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, when the Nuclear Liabilities Financing Assurance Board last met; and whether the minutes from previous meetings in the last 10 years will be published.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The NLFAB last met on 27 November 2025. Due to commercial sensitivities the NLFAB minutes are not published. However, the full NLFAB report and supplementary Annexes which were issued to the Secretary of State to inform his decision on the Sizewell C Funded Decommissioning Programme has been published on Gov.uk - www.gov.uk/government/publications/sizewell-c-funded-decommissioning-programme-fdp
Asked by: Joe Robertson (Conservative - Isle of Wight East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate she has made of the number of potholes filled by local authorities in England in (a) November 2025 and (b) each month since July 2024.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Local highway authorities have a duty under Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 to maintain the highways network in their area. The Act does not set out specific standards of maintenance, as it is for each individual local highway authority to assess which parts of its network need repair and what standards should be applied, based upon their local knowledge and circumstances. The Department does not hold data on the time taken by local highway authorities to repair reported potholes, but national guidance recommends that defects and potholes which require urgent attention should be made safe at the time of inspection or as soon as possible.
This year, local highway authorities were required to publish transparency reports setting out progress on highway maintenance, including the number of potholes they estimate they have filled in recent years. This information can be found on the websites of relevant local highways authorities.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 had discussions with Exxon Mobil Corp on the potential impact of rising carbon costs on the viability of UK refineries since its evidence to Parliament in October 2025.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the UK’s current regulatory framework for supporting cleaner hydrogen production for industrial sites.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Low carbon hydrogen will play a vital role in decarbonising industry, enabling the transition to a low carbon economy while protecting jobs and driving growth across the UK’s industrial heartlands.
The current regulatory framework provides a strong foundation, including the framework to award Hydrogen Production Business Model support to producers to enable deployment.
The Government will continue to ensure suitable regulatory frameworks for hydrogen as the industry develops, working with Devolved Governments and regulators. For instance, the Government published a response to consultation on an economic regulatory framework for hydrogen pipelines on 3 December.
Asked by: Jo White (Labour - Bassetlaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what consideration he has made of bringing back the Access to Elected Office Fund for disabled candidates seeking election.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
It is this government’s ambition to see more disabled people in public office. We have been clear that we will champion disabled people’s rights and work closely with them so that disabled people’s views and voices are at the heart of decision-making.
A new fund is currently being developed to assist with the additional disability-related costs of contesting elected office. More information about the fund will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate has been made of the volume, proportion and value of food waste in (a) primary schools, (b) secondary schools, (c) colleges and (d) universities.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Schools, colleges and universities are responsible for their day-to-day running, including their meals service and waste management. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has engaged closely with the department and representative organisations from the education sector to raise awareness of the requirements and provide guidance and resources to support compliance.
Asked by: Pippa Heylings (Liberal Democrat - South Cambridgeshire)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what his planned timeline is for rolling out the Connections Accelerator Service.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As set out in the Government’s Industrial Strategy, the Connections Accelerator Service will be operational by the end of 2025.
Asked by: Baroness Scott of Needham Market (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the availability of dietitians with a special interest in chronic fatigue syndrome, and how many of those dietitians there are in England.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not hold information on the number of dieticians who hold specialist knowledge or experience relating to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
NHS England publishes monthly Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics, with the data is drawn from the Electronic Staff Record, which is the payroll and human resources system for the National Health Service. This means it allows for identification of staff by broad staffing groups, including dieticians, working in Hospital and Community Health Services, but it does not provide the level of detail needed to identify staff with the skills, knowledge or experience of working with patients with specific conditions or allow identification of the types of patients and service delivery areas that staff may be involved in on a day to day basis. The latest data is available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-workforce-statistics
Asked by: Jim McMahon (Labour (Co-op) - Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what funding has been allocated to local authorities in England to lead local community energy schemes.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Great British Energy (GBE) and the UK government will turbocharge support for local and community energy projects across the UK.
As such, Local Government has a vital role to play in the energy transition. To support this, £6.8 million has been allocated to maintain Local Net Zero Hubs located across England, which provide free expertise and resources to help local authorities deliver clear energy projects.
GBE is in the process of developing its longer-term funding offer and strategic support for working with Local Government and Community Energy Groups, as well as working with devolved governments. This includes commercial, technical and project planning assistance to increase capability and capacity to build a pipeline of successful projects in local areas. As set out in their Strategic Plan, published on 4 December 2025, GBE aims to support over 1,000 local and community projects by 2030.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, whether he has considered providing temporary relief from CO₂ compliance costs for UK refineries, in the context of two of the six UK refineries closing.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government recognises the vital role UK refineries play in energy security and continues to work closely with the industry. The UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), incentivises cost-effective decarbonisation, and the ETS Authority decides any changes to it. The Free Allocation Review Response published in November confirmed the sector remains eligible for free allocation, with current benchmarks maintained until 2028, allowing time to develop supportive policy. The Government is committed to mitigating carbon leakage risk and, as announced at Budget is considering the feasibility and impacts of including refined products in the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism in future.