Written questions by Hendrick.

What process Child Maintenance Service uses to verify reports by constituents that incorrect or unverified information has been used in maintenance assessments.

Awaiting answer.

Whether alignment of EU and UK clean technology standards are a subject of discussion of the EU-UK Reset negotiations.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment she has made of the impact of the recent heatwave on the punctuality of trains across the national rail network; and what steps she has taken to ensure passengers receive timely delay compensation.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment she has made of the potential implications for her Department's policies of data from ADR UK on multiple temporary exclusions of pupils and the criminal justice system, published in April 2026.

Awaiting answer.

Innovation and Technology, if she will take steps to ensure that the planned social media ban for under-16s will have robust blocks in place to avoid circumvention.

Awaiting answer.

What steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with advanced and terminal illnesses receive the Civil Service Pensions in a timely manner.

Awaiting answer.

What assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy of mental health provision for young people and (b) the potential impact of rates of anxiety, depression, autism and ADHD on youth economic inactivit

Awaiting answer.

If the European Partnership Bill will include provisions on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) standards.

The European Partnership Bill will provide the necessary powers to deliver treaties with the European Union now and in the future. Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise the Bill when it is introduced to Parliament in the usual way.

If he will make it his policy to align Government policy with the EU’s higher air quality standards as part of the European Partnership Bill.

The European Partnership Bill will provide the necessary powers to deliver treaties with the European Union now and in the future. Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise the Bill when it is introduced to Parliament in the usual way.

Innovation and Technology, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure that automated and remote recruitment processes do not act as a barrier to entry-level employment for young people with no prior work

Most AI systems are already regulated at the point of use by our existing expert regulators. The ICO has recently closed a consultation on their draft guidance about automated decision-making, including profiling. Government has previously published Respo...

Whether his Department plans to introduce the Stockholm3 test for prostate cancer within the NHS.

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli on 26 May 2026 to Question 1677.

If she will make it her policy to expedite the processing of asylum claims of Afghan nationals who (a) served with and (b) assisted British troops in the Afghanistan war.

Every asylum claim admitted to the UK asylum system is carefully considered on its individual merits, in line with published policies. There are clear processes in place for prioritising asylum claims on the basis of vulnerability in line with our published guidance available at: Asylum decision making prioritisation: caseworker guidance - GOV.UK.

Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking steps to prevent and restrict social media sites from being used for child sex trafficking activity.

Child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) is an abhorrent and serious crime and tackling it online is an absolute priority for this Government. The Online Safety Act places its strongest protections around children, imposing robust legal duties on online services to prevent their platforms from being used to groom, exploit and sexually abuse children. Ofcom has set out measures in its codes of practice, including automated detection, moderation, and anti‑grooming safeguards. These duties have been in force since March last year. Ofcom keeps its approach under review, is consulting on further measures and has already carried out enforcement with a particular focus on CSEA.

What assessment he has made of trends in the level of rollout of heat pumps by boiler manufacturers.

UK heat pump sales hit a record high in 2025, and the government expects to see continued growth over the coming years. Manufacturers of a range of heating technologies, including fossil fuel boilers, are among the leading players in this growing market. The government will continue to keep developments in the market under close review as heat pump uptake in existing and new homes continues to gather pace.

What steps his Department is taking to strengthen regulations on biomass energy production and waste incineration companies, including to ensure the sector takes responsibility for reducing its carbon emissions.

Biomass electricity generators receiving support must comply with strict sustainability criteria covering supply chain greenhouse gas emissions. The government is developing a cross-sector biomass sustainability framework to further strengthen these requirements and enable consistency between government supported sectors. Waste incineration facilities are regulated through the relevant environmental permitting regime, which sets emissions limits and monitoring requirements. The government is committed to expanding the scope of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to waste incineration. This will price emissions from the sector and incentivise decarbonisation. The UK ETS Authority will set out final policy design in due course.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the proportion of companies paying ransoms to hackers following cyber-attacks; and what steps her Department is taking to improve cybersecurity across industry sectors.

The government considers ransomware a serious threat to the UK’s national security and economic prosperity. The Home Office recently consulted on a package of proposals to reduce the threat ransomware poses to the UK economy and will continue to develop these measures in collaboration with industry. Due to under-reporting there is no single authoritative estimate of ransomware payment rates. Recent industry reports suggest that payment rates are declining. The government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey finds around half of businesses (52%) have a rule or policy to not pay ransomware demands.Improving cyber security across industry sectors is critical to national security and the resilience of our wider economy. The government has developed a wide range of free tools, guidance, training and standards to help organisations of all sizes implement cyber security measures. The government's highly effective Cyber Essentials scheme helps organisations implement critical cyber security controls and protect against the most common cyber attacks. The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will boost UK cyber defences and protect our essential and digital services. In October government ministers and senior security officials wrote an open letter to the UK’s leading companies urging them to take three specific actions to improve their cyber resilience: use the government’s Cyber Governance Code of Practice, register for the National Cyber Security Centre’s Early Warning System, and adopt Cyber Essentials in their supply chains. In 2026 the Government will publish a new National Cyber Action Plan that will set out how we will respond to the growing cyber threat and work with industry to raise cyber resilience levels across the economy.

Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help tackle inflation in the cost of produce caused by increased energy costs due to the conflict in Iran.

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

What steps he is taking to (a) expand and (b) ensure resiliency of the UK’s gas (i) infrastructure and storage systems and (ii) reserves.

Government works continuously with industry to improve and maintain the resilience and security of energy infrastructure to a range of evolving risks and future system changes. In 2026, DESNZ will publish an Energy Resilience Strategy to set out Government’s long-term priorities to maintain energy resilience now and in the future. The UK benefits from diverse gas supply sources. This limits our reliance on any one type of infrastructure - in winter 24/25, gas storage provided ~8% of GB’s total gas use. We are confident this diverse portfolio will continue to meet GB’s energy needs. However, Government recognises the energy transition may change future infrastructure requirements. We recently consulted on options to safeguard gas security of supply, including measures to encourage investment in additional storage capacity if needed. A response will follow in due course.

What steps he is taking to ensure that the green workforce is expanding at a pace sufficient to meet the growing demands of an accelerated energy transition.

In October 2025, the Government published the Clean Energy Jobs Plan (CEJP). The CEJP sets out the workforce needed to deliver our clean energy superpower mission, and how the government will work in partnership with industry and trade unions to deliver it. This month we have announced 5 new Clean Energy Technical Excellence Colleges to support delivery of this workforce. We have also committed to implement a Fair Work Charter alongside the Clean Industry Bonus, to help ensure that clean energy jobs are good jobs.

Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the (a) condition and (b) availability of outdoor basketball courts; and what steps her Department is taking to ensure adequate funding for the maintenance, repair and construction of such facilities.

The Government is committed to ensuring that everyone, regardless of background, should have access to and benefit from quality sport and physical activity opportunities. This means delivering a range of facilities across the country based on what each local community needs. On 17 September, the Government confirmed £5 million investment in 2026/27 towards both indoor and outdoor basketball and basketball-led multi-sport facilities in England in 2026/27. This dedicated funding for basketball will be matched by the NBA, who will invest £5 million in grassroots programmes through to 2028. We provide the majority of support for grassroots sport through our Arm’s Length Body, Sport England, which annually invests over £250 million in Exchequer and Lottery funding. Sport England provides long term investment of £12.6 million to Basketball England between 2022 and 2029 to support grassroots basketball.