While religious faith does not prevent anyone from becoming Prime Minister, the Government recognises that there are some historical restrictions on duties in statute. In such cases the Government would make alternative arrangements, so that it can discharge its responsibilities in full.

The Government has not made an assessment of the impact on UK consumers of the decision by Google to mandate the use of its platform following its acquisition of Fitbit. As the UK’s principal competition authority, the Competition and Markets Authority is responsible for investigating the impact of firms’ conduct on markets and consumers.

The Government has no plans to commission an independent review of the impact of the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union. Our focus is firmly on strengthening the UK’s Strategic Partnership with the EU to make the people across the UK safer, more secure and more prosperous.

The Government engaged extensively with both primary steel producers and downstream users to inform development of the steel trade measure, including a Call for Evidence in July 2025. This includes direct engagement with construction industry representatives through the Construction Leadership Council. The Government is clear that a strong domestic steel sector and a competitive manufacturing base depend on one another, and our approach seeks to support both.

We will closely monitor the impacts and continue to engage with businesses. We will review the measure after 12 months.

On 30 June, the Government published the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), committing an additional £15bn over four years to defence spending. From 2027-28 onwards, the UK will spend 2.7% of GDP on core NATO defence spending, solidifying its position as the NATO Alliance’s third-largest cash spender, behind only the US and Germany.

The Government has committed to increasing defence spending to 3% of GDP in the next Parliament, with funding and plans to be set out at the next spending review. Alongside NATO allies, the UK has committed to reach 3.5% of GDP on defence spending by 2035. The UK remains committed to meeting its obligations to the Defence Investment Pledge. All Allies will review the trajectory and spend in 2029, when NATO next reviews its capability plans.

Grants of representation¹ issued within 8 weeks, England and Wales

2025

Source: HMCTS Core Case Data

Notes:

1) All grant types including letters of administration with/without a Will.

2) Timeliness figures are calculated from the date of application (which may be from an earlier period) to the date the grant was issued.

3) Timeliness figures are calculated from the date of document receipt (which may be from an earlier period) to the date the grant was issued.

4) Document receipt occurs after payment has been made and all accompanying paperwork has been received by HMCTS. As such, it does not reflect the entire case journey from when an application is submitted by the user to when a grant is received. Instead these figures reflect the timeliness from when HMCTS staff are able to start working on the case.

5) Includes cases up to and including 8 weeks (56 days)

Due to revisions these figures may differ slightly to those published in Family Court Statistics Quarterly

For potholes on the English Strategic Road Network which are most likely to cause damage to vehicles, National Highways identifies defects via routine condition surveys, asset inspections, and reports from operational teams and stakeholders using the network. Identified defects are then assessed and categorised using a risk-based approach (assessing likelihood and consequence) to determine the appropriate speed of response.

Potholes most likely to cause serious damage to vehicles are classified into two categories: “Immediate/Go-Now”, requiring attention within two hours for the most severe defects; or “Safety Defect”, typically requiring action within 24 hours.

Alongside reactive repairs, National Highways takes a proactive approach to network renewals, such as resurfacing or reconstruction, to help maintain the resilience and safety of the network.

The Government recognises the vulnerability of the UK to malign interference in its political finance system, and is committed to strengthening the rules governing political donations. The Representation of the People Bill introduces a comprehensive package of reforms to address these risks, including Know Your Donor requirements, tighter rules on company donations to ensure a genuine connection to the UK, enhanced transparency around the source of funds, and stronger enforcement provisions

These measures build on the findings of the independent Rycroft Review, which identified risks of foreign financial influence and areas where safeguards could be strengthened. The Government is working through the Review’s recommendations as part of its wider approach to strengthening the regime.

Data on the amount of oil held by the UK is published monthly in Energy Trends Table 3.11. As of February 2026, UK oil stocks were 10.6 million tonnes (equivalent to 81 million barrels) which exceeds the requirements as a member of the International Energy Agency (IEA). The government does not hold strategic reserves of gas. The government does not publish international comparisons on stock levels for either oil or gas. Oil stocks of IEA countries are published on the IEA website.

