Asked by: Helen Morgan (Liberal Democrat - North Shropshire)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what date the last premises in North Shropshire was connected to full fibre under Project Gigabit; and the date on which the next connection is planned.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
In North Shropshire constituency, the last premises connected by Freedom Fibre’s Project Gigabit contract covering North Shropshire was on the 30 June 2025, whilst the last premises connected under the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme was on the 28 July 2025.
We are currently working with Openreach on a proposed contract change to include as many as possible of the remaining premises within the cross-regional contract that covers the rest of Shropshire and other regions. We expect this work to be completed within the next few weeks
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department holds on the number of NHS and social care workers impacted by the Immigration White Paper in (a) Poole constituency and (b) the UK.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Spring 2025 Impact Assessment (published here: Impact assessments covering migration policy - GOV.UK) provides the Department’s estimates on the volumes of impacted care and senior care workers resulting from the Immigration White Paper proposals. Place-based impacts are estimated at a regional level in the impact assessment.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish an impact assessment for the proposals in the White Paper for Immigration.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Spring 2025 and Autumn 2025 Impact Assessments (published here: Impact assessments covering migration policy - GOV.UK) cover the proposals in the White Paper for Immigration.
Specifically, they cover proposals relating to the Skilled Worker route, Health and Care route, Student and Graduate route, HPI route, Global Talent route and the proposed changes to English Language Requirements and the Immigration Skills Charge.
Asked by: Kevin Hollinrake (Conservative - Thirsk and Malton)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 April 2025 to Question 45800 on Press: Misconduct, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that arbitration schemes operated by press regulators are available to provide timely and effective redress before the Government directs members of the public to them in guidance.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK has a self-regulatory system for the press, which is independent from Government. This is vital to ensure the public has access to accurate and trustworthy information from a range of different sources. The Government therefore does not intervene in or evaluate the work of independent press regulators.
However, under Section 179 of the Data Protection Act every three years the Secretary of State must lay before Parliament a report on the use and effectiveness of alternative dispute resolution procedures, such as arbitration, in cases involving a failure or alleged failure by relevant media organisations to comply with data protection legislation. The most recent report was presented to Parliament in May 2024 and was carried independently of DCMS by David Rossington, as the Independent Reviewer. The report is published on the Gov.uk website:
Asked by: Lord Wigley (Plaid Cymru - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is the total annual expenditure on coastal protection against erosion by the sea, broken down by how much was spent in (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales, and (4) Northern Ireland.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Coastal erosion risk management is a devolved responsibility; therefore, this response applies only to England.
Between April 2024 and March 2026, around £609 million will be invested in schemes that reduce risk from coastal erosion, sea flooding, and tidal flooding. Approximately £102 million of this is allocated to projects where coastal erosion is the primary risk, £56 million for 2024/2025 and £46 million for 2025/2026. Some projects reduce risk from multiple risk sources, so there may be some projects with coastal benefits that may not be included in these figures.
Further to this, on 28 January, the Government announced £30 million for Coastal Adaptation Pilots which will deliver advanced adaptation actions such as selective property purchases and the development of long-term financing solutions in East Riding of Yorkshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The funding will also deliver smaller adaptation actions, such as relocating or adapting community buildings, and early warning systems in other places facing coastal erosion across England.
Asked by: Harriet Cross (Conservative - Gordon and Buchan)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill on the intelligence services.
Answered by Alex Davies-Jones - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Bill will apply to all public authorities, including the intelligence services. At Second Reading of the Bill, the Prime Minister was clear that the duty of candour would need to apply in a particular way to the intelligence services to get the right balance. We are clear that nothing should undermine our national security.
We are continuing to work closely with families, stakeholders and the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee to bring forward amendments that achieve this balance. We will update the House in due course.
Asked by: Lord Smith of Finsbury (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to the proposals in the Nuclear Regulatory Review 2025, published on 23 April 2025, whether they plan to retain the protected landscapes duty for national parks.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is carefully considering all recommendations of the Nuclear Taskforce’s report and will present a full implementation plan by the end of February. Defra is working with DESNZ and other government departments to set out this plan. We are considering these recommendations in line with our objectives to achieve win-wins for nature and growth, as well as meeting our international obligations.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the percentage change in the number of sewage discharges from sewage overflow from 2024 to 2025.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Water companies are required to submit their storm overflow Event Duration Monitoring return data for 2025 at the end of February 2026.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support regional and local media.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Supporting and sustaining local and regional media across the country is a particular concern for this Government, including in Tewkesbury and more broadly across Gloucestershire. The Government understands the important work that local and regional media do, including outlets such as Gloucestershire Live and the Cotswold Journal. We are developing a Local Media Strategy, in recognition of the importance of this vital sector. Our vision is a thriving local media that can continue to play an invaluable role as a key channel of trustworthy information at local level, reporting on the issues that matter to communities, reflecting their contributions and perspectives, and helping to foster a self-confident nation in which everyone feels that their contribution is part of an inclusive national story. The overarching goal of the Strategy is to empower communities through a thriving local media which reflects the issues that matter to them, helping to drive community wellbeing and local growth.
We are working across Government and with other stakeholders as the Strategy develops. DCMS ministers held a roundtable discussion with local news editors last year to discuss the planned approach and collaboration with industry on the Strategy. An industry working group has been meeting regularly since June to consider the issues in more detail. More will be announced on the Strategy in the coming months.
Asked by: Lord Hintze (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications for the UK economy of people employed in the (1) medical, and (2) financial, sectors migrating out of the UK.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The government recognises the importance of international talent to key growth sectors and is therefore sending a clear and confident signal: that we welcome the world’s best minds to help us drive our Industrial Strategy and wider growth mission, and that they will find the environment, support and opportunities they need to thrive here.
The government will publish an NHS 10 Year Workforce Plan in the Spring. This will set out plans to ensure there is a sustainable medical workforce, as well how we will act on retention, productivity, training and attrition with the ambition to reduce international recruitment to less than 10% by 2035.
The government also set out its plans to attract the right talent and develop the right skills for the financial services sector as part of the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, published in July 2025 at Mansion House.