Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of Royal Mail delivery delays on people living in Wolverhampton West.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)

The government has been clear that Royal Mail’s quality of service has not been good enough and Ofcom, as the independent regulator, has opened an investigation into Royal Mail’s quality of service performance for 2025-26.

As Royal Mail is an independent company, responsibility for improving local delivery performance lies with Royal Mail’s management. Royal Mail has published a quality of service improvement plan alongside a £500 million investment into frontline resourcing to address the non-completion of delivery routes, and I trust that residents in Wolverhampton West will soon see an improvement in service with these measures.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to allow event organisers to apply earlier for speaker’s visas to ensure that they are considered in time for events.

Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

There are currently no plans to introduce a separate earlier application window for speakers attending events in the UK.

The three-month application window for visit visas is a longstanding operational policy designed to ensure decisions are based on an applicant's most up-to-date circumstances. It applies equally to all visitors and helps maintain the integrity of the immigration system.

The Home Office publishes service standards of three weeks for non-settlement visit visa applications made outside the UK. In addition, a range of paid priority services are available in many locations, providing applicants and event organisers with flexibility where a faster decision is required.

The Home Office will continue to keep this approach under review.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Tessa Munt (Acting Chair); Janet Daby; Sir Ashley Fox; Warinder Juss

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Tessa Munt (Acting Chair); Janet Daby; Sir Ashley Fox; Warinder Juss