Steve Witherden MP: written questions
26 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Animal Products: Import ControlsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 8 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 7642More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish the list of species the Department considers to be of conservation concern under the proposed legislation to ban imports of hunting trophies; and how the Department
Answer: This Government is committed to delivering on its manifesto commitment to ban the import of hunting trophies from species of conservation concern. Defra is continuing to engage with relevant stakeholders to help determine the most appropriate scope for a ...
Answered 11 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordNHS: DatabasesDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 1 Jun 2026AnsweredUIN 5811More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, is any data on Welsh patients treated in England (a) held and (b) processed by Palantir.
Answer: The NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP) safely connects information from different systems across the National Health Service into a single, secure environment. This allows staff to co-ordinate care better to improve outcomes for patients. The NHS FDP ...
Answered 8 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordRuabon Station: AccessDepartment for TransportTabled 20 May 2026AnsweredUIN 3598More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress has been made on providing step-free access at Ruabon station.
Answer: On 15 January, Ministers announced Ruabon station as one of 23 stations across Great Britain selected to progress to the next stage of the Access for All programme. The scheme will now move into detailed design, which is expected to be completed by Autumn...
Answered 2 Jun 2026
Original Parliament recordPigs: SlaughterhousesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 19 May 2026AnsweredUIN 3158More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to accept the recommendation of the Animal Welfare Committee's report entitled The welfare impacts on pigs of high concentration CO2 gas stunning and of po
Answer: I refer the hon. Member to the response given on 20 May 2026 to PQ UIN 316.
Answered 28 May 2026
Original Parliament recordRoyal Mail: InsolvencyDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 17 Apr 2026AnsweredUIN 128139More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department has made contingency arrangements in the event of Royal Mail becoming insolvent.
Answer: The Department develops and maintains contingency plans for a range of scenarios as part of its regular resilience planning. This regular planning includes contingency plans for the insolvency of Royal Mail as the universal service provider.
Answered 22 Apr 2026
Original Parliament recordEmployment and Support AllowanceDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 13 Apr 2026AnsweredUIN 126909More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are (a) receiving Employment Support Allowance in March 2026 and (b) have experienced ‘failed transitions’ from Employment Support Allowance to Universal Credit; and what steps he is tak
Answer: a) Statistics for the number of people on Employment and Support Allowance are published quarterly. The latest statistics for August 2025 are available in the ESA data tables on Stat-Xplore - Table View. b) Statistics for the number or people invited to M...
Answered 21 Apr 2026
Original Parliament recordFurs: SalesDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 23 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 122919More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle the sale of unethical fur products.
Answer: Fur farming is banned in the UK. Restrictions also apply to imports including fur and fur products from seals, cats and dogs. Other long-established controls include those covering fur from species protected by the Convention on International Trade in End...
Answered 31 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordFuel OilDepartment for Energy Security and Net ZeroTabled 17 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 121659More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what support his Department providing to people that require access to heating oil in the medium to near term.
Answer: The UK benefits from strong and diverse security of fuel supplies. We are aware that some customers have been experiencing delays or difficulties in receiving heating oil deliveries. This reflects an increase in demand, rather than issues with supply. We ...
Answered 23 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordFuel Oil: Government AssistanceDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 17 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 121656More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what are the qualifying criteria for "most vulnerable households" in the provision of heating oil support.
Answer: Local authorities have flexibility to determine eligibility for heating‑oil support under the Crisis and Resilience Fund, applying their own discretion to identify the most vulnerable households facing immediate financial difficulties as a result of risin...
Answered 24 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordSchools: FinanceDepartment for EducationTabled 11 Mar 2026AnsweredUIN 120198More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Schools White Paper, whether moving to all schools being part of school trusts means academy trusts.
Answer: In the Schools White Paper, we introduced a new term ‘school trusts’ to refer to existing academy trusts and new trusts, including academy trusts established by local authorities or local area partnerships. We will also update co-operative academy school ...
Answered 29 Apr 2026
Original Parliament recordState Retirement Pensions: WomenDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 23 Feb 2026AnsweredUIN 115262More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Statement of 29 January 2026, what assessment he has made of the reasons why the findings of the 2007 research report did not lead to a targeted public communications campaign to a
Answer: The Secretary of State reviewed the 2007 Report on Automatic Pension Forecasts before coming to his decision on the Ombudsman’s investigation. The 2007 Report concluded that “overall…the evidence suggests negligible influence of the APF on pensions knowle...
Answered 26 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordState Retirement Pensions: WomenDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 23 Feb 2026AnsweredUIN 115261More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report on changes to women's State Pension age, published on 21 March 2024, if he will make an assessment of the potential (a) economic;
Answer: The Government carefully considered the findings of the Ombudsman’s report on the communication of changes to women’s State Pension age, and a detailed response including an Equality Analysis has been deposited in the House library.
