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To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the changes introduced in May 2026 to prevent third parties and automated bots from booking and reselling practical driving test appointments; and how many cases of test reselling have been identified since those...
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the changes introduced in May 2026 to prevent third parties and automated bots from booking and reselling practical driving test appointments; and how many cases of test reselling have been identified since those...
Since the changes to the booking reforms were introduced in May 2026, evidence continues to suggest that the measures implemented are having the intended effect.
Since 9 June, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has cancelled over 1,350 tests it detected as having been booked in breach of the terms and conditions and placed over 7,600 online booking suspensions on the system. High-volume booking activity has fallen sharply with test swaps reducing by around 63%.
Enforcement activity has increased substantially against those seeking to misuse the booking system. These reforms continue to help ensure that appointments are increasingly being accessed by genuine learners rather than by those seeking to profit from the system. DVSA is closely monitoring changes in behaviour to identify potential fraud.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support collaboration between credit unions and local authorities to improve household financial resilience.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support collaboration between credit unions and local authorities to improve household financial resilience.
Local authorities and credit unions can be effective partners in supporting financial resilience in their local communities. Examples include credit unions facilitating payroll savings at local councils, local authorities signposting local residents to affordable credit they could access at credit unions, and collaboration on financial education initiatives.
While it is for each local authority to determine their own local partnership arrangements, the Government and the financial services regulators are focused on creating the conditions for credit unions to grow and succeed. For example, the Government is making growth-focused reforms to the common bond framework and establishing a £30m Credit Union Transformation Fund, while the FCA and the PRA are reviewing credit union regulation to ensure it remains proportionate.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of introducing a national no-interest loans scheme to support households facing financial shocks.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of introducing a national no-interest loans scheme to support households facing financial shocks.
The Government recognises that access to affordable credit can help households manage financial shocks. A Government-funded No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) pilot ran from November 2022 to March 2026, delivered by Fair4All Finance and its partners across England, Scotland and Wales. It was designed to assess how effectively interest-free loans meet the needs of consumers in vulnerable circumstances. PwC has been appointed to evaluate the pilot.
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with banks on participation in the small sum lending pilot set out in the Financial Inclusion Strategy; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of small sum lending on reducing household reliance on high-cost lending...
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with banks on participation in the small sum lending pilot set out in the Financial Inclusion Strategy; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of small sum lending on reducing household reliance on high-cost lending...
The Government recognises that, when provided responsibly, credit can play an important role in helping people manage unexpected expenses and smooth their cash flow. Access to suitable, affordable credit products can support people’s financial resilience and wellbeing and help them achieve their financial goals. For this reason, improving access to affordable credit is a key area of focus in the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy, published last year.
The Strategy sets out an ambitious package of measures to improve access to affordable credit, including a pilot small-sum lending scheme to help encourage the role of mainstream lenders in the provision of affordable credit to underserved groups. The scheme is being ran by Fair4All Finance, with Monzo Bank announced as the first participant in June 2026.
HM Treasury are engaging closely with key delivery partners in relation to the Strategy’s implementation, including Fair4All Finance, to understand progress to date and how we can continue to build on interventions. This includes examining the success of pilots and relevant next steps, which will also be considered as part of the Strategy’s two-year review process.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether his Department will publish a biennial environmental impact report of the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in 2027; and if he will set out a timetable for its publication.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, whether his Department will publish a biennial environmental impact report of the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in 2027; and if he will set out a timetable for its publication.
The Department will publish a single monitoring report on the UK's accession to CPTPP in 2027, once two years of post-accession data is available and has been analysed. UK trade agreement monitoring reports track early-stage implementation and utilisation and are not designed to assess medium- to long-term impacts. Those impacts are assessed in later evaluation reports. For CPTPP, the Department will publish an evaluation report once five years of post-accession data is available and has been robustly analysed. We will consider a range of areas for inclusion in these reports, including the environment.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, if he would consider extending the remit of the Community Finance Taskforce to include CDFIs providing affordable personal lending.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, if he would consider extending the remit of the Community Finance Taskforce to include CDFIs providing affordable personal lending.
The Community Finance Taskforce was established with a specific aim of supporting additional lending to SMEs from Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs). The Taskforce builds on existing cooperation between banks and community lenders and the British Business Bank’s Community ENABLE Funding programme, which seeks to increase CDFI capacity for SME lending.
The Taskforce has been asked to focus on developing a roadmap for the SME community lending sector. There are therefore currently no plans to expand the remit to cover personal lending.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of expanding the remit of the Community Finance Taskforce to support Community Development Finance Institutions providing personal lending.
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of expanding the remit of the Community Finance Taskforce to support Community Development Finance Institutions providing personal lending.
