Asked by: Lord Freyberg (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of health technology assessments submitted to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in the past five years have related to cancer; and what assessment they have made of the importance of up-to-date national registry data to those evaluations.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the financial years 2021/22 to 2025/26, to date, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has made 429 technology appraisal recommendations. Of these appraisals, 218 relate to cancer medicines. The Department has not made any assessment of the importance of an up-to-date national registry on those evaluations. NICE works with companies and wider stakeholders throughout the appraisal process to ensure that its appraisals take into account the available evidence.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what research her Department has commissioned on the potential impact of apps accessible to children which utilise microtransactions on children's financial behaviour.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government is committed to ensuring apps, including games with in-app purchases are enjoyed safely and responsibly and guidance on-in game transactions is followed.
Industry-led guidance, to improve protections for players in relation to loot boxes, was published in 2023. A 12-month implementation period ended in July 2024 and DCMS commissioned independent research to assess its effectiveness which will be published in due course.
In November 2025, Ofcom, the regulator of the Online Safety Act, launched a Call for Evidence to explore whether children’s safety online would be better protected by the greater use of age assurance or other measures at app store level. It also looks at what role app stores play in children encountering content that is harmful to them by means of regulated apps which the app stores make available.
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his answer of 28 January 2026 to Question 107450, if he will publish a breakdown of the administration and programme expenditure for 2024/5 in the categories of "Subsidies to private sector companies" and "Current grants to persons and non-profit (net)".
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The requested breakdowns are below:
CURRENT GRANTS TO PERSONS AND NON-PROFIT (NET)
Description | Capital DEL (£000) | Resource DEL (Programme) (£000) | Total (£000) |
Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) | 180,149 | - | 180,149 |
Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) | 68,688 | 116 | 68,804 |
Citizens Advice | - | 42,317 | 42,317 |
Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) | 26,044 | 1,915 | 27,959 |
Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) | 24,356 | 531 | 24,887 |
Help to Grow | - | 20,913 | 20,913 |
Consumer advocacy for Energy, Post and cross-sector | - | 19,502 | 19,502 |
National Trading Standards (NTS) | - | 12,518 | 12,518 |
Global Centre of Rail Excellence | 6,865 | - | 6,865 |
Exceptional Regional Growth Fund (eRGF) | 3,000 | 2,651 | 5,651 |
Music Export Growth Scheme | - | 2,983 | 2,983 |
Materials Processing Institute | 2,042 | - | 2,042 |
The British Standards Institution | - | 1,896 | 1,896 |
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities | - | 1,301 | 1,301 |
Other | 2,053 | 6,480 | 8,533 |
| 313,197 | 113,123 | 426,320 |
SUBSIDIES TO PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES
Description | Capital DEL (£000) | Resource DEL (Programme) (£000) | Total (£000) |
Energy Intensive Industries (EII) Compensation Scheme | - | 141,679 | 141,679 |
Postmaster Horizon redress-Suspension Renumeration Review-Provision utilisation | - | 8,979 | 8,979 |
Other | - | 23 | 23 |
| - | 150,681 | 150,681 |
CAPITAL GRANTS TO PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES (NET)
Description | Capital DEL (£000) | Resource DEL (Programme) (£000) | Total (£000) |
Movement on financial guarantee liabilities-Growth Guarantee Scheme | 62,332 | - | 62,332 |
Exceptional Regional Growth Fund (eRGF) | 34,766 | - | 34,766 |
Steel infrastructure | 15,263 | - | 15,263 |
Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) | 7,930 | - | 7,930 |
Called financial guarantees-Enterprise Financial Guarantee Scheme | 6,099 | - | 6,099 |
| 126,390 | - | 126,390 |
Asked by: Neil O'Brien (Conservative - Harborough, Oadby and Wigston)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to his answer of 28 January 2026 Question 107135, if he will publish a breakdown of the £126m in CDEL outturn for 2024/5 in the category of "Capital grants to private sector companies (net)".
Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The requested breakdowns are below:
CURRENT GRANTS TO PERSONS AND NON-PROFIT (NET)
Description | Capital DEL (£000) | Resource DEL (Programme) (£000) | Total (£000) |
Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) | 180,149 | - | 180,149 |
Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) | 68,688 | 116 | 68,804 |
Citizens Advice | - | 42,317 | 42,317 |
Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) | 26,044 | 1,915 | 27,959 |
Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) | 24,356 | 531 | 24,887 |
Help to Grow | - | 20,913 | 20,913 |
Consumer advocacy for Energy, Post and cross-sector | - | 19,502 | 19,502 |
National Trading Standards (NTS) | - | 12,518 | 12,518 |
Global Centre of Rail Excellence | 6,865 | - | 6,865 |
Exceptional Regional Growth Fund (eRGF) | 3,000 | 2,651 | 5,651 |
Music Export Growth Scheme | - | 2,983 | 2,983 |
Materials Processing Institute | 2,042 | - | 2,042 |
The British Standards Institution | - | 1,896 | 1,896 |
Convention of Scottish Local Authorities | - | 1,301 | 1,301 |
Other | 2,053 | 6,480 | 8,533 |
| 313,197 | 113,123 | 426,320 |
SUBSIDIES TO PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES
Description | Capital DEL (£000) | Resource DEL (Programme) (£000) | Total (£000) |
Energy Intensive Industries (EII) Compensation Scheme | - | 141,679 | 141,679 |
Postmaster Horizon redress-Suspension Renumeration Review-Provision utilisation | - | 8,979 | 8,979 |
Other | - | 23 | 23 |
| - | 150,681 | 150,681 |
CAPITAL GRANTS TO PRIVATE SECTOR COMPANIES (NET)
Description | Capital DEL (£000) | Resource DEL (Programme) (£000) | Total (£000) |
Movement on financial guarantee liabilities-Growth Guarantee Scheme | 62,332 | - | 62,332 |
Exceptional Regional Growth Fund (eRGF) | 34,766 | - | 34,766 |
Steel infrastructure | 15,263 | - | 15,263 |
Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) | 7,930 | - | 7,930 |
Called financial guarantees-Enterprise Financial Guarantee Scheme | 6,099 | - | 6,099 |
| 126,390 | - | 126,390 |
Asked by: Shivani Raja (Conservative - Leicester East)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle youth knife crime and serious violence in (a) Leicester and (b) the East Midlands.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
We are already making clear progress against our ambition to halve knife crime. In our first year in Government, police-recorded knife crime offences fell by 5%.
We have banned zombie knives and ninja swords and are holding online sellers criminally responsible removing almost 60,000 knives from streets in England and Wales. We are taking a range of action in the Crime and Policing Bill to strengthen legislation on knives.
New crime mapping tools are already allowing us to identify highly specific knife crime concentrations and focus police and community safety resources where they are needed most. Further investment in cutting-edge capabilities, such as knife detection technology, improved data platforms, and live facial recognition will further enhance our ability to target knife crime.
Preventing young people from getting involved in crime is crucial to achieving our ambition. As part of the Young Futures programme, we are piloting new Young Futures Panels. These pilots proactively identify and refer children who may be falling through the gaps, to a range of different support services much earlier. More than 50 panels went operational in October and November, including in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
This financial year (2025/26), we have also allocated £47m to the network of 20 Violence Reduction Units (VRUs) across England and Wales to support their valuable work. VRUs bring together partners to understand and tackle the drivers of serious violence in their area. This includes over £1m in VRU grant funding to Leicestershire specifically. We have also allocated £194k to Leicestershire and £1.9m across the East Midlands in grant funding to continue the implementation of the Serious Violence Duty.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
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 ensure that UK hydrogen and fuel cell technology manufacturers benefit from the comprehensive Public Financial Institution offer set out in the Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The UK is well placed to be a global leader in hydrogen deployment and supply chains, with significant export market potential for UK manufacturers. The Clean Energy Industries Plan (CEI) sets out a comprehensive Public Finance Institution offer to crowd private investment into sustainable supply chains in the UK and we will ensure hydrogen benefits from this. The offer includes:
DESNZ is collaborating with the public finance institutions to align these offers with the needs of hydrogen and fuel cell manufacturers.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to require Banking Hubs to accept and process cheque deposits as part of the provision of basic banking services.
