Written questions by Chowns.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps she is taking with international partners to engage conflict parties in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo to improve humanitarian access to areas affected by the Ebola outbreak.

Awaiting answer.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to prepare humanitarian support for countries bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the event of the Ebola outbreak spreading.

Awaiting answer.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of the creation of a UN coordinator role to lead regional responses to the Ebola outbreak in central Africa.

Awaiting answer.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that healthcare workers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are safeguarded from the Ebola outbreak.

Awaiting answer.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what diplomatic steps her Department is taking to ensure safe and unrestricted humanitarian access in areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo affected by the Ebola outbreak.

Awaiting answer.

What is the (a) average time and (b) target time for a substantive response to enquiries by the MP hotline.

Awaiting answer.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential number of commercial flights that could avoid cancellation if private jet flights were banned during the disruption to global oil markets.

Awaiting answer.

With reference to the Answer of 22 October 2025 to Question 80479 on Personal Independence Payment, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of increasing decision making resource on reducing median clearance times for mandatory reconsiderations.

Awaiting answer.

If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of a temporary ban on private jet travel to save available jet fuel for commercial flights.

Awaiting answer.

Whether discussions her Department has had with the Government of Indonesian on the UK-Indonesia Economic Growth Partnership has included the clearance of indigenous peoples’ rainforests for food estates in Merauke District in Indonesian New Guinea.

Awaiting answer.

What steps he is taking to protect the human rights of Indigenous Peoples in Indonesia, in the context of the UK-Indonesia Economic Growth Partnership.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the UK-Indonesia Economic Growth Partnership on (a) indigenous peoples’ human rights and (b) tropical forests.

Awaiting answer.

What steps she is taking to develop a comprehensive National Bus Stop Standard that prioritises accessibility, safety, comfort and up-to-date information.

The Government recognises the vital role that safe, accessible and high-quality bus stops provision plays in supporting and encouraging people to use local bus services. The Bus Services Act 2025 places a duty on local authorities and National Highways to pay regard to new statutory guidance on the safety and accessibility of stopping places. We want this guidance to support authorities to provide infrastructure that people can and want to use, and it will be developed collaboratively with stakeholders, including disabled people, over the coming months. The Government has also confirmed multi-year allocations through the Local Authority Bus Grant (LABG) totalling nearly £700 million per year from 2026/27-28/29. Funding allocated to local authorities to improve services can be used in whichever way they wish to deliver better services for passengers, including investing in bus stops. To ensure passengers have access to up-to-date information, the Bus Open Data Service requires operators to publish timetable, fares and real-time vehicle location data. This enables passengers to plan journeys and access accurate, live service information through apps, online platforms and, where available, at-stop displays and audio announcements.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions her Department's (a) Ministers and (b) officials based overseas have had with the Government of Indonesia on the clearance of indigenous peoples’ rainforests for large-scale food estates in Merauke District in Indonesian New Guinea.

We are aware of the ongoing issues around the implementation of food estates in Papua, including in Merauke District.The UK's Human Rights Ambassador, Eleanor Sanders, raised the importance of free, prior and informed consent for indigenous people and local communities with senior parliamentarians and government officials during her visit to Indonesia last August. I also visited Indonesia in February and raised the importance the UK attaches to human rights and raised Papua directly with Vice Foreign Minister Arif Havas Oegroseno.The UK will continue to engage with Indonesia at senior levels on these important matters and encourage approaches that are consistent with international standards, long-term environmental protection, and the safeguarding of human rights.

With reference to the acknowledgement of my letter of 7 January 2026, its referral in error to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and the subsequent allocation of reference MC2025/27941 on 16 March 2026, (a) what steps her Department is taking to improve the handling of and response times to correspondence received from Members and (b) when she will provide a full written response to that letter.

