Written questions by Bloore.

Innovation and Technology, if she will set out what support is available to small businesses to strengthen cybersecurity to prevent economic disruption.

Improving the cyber security of our nation's small businesses is critical to the resilience of our wider economy. We recognise many small businesses lack the resources to invest in their cyber security. As such, the government has developed a wide range of free tools, guidance and training to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) implement cyber security measures, including the Cyber Action Toolkit which provides SMEs with tailored advice on protecting their business.National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC)-certified Cyber Advisors are available to provide advice and guidance on commercial terms and SMEs are eligible for a free 30- minute consultation. Additionally, the government's Cyber Essentials scheme helps all organisations, including SMEs, implement critical cyber security controls, protecting them from most common cyber attacks and provides them with free insurance. All of this information is available on the NCSC website.More broadly across government, the Home Office funds a network of Cyber Resilience Centres which provide free resources, guidance and training to SMEs to strengthen their cyber security.

Innovation and Technology, what consideration she has given to the potential merits of introducing mandatory minimum cyber resilience standards for strategically important firms and supply chains.

The Network and Information Systems Regulations 2018 provides the UK’s only cross-sector cyber legislation, focused on protecting the security and resilience of essential services. The regulations impose security duties on Operators of Essential Services (OES) and relevant digital service providers (RDSPs) to take "appropriate and proportionate technical and organisational measures" to manage risk and prevent and minimise the impact of cyber incidents.The Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill, introduced in November 2025, updates these regulations to ensure it is fit for today, and the future. It will cover a wider range of critically important entities, including data centres and large load controllers and relevant managed service providers (RMSPs). The Bill will also allow, through secondary legislation, for security and resilience requirements to be set for regulated entities. Our proposals for this legislation will be linked to existing, high level security duties and be consistent with the NCSC’s Cyber Assessment Framework.Regulators will also have the power under the Bill to designate certain suppliers as “critical” if a compromise or outage in their systems can cause a disruption to their services that would have serious, cascading impacts for our society and economy. Proportionate cyber security and resilience duties and requirements to applying to those designated suppliers, with associated requirements will be developed through secondary legislation and guidance. This will ensure that these critical suppliers have the appropriate cyber security and resilience measures in place, helping to protect the UK’s critical infrastructure from disruption.The Bill sits alongside other regulatory regimes, such as for public telecoms providers and financial services, and a range of other tools to help organisations actively improve their cyber resilience. For example, the government offers the Cyber Essentials certification scheme to prevent the most common cyber attacks. Organisations with Cyber Essentials are 92% less likely to make a claim on their cyber insurance than those without it.

What consideration he has given to the potential merits of decoupling regulated electricity prices from gas prices.

Accelerating the deployment of renewable generation, as we are through our Clean Power 2030 Mission, will reduce the amount of time when gas is setting the price and will help to rapidly decouple electricity from gas prices without the need for more complex arrangements. The Government is determined to increase the share of renewables on the system so that the electricity price is set by cheaper clean power sources rather than gas. Every wind turbine we switch on and solar panel we deploy helps push gas off as the price setter.

What steps her Department is taking with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to help support the safe deployment of artificial intelligence in autonomous vehicles.

Safety is central to the implementation of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024, with a requirement that the introduction of self-driving vehicles to Great Britain’s roads must seek to contribute to an overall improvement road safety. The regulatory approach is outcome-focussed and technology neutral, ensuring that where AI is used, it contributes to rigorous safety standards. The UK co-chairs a group at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), looking at AI use-cases in vehicle technology and how any associated risks can be managed or mitigated. This is in addition to mandating international vehicle cyber-security requirements that the UK helped develop.

What assessment she has made of the value for money of recent Government-backed support to companies affected by cyberattacks.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) works round the clock to counter attacks, support victims and empower organisations to protect themselves from online threats. The NCSC makes its advice and guidance to organisations freely available. Where businesses do face disruption, and there is a risk of significant economic or social impacts, the government is prepared to act. In 2025, the government agreed to back JLR with a loan guarantee from UK Export Finance (UKEF). This decisive action helped JLR continue to support 154,000 UK jobs and protected a critical part of our automotive supply chain. JLR employs 34,000 people directly in the UK and supports 120,000 more jobs through its supply chain, many in small and medium-sized enterprises. The loan covered by the guarantee will be re-paid over 5 years. As with any government intervention to support businesses in distress, the government sets a high bar and keeps value for money under constant review to ensure taxpayer funds are spent wisely.