Answered by Lucy Rigby - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
Banking is changing, with many customers benefiting from the convenience and flexibility of managing their finances remotely. However, the Government understands the importance of face-to-face banking services to communities and is committed to supporting sufficient access for customers across the country.
In addition to traditional bank branches, the financial services industry is committed to rolling out 350 banking hubs across the UK by the end of this Parliament. Over 240 hubs have been announced so far, and more than 200 are already open.
Banking hubs provide access to everyday counter services through Post Office staff, including cash withdrawals and deposits, balance enquiries and bill payments. They also contain dedicated rooms where customers can see community bankers from their own bank to carry out other banking services.
The range of services available through Post Office counters in banking hubs, including whether cheque deposits are accepted and processed, is determined by the commercial arrangements between individual banks and the Post Office. A significant number of retail banks continue to offer cheque depositing services through Post Office counters.
Where cheque depositing is not available at a hub counter, customers continue to have alternative options to pay in cheques, including at bank branches where available, by post, or digitally via mobile banking apps using cheque imaging technology. Banks may also provide postal options for customers who are unable to travel to a branch or for whom digital banking is not suitable.
The Government continues to engage with the banking industry to improve the consistency and functionality of services provided through banking hubs, including through recent discussions with banks, Cash Access UK and UK Finance.
Asked by: Sureena Brackenridge (Labour - Wolverhampton North East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve staff (a) pay and (b) conditions in further education colleges.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education (FE) colleges, rather than government, are responsible for setting and negotiating staff pay and terms and conditions within colleges.
In May 2025, the department announced a further £190 million investment for colleges and other 16 to19 providers in addition to the £400 million of extra funding we already planned to spend on 16 to 19 education in the 2025/26 financial year.
Across the Spending review period, we will provide £1.2 billion of additional investment per year in skills by 2028/29. This significant investment will ensure there is increased funding to colleges and other 16 to 19 providers to enable the recruitment and retention of excellent staff, including expert teachers in high value subject areas, and interventions to retain top teaching talent.
Targeted Recruitment Incentives of up to £6,000 (after tax) are available for eligible early career FE teachers working in key science, technology, engineering and mathematics and technical shortage subjects, in disadvantaged schools and colleges, including in sixth form colleges. This payment is separate to teachers’ usual pay.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks to consumers and financial stability of the current regulatory approaches to AI in financial services.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government believes that the safe adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by the financial services sector is a major strategic opportunity, with the potential to power growth across the UK. As set out in the Government’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, it is our ambition to make the UK ”the world’s most technologically advanced global financial sector”, leveraging our dual strengths in FS and AI to drive growth, productivity, and deliver consumer benefits.
The Government has been clear that we will strike the right balance between managing the risks posed by AI and unlocking its huge potential. The UK financial regulators take an outcomes-based approach to regulating AI within the financial sector, drawing on existing frameworks to ensure that firms uphold strong consumer, stability and market standards, whether they use AI or not. Our current assessment, shared by the regulators, is that this framework is capable of ensuring the effective regulation of the use of AI. However, we will continue working closely with the regulators as the technology evolves to monitor risks and ensure that AI adoption continues in a safe and responsible way.
The Government is carefully considering the Treasury Committee’s report on AI in financial services and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to support and retain high-growth UK technology firms seeking to list on the London stock exchange.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has delivered an ambitious programme of reforms to make it easier for all firms, including fintechs, to list and raise capital on UK markets. This includes overhauling the Prospectus Regime and Listing Rules, providing more flexibility to firms and founders raising capital on UK markets.
At her Mansion House speech last year, the Chancellor also announced the formation of a Listings Taskforce, to support businesses to list and grow in the UK, and the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, which sets out a comprehensive package of reforms to maintain the UK’s global leadership in Fintech. Officials and ministers regularly engage with industry leaders on sector developments.