Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to expand screening programmes for cancer in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to improving cancer screening services in line with the National Cancer Plan and as part of the 10-Year Health Plan’s shift from sickness to prevention.
In Yeovil, lung cancer screening is already proving transformational in the early diagnosis of lung cancer, and we will implement the full roll out of lung cancer screening by 2030, meaning every eligible person in England will have received their first invitation for a check. The programme is expected to diagnose up to 50,000 cancers by 2035 and at least 23,000 at an earlier stage, potentially saving thousands of lives.
We have extended NHS bowel cancer screening to cover people from the age of 50 and between now and 2028, we will increase the sensitivity of the faecal immunochemical test (FIT) to 80µg Hb/g, rolling this out nationally by 2028. Combined with increased uptake this will deliver 17,000 earlier diagnoses by 2035 and save almost an additional 6,000 lives.
Later this year we will also start to offer self-testing for human papilloma virus (HPV) to women who have missed their cervical screening appointments by at least six months. This expansion aims to overcome barriers that stop women from taking up cervical screening which can both prevent and catch cervical cancer early.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the lack of statutory authority for (a) schools or (b) local authorities to provide NHS clinical care outside the EHCP framework.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools are not responsible for clinical healthcare tasks. Healthcare tasks can be delegated to staff in schools and other education settings where the responsible healthcare professional considers delegation safe and appropriate.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) both include a regulatory standard requiring registrants to delegate only when they are satisfied that the other person is competent to carry out the delegated task safely and require the healthcare practitioner to supervise and support those who are delegated to. These are found in the NMC Code, which is available here: https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/, and the HCPC Standards, available at: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-conduct-performance-and-ethics/.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what role Young Futures Hubs will play in the delivery of the National Year of Reading in Somerset.
Answered by Stephanie Peacock - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The National Year of Reading is a Department for Education initiative, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust.
Young Futures Hubs will bring together services to improve access to opportunities and support for young people at community level, promoting positive outcomes and enabling them to thrive. Local Authorities participating in the programme will co-design the services in each hub alongside young people in the community to ensure it meets local needs.
Young Futures Hubs are just one part of delivering support within a much wider youth landscape, and will work closely with core services and wider initiatives spanning youth, education, employment, social care, mental health, youth justice and policing.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what role rural public libraries will play in the delivery of the National Year of Reading in Yeovil constituency.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Public libraries are central to the success of the National Year of Reading’s campaign to engage people of all ages with reading. The Reading Agency has been appointed to work with sector partners to deliver and support public library engagement. The Summer Reading Challenge in 2026, and World Book Night, the annual celebration of reading for adults on 23 April 2026, will be key moments for libraries during the National Year of Reading 2026. Throughout the year, The Reading Agency will provide public libraries with resources, toolkits, and print and digital materials to support their work.
Somerset libraries launched its participation in the National Year of Reading on 16 January 2026. All 32 statutory static libraries in Somerset, including five in the Yeovil constituency, will participate across the year, through existing initiatives as well as specific National Year of Reading events, activities and promotions.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help increase access to libraries in rural areas with limited transport links.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requires all local authorities in England to provide a comprehensive and efficient library service. Each local authority is responsible for assessing the needs of their local communities and designing a library service to meet those needs within their available resources.
Library service provision, including the number and location of static libraries, should take account of factors such as the rurality of the area and the availability and cost of public transport links. The statutory library provision in Somerset is delivered from 32 static libraries, as well as a mobile library service and a home library service.
The Government is committed to getting local government back on its feet. The final Local Government Finance Settlement for 2026-27 will make available £78 billion in Core Spending Power for local authorities in England in 2026-27, a 6.1% increase compared to 2025-26.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including Tourette's in the independent review into mental health.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This review focuses on mental health conditions, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and autism. Tourette’s is a neurological disorder and therefore it will be at the Chair's discretion as to how far the review considers Tourette's with this in mind.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the need to (a) increase and (b) ringfence funding for lobular breast cancer research.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government recognises the crucial need for research into all forms of cancer, including lobular breast cancer. It remains committed to the role of research to drive a stronger collective understanding of the biology behind lobular breast cancer and to improve outcomes for women.
Government responsibility for delivering cancer research is shared between Department for Health and Social Care with research delivered by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology with research delivered via UK Research and Innovation, which includes the Medical Research Council.
In November 2025, the NIHR issued a highlight notice encouraging applications for new research into lobular breast cancer, to improve the detection, diagnosis, treatment, and long-term surveillance of patients.
The NIHR continues to welcome high quality funding applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including lobular breast cancer.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the level of funding for maintained schools in Yeovil constituency since 2010-11 on educational outcomes.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Somerset local authority allocates funding for schools in Yeovil constituency. The table below sets out the funding Somerset local authority has received through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) since 2019/20. Due to changes in the way that funding is allocated, the department cannot provide equivalent figures before then.
Financial Year | Overall funding (£ million) | Average per pupil (£) |
2019/20 | 294 | 4,361 |
2020/21 | 312 | 4,607 |
2021/22 | 339 | 5,008 |
2022/23 | 351 | 5,180 |
2023/24 | 372 | 5,451 |
2024/25 | 391 | 5,753 |
2025/26 | 418 | 6,228 |
2026/27 | 435 | 6,569 |
Somerset has historically experienced below-average educational performance at both primary and secondary levels. However, there have been measurable improvements in GCSE and Key Stage 2 outcomes since 2023. The department continues to work closely with the local authority, multi-academy trusts and other local partners to build on this progress, including through the regional improvement for standards and excellence (RISE) targeted and universal services.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the department is taking to ensure that the National Year of Reading is accessible for neurodiverse people in (a) Yeovil constituency (b) Somerset and (C) the United Kingdom.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The National Year of Reading is a UK wide campaign designed to tackle the steep decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults, and to engage new audiences in reading.
’Go All In’ is a fully inclusive campaign, encouraging people to read about whatever interests them, via any genre and all mediums of reading. Embracing a variety of reading formats, from print to digital to audio, can make reading more accessible, engaging and inclusive for both children and adults, including those with neurodiversity and special educational needs.
The campaign is reaching communities across the UK through schools, libraries, businesses and local partners. Libraries, as free to access community hubs, play a central role in supporting participation and helping people of all ages and from all sectors of society to develop a lasting love of reading.
You can find out more about events in your local area by visiting the website here: https://goallin.org.uk/whats-on/.Schools and early years settings in Somerset and across the UK can also access a range of exciting online webinars, resources and activities throughout the year. They can find more information here: https://goallin.org.uk/get-involved/schools/.
Asked by: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much Vehicle Excise Duty was raised nationally from people in (a) Yeovil constituency (b) Somerset and (c) England in the last 12 months.
Answered by Simon Lightwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The total amount of vehicle excise duty (VED) collected between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 was £8.4 billion. However, information about VED is not broken down into areas and could only be provided at a disproportionate cost.