What consideration he has given to the potential merits of establishing a formal framework for financial intervention to support businesses affected by major cyber incidents, including to protect supply chains, businesses and workers, in the context of the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover.

Cyber security of the UK is a key priority for this government and DSIT and NCSC have been taking significant action to help protect businesses against cyber attacks. This includes providing businesses with the tools, advice and support to protect themselves from cyber threats, including free training for boards and staff. We have also put in place: The Cyber Governance Code of Practice, which shows boards and directors how to effectively manage the digital risks to their organisationThe highly effective Cyber Essentials scheme to prevent common attacks – reducing the likelihood of a cyber insurance claim by 92%. The certification scheme includes automatic cyber liability insurance for any UK organisation who certifies their whole organisation and has less than £20m annual turnover. In cases of acute and exogenous disruption, including in the context of the cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover, requests for support are assessed on a case‑by‑case basis. The support for JLR. The government agreed to back JLR with a loan guarantee through UK Export Finance, to unlock up to £1.5 billion in commercial financing. This loan covered by the guarantee will be re-paid over 5 years. JLR supports 154,000 UK jobs and protects a critical part of our automotive supply chain. The Government will continue to prioritise its support and encouragement for cyber resilience across the economy, to reduce the likelihood and impact of incidents such as cyber attacks, while retaining the ability to respond flexibly using existing frameworks where this is justified.

Whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of road user charging mechanisms for new vehicle technologies, including autonomous vehicles.

No assessment of road user charging mechanisms for new vehicle technologies has been made.

Whether she has assessed the potential merits of public equity investment in frontier artificial intelligence companies in encouraging those firms to list or dual-list on UK capital markets.

The British Business Bank’s Five Year Strategic Plan, published in November 2025, sets a clear focus on improving access to finance for smaller and high-growth businesses, helping crowd in private capital and ensuring more UK companies can reach scale and ultimately access public markets. A strong early‑stage and scale‑up ecosystem is essential to the long‑term depth and competitiveness of the UK’s public equity markets.In 2025, the Government increased the British Business Bank’s financial capacity to £25.6 billion, marking a major step change in its ability to support UK businesses to start and scale. The Government have also delivered an ambitious set of reforms to boost the UK’s capital markets and make it easier to IPO in the UK through an ambitious modernisation of the UK’s listings rules. Taken together, these reforms make it easier to start, scale and list in the UK.

Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of her Department taking an equity stake in artificial intelligence companies as part of its Sovereign AI Strategy.

Sovereign AI is a new government VC fund backed by £500 million to invest in strategically significant UK AI companies, anchoring them here to drive national advantage.Direct equity investment, integrated with a package of government-only support levers will be central to this mission.This ensures Britain has a stake in the technologies shaping our future, protecting people from future economic shocks while powering UK growth.

Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support is available to British citizens travelling from countries outside of the Middle East on visas that expire before they are able to return to the UK as a result of journeys that have been cancelled due to the situation in Iran.

As part of the FCDO's crisis response, we have been working with the relevant authorities in various countries to request flexibility for people who might overstay their visas due to disrupted travel plans as a result of the crisis in the Middle East. Any British nationals affected in this way should in the first instance speak to their airlines, travel agents or insurance companies about their situation and flight options. FCDO staff are also available 24/7 via our contact centre in the event that consular assistance is required.

Food and Rural Affairs, whether the planned consultation on hunting with dogs will accept submissions on potential amendments to Schedule 1 of the Hunting Act 2004.

The Government is committed to enacting a ban on trail hunting, in line with its manifesto commitment. Defra will consult early this year on how to deliver a ban. All responses to the consultation will be considered carefully.

Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her department has made of the suitability of the penalties available under the Hunting Act 2004; and whether the planned consultation on trail hunting will include consideration of Part 2 of that Act.

