be found in ‘Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper’.

A further programme of analysis to support development of the proposals in the Green Paper will be developed and undertaken in the coming months.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support SEND transport providers.

Answered by Catherine McKinnell - Minister of State (Education)

I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for Stroud to the answer of 7 February 2025 to Question 27291.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will bring section 230 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 into force.

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

The government is reviewing heritage planning policy in the context of wider reforms to the planning system. As part of that work we will consider the outstanding measures from the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 including statutory historic environment records in section 230 of the Act.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March to Question 36816 on Sustainable Farming Incentive: Educational Visits, whether the proposed standalone capital item for educational access will be included in the Sustainable Farming Incentive.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The proposed stand-alone capital item for educational access is a separate offer from the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). To be eligible for the education access payments applicants must have an SFI or other agri-environment or woodland agreement. We expect to publish more information about the reformed SFI offer in summer 2025.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support (a) early education and (b) childcare providers.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is committed to giving children the best start in life and has set the ambition through the government’s Plan for Change for a record proportion of children starting school ready to learn.

The department has set a target for 75% of children to achieve a good level of development by the end of reception, by 2028. This target aims to ensure that children are school-ready and have met their early learning goals by the age of five.

Next year alone, the department plans to provide over £8 billion for early years entitlements, which is a more than 30% increase compared to 2024/25.

The early years pupil premium rate has increased by over 45% compared to the 2024/25 financial year, which is equivalent to up to £570 per eligible child per year. The department is also providing further supplementary funding of £75 million for the early years expansion grant and £25 million through the forthcoming National Insurance contributions grant for public sector employers in early years.

State-funded primary-phase schools have submitted bids for up to £150,000 of capital funding to refurbish spare internal space to create or expand school-based nurseries. This is the first stage in our plan to deliver 3,000 school-based nurseries and will help deliver on the department’s commitment to ensure families across the country have access to high-quality childcare and early education.

The department is also delivering programmes to support the sector to attract talented staff and childminders by creating conditions for improved recruitment, alongside programmes to better utilise the skills of the existing workforce.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which body will administer the proposed merged housing and pension credit.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department is committed to delivering the Government’s goal of bringing together the administration of pensioner Housing Benefit and Pension Credit for new claimants from 2026, so that pensioners receive the support they are entitled to.

We are working closely with local authorities, to ensure reforms meet the needs of current and future pensioners.

In addition, we have already improved how we use existing data to target new pensioner Housing Benefit customers to ensure they are prompted to claim and receive any Pension Credit to which they are entitled.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress she has made on merging pension credit and housing benefit.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

The Department is committed to delivering the Government’s goal of bringing together the administration of pensioner Housing Benefit and Pension Credit for new claimants from 2026, so that pensioners receive the support they are entitled to.

We are working closely with local authorities, to ensure reforms meet the needs of current and future pensioners.

In addition, we have already improved how we use existing data to target new pensioner Housing Benefit customers to ensure they are prompted to claim and receive any Pension Credit to which they are entitled.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many pensioners in receipt of Housing Benefit are not claiming Pension Credit.

Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

Using the latest published benefit combinations statistics from Stat-Xplore, out of the 1.24m benefit claimants of state pension age in Great Britain receiving Housing Benefit in August 2024, 448,500 were not in receipt of Pension Credit.

A DWP benefit claimant is defined as the individual who is claiming benefit on their own behalf, or in the case of Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Housing Benefit, an individual who is part of a single or couple claim for benefit.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to integrate his planned updates to the (a) Environmental Improvement Plan and (b) Carbon Budget Delivery Plan.

Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Nature and climate action must be taken together and will underpin the delivery of this Government’s missions, from clean energy to economic growth.

Our revised Environmental Improvement Plan will set out the vital role of nature in mitigating and adapting to climate change, such as through tree planting and management and peatland restoration, recognising that tackling climate change in turn supports nature’s recovery.

