Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what plans he has to support business investment and growth in the industries identified in the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy over the next ten years.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Our modern Industrial Strategy is a 10-year plan to back our strengths and realise Britain’s potential. It is about creating a connected, high-skilled, economically growing country, where opportunity, skills and wealth are spread fairly, and where every person and every business has the chance to flourish.

Alongside sector plans containing interventions for each of the growth-driving sectors, we are making it quicker and easier to start and scale a business and making it more profitable to invest in Britain. The Industrial Strategy delivers on the biggest asks from businesses, from expanding access to finance, supporting skills and access to talent, to supporting cheaper energy over the long term.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to ensure that the Modern Industrial Strategy applies equally to rural areas.

Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Industrial Strategy focuses efforts on the city regions and clusters across the UK where the growth-driving sectors are concentrated, including in rural areas.

The Strategy introduces targeted measures in rural areas such as enhanced support for the Inverness and Cromarty Firth and Anglesey freeports specialising in Clean Energy Industries and a regional skills pilot to deliver clean power in Aberdeenshire, Lincolnshire and Pembrokeshire.

Alongside this, all regions and nations across the UK benefit from the Industrial Strategy’s national policy offer, which addresses the biggest constraints to growth highlighted by businesses.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that pupils in rural schools have equal access to AI learning opportunities.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The department is committed to leveraging technology to benefit all schools, including those in rural areas.

We are addressing barriers by connecting schools to fibre through the School Gigabit Programme and improving wireless networks through Connect the Classroom, which was expanded this year.

The Plan Technology for Your School service provides tailored support to help schools meet core digital and technology standards by 2030.

Our Generative AI Policy Position supports schools to implement AI safely and effectively.

We have also introduced the Generative AI Product Safety Expectations framework to ensure AI tools meet safeguards, and published online toolkits to help teachers and leaders use AI safely and effectively.

Alongside this, we are investing in our evidence-base via the EdTech Impact Testbed, which will evaluate AI tools’ impact on improving outcomes and reducing workload, so that schools will have confidence in products they select.

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 April 2025 to Question 45555 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, which road links within 10 miles of Heathrow airport exceeded 20 micrograms per cubic metre in 2024.

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

The results of the UK’s air quality assessment for 2024 are published online on the UK-Air website (https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/). Local authorities are expected to publish the data from their locally managed nitrogen dioxide measurement networks on their websites.

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 26 March 2025 to Question 39815 on Nitrogen Dioxide: Pollution Control, which of the exceedances mentioned complied with the annual limit for nitrogen dioxide in 2024.

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

The results of the UK’s air quality assessment for 2024 are published online on the UK-Air website (https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/). Local authorities are expected to publish the data from their locally managed nitrogen dioxide measurement networks on their websites.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential cost to the public purse of lowering the VAT rate payable by hospitality businesses to (a) 15 per cent, (b) 10 per cent and (c) 5 per cent.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

HMRC estimates that the cost of changing the 20 per cent Standard Rate of VAT on all accommodation and food and beverage services to the Reduced Rate of 5 per cent would be around £17 billion in 2026-27, rising to £19.5 billion in 2030-31.

The Government recognises the significant contribution made by hospitality businesses to economic growth and social life in the UK.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of measures to tackle online harassment; and what steps she plans to take to protect individuals from such abuse.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must protect all users from illegal harassment and children from harmful content, including hateful and abusive content. These duties are now in force and Ofcom conducts regular surveys to track user experiences. DSIT and Ofcom are developing a longer-term evaluation framework to assess the Act’s impact.

Additional duties will require the largest services to offer adults optional tools to reduce engagement with legal abuse. In October, the Secretary of State wrote to Ofcom and asked it to use all its levers to tackle hateful content online and maintain urgent momentum in implementing these remaining duties.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to (a) ensure that online platforms are held accountable under the Online Safety Act 2023 for hosting content that promotes the torture of animals and (b) reassure farming communities that animal welfare standards are protected online.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

The Government takes animal welfare very seriously. Under the Online Safety Act 2023, platforms must remove illegal content swiftly, including material promoting or facilitating animal torture, which is a designated priority offence. Services must also implement systems and processes to protect children from harmful depictions of animal cruelty, even where it is not illegal. Ofcom, as the independent regulator, enforces these duties and can issue fines of up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much did (a) Health Education England and (b) NHS England pay Hill Dickinson in (i) costs and (ii) fees for legal services between 2012 and 2023.

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

As a parent organisation, including commissioning support units but excluding integrated care boards, NHS England has spent approximately £8 million including VAT with Hill Dickinson between 2012/13 and 2022/23. Approximately 90% of these costs were spent on legal or professional fees.

Please note that this figure includes the NHS Trust Development Authority and Monitor, which merged to become NHS Improvement in 2016, as well as the two months of NHS Digital following its merger with NHS England from 1 February 2023.

Health Education England, which was merged into NHS England on 1 April 2023, spent £5.2 million with Hill Dickinson between 2012/13 and 2022/23. We do not hold a breakdown of this spend.

Schools Residential Outdoor Education (Scotland) Bill (No. 2)

Nuclear Regulatory Review and habitats regulations

Farmgate milk price reduction

Postal workers and Royal Mail staff

Winter NHS corridor care