In 2025, imports contributed 14% of gross UK electricity supply (excludes exports). Volumes of electricity imported by the UK, by country, and shares of electricity for those countries, produced by burning fossil fuels, are presented in the following table:

Sources: Energy Trends tables 5.2 & 5.6 and Eurostat (provisional data from monthly Net electricity generation by type of fuel - nrg_cb_pem)

It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. I will correspond directly with the noble Lord.

The central challenge facing this Government when we took office was restoring economic stability, improving living standards and renewing our public services. This required a number of difficult decisions on tax, welfare, and spending, including an increase to employer National Insurance contributions.

The Government of course understands and respects the legitimate concerns that have been raised, and we have consistently acknowledged that there will be wider impacts as a result of these decisions. As part of this, the Government protected the smallest businesses by increasing the Employment Allowance from £5,000 to £10,500.

At the Budget last year, the Valuation Office announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation, for business rates purposes. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties.

In recognition of the impact of the revaluation on bills, the Government introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion, to protect against ratepayers seeing large overnight increases in bills. This means most properties seeing increases have them capped at 15 per cent or less in 2026/27, or £800 for the smallest businesses.

The Government has also introduced new permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties. These new multipliers are worth nearly £1 billion per year and benefit over 750,000 properties.

The Government recognises that there are historical restrictions in statute on Roman Catholic and Jewish people making and advising the Crown on Church appointments. In practice, this affects those holding the offices of Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor. This does not prevent those professing the Roman Catholic or Jewish faith from holding these roles and in such cases the Government would make alternative arrangements for advising the Crown about Church appointments. The Government keeps this matter under review, but, given other pressing issues, this is not a current priority.

As the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the Sovereign must be in communion with the Anglican Communion. Individuals practising other faiths therefore cannot become Sovereign, Regent or a Counsellor of State.

For the period 2 February 2025 – 31 January 2026, 8.8 per cent of trains planned in Great Britain were either cancelled, part cancelled or arrived at their destination at least ten minutes late.

The two main causes for cancellations using established industry categories for delays and cancellations were fleet (21 per cent) and traincrew (20 per cent).

Non-Track Assets (e.g. signal failures, points failures, overhead line problems) and Network Management and other (e.g. unexplained delays, Network Rail operations, vegetation management) each caused 17 per cent of the delays, with fleet accounting for another 16 per cent.

Below is a table showing the percentages of the causes of delay and cancellations:

Note: all figures rounded to 1 decimal place and may not add up to exactly 100% as a result.

Negotiations among coastal States on a Total Allowable Catch of mackerel are ongoing for 2026. The UK has set an interim quota of 47,523 tonnes to allow fishing on the stock. Defra expects to review the quota later in the year to take into account the conclusion of the negotiations.

Section 41 of the Highways Act 1980 places a statutory duty on highway authorities to maintain public highways.

Dealing with compensation claims due to defects such as potholes on the highway network is entirely the responsibility of the relevant highway authority.

The Department cannot comment on individual claims for vehicle damages arising from alleged defects on the highway. Such matters are for resolution between the claimant and the relevant highway authority.

Where parties cannot agree, it is for the court to determine whether the local highway authority has met its duty under Section 41 and exercised reasonable care in maintaining the highway.

We recognise the financial burden that clearing fly-tipped waste places on landowners. However, central Government generally does not compensate victims of non-violent crime. It is important not to create a perverse incentive for some people to dump, or facilitate the dumping of, waste.

However, where there is sufficient evidence, fly-tippers can be prosecuted and, on conviction, a cost order can be made by the court so that a landowner’s costs can be recovered from the perpetrator.

We are working with a wide range of interested parties through the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, such as the National Farmers Union (NFU), to promote and disseminate good practice, including how to prevent fly-tipping on private land.

Data on the proportion of illegal dumping incidents on private land where the perpetrator is identified and required to remove the waste is not held centrally.

In instances where the perpetrator dumping waste on private land is not identified responsibility to remove the waste falls to the landowner.

We welcome the report from the Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) regarding government support for large-scale biomass generation. This report makes clear that DESNZ has given detailed consideration of how the Low Carbon Dispatchable CfD is in line with the principles within the Subsidy Control Act and relevant environmental regulations.

We have carefully considered the recommendations in the report and the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero has determined that the subsidy is compliant with the requirements under the Subsidy Control Act. The publication of a response to the SAU report is not required.