The Government will publish an updated plan that sets out the policy package out to the end of Carbon Budget 6 in 2037 for all the sectors in due course. This will outline the policies and proposals needed to deliver Carbon Budgets 4-6 on the pathway to net zero.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to support people with lung conditions.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

In collaboration with a number of partners, the National Health Service has developed a package for local systems containing the information and support required to help increase the number of people receiving an early and accurate diagnosis for respiratory disease.

Following a significant drop in the volume of respiratory specific diagnostic tests, such as spirometry, during the pandemic, NHS England has managed to bring these numbers to above pre-pandemic levels.

The Government is committed to a preventative approach to the public’s health and is determined to improve air quality for everyone and address inequalities by working across Government to tackle these issues, including by supporting the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to deliver their comprehensive and ambitious Clean Air Strategy, which will include a series of interventions to reduce emissions so that everyone’s exposure to air pollution is reduced.

In alignment with the Neighbourhood Health Service model, NHS England is leading on the development of an approach for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management, to support proactive identification and management of rising risk patients in winter, thereby reducing demand on primary and secondary care by identifying at risk patients, optimizing care, and strengthened support. Core20PLUS5 identifies COPD as one of the five clinical areas of focus requiring accelerated improvement to help tackle healthcare inequalities, and plans to improve this area by increasing vaccination uptake, namely for COVID-19, flu, and pneumovax, in people with COPD, and by avoiding exacerbations that could lead to emergency treatment in hospital and inpatient care.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the United Nations report entitled Report on the 2022 Transforming Education Summit, published in January 2023, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of that report's recommendation that 15-20% of ODA should be allocated to education on the development of his Department's ODA budgets.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations and the impact on programmes are being worked through following the decision to reduce UK ODA from 0.5 per cent of gross national income to 0.3 per cent in 2027. Equality Impact Assessments - which consider impacts on women and girls - are an essential part of how we make decisions, including on ODA allocations. We will set out our spending plans following the completion of the spending review.

The UK is committed to empowering women and girls around the world through our international work. Education, especially for girls and women, has wide-ranging benefits. It can unlock the potential of women and girls to tackle inter-generational poverty and create economic growth.

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the continuation of funding for education initiatives through ODA.

Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)

Official Development Assistance (ODA) allocations and the impact on programmes are being worked through following the decision to reduce UK ODA from 0.5 per cent of gross national income to 0.3 per cent in 2027. Equality Impact Assessments - which consider impacts on women and girls - are an essential part of how we make decisions, including on ODA allocations. We will set out our spending plans following the completion of the spending review.

The UK is committed to empowering women and girls around the world through our international work. Education, especially for girls and women, has wide-ranging benefits. It can unlock the potential of women and girls to tackle inter-generational poverty and create economic growth.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will strengthen legal protections for farmed fish.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given to the hon. Member for North Herefordshire, Ellie Chowns, on 6 March 2025, PQ 34489.

International Day of the Midwife

Climate and Nature Bill

Securing habitat for endangered swifts and other cavity nesting birds

Israeli Defence Force attacks on humanitarian workers

Found: My Choice CMH0048 Faith Lubimbi (Physical Health Lead at CNWL NHS Foundation Trust) CMH0050 Dr Simon Opher

Found: _11 Neil Duncan-Jordan Dr Simon Opher Steve Witherden Paula Barker Alex Sobel David Davis Clive

Found: Alex Sobel Kim Johnson Mr Andrew Mitchell Liz Saville Roberts Siân Berry Carla Denyer Dr Simon Opher

Found: _11 Neil Duncan-Jordan Dr Simon Opher Steve Witherden Paula Barker Alex Sobel David Davis .

Found: _11 Neil Duncan-Jordan Dr Simon Opher Steve Witherden Paula Barker .

Found: _11 Neil Duncan-Jordan Dr Simon Opher Steve Witherden .

Found: _11 Neil Duncan-Jordan Dr Simon Opher .