The Government is committed to enacting a ban on trail hunting, in line with its manifesto commitment. Defra will consult early this year on how to deliver a ban. All responses to the consultation will be considered carefully.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill on the availability of housing-with-care for older people.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 108467 on 3 February 2026.

Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill on levels of supply of housing-with-care for older people.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to Question UIN 108467 on 3 February 2026.

What assessment he has made of the strategic risks to the United Kingdom arising from frontier artificial intelligence capability being concentrated in a small number of overseas jurisdictions.

Artificial intelligence (AI), including frontier AI, presents both risks and opportunities for the UK. The concentration of AI capability development in a small number of overseas jurisdictions raises challenges, in terms of balancing delivery of the capabilities we want with the assurance and freedom of action we need. The Government manages these strategic implications through close cooperation with trusted allies, engagement with industry, and sustained investment in domestic capability and skills.

What recent discussions he has had with Ofgem regarding the designation of Great British Energy as a supplier of last resort, to strengthen market stability and protect consumers from future supplier failures.

Details of Ministers' and Permanent Secretaries' meetings with external individuals and organisations are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

What assessment he has made of the potential role of Great British Energy, including through a retail arm, in delivering a social tariff or national energy guarantee to support households facing high energy costs.

Great British Energy (GBE) as the government’s publicly owned energy development company is designed to deliver strategic, long-term investment in the UK’s energy infrastructure. GBE is a key part of the Government’s mission to deliver clean power by 2030 to protect billpayers from volatile international fossil fuel markets by increasing domestic energy production and bring down energy bills for good. Whilst GBE has been set up to participate in the production, distribution, storage and supply of clean energy there are currently no plans for it to have a retail arm.

Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to encourage frontier artificial intelligence laboratories to establish significant operations in the United Kingdom, including through public co-investment and support for UK capital markets.

The UK is an excellent place for frontier artificial intelligence companies to expand operations, with a world leading R&D ecosystem which is home to four of the world’s top ten research institutions. These companies are already choosing to build in this country. For example, in February 2026 OpenAI announced that it is significantly expanding its presence in London, establishing the city as its largest research hub outside of the United States. Google DeepMind is also opening its first automated research lab in the UK this year.The Government has also delivered an ambitious programme of reforms to make it easier for firms to list and raise capital on UK markets, this includes overhauling the Prospectus Regime and Listing Rules.

What recent assessment she has made of the impact of Brexit on the economy.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has included assessments of the economic impacts of leaving the EU in its forecasts since 2016. In March 2020, the OBR estimated that GDP will be 4% lower in the long run than it would have been had the UK not withdrawn from the EU, and that imports and exports will eventually both be 15 per cent lower than had the UK stayed in the EU. As of November 2025, OBRs assumptions were unchanged from its previous assessment.

With reference to the written statement of 23 February 2026 on Clinical trials, HCWS1347, what steps his Department plans to take to help support young people experiencing gender incongruence in the period until the PATHWAYS trial resumes.

For children and young people currently under the care of NHS Children and Young People’s Gender Services, a multi-disciplinary team of clinicians conducts assessments using a holistic framework, following recommendations from the Cass Review. Each child or young person receives an individual care plan, with a strong focus on psychosocial support tailored to their needs.More widely, in 2024 NHS England published a new service specification for the National Referral Support Service for Specialist Services for Children and Young People with Gender Incongruence. Now a referral for the specialist Children and Young People’s Gender Service can be only made by a National Health Service-commissioned, secondary care-level paediatric service or a children and young people mental health service. This helps ensure that healthcare professionals with the relevant expertise conduct the assessment and help determine any co-existing mental health or other health needs of these children and their onward care.Alongside this, a mental health support offer was launched where all children and young people on the waiting list as of 31 August 2024 were offered a mental health assessment by their local Children and Young People's Mental Health Services (CYPMHS) team. Additionally, NHS Arden and GEM, which manages the national waiting list, signposts to information and support for children and young people and their families. This includes resources from CYPMH and the NHS, as well as trusted third-sector organisations such as YoungMinds and Samaritans.