The Community Finance Taskforce was established with a specific aim of supporting additional lending to SMEs from Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs). The Taskforce builds on existing cooperation between banks and community lenders and the British Business Bank’s Community ENABLE Funding programme, which seeks to increase CDFI capacity for SME lending.
The Taskforce has been asked to focus on developing a roadmap for the SME community lending sector. There are therefore currently no plans to expand the remit to cover personal lending.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of levels of school funding on the provision of (a) physical education, (b) extracurricular sporting activities and (c) sporting facilities in secondary schools in England.
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of levels of school funding on the provision of (a) physical education, (b) extracurricular sporting activities and (c) sporting facilities in secondary schools in England.
The government recognises the important role of PE, school sport and physical activity in supporting children and young people’s health, wellbeing and attainment.
Curriculum PE is funded through schools’ core budgets, which schools can allocate according to pupils’ needs. The government is investing over £1 billion in PE and school sport over the next three years, including £530 million for the new PE and School Sport Partnerships Network and almost £200 million to improve sporting facilities. The network will support primary and secondary schools through universal and targeted provision, including coaching, swimming and stronger links with extracurricular sport and local clubs.
The £22.5 million Enrichment Expansion Programme will support over 400 schools in the most deprived areas of England to meet the Enrichment Framework benchmarks. In addition, the ‘Every Child Can’ programme will provide £132.5 million from dormant assets for enrichment activities in schools, communities, weekends and holidays.
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she had discussions with Yorkshire Cricket Club about their plans to demutualise and if she will make a statement.
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she had discussions with Yorkshire Cricket Club about their plans to demutualise and if she will make a statement.
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has held discussions with the FCA on plans by Yorkshire Cricket Club to demutualise and if she will make a statement.
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has held discussions with the FCA on plans by Yorkshire Cricket Club to demutualise and if she will make a statement.
I join others in praising my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) for securing this very helpful debate. Nepal is a country of remarkable people, soaring beauty and extraordinary fragility. Its people are brave and resilient, but also increasingly vulnerable. The poverty levels in Nepal are still...
I join others in praising my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) for securing this very helpful debate. Nepal is a country of remarkable people, soaring beauty and extraordinary fragility. Its people are brave and resilient, but also increasingly vulnerable. The poverty levels in Nepal are still...
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s constituent and to her support for his fundraising efforts. The speed with which the British Nepalese community has responded to the disaster—raising funds and getting them back to friends and families in the affected communities—has been nothing other than impressive.
In his speech, will...
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s constituent and to her support for his fundraising efforts. The speed with which the British Nepalese community has responded to the disaster—raising funds and getting them back to friends and families in the affected communities—has been nothing other than impressive.
In his speech, will...
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of civil aviation movements at RAF Northolt on residents of the London Borough of Harrow in respect of (a) aircraft noise and (b) air pollution; what monitoring is undertaken of those impacts; and...
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of civil aviation movements at RAF Northolt on residents of the London Borough of Harrow in respect of (a) aircraft noise and (b) air pollution; what monitoring is undertaken of those impacts; and...
There is no requirement for RAF Northolt to monitor aviation related air quality levels. In relation to air quality, the role of both military and civil aerodromes is secondary to local authorities who are statutorily empowered to engage on air quality issues. In addition, RAF Northolt sits wholly under the London Terminal Manoeuvring Area and London Control Zone airspace, which is shared with other airports and aerodromes.
Regulatory Article (RA) 1801 sets out that UK military aircraft are certified in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation Section 16 emissions and CO2 international regulatory standards.
The RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine does publish reports on the Military Aviation Noise Contours and analysis for RAF Northolt. The last survey was conducted in 2022 and is published at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/raf-northolt-military-aviation-noise-contour-report-2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2026 to Question 19790 on RAF Northolt, what the annual cap is on civil aviation movements at RAF Northolt; when that cap was last amended; and how many civil aviation movements were recorded in each...
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 7 September 2026 to Question 19790 on RAF Northolt, what the annual cap is on civil aviation movements at RAF Northolt; when that cap was last amended; and how many civil aviation movements were recorded in each...
The annual cap on civil commercial movements has not been increased since April 2013 and is set at a maximum of 12, 000 civil commercial movements in a Financial Year (FY)
The number of civil commercial movements at RAF Northolt for each financial year is given below.
FY Civil Commercial Movements
2012/13 7,055
2013/14 9,219
2014/15 9,171
2015/16 9,642
2016/17 10,612
2017/18 8,439
2018/19 4,698
2019/20 1,004
2020/21 1,397
2021/22 3,532
2022/23 6,876
2023/24 7,202
2024/25 8,062
2025/26 7,120
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment her Department has made of the public health impacts of aircraft noise and aviation-related air pollution on communities beneath flight paths serving RAF Northolt, including in the London Borough of Harrow.