Answered 2 Mar 2026
Original Parliament recordHunting: Birds of PreyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 20 Feb 2026AnsweredUIN 114681More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of exemptions permitting the use of birds of prey in fox hunting activities; and whether it plans to review those provision
Answer: The department has made no assessment of the effectiveness of exemptions permitting the use of birds of prey in fox hunting activities and has no plans to review those provisions.
Answered 26 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordCultureDepartment for Culture, Media and SportTabled 12 Feb 2026AnsweredUIN 907896More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to help increase access to arts and culture.
Answer: The Government is committed to making arts and culture accessible to everyone. We invest £600 million annually through Arts Council England to support access to arts and culture across the country. Our £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere investment will save ove...
Answered 26 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordPalestine Embassy: SecurityHome OfficeTabled 2 Feb 2026AnsweredUIN 110214More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure adequate security provision for the Palestinian Embassy in London.
Answer: The Government takes the protective security of diplomatic missions extremely seriously.The UK’s protective security system is rigorous and proportionate, but it would not be appropriate to comment in detail on those arrangements.
Answered 9 Feb 2026
Original Parliament recordImmigration: Children and Young PeopleHome OfficeTabled 18 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 101586More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of lengthening the qualifying period for settlement from five years to ten years for young adults and children under Appendix Private Life to the I
Answer: The earned settlement model, proposed in A Fairer Pathway to Settlement, is currently subject to a public consultation, running until 12 February 2026. The consultation directly seeks views on retaining the current arrangement, whereby children and young ...
Answered 7 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordSocial Security Benefits: DisabilityDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled 15 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 99938More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how he plans to reduce disability benefits by up to £580 million a year.
Answer: We are reducing the frequency of Personal Independence award reviews to deliver more WCA re-assessments after they were stopped during Covid-19. We will also significantly increase the share of face-to-face assessments, enabling assessors to better unders...
Answered 5 Jan 2026
Original Parliament recordProof of Identity: Digital TechnologyCabinet OfficeTabled 4 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 97384More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he is taking to ensure that mandatory digital ID would not put the population’s personal data at risk of data breaches by hackers and foreign adversaries.
Answer: Security is a core principle of the new national digital credential that government is building, and will follow National Cyber Security Centre advice and international best practice. Data will be federated, not centralised, minimising risks by keeping in...
Answered 17 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordProof of Identity: Digital TechnologyDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 4 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 97383More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he has taken to make sure that digital ID can not be made a requirement for accessing a wide range of public and private services.
Answer: Digital ID will only be mandatory for a person who is going through a right to work check. There will be no other mandatory requirement to have the ID.The Government is not mandating the use of digital ID to access other public or private services. People...
Answered 12 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordProof of Identity: Digital TechnologyCabinet OfficeTabled 4 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 97382More
Question: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how much the Digital ID scheme will cost.
Answer: I refer the honourable Member to my answer to PQ93098.
Answered 15 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordNeighbourhood Health Centres: Private Finance InitiativeDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled 1 Dec 2025AnsweredUIN 95984More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish details of his Department new private finance model for building neighbourhood health centres and the business case completed for it.
Answer: The Department and the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) will continue to work with the market to further develop the new Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for neighbourhood health centres (NHCs) with further engage...
Answered 23 Dec 2025
Original Parliament recordGaza: AgricultureForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 4 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 88072More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help support agricultural livelihoods in Gaza; and what steps the Government is taking to ensure that UK-funded support for agricultura
Answer: We recognise that people with existing vulnerabilities, including older people, can be disproportionately affected by humanitarian crises. All organisations which receive Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office funding are required to demonstrate com...
Answered 11 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordHumanitarian Aid: Older PeopleForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 4 Nov 2025AnsweredUIN 88071More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what proportion of the humanitarian aid budget for (a) the Gaza conflict and (b) all global humanitarian crises is specifically allocated for (i) social protection mechanisms
Answer: We recognise that people with existing vulnerabilities, including older people, can be disproportionately affected by humanitarian crises. All organisations which receive Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office funding are required to demonstrate com...
Answered 11 Nov 2025
Original Parliament recordHomicide: OffendersMinistry of JusticeTabled 20 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 83620More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether the restriction zone requirement in the Sentencing Bill would apply to convicted murderers on a life sentence; and whether the conditions of convicted murderers would be independently managed by the parol
Answer: It is crucial that we have a justice system that punishes offenders and supports victims. That is why increasing restriction on serious sexual and violent offenders is part of our Plan for Change to cut crime and make streets safer.Through the Sentencing ...
Answered 28 Oct 2025
Original Parliament recordHomicide: OffendersMinistry of JusticeTabled 10 Oct 2025AnsweredUIN 80408More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether bereaved families of victims of murder would be protected under the restriction zone requirement in the Sentencing Bill.
Answer: It is crucial that we have a justice system that punishes offenders and supports victims. That is why increasing restriction on serious sexual and violent offenders is part of our Plan for Change to cut crime and make streets safer.Through the Sentencing ...
Answered 15 Oct 2025
Original Parliament record
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