Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households left the benefit cap by reason of being in receipt of an exempting benefit and where the exempting benefit was receiving Universal Credit with limited capability for work and work-related activity during each of the following periods: the quarter to August 2025, the quarter to May 2025, the quarter to February 2025 and the quarter to November 2024.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department publishes Official Statistics on the number of households in Great Britain on Housing Benefit or Universal Credit that have flowed off the benefit cap, including outcome at off-flow, which are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore and are currently available up to the quarter to August 2025.
Statistics on the exempting benefit outcomes above are grouped in the ‘Other outcome’ category above. The Department does not produce statistics breaking down this category into individual exempting benefits and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access general guidance on how to extract the information required.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households left the benefit cap by reason of being in receipt of an exempting benefit and where the exempting benefit was PIP during each of the following periods: the quarter to August 2025, the quarter to May 2025, the quarter to February 2025 and the quarter to November 2024.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department publishes Official Statistics on the number of households in Great Britain on Housing Benefit or Universal Credit that have flowed off the benefit cap, including outcome at off-flow, which are published quarterly on Stat-Xplore and are currently available up to the quarter to August 2025.
Statistics on the exempting benefit outcomes above are grouped in the ‘Other outcome’ category above. The Department does not produce statistics breaking down this category into individual exempting benefits and to do so would incur disproportionate cost.
Users can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest and, if needed, can access general guidance on how to extract the information required.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the publication of the Colombian Ombudsman’s Alert on 2 December 2025, what analysis her Department has made of the potential implications for her policies of the security situation of the Wayuu indigenous peoples in la Guajira.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is concerned that women, children and indigenous communities in Colombia continue to be disproportionately affected by the armed conflict. The UK supports Colombia's efforts to strengthen peace and security through long-standing assistance to the 2016 Peace Agreement, worth £2.95 million this year. This includes support for rural development, reintegration processes and transitional justice mechanisms. UK programming strengthens institutions responsible for protection and human rights monitoring, including the Ombudsman's early warning systems protecting defenders, children and vulnerable communities. The UK regularly raises concerns about child recruitment and other grave violations at UN Security Council sessions on Colombia. We also engage directly with Colombian authorities through the newly established Group of Friends on Children and Armed Conflict in Bogotá. These efforts complement wider UK commitments to peace, stability and human rights in Colombia.
Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment has been made of the adequacy of City Growth Deals in Northern Ireland for implementing outcomes aligned with the UK Science and Technology Framework.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK Science and Technology Framework provides a holistic picture of the ten critical levers that the UK Government can use to drive growth and improve the lives of citizens through science and technology. We remain committed to the Framework and to applying these levers to ensure science and technology supports the delivery of core priorities, such as the Plan for Change and the Industrial Strategy.
All Northern Ireland City Growth Deal project business cases are reviewed by UK Government departments to ensure strategic alignment with wider government priorities. This includes officials in both DSIT and UKRI, who assess strategic alignment with the UK Government’s priorities for science and technology, including the UK Science and Technology Framework.
This process helps to ensure that City Growth Deals across Northern Ireland have taken account – at a local delivery level – of the UK Government’s priorities across science and technology, as set out in the Framework.
Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to the Answer of 5 January 2026 to Question 99008, who is responsible for conducting the national security vetting for the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman.
Answered by Hilary Benn - Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV) acts as service providers for National Security Vetting (NSV) across His Majesty’s Government (HMG) for specific roles affording access to Protectively Marked Materials (PMM) sites and assets. The ultimate decision on whether to grant any level of NSV will be taken either by United Kingdom Security Vetting (UKSV), the department or police force that requires the individual to hold clearance, or by the sponsoring authority that carries out this task on behalf of departments.
In line with the practice followed by successive administrations, the Government does not otherwise comment on security matters.
Asked by: Nick Timothy (Conservative - West Suffolk)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with her Chinese counterpart on (a) student numbers and (b) research funding in the UK higher education sector.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has not had discussions with a Chinese counterpart on student numbers in UK higher education (HE). Policy for HE research funding for England is the responsibility of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). UK Research and Innovation, which falls under DSIT's remit, is the biggest public funder of research.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of rolling stock availability for Great Western Railway services in the South West; how many Class 175 units are in operation on Great Western Railway services; how many drivers and conductors Great Western Railway plans to train to operate those units; and what plans she has to mitigate (a) cancellations and (b) overcrowding on those services.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department closely monitors rolling stock availability across the South West as well as the wider network, and is working on a rolling stock strategy to more effectively plan and utilise assets in future. There is currently one Class 175 unit in operation on Great Western Railway services. The first Class 175 entered service in December 2025, with the remainder of the fleet due to follow throughout this year. There is sufficient rolling stock to operate the current timetable, and the introduction of the Class 175s will provide additional resilience and capacity. Driver and conductor training is progressing well to support this deployment.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the New Road Safety Strategy will be published.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
On 7 January 2026, we published our new Road Safety Strategy, setting out our vision for a safer future on our roads for all. The Strategy sets an ambitious target to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on British roads by 65% by 2035. This target will focus the efforts of road safety partners across Britain, with measures to improve road design, protect vulnerable road users, and review motoring offences. All of this will be supported and monitored by a new Road Safety Board chaired by the Minister for Local Transport.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what dialogue she or her Department is undertaking with CARICOM, the United States, and regional partners, to help prevent inadvertent destabilisation for islands in the region from United States-Venezuela military activity.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the statement to the House made by the Foreign Secretary on 5 January, and her responses in that debate.
Asked by: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether her Department has made an assessment regarding the potential risks posed to Commonwealth Caribbean states of increases in military activity between the US and Venezuela.
Answered by Chris Elmore - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I refer the Hon Member to the statement to the House made by the Foreign Secretary on 5 January, and her responses in that debate.