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment her Department has made of the public health impacts of aircraft noise and aviation-related air pollution on communities beneath flight paths serving RAF Northolt, including in the London Borough of Harrow.
There is no requirement for RAF Northolt to monitor aviation related air quality levels. In relation to air quality, the role of both military and civil aerodromes is secondary to local authorities who are statutorily empowered to engage on air quality issues. In addition, RAF Northolt sits wholly under the London Terminal Manoeuvring Area and London Control Zone airspace, which is shared with other airports and aerodromes.
Regulatory Article (RA) 1801 sets out that UK military aircraft are certified in line with the International Civil Aviation Organisation Section 16 emissions and CO2 international regulatory standards.
The RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine does publish reports on the Military Aviation Noise Contours and analysis for RAF Northolt. The last survey was conducted in 2022 and is published at the following link https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/raf-northolt-military-aviation-noise-contour-report-2022
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of greenhouse gas emissions per passenger kilometre from private business jets compared with (a) commercial aviation and (b) rail transport; and how emissions from a typical four-hour private jet flight compare with average annual per-capita emissions...
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of greenhouse gas emissions per passenger kilometre from private business jets compared with (a) commercial aviation and (b) rail transport; and how emissions from a typical four-hour private jet flight compare with average annual per-capita emissions...
Government’s official statistics on greenhouse gas emissions cover the entirety of the UK aviation sector, including those from private jets. However, we do not separate out emissions for private jets in our analysis and therefore we are unable to compare this to commercial aviation or rail, nor how a typical four-hour private jet flight compares with average per-capita emissions in the UK.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of annual business aviation movements at (a) RAF Northolt, (b) Farnborough Airport, (c) London Luton Airport, (d) London Stansted Airport, (e) Biggin Hill Airport and (f) London City Airport in each of the last five years.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate her Department has made of annual business aviation movements at (a) RAF Northolt, (b) Farnborough Airport, (c) London Luton Airport, (d) London Stansted Airport, (e) Biggin Hill Airport and (f) London City Airport in each of the last five years.
Information on business aviation movements at UK airports is published by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in its annual airport statistics. Data for London Luton Airport, London Stansted Airport, Biggin Hill Airport and London City Airport for each of the last five years, and for Farnborough Airport from 2023 onwards, can be found in Table 031 of the CAA's Airport Data publications.
The CAA defines business aviation movements as non-commercial movements operated on aircraft of 2,730kg Maximum Take-Off Mass or greater conducting business operations. The statistics are available at:
RAF Northolt is a Ministry of Defence establishment and as such the CAA does not collect aircraft movement data for RAF Northolt. The Department has not made an estimate of annual business aviation movements at RAF Northolt.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Farnborough Airport Community Environmental Fund; what data her Department holds on how much funding it has generated in each of the last five years; and whether she has assessed the potential...
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Farnborough Airport Community Environmental Fund; what data her Department holds on how much funding it has generated in each of the last five years; and whether she has assessed the potential...
Decisions on community funds and other local mitigation measures at business aviation airports are generally matters for airport operators and local planning authorities. The Department has not made an assessment of the effectiveness of the Farnborough Airport Community Environmental Fund (FACEF) or assessed the potential merits of requiring other business aviation airports to operate similar community environmental funds.
The Department does not hold information on the amount of funding generated by the FACEF in each of the last five years. Information on the fund, including funding generated and grants awarded, is published by Rushmoor Borough Council, which administers the fund.
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) capability is currently available at RAF Northolt; whether SAF is available to business aviation operators using the airfield; how its availability compares with Farnborough, London Luton, London Stansted and Biggin Hill airports; and what plans she has...
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) capability is currently available at RAF Northolt; whether SAF is available to business aviation operators using the airfield; how its availability compares with Farnborough, London Luton, London Stansted and Biggin Hill airports; and what plans she has...
The Department for Transport does not hold information on Sustainable Aviation Fuel capability or availability at individual military bases or airports, including RAF Northolt, or on whether SAF is available to particular categories of operator at specific airfields. It therefore does not hold a comparison between RAF Northolt, Farnborough, London Luton, London Stansted and Biggin Hill.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Office for Legal Complaints and the Legal Services Board with regards to the performance of the Legal Services Ombudsman in terms of i) the initial review of a case ii) the time for a...
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Office for Legal Complaints and the Legal Services Board with regards to the performance of the Legal Services Ombudsman in terms of i) the initial review of a case ii) the time for a...