Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has assessed the potential merits of introducing a system whereby a proportion of practical driving test appointments are reserved for candidates requiring a retest following a previous unsuccessful practical driving test.

Answered by Justin Madders - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is unable to prioritise learners who have already taken a practical driving test and been unsuccessful over learners seeking to take their test for the first time. All learner drivers have valid reasons for wanting to access a test appointment as soon as possible, and providing preferential access to one group over another would not be fair.

DVSA is focused on increasing overall test availability and is exploring a range of measures to provide additional test capacity at different stages throughout the booking window. This approach is intended to offer greater choice and opportunity for all learner drivers, rather than prioritising specific groups of learners.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve protection for frontline NHS staff from (a) racism and (b) discrimination on the basis of any other protected characteristic.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 16 September in response to Question 28051 and on 19 June in response to Question 3468.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve protections for frontline NHS staff against (a) violence and (b) aggression from (i) patients and (ii) members of the public.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

I refer the Hon. Member to the answer provided on 16 September in response to Question 28051 and on 19 June in response to Question 3468.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the School Workforce Census to record neurodivergence.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The department recognises the importance of understanding the diversity of the school workforce, including the experiences of neurodivergent staff. The School Workforce Census (SWC) already collects information on disability, which may include some neurodivergent conditions where individuals choose to declare them. However, the disability data collected does not enable the department to identify or extract information specifically on neurodivergent staff.

The department keeps the content of the SWC under regular review to ensure it meets user needs while minimising administrative burdens on schools. The department has not made a specific assessment of the merits of introducing a separate data field for neurodivergence. Any proposal to do so would require careful consideration of data quality, staff disclosure rates and the impact on schools and employers.

The department will continue to consider opportunities to improve its understanding of workforce diversity.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Cabinet Office’s 2026 National Capabilities Assessment, what steps her Department is taking to establish greater oversight of food supply chain resilience preparedness.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

As set out in the UK Government Resilience Action Plan, the Cabinet Office provides scrutiny of response capabilities across the UK Government through National Capabilities Assessments which take place every two to three years. Defra considers these assessments and works work the Cabinet Office, other Government departments and industry to ensure the food supply chain is fully incorporated in emergency preparedness planning.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to improve engagement with local resilience forums on food resilience in the (a) South West and (b) UK.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra engages with Local Resilience Forums across England, including those in the South West, through established resilience and planning arrangements. This engagement supports information sharing, preparedness and response planning for a range of risks that could affect food supply and access.

This Government continues to work with resilience partners at national and local level to maintain the UK’s food resilience.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to improve cross-departmental governance to support food supply chain resilience.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra works with industry and across Government to monitor risks that may arise. This includes extensive, regular and ongoing engagement in preparedness for, and response to, issues with the potential to cause disruption to food supply chains.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the 2022 UK Government Resilience Framework and the Cabinet Office’s 2026 National Capabilities Assessment, what steps the Department is taking to support the (a) capability and (b) capacity of local resilience forums to respond to food supply chain shocks.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra works across Government including the Cabinet Office, other Government Departments and Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) to ensure food supply is fully incorporated as part of emergency preparedness.

LRFs play a vital role in preparing for, responding to and recovering from emergencies, including incidents that may affect food supply chains. The Government supports LRF capability through national guidance, exercising, assurance and preparedness programmes, including the Local Capabilities Assessment process, which helps identify strengths and areas for improvement across England.

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what employment support is available to people receiving Personal Independence Payment who do not qualify for Universal Credit in (a) Yeovil constituency, (b) Somerset and (c) England.

Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)

We know that work is good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. This Government is committed to giving disabled people and people with health conditions, including people living in Somerset, the confidence that working will not trigger a reassessment and a potential loss of benefits.

We have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work. These include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres, Access to Work grants and Connect to Work, as well as initiatives joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, and WorkWell.

Through the Health Transformation Programme, we are creating a more joined-up health and employment journey for customers. This includes exploring how people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can be supported to access a range of services that improve wellbeing, independence and, where appropriate, support them to move closer to or remain in work.

As part of this, we are testing a voluntary support offer for some PIP-only customers. PIP Case Managers can refer eligible customers to a virtual hub (telephone only at present), where support is tailored to their circumstances and focused on addressing barriers to wellbeing and independence. This may include signposting to services such as the National Careers Service, and Citizens Advice, and relevant national and local support services, depending on their circumstances. The support offer is currently being tested in a limited number of areas while we learn what works best for customers.

In Jobcentres around 1,000 (full time equivalent) Pathways to Work Advisers, provide personalised one-to-one support to disabled customers and people with health conditions to help them identify and overcome obstacles which may stop them from moving towards or into work or to access employment and wider skills support, and our employment programmes.

The Timms Review, the first ever full review of PIP, seeks to ensure we have a system that supports disabled people to achieve better health, higher living standards and greater independence, including through employment.

The Review, which is considering how the assessment could ensure people access the right support at the right level, will publish its final recommendations in the autumn.

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to increase the proportion of grants going to (a) recreation, (b) sport and (c) religion in (i) Yeovil constituency and (ii) Somerset.

Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)

We provide the majority of support for culture and grassroots sport through our arm’s length bodies, including Arts Council England, Sport England and Historic England.

We will continue to work closely with local leaders to design funds. Our public bodies have responsibility for decisions on funding allocations and will continue to share eligibility criteria and transparent data on allocations on their websites.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including food supply disruption as a specific planning scenario for local resilience forums

Answered by Florence Eshalomi - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) are responsible for assessing risks that may impact their local area through Community Risk Registers and for developing plans against a range of nationally and locally identified risks, informed by the National Security Risk Assessment (NSRA) and associated planning assumptions. Risks within the NSRA are assessed against reasonable worst-case scenarios with input from relevant subject matter experts. The NSRA assigns clear ownership of risks to the relevant Lead Government Department and considers both specific risks and their wider consequences through linked and cascading scenarios.

Food-related risks are considered within the national risk framework, including through risks owned by DEFRA and the Food Standards Agency. Decisions on food supply planning assumptions and food resilience policy therefore sit primarily with DEFRA as the Lead Government Department.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what consideration the Government has given to the potential merits of the inclusion of measures to combat food shortages within the scope of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.

Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Home Office) (Security) (Jointly with the Cabinet Office)

The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 provides a legislative framework for emergency preparedness across the UK. This includes supporting preparedness for situations which cause, or may cause, a disruption of a supply of food.

We are currently undertaking a Post-Implementation Review of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, which is required to be presented to Parliament by March 2027. Through this review we will assess whether the Act is delivering its objectives and consider any changes to the legislation or accompanying guidance, which are required to strengthen the Act. A Call for Views was launched on 14 July 2026 to gather evidence from across the resilience community to inform the review's conclusions.

While the review does not explicitly consider the merits of including additional measures related to food shortages, we will consider, based on the evidence gathered, what changes could support increased preparedness for emergencies, including disruption to food supplies.

GSCE attainment gap and dyslexia

River Lavant

Administration of PAPYRUS

Barbering and hairdressing

Independent cafes and coffee shops

Political donations and campaign finance regulation