HM Treasury recognises the important role Parliament has in holding the Government to account and the need to provide full and timely responses to requests for information. Treasury Ministers have received significant volumes of correspondence since the Budget, which has led to a backlog. In response, officials are working with Ministers’ offices to prioritise and clear outstanding cases as quickly as possible. Additional resource has been secured to assist Ministers’ offices with drafting and clearances. The Treasury correspondence unit has also recently recruited two additional drafting officials to ensure appropriate resourcing of this important function and are working across the department to prioritise responses. A response to case MC2025/27941 was issued on 27th April 2026 to the hon. Member for North Herefordshire.

With reference to her email of 7January 2026 acknowledging receipt of my letter ref MC2025/27941, whether she will set out (a) the reasons for the widely differing changes to rateable values and (b) her Department’s longer-term projections for reliefs to reduce the business rates burden on the hospitality sector.

At the Budget, the Valuation Office (VO) announced updated property values from the 2026 revaluation. This revaluation is the first since the pandemic, which has led to significant increases in rateable values for some properties. The VO are independent and are happy to talk to ratepayers if they have queries about how a rateable value has been assessed. Ratepayers can also challenge their rateable value through the online Check and Challenge process if they believe it is incorrect. The Government has introduced a support package worth £4.3 billion to protect ratepayers 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. The Government has also introduced new permanently lower multipliers for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties. These new multipliers are worth nearly £1 billion per year and benefit over 750,000 properties. In addition, this year, every pub and live music venue is receiving 15 per cent off its business rates bill on top of the support announced at Budget. Bills will then be frozen in real terms for a further two years.

What assessment he has made of the potential impact of the UK's Investor-State Dispute Settlement Scheme on foreign policy goals.

The UK is party to 77 Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) that contain Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). The UK’s international investment agreements aim to enhance opportunities for UK businesses to expand overseas, with commitments that seek to limit the barriers they face, make it easier to navigate local rules, and ensure investments are treated lawfully, and protected against unfair or arbitrary action. These are fully consistent with our foreign policy goals and our economic ambitions for the country. We keep the operation of these provisions under review.

Whether he has had recent discussions with Ofgem regarding the adequacy of the support offered by energy companies to people living with brain injuries, including conditions such as aphasia, and registered on the Priority Services Register.

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State has regular discussions with the industry regulator Ofgem on a range of issues. DESNZ is working closely with other Government Departments, including the Department of Health and Social Care, on the National Data Library household income ‘Kickstarter’ project to test how public sector data can be better joined up to improve access to government programmes. This will pave the way for better targeted help, ensuring those who are struggling to pay their bills get the support they need.

Whether the Government has considered establishing a low-cost, specialist tribunal or ombudsman to handle procurement disputes more quickly and affordably than the current High Court process; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of such a body on (a) improving access so that more SMEs can challenge procurement decisions and (b) deterring unlawful decision-making.

At present, the Cabinet Office has two free services to address procurement concerns.The Procurement Compliance Service (PCS) investigates contracting authorities’ compliance with the requirements of the Procurement Act 2023 and, where appropriate, may issue recommendations and/or guidance. Generally, the PCS considers potential non-compliance at systemic and institutional levels.The Public Procurement Review Service (PPRS) helps to protect suppliers, and potential suppliers to the public sector, by providing a free, anonymous, and confidential way to report poor public sector procurement practices, including contract management issues and late payment issues. PPRS considers specific instances of poor practice.Both services aim to improve access for SMEs by giving them a more accessible route to raise concerns and are intended to improve procurement practices in the long term. Specific PPRS reviews may lead to reconsideration of decisions being made during live procurements only.As part of the package of reforms I announced on 26th March, the Cabinet Office is reviewing the entire procurement process to find ways to open up more government contracts to SMEs and British Businesses. We will issue new guidance on government procurement reforms shortly.

Whether the Government plans to publish data on (a) the number and outcomes of procurement challenges and (b) the costs incurred by both contracting authorities and suppliers in such cases.

It has not proved possible to respond to the Hon Member in the time available before Prorogation.