Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the reduction of ODA budget on UK (a) jobs and (b) trade income.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The overall economic impact of policy measures is set out in the OBR’s economic and fiscal forecast. The OBR’s March 2025 outlook provides details of the impacts of policy changes including the ODA reduction.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, under what circumstances would she consider withdrawing from the Aarhus Convention.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The United Kingdom Government is committed to the effective implementation of its international obligations and has no plans to withdraw from the Aarhus Convention.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to take steps to enable an increase in the Official Development Assistance budget.
Answered by James Murray - Chief Secretary to the Treasury
To enable the government to invest more on security and defence, while remaining committed to our fiscal rules, the Prime Minister has taken the difficult decision to reduce Official Development Assistance (ODA) to the equivalent of 0.3% of GNI by 2027. The Spending Review (SR) 2025 ODA settlement delivers on this. The government remains committed to returning spending on ODA to 0.7% of GNI when the fiscal circumstances allow. The OBR’s latest forecast shows that the ODA fiscal tests are not due to be met within the Parliament. The government will continue to monitor future forecasts closely, and each year will review and confirm, in accordance with the International Development (Official Development Assistance Target) Act 2015, whether a return to spending 0.7% of GNI on ODA is possible against the latest fiscal forecast.Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Curriculum and Assessment Review will consider mandating a gender balance in the authors of texts students study for GCSE English Literature.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The selection of set texts for examination in GCSE English Literature is down to the exam boards. Schools are given the freedom of choice to select works that fulfil the aims of the national curriculum for English Literature, which aims to ensure that all pupils appreciate our rich and varied literary heritage.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions her Department has had with representatives of the British racing industry on the potential impact of her Department's remote gambling tax harmonisations proposals on the sport.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government consultation on proposals to simplify the current gambling tax system by merging the three current taxes that cover remote (including online) gambling into one closed on 21 July 2025. Responses are now being analysed and a response to the consultation will be published at Autumn Budget 2025.
The Government recognises the significant cultural and economic value of British horseracing, both as a major sporting tradition and as an important contributor to rural economies across the country and is engaging with representatives of the horseracing industry to understand the impact of any tax changes, which will be carefully considered as part of the consultation process.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will undertake a cost benefit analysis of wholesale electricity market reform options as soon as possible.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
We have taken a decision on the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements reform options based on a range of evidence and come to a judgement on the best route to deliver a fair, affordable, secure and efficient energy system. We will publish updated analysis later this year.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for his policies of The University of Manchester’s research entitled Assessing risk of breast cancer in young women to facilitate early diagnosis and improve outcomes, published on 2 June 2025.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department welcomes the University of Manchester’s research on assessing risk of breast cancer in young women. It is a priority for the Government to support the National Health Service to diagnose cancer, including breast cancer, as early and as quickly as possible, and to treat it faster, to improve outcomes. As the first step to ensure faster diagnosis, the NHS is delivering an extra 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments each week. To support early detection and diagnosis, the NHS in England carries out approximately two million breast cancer screens each year in hospitals and mobile screening vans, usually in convenient community locations.
NHS England does not currently screen women younger than 50 years old for breast cancer. This is because the risk of women under this age developing breast cancer is low, and because mammograms are less reliable in this age group. Women below 50 years old tend to have denser breast tissue, which reduces ability to get an accurate mammogram.
This is in line with most European countries, most of whom screen women between the ages of 50 and 69 years old. Women with a very high risk of breast cancer, for example, due to family history, may be offered screening earlier and more frequently.
The National Cancer Plan, planned for publication later in 2025, will have patients at its heart and will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for patients of all ages, including those with breast cancer.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to improve access to mental health services.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This Government is investing an extra £688 million this year to improve access to mental health services by hiring more staff, delivering more early interventions and getting waiting lists down.
We will transform mental health services into 24/7 neighbourhood mental health centres. I had the pleasure of visiting the Barnsley Street Neighbourhood Mental Health Centre last week, a pilot site which showcased holistic person-centred care.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether his Department has undertaken a risk assessment of the potential impact of (a) Artificial General Intelligence and (b) Artificial Super Intelligence on the (i) safety and (ii) security systems of (A) Sizewell C and (B) other future nuclear energy infrastructure.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) as the UK’s independent regulator is responsible for assessing the safety and security of UK civil nuclear sites and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is considered in their regulatory approach. The ONR are collaborating with industry and various regulators in other countries to support its regulation and share good practice, including on AI. Relevant reports by the ONR can be found here: ONR’s pro-innovation approach to AI regulation and New paper shares international principles for regulating AI in the nuclear sector | Office for Nuclear Regulation
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions his Department has had with experts on (a) transitional science and (b) change management on the roadmap to phase out animal testing.
Answered by Feryal Clark
The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”. This transition must be science-led and the Government has been consulting industry, academia and civil society as this process unfolds.
Although we have not yet engaged specifically on translational science and change management, we will consider this as we move into implementation of the Strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods, which we will publish later this year. We will shortly host a workshop with translational experts ahead of publication of the strategy.