The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) makes clear that local planning authorities should assess the size, type, and tenure of housing needed for different groups, and should reflect this in their planning policies and decisions.

I otherwise refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 88432 on 17 November 2025.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that local authorities have the resources needed to maintain and improve their road networks. The Government has therefore confirmed a record £7.3 billion investment into local highways maintenance over the next four years. By confirming funding allocations for the next four-year period, authorities have certainty to plan ahead and shift from short-term fixes to proactive, preventative maintenance.

South Gloucestershire and Bristol sit within the West of England Combined Authority. West of England Combined Authority receives baseline highways maintenance funding through its City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) which runs from 2022-27. In 2026/27, West of England CA will also receive £7.032 million in incentive funding. From 2027/28, all highways maintenance funding will be consolidated into Transport for City Regions (TCR) settlements, which will provide the bulk of future funding.

To further support local authorities and ensure best use of public funding, the Department published a new traffic light rating system for all local highway authorities in England on 11 January which rates authorities red, amber or green based on: the condition of their roads, how much they spend to maintain their roads and whether they do so using best practice. This system allows the Government to target support to places that need extra help and red-rated authorities have been offered dedicated support to bring them in line with best practice.

Bristol City Council received an overall amber rating, with individual scorecards showing amber for condition, green spend and amber for best practice. Additionally, South Gloucestershire received an overall amber rating, with individual scorecards showing amber for condition, green spend and amber for best practice.

Antisemitism has absolutely no place in our society, which is why we’re taking a strong lead in tackling it in all its forms, wherever it manifests.

We work closely with partners to ensure the safety and security of Jewish communities throughout the UK.

This includes working together with the Jewish community to monitor levels of religiously motivated hatred. We continue to closely observe rates of antisemitism across the country and will make the necessary interventions to combat antisemitism in all corners of our society.

DCMS was alerted by Arts Council England at the end of October to a recent theft incident involving a storage facility operated by Bristol Museums. Fuller details about the scale of that incident were provided by the museum in mid December, at the time a police appeal was launched, following a museum-led audit. The museum holds human remains, however the department is not aware of any human remains being amongst the items stolen.

Museums in England operate independently from the government, and subscribe to ethical codes produced by the sector, and so it is for the museum’s leadership team to ensure the proper care of human remains, with policies kept under review. DCMS’ Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums covers the curation, care and display of human remains in museums, and recommends both the active management and monitoring of human remains storage, and adherence to suitable standards of security, access management and environmental conditions.

DCMS was alerted by Arts Council England at the end of October to a recent theft incident involving a storage facility operated by Bristol Museums. Fuller details about the scale of that incident were provided by the museum in mid December, at the time a police appeal was launched, following a museum-led audit. The museum holds human remains, however the department is not aware of any human remains being amongst the items stolen.

Museums in England operate independently from the government, and subscribe to ethical codes produced by the sector, and so it is for the museum’s leadership team to ensure the proper care of human remains, with policies kept under review. DCMS’ Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums covers the curation, care and display of human remains in museums, and recommends both the active management and monitoring of human remains storage, and adherence to suitable standards of security, access management and environmental conditions.

DCMS was alerted by Arts Council England at the end of October to a recent theft incident involving a storage facility operated by Bristol Museums. Fuller details about the scale of that incident were provided by the museum in mid December, at the time a police appeal was launched, following a museum-led audit. The museum holds human remains, however the department is not aware of any human remains being amongst the items stolen.

Museums in England operate independently from the government, and subscribe to ethical codes produced by the sector, and so it is for the museum’s leadership team to ensure the proper care of human remains, with policies kept under review. DCMS’ Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums covers the curation, care and display of human remains in museums, and recommends both the active management and monitoring of human remains storage, and adherence to suitable standards of security, access management and environmental conditions.

The Department and NHS England are currently working at pace to develop plans on how best to improve the access, quality, and sustainability of all-age palliative care and end of life care in line with the 10-Year Health Plan. I will be able to say more about our timelines for that work in the near future.

We will closely monitor the shift towards the strategic commissioning of palliative and end of life care services to ensure that services reduce variation in access and quality, although some variation may be appropriate to reflect both innovation and the needs of local populations.

Children’s palliative care services are included in the list of services an integrated care board (ICB) must commission. To support ICBs in this duty, NHS England has published statutory guidance and a service specification for children and young people.  The statutory guidance states that ICBs, including the NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire ICB, must work to ensure that there is sufficient provision of palliative care and end of life care services to meet the needs of their local populations.

We are providing £26 million of revenue funding for children and young people’s hospices for 2025/26. Jessie May Children’s Hospice in Bristol has received £182,000 from this funding. We are also committing £80 million for children’s and young people’s hospices over the next three financial years, giving them stability to plan ahead and focus on what matters most, caring for their patients.

I refer the hon Member to the answer given to Question UIN 78811 on 15 October 2025.

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) main priority is upholding road safety standards while it works hard to reduce car practical driving test waiting times.

On the 23 April, the Secretary of State for Transport appeared before the Transport Select Committee and announced that DVSA will take further actions to reduce waiting times for all customers across Great Britain.

Further information on these actions and progress of DVSA’s plan to reduce driving test waiting times, which was announced in December 2024, can be found on GOV.UK.

On 15 July, DVSA launched a new recruitment campaign for the Bristol area. DVSA is looking to recruit two additional driving examiners (DE) at Kingwood, up to 10 additional DEs in Avonmouth and two additional DEs in Weston-Super-Mare.

Further vacancies in other sites in the surrounding area such as Taunton and Chippenham, will also be advertised in DVSA’s following recruitment campaigns shortly.

The average waiting time in weeks for a car practical driving test at Bristol Kingswood driving test centre, for June 2025, was 21.6 weeks.

The localised hotspots that inform our estimates of when each reporting zone is predicted to become compliant are set out in the following table. The predicted years of compliance in Question 45559 were based on 2023 data. For each zone, the hotspot location with the highest 2023 annual average NO₂ concentration has been given, as that site drives the predicted compliance year.

This data is based on data gathered under the previous Government.

The localised hotspots that inform our estimates of when each reporting zone is predicted to become compliant are set out in the following table. The predicted years of compliance in Question 45559 were based on 2023 data. For each zone, the hotspot location with the highest 2023 annual average NO₂ concentration has been given, as that site drives the predicted compliance year.

This data is based on data gathered under the previous Government.

Funding has been allocated to local authorities to improve bus services in the regions, which includes £8 million of funding for Gloucestershire County Council. Rail journeys between Bristol and Stroud require passengers to change at Gloucester or Swindon. Whilst there are currently no plans to change service patterns in the area Great Western Railway (GWR) increased services between Gloucester and Bristol from 2023 which provides more journey opportunities for passengers seeking to travel between Stroud and Bristol.

A career in the armed forces or a defence industry is a good career for any school leaver in Bristol, in Plymouth or anywhere across our country. I commend my hon. Friend on the work that he and people in Bristol are doing to promote a career in our armed forces and the defence industries. There are good, well paid careers available in every part of our country—indeed in every single constituency—in defence.

With the defence review coming, alongside the welcome extra investment in defence, how will things change so that more school leavers in Bristol can learn about the opportunities in the military and across Bristol’s wider defence sector?